London Transport Public Statement for Consultation dated 28 May 1999
Trains-Fares-Buses-Consultation-Changes to Bus routes-Contacts-Appendix(List of Buses) - Tramlink Website
The introduction of Tramlink in November 1999 will herald a £2OO milllon investment in the public transport systems of the local communities it serves. The new service will bring improvements in journey times, reliability and comfort.
TRAINS,
STATIONS & TRACKS
The trams and tram stops have been designed to be fully
accessible to everyone, including people with disabilities, the
elderly, parents with prams and people with heavy shopping.
Facilities at each tram stop include a passenger information
display giving real time information about the next tram to
arrive. A passenger assistance and communications point will also
be available to enable passengers to contact the Tramlink control
centre should they need help. For added security, a CCTV camera,
capable of viewing the entire tram stop area and linked back to
the control centre, will also be installed.
Tramlink will operate mainly on former railway corridors or on new segregated alignments. Where trams do share the highway with other road users, they will enjoy traffic priority to enable greater reliability of the services. Journey times from the end of any branch of the system to central Croydon will be less than 25 minutes even in rush hours. The sleek new trams are electrically operated and cause no local pollution.
FARES
Tramlink will have a simple fares structure with single cash
fares carrying a small premium above current bus fares to reflect
the higher quality of the services to be provided. Through
tickets to Croydon will be available on designated feeder bus
services within the New Addington and Selsdon Vale areas. These
tickets will cover both the bus and tram sections of a journey
and will cost no more than a single tram fare. Travelcards will
be valid on Tramlink and will provide the facility to interchange
onto connecting bus and train services. All those who currently
receive concessionary travel will be able to use their permits on
Tramlink. Bus Passes will continue to be available on all bus
services, including the designated feeder buses.
BUSES
London Transport Buses proposes to make alterations to
nineteen bus routes (including two schoolday-only services) in
the Croydon area, to provide convenient bus links feeding into
the Tramlink network when it opens in November, from places like
New Addington and Selsdon in the south and Woodside and South
Norwood in the north. The new trams will be able to provide
faster journeys into the centre of Croydon and beyond, from new
tram stops along the Tramlink lines to Beckenham Junction and New
Addington. This should allow seamless journeys to be made by bus
and tram in the area with co-ordinated frequencies on the new
feeder services.
CONSULTATION
This document initiates formal consultation on the proposed
bus changes, as required under Section 36 of the Transport Act
1985. However, the proposals have already been informally
discussed with the local authorities concerned and with the
London Regional Passengers Committee. As a consequence, changes
have been made to our initial plans to accommodate the views of
those bodies, particularly with regard to bus access to New
Addington.
CHANGES TO BUS
ROUTES
These changes include the retention of the direct bus link
(route 314) between New Addington and Bromley, modifications to
route 64 and to the two new local Tramlink feeder services in New
Addington, so that both of the new routes would serve Addington
Village Interchange, improving direct bus-train links in the
area. The revisions to these and all the other routes are based
on the expected changes in demand for bus services in the area,
once Tramlink has started running. The bus services have been
designed to complement the tram services, not to compete with
them. Consequently, although requests were received for the
retention of route 130, LT Buses considers that to retain that
route in its existing form would lead to an unnecessary and
wasteful duplication of resources.
The bus routes concerned in the changes are the 54, 64, 75, 130/X30, 157, 194, 197, 312, 314, 353, 354, 359, 361, 410, 464, 466, 630 and 654. Three new routes would be introduced - numbered 457, 467 and 494. The first two of these, which have provisional numbers that may be changed before introduction, have been specifically designed to provide daily feeder services to Tramlink stops from the whole of New Addington. Full details are given in the appendix.
For purposes of information only, and as originally planned, route TL1 (Wimbledon - West Croydon), which was introduced as a railway-replacement service and forerunner to Tramlink, will be discontinued when the Tramlink service starts running to Wimbledon.
Subject to the outcome of consultation initiated by this document, LT Buses proposes to make the changes described in the appendix to coincide with the opening of Tramlink in November 1999.
CONTACTS
Comments and observations from statutory consultees (Local
Councils, Members of Parliament, the police, the London Regional
Passengers Committee, Tramtrack Croydon Ltd (TCL) and other local
public transport-related associations) should be addressed to:
The Consultation Manager, London Transport Buses,
172 Buckingham Palace Road, London SWiH 9TN.
All other comments and views about these proposals from individuals should be addressed to:
The Customer Service Centre Manager, London Transport,
55 Broadway, London SW1H OBD
ALL COMMENTS SHOULD BE RECEIVED BY NO LATER THAN FRIDAY 27 AUGUST 1999.
S.P. No. LT99/018
28 May 1999