Councillors all over Sussex should take a trip to Croydon to see how an old form of locomotion has become the way to travel in the future.

Half a century after the last trams ran in London, they have made a successful comeback.

The new trams are a world apart from the ancient clanking vehicles I remember from my childhood in the capital.

They give a smooth, comfortable and speedy ride to tens of thousands of people each week.

They run frequently with some of their route on the streets of Croydon and surrounding suburbs with the rest on the route of an old railway line to Wimbledon.

There is clear electronic information available at each stop and excellent connections with both buses and trains.

There is no engineering difficulty about installing such a system in Brighton, or in other resorts, such as Hastings and Eastbourne.

Indeed, there were trams in Brighton between 1901 and 1939, followed by trolleybuses for the next 22 years.

The basis of that system, with routes radiating out from Old Steine, could be used for any revival. An addition could be to run one route right into Brighton railway station.

It also might be possible to run a line from the Marina to Shoreham Harbour.

A bid to have a rapid transit system along this stretch of coast was made to the Millennium Lottery Fund but failed on a technicality but at least one group is seriously considering reviving it, perhaps as a monorail.

Trams are a useful form of transport in many continental cities. Some, such as Lisbon, never gave them up and vehicles dating back to 1910 swoop up and down the hills in company with more modern versions.

In Amsterdam, they are by far the best way to see the city.

Other cities, such as Grenoble, have developed modern systems with great success. The nearest example to Brighton and Hove is at Rouen, the capital of Normandy, where the system has been combined with a short length of underground railway.

The stumbling block is cash.

The Rouen system cost more than £300 million. A Brighton system would be less costly, assuming there were no underground stretches, but would still be costly. There is no way the city on its own could afford such a project.

But something like it is desperately needed.

Drive, walk or cycle along King's Road on any Saturday and the dual carriageway is blocked with cars, many containing only one person, and most going to the same destination.

An attractive tramway could carry hundreds of those people at one time and clear the seafront of unnecessary cars.

Brighton and Hove already has one of the best bus systems in the country and that could continue.

But as traffic continues to grow, their reliability is threatened.

The advantage of trams, which could be run by the same operators, is their ability to carry large numbers of people on reserved space smoothly, efficiently and comfortably.

The Government keeps saying it is dedicated to improving public transport while not making many moves to do anything about it.

Taking a serious look at a tramway in Brighton and Hove or other Sussex towns would show real commitment and could eventually help provide a transport of delight.