FLANKED by a police team at night, one of Croydon's new trams has been safely delivered after a gruelling three-day journey from Germany.

The 32-metre tram was taken to the Therapia Lane depot on Sunday and it is understood to have cost £190 to get the abnormal load over Dartford Bridge.

The delivery is the first of six new Swiss-made trams which will be added to Croydon's Tramlink system.

Desmond FitzGerald, who lives in Franklin Way, spotted the tram arriving at about 9.20pm. He said: "It was like a ship in the night so I rushed out to see.

"We're used to seeing trams in Croydon but this looked so large and looming and bigger than anything seen before.

"With the police and the flashing lights it was quite dramatic.

"It's so iconic – it brings a whole new future to the service. Trams have always been a front runner and these take it into another league."

The tram left Chemnitz in Germany on Thursday, January 5 at 10pm.

It is 2.5 metres longer than the existing vehicles and will have wider gangways and low entrance floors to provide better comfort and accessibility.

The new model will be tested during the next two months. So, the public will see it running along the network, but will not be able to step aboard for now.

It is scheduled for public use by the end of next month.

Another five new trams will arrive between now and June.

They are not a replacement for the existing trams, but in addition to them, which should enable tram bosses to run an extra four trams per hour on the Elmers End route after June.

A source at Transport for London said: "Passengers will really notice the difference in journey comfort with these new trams and the extra capacity they will bring will make the service much more convenient."

The new trams have been designed and built by Swiss manufacturer Stadler.

Last year, Mayor of London Boris Johnson announced the completion of a £16.3 million contract with the company.

Croydon Council is contributing £3 million of the total costs.

Crystal Palace appeared on the front screen of the new tram on Monday – even though the network doesn’t stretch that far.

Tram bosses insist there is no update on plans to extend the network to Crystal Palace.

Transport for London has already carried out feasibility studies into a whole range of tram extensions across south London.

But it seems the proposals to extend to Crystal Palace – abandoned by London mayor Boris Johnson after his election in 2006 – are most likely to come to fruition.

The possible extension has become a big electoral battleground for this year’s mayoral vote, with Labour candidate Ken Livingstone announcing in March that building the link would be a number one priority.

A couple of months later, mayor Boris himself joined the bandwagon with his own 'top-priority' pledge.