"That," he asked finally, "is a train?"
"It can't be anything else," said Fritz, not very happily. "It doesn't appear to be a signal box and there's not much point in having a wrought-iron summer house this far underground. [...]"
- The Subways of Tazoo
Colin Kapp
 History |
 Dates |
 Features |
 Services |
 Topology |
 Layout |
 Depots |
 Connections |
 Rolling stock |
London has been a port since at least Roman times, and by the 19th century ships loading and unloading at the London docks along the Thames formed a major part of the economy. By the late 19th century most of this traffic was handled by five main groups of docks, four of which were on the north side of the Thames:
The UndergrounD connection with the first two is tenuous: the East London Line passes in twin tunnels along the bed of one of the London & St.Katherine's docks, since filled in, and Canada Water station is named after one of the Surrey Commercial docks, again since filled in. It is the next two that concern us most.
The London & Blackwall Railway opened in 1840 to provide a fast (for the times) connection from the City of London to the East India Docks at Blackwall. Initially the line was cable-hauled, with operating arrangements making it possible only to travel to or from the termini, and not directly between intermediate stations; within a few years, however, it was converted to more conventional operation. The L&BR was extended three times; firstly from Limehouse to Stratford, secondly from the middle of that line eastwards to Barking, and thirdly southwards into the new Millwall Docks. This last extension - the Millwall Extension Railway - brought major goods traffic to the L&BR. It ran north-south along the spine of the Isle of Dogs from the Poplar area to the ferry and foot tunnel at North Greenwich, with numerous branches to the docksides. The light nature of the wooden bridges over the docks, and the risk of fire from sparks, meant that the line was operated by horse-drawn trains for many years.
Meanwhile, in 1852 the descriptively-named East & West India Docks & Birmingham Junction Railway was opened from Camden to the Isle of Dogs. Unlike the London & Blackwall, its raison d'être was goods traffic between the docks and the LNWR lines; passenger traffic came later and was only ever minor.
Unlike the India Docks, the Royal Docks were rail-served from the outset. About 10 years before the first dock opened, the Eastern Counties & Thames Junction Railway opened from Stratford to Thames Wharf, at the mouth of Bow Creek, and was quickly extended to North Woolwich, where a ferry could link it to Woolwich on the south bank of the river. The opening of the Royal Victoria Dock meant it was necessary to install a swing bridge over the western exit of the dock; rather than live with the inconvenience, the railway was diverted around the north side of the dock, with the original route being retained under the name "Silvertown Tramway". The subsequent opening of the Royal Albert Dock further east, with a linking canal between the two, meant another swing bridge; this time the main route was diverted under the dock, with the swing bridge used only by trains too heavy or long for the tunnel. In addition, a later branch went north-east to Beckton, ending near the large gas works.
All three of the docks in the Royals group had large numbers of tracks and sidings along their length, owned by the docks company. But, in addition, the latter owned a genuine branch railway from the start of the tunnel along the north side of the Royal Albert Dock to the Gallions hotel near the river. This branch carried only passenger and parcels traffic, with trains working through from Stratford, Liverpool Street, and Fenchurch Street.
The L&BR and the EC&TJ both became part of the Great Eastern Railway and thence the LNER. The E&WID&BJR renamed itself the North London Railway and ended up as part of the LMSR.
Until World War II, the docklands were a major area of economic activity, with hundreds of ships using the docks daily and large numbers of passenger and goods services. However, the area suffered serious bomb damage during the war - Poplar NLR holds the dubious record of being the most frequently bombed station in Britain - which it never recovered from. In combination with various post-war changes - an increase in air freight, new ports on the coast, larger ships unable to reach the up-river docks, and changes in the flow of goods - the whole area went into a major decline and most of the railways were closed down. By 1980 the only services left were the former L&BR route to Barking (the original Blackwall route having long since gone) and the services to North Woolwich via the tunnel under the docks - now part of the North London Line.
