Horse-drawn trams first appeared in London in 1861, with a service between Notting Hill Gate and Marble Arch.
Soon, two more were introduced – one along Westminster Street and another from Westminster Bridge to Kennington Gate.
This enterprise does not last for long however, and the tram lines were ripped up a year later over concerns about obstructing other traffic.
But trams return in a big way to London in 1870, with various companies building lines across the capital.
By the turn of the century, almost 150 miles of tramways were in place, with the first electric tram between Shepherd’s Bush and Kew Bridge following a year later.
By 1914, London tram operators formed the largest tram network in Europe. It was around this time that the tram network reached its peak in the capital.
Over the subsequent three decades, the number of trams carrying Londoners began to decline, while trolleybuses and buses became increasingly popular.
In 1952, London’s final first generation tram made its last journey on July 1952, ending its route at a depot in New Cross.
It would then be almost 50 years before tram’s finally returned to London’s streets with the construction of the Croydon Tramlink.
The official opening of the route took place on May 10, 2000, when route 3 started operating between Croydon and New Addington.
Over the next three weeks two further routes – from Croydon to Beckenham Junction and from Elmers End to Wimbledon – also opened.
Since the first trams started to run on the network, there have been very few changes to Tramlink.
The only new addition came in 2005 when the Centrale tram stop was added.
Today, the Croydon Tramlink has 39 stops and covers 28km of track.
