Transport for London cuts DLR services and reduces train speed
Transport for London have cut back services and reduced train speeds on the DLR network.
Signs have gone up at stations highlighting the removal of direct trains between two major growth areas at Stratford and Lewisham.
The cuts to direct services come exactly as the first residents are moving into new towers beside Lewisham station at Lewisham Gateway.
This latest issue comes follows shorter trains on the Woolwich Arsenal branch due to delays with new stock. A total of 54 have been ordered from Spanish manufacturer CAF.
During testing one train overshot a stop point. Ongoing testing has seen regular closures. TfL’s last update around early summer was that new trains would enter public service “later in 2024”.
Failure to introduce new stock from April 2024 has seen 30 year old B92 stock remain in service which should have begun the withdrawal process as they reach limits of mileage before costly maintenance would be required.
Transport for London have been contacted for comment regarding the latest issues. There’s further TfL meetings at the end of the month I’ll be keeping a close eye on for any updates.
Reports
It was TfL reports that also highlighted how contractor Buckingham who were building expanded DLR sidings in Beckton went under. That delayed the expansion though TfL state that specific issue will not hamper the end date for 54 new trains entering service.
Another report also revealed plans to deck over the Poplar depot for better links between Canary Wharf and areas to the north has been cancelled.
UPDATE: Transport for London have issued a statement.
Tom Page, TfL’s General Manager for the DLR, said: “As part of an ongoing review of the DLR’s signalling system, we identified some sections of the DLR network that needed a small reduction in train speed.
“We are sorry for the disruption this is causing to some customers and are looking at ways we can minimise any impact.”
“We are sorry we needed to suspend direct peak services between Stratford and Lewisham with customers now needing to change services to complete their journey, but this is expected to only add up to 2-3 minutes to journey times. We have now increased peak services between Stratford and Canary Wharf to ensure we have sufficient capacity on this busy section of the network. The speed restrictions introduced across the DLR should only have a minimal impact on journey times for the majority of our customers.
“Further assessment needs to take place before we decide whether any of the changes need to be made permanent.”
Hehe, I remember my friend and I skipped class the day the DLR was launched to go and see it. The first train was boarded by HM the Queen; the second full of local dignitaries; so we were allowed on the third. While we had tickets we had no idea that they needed to be validated on a separate machine, and so we were likely the first DLR fare dodgers.
I’m a bit confused by the TfL statement stating it could “permanent”.
The idea with new stock was to increase the frequencies on the Lewisham branch quite substantially.
I had no idea that there was a direct service between Lewisham and Stratford, but I only ever travel off-peak. I don’t understand why there is the need to change at Canary Wharf when passenger numbers are quite low between commuter hours.