Croydon Roadworks: Tram Loop Shut 2 to 8 October

Croydon roadworks come from three different road authorities at once, alongside the largest tram network in London and whatever the utility companies have dug up this week. This page keeps the picture straight: what is genuinely disrupting travel now, who actually runs each road, and the live maps that always have the current answer between our updates.

The week ahead, checked 1 October 2026

The town centre tram loop shuts from 23:00 on Friday 2 October until Thursday 8 October, and Katharine Street and part of the High Street close the same day for the Croydon Harvest weekend. On the roads, Windmill Road in Thornton Heath is shut from today until 25 October, and Waddon Road closes for five weeks from Monday 5 October.

Looking further ahead, TfL has now booked no trams at all east of East Croydon from 24 October to 5 November, across half term. We have the stops and the replacement buses in a separate story.

The council published five new notices on 1 October, numbered PN300 to PN304. They are all below, with their dates (temporary traffic orders, October 2026).

Town centre trams, 23:00 Friday 2 October to Thursday 8 October. There is no westbound tram from Church Street to Wandle Park, and no eastbound tram from Wandle Park to Centrale, which takes in Reeves Corner (TfL tram status). The full tram list is further down.

Croydon Harvest, from Friday 2 October for three days. The council’s events order closes (notice PN304):

• Katharine Street, between the High Street and Fell Road
• High Street, between Katharine Street and Scarbrook Road, and between Park Street and Katharine Street, where the cycle lane also closes
• the loading bay outside Nos 39 to 47 High Street, and the permit bay outside the Town Hall

Scarbrook Road runs two-way between Wandle Road and the High Street while the order is in force. Traffic is diverted via Fell Road, the Croydon Flyover, Park Lane roundabout and Edridge Road. The festival itself is on 3 and 4 October; our Croydon Harvest guide has what is on.

Windmill Road, Thornton Heath, Thursday 1 to Sunday 25 October. Windmill Road is closed to vehicles between Union Road and Hampton Road for footway works, and the even-numbered footway is shut along the same stretch. Beulah Grove is closed at the Windmill Road end, its one-way working is suspended, and parking is suspended along its whole length (order PN295).

Three diversions are signed for Windmill Road:

• via the A213 Windmill Road, A222 St James’s Road, Hogarth Crescent and A212 Whitehorse Road
• via the A212 Whitehorse Road and A222 St James’s Road
• via Whitehorse Road, High Street, Brigstock Road, London Road and St James Road

Waddon Road, Monday 5 October to Saturday 7 November. Five weeks. UKPN is installing ducting, and Waddon Road closes between Purley Way and Courtney Road. Parking is suspended along that stretch and in Courtney Road within 10 metres of the junction. The signed alternative runs via Purley Way, Mitcham Road, Reeves Corner, Cairo New Road, Rectory Grove and Waddon New Road (order PN294). With the tram loop also cut at Reeves Corner until 8 October, the west side of the town centre is the part to avoid next week.

London Road, Thornton Heath, Saturday 3 and Sunday 4 October, if needed. These are back-up dates for the Thames Water job that closed the cycle lanes between Whitehall Road and No 727 on 26 and 27 September. If they are used, cyclists go into the main carriageway (order PN293). The council has not said whether the work finished on time.

Ending this week

• Chipstead Valley Road, Coulsdon: the SGN closure between Brighton Road and No 10 ends on Friday 2 October (order PN291). It is due to shut again later in the month, see below
• Fairdene Road and Dunstan Road, Coulsdon: the drainage closure ends on Friday 2 October (order PN285)
• Foxley Lane, Purley: the parking suspension and footway closure outside Nos 30 to 42 end on Monday 5 October (order PN286)

Later in October

These are proposal notices, so the dates can still move. On recent form the council turns them into orders within a fortnight.

