Croydon Tramiik - A definitive History

By Gareth David

Published by Pen & Sword Transport www.pen-and-sword.co.uk

230mm x 290mm size, 200 pages, colour, hardback. £30.00

FOR light rail fans, there are two questions about trams in London: why did it take so long for them to come back and why has the new network been so slow to evolve, when London's population has been steadily growing? Both of these questions are answered in a roundabout way in this comprehensive (though not quite definitive – see the end of this review) work on the tram network that has evolved in South East London. The story is told in chronological order, with a clear exposition on how and why the original Tramlink route was chosen The first sections opened in East Croydon in 2000, just short of a century after the opening of Croydon's original electric tramway. We think better advantage could have been taken of the large format size of the book to show some of the many images to their greatest extent, though, as ever, Pen & Sword's top quality reproduction values are in evidence. The dark time of the fatal Sandilands derailment is covered, along with happier moments such as network extensions and new vehicles, and the potential for further expansion is detailed. The most obvious omission is a section about the trams themselves – a list of all the vehicles to have run on the system since opening would have made for a useful appendix.