The first tram to run under its own power on the streets of Croydon was early on 16th June, 1999. Work started in January 1997. This included the closing of the two national rail lines. It should have been ready in November 1998, but there were delays. The tram has made travel into Croydon from New Addington much faster for the people living here. Before the tram, people had to take 2 or 3 buses and then walk to get to the centre of Croydon. We really like the tram because it is so fast that it is amazing, it takes only 20 minutes to get into East Croydon from New Addington. It used to take about double that when we had to use the bus.