• Covington Way, Norbury: closed between Norbury Hill and Christian Fields for a sewer connection from Monday 12 October, for about five days (notice PN296)
• Mount Park Avenue, South Croydon: closed between Nos 2 and 4 and Nos 12 and 14 for an SGN gas connection, 12 to 16 October (notice PN297)
• Sherwood Road, Addiscombe: closed between Bingham Road and Lower Addiscombe Road for SGN gas main replacement, 19 October to 9 November. Its one-way working is suspended and parking is suspended in sections as the work moves. The diversion runs via Bingham Road, Shirley Road and Lower Addiscombe Road (notice PN303)
• Wydenhurst Road, Addiscombe: closed at its junction with Lower Addiscombe Road for UKPN cabling, 19 to 23 October. The cycle lane outside Nos 322 to 328 Lower Addiscombe Road closes, and parking is suspended on stretches of both sides. Traffic goes via Pagehurst Road and Tenterden Road, or via Blackhorse Lane and Sissinghurst Road (notice PN301)
• Chipstead Valley Road, Coulsdon, again: closed between Woodcote Grove Road and Brighton Road for UKPN cabling, 20 to 29 October, diverted via Lion Green Road and Brighton Road (notice PN300)
• Lower Barn Road, Purley: closed for one day on 21 October between No 130 and Riddleah Court, No 120, so vegetation can be cut back at the railway bridge. The diversion runs via Coombe Wood Hill and Mitchley Avenue (notice PN302)

The two long gas jobs that run into winter

These are the closures that will still be there in December. The council has made the orders, so they are not proposals.

Thornton Heath, until Sunday 13 December. Gas main replacement closes a block of streets in phases (order PN262):

• Penrith Road, the entire length, in two phases, with parking suspended on both sides throughout
• Cranbrook Road, at its junction with Penrith Road, which the order prints as Penwith Road
• Beauchamp Road, between Grange Road and Moffat Road
• Moffat Road, between Livingstone Road and Westbrook Road, from 28 September to 25 October
• Westbrook Road, between Burlington Road and Moffat Road, from 28 September to 15 November
• Burlington Road, in two sections, from 26 October to 15 November

The diversions run via Moffat Road, Livingstone Road, Mersham Road, Hythe Road, Grange Road, Beulah Hill and Spa Hill for the Penrith and Beauchamp Road closures, and via Northwood Road, Osborne Road, Beulah Crescent, Burlington Road, Upton Road, Cranbrook Road and Howberry Road for the Cranbrook Road phase.

The Moffat Road and Westbrook Road phases started on 28 September.

Purley and South Croydon, until early December. SGN is replacing a gas main, and five roads close in phases over about thirteen weeks from 3 September (order PN263):

• Norman Avenue, the entire length
• Purley Downs Road, outside numbers 54 to 96a
• Yew Tree Walk, at its junction with Purley Downs Road
• Purley Bury Avenue, at its junction with Purley Downs Road
• Penwortham Road, at its junction with Purley Downs Road

Purley Downs Road traffic is signed via Brighton Road, Purley Road, Godstone Road, Downs Court Road, Mitchley Avenue, Rectory Park and Sanderstead Hill.

Still running from September

• Bennetts Avenue at Bennetts Way, Shirley: shut for SGN until 12 October, diverted via Temple Avenue, Shirley Way and East Way (order PN260)
• Page Crescent and Layton Crescent, off Denning Avenue: the western junctions stay shut until 12 October (order PN273)

Finished and now taken off this page: the Kenley Lane and Hermitage Road Openreach closure, the eastern ends of Page and Layton Crescent, and Stanley Gardens in South Croydon all ran out on 28 September. Earlier in the month, Coombe Road reopened eastbound on 23 September.

The red routes: four short jobs, all Thames Water or utilities

TfL’s road disruption feed lists four live jobs inside the borough, checked on 1 October (TfL traffic status). TfL rates all four as minimal impact.

