Reader Comments:

Views expressed in submitted comments are that of the author, and not necessarily shared by Railnews.

• Julian E Cole, Redhill

  Of course, the planners seem to be one one in expensive cars, who don't actually understand the movement of fare paying public.
  
  If you get on the tram at East Croydon, through to Beckenham Junction, it's remarkable how many then have to decamp and wait for ages for a tram through to Bromley. About half the tram does this in peak hours. Now, If I wanted to go to Crystal Palace, I'd go by rail which exists already. To go to Bromley, a reasonably large town centre with large offices, (RBS Insurance - Churchill/Directline ect) civic services (A large Police Station, Law Courts) and shopping (Glades). This is the extension which ought to have been built.

• 2532, Therapia Lane, UK

  Boris didn't cancel the Crystal Palace plan as such, as it was never actually going ahead to start with. He just stopped spending more money planning schemes where there was no funding to actually build them.
  
  The West London scheme was already defunct, having become deeply unpopular with many residents; basically Ken/TfL screwed up the propaganda campaign and lots of people turned against it.
  
  There seems to be little discussion of what a Crystal Palace extension would actually achieve, beyond more trams for the sake of it and the fact it would be easier to do than some other schemes. There are already frequent, more direct, faster, electric trains from Crystal Palace into Croydon.
  
  Tramlink has regular onboard ticket checks, and where it does run on street they are hardly small streets - and unlike buses, trams have a fixed path.

• anodos, HAVANT, ENGLAND

  can not understand civic leaders,such as our BORIS, reluctance to extend Tram lines,such as the Crystal Palace extension. The electric TRAM is the most environmentally friendly urban/inter urban transport, better by far than the diesel double deck bus . elderly people,mothers with push-chairs can't climb those stairs!

• morcanby dunn, leeds

  Politicians always cash in on projects that look good. Nothing new in Boris's U-turn. Amazing he didn't insist on open platforms.

• Colin, London

  Boris is an idiot, but Croydon trams do have on board checks, i was checked by one ticket inspector working for First, last week!

• Melvyn Windebank, Canvey Island, Essex, England

  West London Tram was a North/South line and as such would feed passengers onto Crossrail at Ealing. In fact the go-ahead for Crossrail builds the case for building the West London Tram and a good starting point would be the Ealing to Southall branch which will become isolated by Crossrail and GWR electrification and could instead form a basis for a new tram/light rail network.
  
  It was Boris who cancelled the WLT anong with ALL other tram projects and yet the irony is that we now have a pro tram Tory led government that has approved major expansion in Manchester with new lines in Birmingham and Nottingham and even the go ahead to convert a branch from Watford Junction to light rail and diversion of the Metropolitan Line to Watford Junction.
  
  So Boris should have been in there getting funding for Tramlink extensions and other schemes instead he is showing how he is really a petrolhead at heart making speeechs about building more roads so looks like the M25 two inner brethren might come back!!!
  
  

• Simon Harris, Croydon

  These will be a superb addition to the Tramlink network and I'm very much looking forward to riding on them. My biggest frustration is that successive governments have failed to embrace light rail systems in the way the rest of Europe has and that they take so long to implement. Paris for instance has 4 tram systems with expansions planned - why can't we in the UK just get on a build something.

• jak jaye, carshalton, united kingdom

  Cant be worse then the original trams completley unsuited for the line,far too small,and if they wanted more why not ask Manchester for some of theirs
  And as for the lack of on-board inspectors they dont bother because Croydons the wild west!

• Phillip Barlow, London, UK

  West London Tram was never going to happen, as it was cancelled, not by Boris, but by Ken when Crossrail got the final go-ahead. And of course it would be lovely to have both Cross-River and the Crystal Palce extension, and everyone will say they should be built...until they start being built and everyone starts moaning about all the disruption. As for ticket inspectors, look at LRT networks around the country and see how on board inspectors are being disposed of everywhere.

• Melvyn Windebank, Canvey Island, Essex, England

  No doubt Boris will be praising these trams which are even longer than bendy buses and ironically work in much smaller streets.
  
  Of course 4 years and only 6 trams just think haw many extra trams London would now have if the Cross River and West London Tram schemes had been built, together with the planned extensions to Tramlink which by now should be serving Crystal Palace!!!
  
  Odd how Croydon trams have no one on board to check tickets Boris must think those in outer London are really honest!!!!