At a LURS meeting when Croydon Tramlink was being planned I remember
the speaker saying that with the method of construction being used the
rails could be quickly replaced when necessary by simply cutting out
the polymer they are embedded in; I think he said it could be done
with a high-pressure water jet.

Well, the time has come for the rails to be replaced on the very tight
curve at the junction of Wellesley Road and George Street, by Barclays
Bank. The trams started test running just about seven years ago; is
that the typical life of the rails on a curve as tight as this? I've
no idea, but they were quite worn. However, it's not just a matter of
cutting out the polymer, lifting out the new rails and dropping in the
new ones. Yeterday the real concrete blocks between the rails were
removed, and today the 'mock' blocks alongside the rails and the
concrete trackbed underneath were being dug out by two large hydraulic
concrete breakers. As of a couple of hours ago this part of the work
had not been completed. There were some portable lighting towers with
large metal halide lamps, so it looks like the work will continue
around the clock. Why was it necessary to do this, rather than just
replace the rails? I have seen what look like problems with the
trackbed in some places, but it looked quite sound here.

The trams are due to start running again on Tuesday morning; it took
much more than four days to construct the original trackbed and
install the rails; has a new method been developed that now enables
the work to be done in a much shorter time?