• A232 Addiscombe Road, westbound at Shirley Road: one of two lanes closed for Thames Water until Monday 5 October
• A232 Addiscombe Road, eastbound at Northampton Road: lane restrictions for utility works until Friday 2 October
• A23 London Road, Norbury, at Northborough Road: temporary lights in both directions for Thames Water until Friday 2 October
• A232 Wickham Road, westbound at Nursery Avenue: a lane restriction for Thames Water, due to end tonight, 1 October

Outside the borough, one long job still matters if you drive towards central London:

• A23 Streatham Hill, in Lambeth, about three miles north of Norbury: lane restrictions between Christchurch Road and Leigham Court Road for TfL works. TfL has pushed the end date back from 19 November to 15 January 2027. Just north of it, Brixton Hill has temporary lights at the Christchurch Road junction until 23 October.

Trams: five closures booked to early November

TfL’s forward status feed lists five planned tram closures on the Croydon side, checked on 1 October (TfL tram status):

• From 23:00 on Friday 2 October until Thursday 8 October, the town centre loop is cut. There is no westbound service from Church Street to Wandle Park, and no eastbound service from Wandle Park to Centrale, which takes in Reeves Corner.
• Sunday 4 October, no service between Arena and Elmers End, all day.
• Saturday 17 and Sunday 18 October, no service between Sandilands and New Addington.
• Saturday 24 October to Thursday 5 November, no service between East Croydon and Beckenham Junction, Elmers End or New Addington. Replacement buses T2 and T3 run from Wellesley Road. Southern trains still call at Birkbeck, except on Sundays. The stop-by-stop detail is in our story on the half-term closure.

TfL has not said what any of the work is for. TfL’s own notices disagree slightly on the town centre loop: one says from 23:00 on 2 October, a later one says from Saturday 3 October. Plan on the Friday night.

One caution, because it caught this page out in August. When the town centre was shut for track renewal, TfL moved the end date once already, from 23 August to the 30th, without warning. Check the live status before you set off rather than trusting any published date, including ours.

Correction, 27 September 2026: our update of 24 September said TfL listed no planned tram closures through to 12 October. TfL created its notice of the 2 to 8 October town centre closure at 14:26 that day, and our check missed it. The tram section above now carries it.

Trains: a clear weekend, then late-night works

This weekend, 3 and 4 October, is clear on the lines through the borough. National Rail’s list of planned engineering work still has nothing for East Croydon, West Croydon, Purley, Coulsdon, Selhurst or Norwood Junction that weekend, re-checked on 1 October (National Rail planned works). The only nearby change is overnight: the 04:12 Brighton to Bedford Thameslink on Saturday 3 October starts from Haywards Heath, with a bus from Brighton (National Rail).

The Uckfield line’s speed restriction still runs to at least Monday 5 October, as Southern’s notice said when it was last updated on 29 September. Southern says record hot weather and sustained low rainfall have left track conditions needing a reduced speed between Oxted and Uckfield, so a small number of Crowborough to Uckfield services are replaced by buses Monday to Saturday. Sunday services are unchanged. Season ticket holders who park at Uckfield and Buxted can park at Crowborough and Eridge at no extra cost (National Rail). If you use East Croydon for the Uckfield line, journeys are longer than the timetable suggests.

Monday 5 to Friday 9 October, late evenings. Two overnight jobs land on Croydon at once.

• Selhurst area, Monday to Thursday nights: the 23:40 London Victoria to Sutton is diverted after Selhurst and terminates at East Croydon, with a replacement bus on to Sutton via West Croydon calling at all stations. On the Tuesday to Friday early mornings, the 00:01 London Bridge to Selhurst terminates at Norwood Junction, with a bus from Tulse Hill via Streatham Common (National Rail)
• Redhill area, Monday to Thursday nights: the 00:08 London Victoria to Three Bridges will not call at Coulsdon South, Merstham or Redhill, with a bus from Purley to Three Bridges via Redhill. No Thameslink trains call at Redhill between about 00:25 and 04:30, and Thameslink tickets are accepted on Southern replacement buses between Purley and Horley (National Rail)

