The customers that we talk to and surveysay that it is very safe, very quick. They like it. We haven't had a single word of complaint since it started. The tram is bringing people in from new areas like Bromley and New Addington and they must be spending because our trade is good. As well as bringing all the expected environmental and public transport benefits the arrival of trams has underlined the widespread determination to improve the quality of life in Croydon.
Trams give our town a distinctive continental feel.
They seem to have appeared on our streets at the same time as Croydon has embraced a new pavement caf culture. Alongside the route extensive planting is fuelling Tramlink's green credentials. Even the sun came out from winter hibernation to celebrate Tramlink's first birthday. Everyone concerned with developing and running Tramlink deserves congratulations for the way in which trams have transformed Croydon. As chair of the Tramlink working group, I used to walk the route, then a building site, watching for progress and problems and looking forward to completion.