But they were all eclipsed last week when a 36-tonnes blast from the past took him on a VIP tour of the newly opened Tramlink system.

For the retired tram-driver, who drove one of the last trams out of the borough 49 years ago, Wednesday's maiden voyage was a return journey he never thought he'd make.

"I never dreamt they would come back," he said. "When I first heard they would be running through Croydon's streets again I wasn't sure if I was going to last long enough to see them. Well, I have and it's a great honour to be on Croydon's last and first tram."

Recovering from a cataract operation just days before, Fred gave his seal of approval to the £200 million scheme, declaring it: "A great improvement on the boneshakers we used to drive."

And the old driver from Thornton Heath had a few words of warning for his present day contemporaries.

"In my day the trams were a bit of a menace. They were a danger in so much as they drove in the middle of the road and traffic would have to pass either side of them. There were a lot of accidents and also a lot of rivalry between the bus drivers and tram drivers."

He remembered drivers on the early turn having to sign on at 4am ready for the tram to go out at 4.10am.

Fred, who lived close to the Thornton Heath depot, would nip along in his pyjamas to sign on and then nip home again to get dressed at a more leisurely pace.

But none of that was necessary on Wednesday as the VIP service, packed with dignitaries, waited patiently until Fred was ready before embarking on Croydon's newest chapter in tram travel.