Sunday 11 October is the next full day of changes at East Croydon, and it is a bigger one. Southern is working in the Streatham and East Croydon areas all day (National Rail):

• London Victoria to London Bridge trains will not run at all
• Victoria to Sutton and Epsom Downs trains are diverted to run between Victoria and East Croydon, with extra trains running Victoria to Epsom Downs via Streatham Hill, Norwood Junction and West Croydon, calling at all stations
• between about 01:00 and 07:00, Victoria to Three Bridges and Brighton trains are diverted between Clapham Junction and East Croydon, on an amended timetable with longer journeys
• Victoria to Reigate trains run Reigate to Redhill only, so you change at Redhill

Then from Monday 12 to Thursday 15 October, after about 23:55 each night, buses replace trains between East Croydon and Caterham and between Purley and Tattenham Corner (National Rail).

Sunday 25 October, Norwood Junction and Crystal Palace. No Southern trains run between Balham and Crystal Palace, Norwood Junction or Sydenham, and no trains run between Victoria and London Bridge. No Overground trains run between New Cross Gate and West Croydon. Bus route 157 between Crystal Palace and West Croydon via Norwood Junction accepts paper tickets (National Rail).

Half-term week nights, 26 to 30 October. Two late-night jobs overlap with the tram closure:

• the 22:50 and 23:22 from Victoria to East Grinstead and the 23:07 from London Bridge to Uckfield terminate at East Croydon, with buses onward, Monday to Thursday nights (National Rail)
• the 00:35 London Bridge to East Croydon is diverted and calls only at Norwood Junction, with a bus from London Bridge to East Croydon via Sydenham, Tuesday to Friday mornings (National Rail)

The M25 and M23 next week

Everything near Croydon is overnight, taken from National Highways’ closure report for 30 September to 6 October (road closure report):

• M25 clockwise, junction 9 to junction 10: the carriageway is closed on the nights of Monday 5 and Tuesday 6 October, 22:00 to 05:30
• M23 northbound at junction 8: the link road onto the M25 in both directions is closed on the night of Tuesday 6 October, 22:00 to 05:30
• M25 anti-clockwise at junction 10: the link to the A3 northbound at Wisley is closed on the nights of 1, 2 and 6 October

The M23 gantry repairs between junctions 7 and 8, which were booked to run until 1 October, no longer appear in the report after the night of 29 September.

Sanderstead bridge, still without a date

Network Rail is replacing the bridge carrying Sanderstead Road between Broomhall Road and Purley Road. It has dug trial holes to work out how much protection the utilities underneath need, and that answer sets how long the main closures last. The council has published no dates for those closures yet, re-checked on 1 October (Croydon Council: bridge works). We will carry them here when it does.

Who runs which road

This is the evergreen fact worth keeping. Croydon’s two trunk corridors are red routes, and red routes belong to Transport for London, not the council: the A23 through the borough (London Road, Purley Way and Brighton Road through Purley and Coulsdon), the A232 across it (including Addiscombe Road and the Croydon flyover), and the A22 Godstone Road through Purley and Kenley (Croydon Council: road and pavement responsibilities). Stopping restrictions on the red routes are enforced with £100 fines (Croydon Council: red routes).

Every other public road is coordinated by Croydon Council, which schedules its own works and permits the utilities: Thames Water, SGN, UKPN, Openreach and the rest. Potholes and street problems go to the council through its Love Clean Streets app (road and pavement responsibilities). The M25 and M23, brushing the borough’s southern edge, are National Highways’ roads.

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The live maps that always have the answer

Roadworks lists date fast; these do not.

