Travel advice ahead of Croydon tram strike on Thursday 9 May

Services on the London Tram network will be affected by a strike called by the ASLEF trade union on Thursday 9 May. The union is in dispute with Tram Operations Limited (TOL), a subsidiary of FirstGroup, which operates the tram network and directly employs the drivers.

On Thursday, a reduced service will run at roughly eight minute intervals from 07:00 to 20:00 between Wimbledon and East Croydon only. Before 07:00 and after 20:00, trams will run about every 15 minutes between these stops only.

The first two trams of the day will, however, run from Therapia Lane to New Addington and back to Wimbledon to support early shift workers in the area. All services will resume as normal from Friday morning.

The limited tram service will be running between Wimbledon and East Croydon as customers are well served by bus services between East Croydon and New Addington and other train services on the Beckenham Junction branch.

TfL will be enhancing key local bus services on busier routes during peak times to meet increased demand and provide a better option for customers than rail replacement services. Bus customers in the area are advised to plan more time for their journeys as buses are likely to be busier than normal. Bus and Tram passes will also be accepted on Southern services between Beckenham Junction and East Croydon via Crystal Palace. Customers are reminded not to touch in or out when using these services and to seek assistance from station staff.

Customers are advised to check before they travel and leave extra time for their journeys, seeking alternative routes and services where possible.  Information on services and alternative travel options has been published on the TfL website at tfl.gov.uk/tram-strike. Extra buses will be added to key bus routes in the area and TfL Travel Ambassadors will be on hand at popular locations to provide information and advice to customers.

Mark Davis, TfL’s General Manager for London Trams, said: “We urge ASLEF and TOL to continue discussions and settle their dispute without further disrupting customers’ journeys with more strike action. If this strike goes ahead, we are planning to run a limited service between Wimbledon and East Croydon and run extra buses on some local routes where there will be extra demand. We will also ensure customers have all the information they need to re-plan their journeys.”

Customers can keep up to date on the status of their services in a range of ways, including:

• Up-to-date travel information on the TfL website at tfl.gov.uk/tram-strike
• Travel alerts through Twitter on @TramsLondon, @TfLTravelAlerts, @TfLTrafficNews and @TfLBusAlerts, and through the TfL Travelbot on Facebook messenger

This is the next in a series of proposed strikes called by ASLEF trade union, with further action possible on Thursday 23 May.  Should this strike go ahead further travel advice will be provided nearer the time.