In the 1980s a determined effort was made to renovate the Isle of Dogs area. A major factor was the lack of good transport links, and so it was decided to build a new railway to serve the area. The new Docklands Light Railway was built as cheaply as possible; for example, a minimum number of trains was purchased (11 units, with the peak service requiring 10), and automatic driving and unmanned stations were both used to reduce staffing costs. Though there was some new construction, notably the viaducts over the West India Docks and along their southern edge to Crossharbour, wherever possible the line used existing or abandoned railway alignments, which the area had in abundance. These included:
The DLR was far more successful than anticipated: a few months after opening, the hourly ridership was sometimes exceeding the long-term planned daily numbers. Therefore stations were extended and new stock purchased to allow 2-unit trains to run. The shortage of connections with LU was noted (Tower Gateway is a few minutes' walk from Tower Hill, and all other connections are well to the east of the City), and so a short extension to Bank was added; since this required major tunneling, the cost was twice as much as the whole of the original system (both line and trains).
The successful renovation of the Isle of Dogs area served by the original line encouraged other such projects, and in 1989 contracts were awarded for the extension to Beckton, which would hopefully do for the "Royals" area what the original DLR had done for the "Dogs". At the same time, plans were made to convert the line to SELTRAC "moving block" signalling, tripling the capacity of the route.
In 1997 the line was sold as a Management/Employee Buy-Out.
A third extension was then built from Crossharbour across the Thames to Greenwich and Lewisham. This provided a new direct link across the river as well as connections to three existing east-west rail routes. The original route south of Mudchute over the MER viaduct has been closed, with replacement stations on the new alignment.
A fourth extension has been built from Canning Town to London City Airport and the south side of the King George V dock. Work has started on extending this under the Thames to Woolwich Arsenal.
The original single-track bay at Stratford was a bottleneck for the service, so two replacement platforms were built on the south side of the westbound Central Line track.
Finally, a fifth extension will take over the trackbed of another section of the North London Line, from Canning Town to Stratford, and then extend to Stratford International (on the Channel Tunnel Rail Link and in the middle of the 2012 Olympics area). Thus the line will then serve Stratford from two different directions.
Further proposed extensions are described in the future proposals file.
One additional change is planned: to move South Quays station east as part of a capacity enhancement project (the existing station would be too short and cannot be extended at its current location).
These dates include those of the GER Beckton and PLA Gallions branches.
[2]| 1839-06-20 | [0] | {Victoria Park & Bow} to Stratford opened [ECR, later GER] |
| 1840-07-06 | [2] | Tower Gateway to Poplar L&BR opened [L&BR] |
| Limehouse L&BR, West India Dock | ||
| 1840-08-03 | Stepney East | |
| 1840-10-01 | Shadwell L&BR | |
| 1842-08-21 | Cannon-street Road | |
| 1845- | Poplar L&BR | |
| 1847-06-14 | [1] | [Stratford Southern Junction] to Canning Town (1) opened [North Woolwich, later NLR @@@@ EC&TJ?] |
| Stratford High Street | ||
| 0 | Canning Town (1) to [Thames Wharf Junction] opened [North Woolwich, later GER] | |
| 1848-11- | Cannon-street Road | |
| 1849-04-02 | 0 | [Bow divergence] to Victoria Park & Bow opened [L&BR] |