• one.network carries every permitted dig in the borough on a live map, searchable by postcode with a 12 month look ahead. It is where the council’s own roadworks page sends residents (one.network).
• Croydon’s temporary traffic orders are published monthly, and they are the first place a full street closure appears in writing, usually days before it starts (temporary TMOs).
• TfL traffic status covers the A23, A232 and A22 red routes and everything London wide (tfl.gov.uk/traffic/status), with tram, Tube and rail status alongside.
• National Highways covers the M25 and M23 (live travel updates).

When the roads jam, the rails usually win

The practical Croydon answer to a blocked road is rarely another road. East Croydon runs about fifteen trains an hour into central London off peak with London Bridge 14 minutes away, and the network barely stops at night; the full pattern, fares and caps are in our trains to London guide. Outside the closure dates above, the trams knit the borough together from Wimbledon to New Addington and Beckenham. Both systems share the same contactless daily cap, so switching mid journey costs nothing extra (TfL fares). If you drive to a station instead, our parking in Croydon guide covers the car parks and controlled zones.

Frequently asked questions

Which Croydon roads are closed right now?

Penrith Road in Thornton Heath is shut along its entire length in two phases for gas main replacement until 13 December, with Cranbrook Road and part of Beauchamp Road closed alongside it, along with Moffat Road and Westbrook Road. Windmill Road is closed between Union Road and Hampton Road until 25 October. In Purley and South Croydon, Norman Avenue and part of Purley Downs Road are closed in phases until early December. Chipstead Valley Road and Fairdene Road in Coulsdon are shut until 2 October, and the Bennetts Avenue junction in Shirley and the western ends of Page Crescent and Layton Crescent until 12 October (Croydon Council temporary traffic orders).

Is Chipstead Valley Road closed in Coulsdon?

Until Friday 2 October, yes, between the Brighton Road junction and No 10, while SGN works on the gas main (order PN291). The council has also proposed a second closure, between Woodcote Grove Road and Brighton Road, from 20 to 29 October for UKPN cabling, diverted via Lion Green Road and Brighton Road (notice PN300).

How long is Waddon Road closed for?

Five weeks, from Monday 5 October to Saturday 7 November, between Purley Way and Courtney Road, while UKPN installs ducting. Parking is suspended along the closed stretch and for 10 metres into Courtney Road. Traffic is signed via Purley Way, Mitcham Road, Reeves Corner, Cairo New Road, Rectory Grove and Waddon New Road (order PN294).

How long is Penrith Road closed for?

Until Sunday 13 December 2026. The council’s order covers the entire length of the road in two phases, with parking suspended on both sides for the whole period, to let SGN replace the gas main (order PN262). The order stays legally in force for 18 months so it can be reintroduced if more work is needed, which is standard wording and not a sign the closure will run that long.

Are there rail replacement buses at East Croydon this week?

Not this week or weekend. The next are late at night from Monday 5 October, when the 23:40 from Victoria terminates at East Croydon on Monday to Thursday nights and a bus runs on to Sutton via West Croydon (National Rail). Replacement tram buses run from East Croydon from 24 October to 5 November.

Are the Croydon trams running?

Yes, until 23:00 on Friday 2 October. From then until Thursday 8 October there is no westbound tram from Church Street to Wandle Park and no eastbound tram from Wandle Park to Centrale. There is no service between Arena and Elmers End on Sunday 4 October, and none between Sandilands and New Addington on 17 and 18 October. From 24 October to 5 November there are no trams east of East Croydon at all, with replacement buses T2 and T3 (TfL status).

Is the London Overground running to West Croydon?

Yes, until Sunday 25 October, when no Overground trains run between New Cross Gate and West Croydon all day. Southern trains between Crystal Palace, Norwood Junction and East Croydon and trams between East Croydon and West Croydon accept Overground tickets that day (National Rail). From Monday 23 to Thursday 26 November the 23:38 from Dalston Junction is diverted to Crystal Palace (National Rail). From Monday 30 November to Thursday 3 December, no Overground trains run between Sydenham and West Croydon after 23:00 (National Rail).