Tony Mernagh seems to be saying that poor financial performance and the relatively low proportion of car journeys that have gone over to public transport following the opening of the Croydon Tramlink are decisive reasons not to consider trams for Brighton (Letters, December 1).

The environmental benefits of the Croydon Tramlink are considerable and Croydon town centre has become quite pleasant to walk around.

The financial problems of the system are, apparently, due largely to the way revenue from London travelcards is shared.

As for the traffic it has attracted, it must be remembered that much of Tramlink took over lightly-used railway routes and it will be several more years before new travelling patterns are established and the potential is fully realised.

Transport for London is confident on-street trams have a future.

Peter Bailey asks if I have "thought through the implications of running trams along Western Road, which is where most people want to go" and asks where the buses would go (Letters, December 3).

This is precisely why Western Road is the right place, if anywhere, to put a tramway. Trams would replace buses on the busiest routes and so would be guaranteed high levels of use from the outset.

Buses would be re-deployed to serve areas such as Old Shoreham Road, where public transport is poor.

As regards safety, trams are probably safer than buses as they follow a predictable path.

Neither Tony Mernagh nor Peter Bailey have mentioned what is probably the biggest obstacle (after cost) to the construction of a tramway - the disruption while the tracks were being laid.

It would take at least seven years to get a system up and running even if the political will existed. For that reason, I agree with Tony Mernagh that we should be getting 100 per cent out of our buses.

-Henry Law, Brighton