| 1850-09-25 | [Bow divergence] to Victoria Park & Bow closed [L&BR service] | |
| 1850-09-26 | 1 | [Bow Junction NLR] to [Tilbury Junction] opened [NLR service] |
| 1854-04-13 | 0 | [Bow divergence] to {Victoria Park & Bow} reopened [L&BR service] |
| {Victoria Park & Bow} to Stratford started [L&BR] | ||
| 1854-10-16 | 0 | Stratford to [Stratford Southern Junction] opened [NLR/GER joint service] |
| 1855-11-30 | [1] | [Thames Wharf Junction] to {Prince Regent} opened [North Woolwich, later GER] |
| Customs House | ||
| 1858- | Tidal Basin | |
| 1866-08-01 | [0] | Poplar NLR to [Bow Junction NLR] opened [NLR] |
| 1870-09-01 | 0 | [East India Dock Road Junction] to Poplar NLR opened [NLR] |
| 1871-12-18 | Millwall Junction | |
| Millwall Docks [Millwall Extension Railway] | ||
| 1872-07-29 | [0] | Millwall Docks to {Island Gardens (1)} opened [Millwall Extension Railway] |
| 1873-03-17 | [0] | {Prince Regent} to Beckton GER opened |
| 1877-06-01 | Leman Street | |
| 1880-08-03 | [1] | {Prince Regent} to Central opened |
| Connaught Road | ||
| 1880-11- | [1] | Central to Gallions opened |
| Manor Way | ||
| 1884-09-01 | South Bromley | |
| 1886-12-12 | Gallions | |
| 1887- | Manor Way | |
| 1888- | Canning Town (1) | |
| Canning Town (2) | ||
| 1890-06-30 | [East India Dock Road Junction] to Poplar NLR closed | |
| 1916-05-21 | Leman Street, Shadwell L&BR | |
| 1919-05-05 | Shadwell L&BR | |
| 1919-07-01 | Leman Street | |
| 1926-05-03 | Millwall Docks to {Island Gardens (1)} closed | |
| Stepney East to Poplar L&BR closed | ||
| 1940-09-06 | {Prince Regent} to Beckton GER closed | |
| 1940-09-07 | {Prince Regent} to Gallions closed | |
| 1940- | [0] | {Prince Regent} to Beckton GER reopened |
| 1940-12-28 | {Prince Regent} to Beckton GER closed | |
| 1941-07-06 | Leman Street, Shadwell L&BR | |
| 1943-08-14 | Tidal Basin | |
| 1944-05-14 | Poplar NLR to [Tilbury Junction] closed | |
| 1949-11-05 | [Bow divergence] to {Victoria Park & Bow} closed[1] | |
| 1957-05-04 | Stratford High Street | |
| 1979-05-14 | West Ham | |
| 1987-08-31 | [3] | Tower Gateway to {West India Dock} reopened |
| Shadwell (2), Limehouse DLR, Westferry | ||
| [4] | {West India Dock} to {Millwall Docks} opened | |
| Canary Wharf (1) | ||
| 1 | {Millwall Docks} to Island Gardens (1) reopened | |
| 1 | West India Quay to [East India Dock Road Junction] opened | |
| [3] | [East India Dock Road Junction] to [Tilbury Junction] reopened | |
| All Saints, Devons Road, Bow Church | ||
| 0 | [Tilbury Junction] to [Bow divergence] opened | |
| 0 | [Bow divergence] to {Victoria Park & Bow} reopened | |
| {Victoria Park & Bow} to Stratford started [DLR] | ||
| 1991-07-29 | 0 | Bank to [Royal Mint Street Junction] opened |
| 1991- | Canary Wharf (1) | |
| 1991- | West India Quay (Delta Junction to Canary Wharf (1) rebuilt) | |
| 1993-06-28 | West India Quay | |
| 1994-03-28 | [9] | Poplar DLR to Beckton (re)opened |
| Millwall Junction, Poplar L&BR, Canning Town (1), Tidal Basin, Central, Manor Way | ||
| 1994-05-28 | Stratford to Canning Town (1) closed [NR] | |
| Canning Town (1) to Prince Regent withdrawn [NR] | ||
| 1995-07-31 | [0] | Westferry to Poplar DLR reopened |
| 1995-10-29 | Stratford to Prince Regent (re)opened [NR] | |
| West Ham | ||
| 1996-01-15 | Pudding Mill Lane | |
| 1996-02-09 | Canary Wharf (1) to Island Gardens (1) closed (bomb damage around South Quay) | |
| 1996-03-16 | 0 | Canary Wharf (1) to Heron Quays reopened |
| 1996-04-15 | [2] | Heron Quays to Island Gardens (1) reopened |
| 1996-04-22 | South Quay | |
| 1996-05-10 | East India to Beckton closed (Jubilee Line works) | |
| 1996-06-10 | [7] | East India to Beckton reopened |
| Canning Town (1), Tidal Basin, Central, Manor Way | ||
| 1998-03-05 | Canning Town (1) | |
