DLR trains have certain doors sealed at all times to assist staff
DLR trains will now have the first and last set of doors locked shut at all times to protect on board staff.
For some time chains have been placed across the carriage interior to stop people sitting in areas of a carriage.
These new measures have raised fears that passengers are being forced into a smaller area and using fewer doors. Unlike the tube, for example, most stations are unstaffed and have no barriers restricting passenger numbers reaching a platform and boarding trains.
And it means no longer “driving” the train for some time to come – for now at least.
TfL state staff will keep an eye out for vulnerable passengers and ensure trains do not depart until everyone had boarded.
The DLR trains have has large signs rather than chains to barrier off the front/rear 4 pairs of seats on the trains for several weeks.
they deserve to be protected
I was on a DLR train about a month ago and noted the area where the ‘captain’ takes over the controls is now gated.
It is thier work place too, they need to be kept safe and Covid secure… you are only on a train for a few mins from one stop to another, they spend their whole working day with dozens if not hundreds of people boarding and exiting. Passengers have a choice wether they board an already full train and can wait for the next one “train captains” do not. Think about that.
And “unlike the tube” which has a separate compartment for their drivers that is an inaccurate and unfair comparison.
Are you feeling okay because yours is almost a rant that has come out of nowhere? I noted that the control area was gated. It was in no way a critical observation.