"Consultation"

[Humph Warden Bennett]

I am not putting this on Jeremy's thread because the discussion there is of a different nature.

https://consultations.tfl.gov.uk/rail/cashless-trams/

This strikes me as being another pointless waste of time, like the consultation about cashless London buses. IMHO the decision was made months ago, and this consultation is a sham. FTR the "London Tramlink" is usually still known by its earlier name of "Croydon Tramlink", since its only real value is if one wants to get to and from the quasi city of Croydon.

[Nearly Sane]

Agree this looks like a PR exercise. Not sure that there is much justification for keeping the cash option.

[Humph Warden Bennett]

In all fairness, the Tram link does utilise some former British Snail tracks which would otherwise just have weeds growing on them, and the journey from Beckenham to Croydon is actually rather pleasant. I always had the impression that the main purpose of the Tram Link was to "join up" southern Greater London to the tube network without having to build a "Southern Line".

[Humph Warden Bennett]

This would not be the first empty gesture connected to the tramline, some years ago Boris Johnson had a large number of photos taken of himself standing next to a tram with the destination "Crystal Palace" on its front, with Boris gushing away about how extending the line to Crystal Palace would regenerate the area. When asked how much it would cost, he cheerfully replied that he had no idea.

I suspect that Boris was fully aware that such an extension would not be seriously considered unless there was a watertight proposal to rebuild The Crystal Palace, which has been on the back burner for the past eighty years.

[jeremyp]

This would not be the first empty gesture connected to the tramline, some years ago Boris Johnson had a large number of photos taken of himself standing next to a tram with the destination "Crystal Palace" on its front, with Boris gushing away about how extending the line to Crystal Palace would regenerate the area. When asked how much it would cost, he cheerfully replied that he had no idea.

I suspect that Boris was fully aware that such an extension would not be seriously considered unless there was a watertight proposal to rebuild The Crystal Palace, which has been on the back burner for the past eighty years.

Chrystal Palace is a community in South London. I have some friends that lived there around about the millennium. At that time it struck me as being quite a thriving area not in any particular need of regeneration.

[Humph Warden Bennett]

Chrystal Palace is a community in South London. I have some friends that lived there around about the millennium. At that time it struck me as being quite a thriving area not in any particular need of regeneration.

My brother lives near there. The pub now known as Westow Houseis less rowdy and dangerous than at any time in my life, I can remember talking to an old boy in 1975 & he told me that it had been a rough house since before the war.

The whole ambience of the place is dictated by the ghost of the Palace, that is what gives it its unique charm.