| 1999-01-08 | Crossharbour to Island Gardens (1) closed | |
| 1999-05-14 | Stratford to Canning Town (1) started [Jubilee] | |
| 1999-11-20 | [5] | Crossharbour to Lewisham opened |
| Millwall Docks | ||
| 1999-12-03 | Cutty Sark | |
| 2001-09-30 | Heron Quays (rebuilding) | |
| 2002-12-18 | Heron Quays | |
| 2005-12-02 | 3 | Canning Town (1) to King George V opened |
| 2005-12-24 | Stratford to Canning Town (1) withdrawn [Jubilee] | |
| 2005-12-29 | Stratford to Canning Town (1) restored [Jubilee] | |
| 2006-12-09 | Stratford to Prince Regent withdrawn [NR] | |
| 2007-12-09 | Langdon Park | |
| 2008-06-27 | Tower Gateway to [Royal Mint Street Junction] closed (platform lengthening at Tower Gateway) | |
| 2009-03 | ? 0 | Tower Gateway to [Royal Mint Street Junction] reopened |
| 2009- | ? |
South Quays |
| 2009-02 | ? | King George V to Woolwich Arsenal opened |
| 2010-07-01 | ? 0 | Stratford International to Stratford opened |
| ? | Stratford to Canning Town (1) started | |
| Stratford High Street, Abbey Road, Star Lane |
[1] The National Rail line from Bow divergence to the location of the erstwhile Victoria Park & Bow station (now known as Bow Junction, but not to be confused with Bow Junction on the NLR) is used for passenger services in emergencies.
[2] Official records state the station opened on 2007-12-10, but trains were stopping and accepting passengers on the 9th.
Stepney East was renamed as Limehouse on 1987-05-11.
The original Tower Gateway to West India Quay section, exclusive of those two stations, uses the viaducts of the L&BR. Originally there was a very tight triangular junction ("Delta Junction") immediately north of West India Quay. However, when the Beckton branch was constructed, the section from Westferry to Delta Junction was greatly altered: a new line was built to link Poplar and Westferry directly, with the original eastbound track carried over it on a flyover, the northern arm of Delta Junction was lifted (though the route the tracks took along the viaducts is still visible), and West India Quay was expanded to four platforms. More recently one of these has been removed and a new eastbound line is being constructed to run from Westferry under West India Quay; this arrangement will eliminate conflicts between trains from Westferry running to Lewisham and those from Stratford terminating at Canary Wharf.
From Bank to just west of Royal Mint Street Junction the lines are in twin tubes. West of Bank (actually north, as the platforms lie under the Northern Line ones) the two tracks merge into a turnback siding. A section of level tunnel was included to allow for the possibility of a future station to replace the Tower Gateway branch.
From Poplar to Crossharbour, the line is on a viaduct. This section climbs quickly to West India Quay station, runs over three separate docks with stations on the two intermediate wharfs (Canary Wharf and Heron Quays), turns sharply east to serve South Quay, and then sharply south again; there are three tracks from West India Quay to Canary Wharf. The original route then ran on embankment almost straight to Mudchute (1), before using the MER viaduct to reach Island Gardens (1); the line was single south of Mudchute. Island Gardens (1) was built with the two platforms in a V, with the intention that the route could be extended southwards over the roads and river in various directions. This section has now been closed and the new route diverges to the east just before Mudchute (2) station. It descends into cut-and-cover to Island Gardens (2), then in twin tubes under the Thames to Greenwich. Finally it runs on a mixture of viaduct and embankment to Lewisham, where the station is between the two branches of the National Rail line.
The Poplar to Stratford branch runs in cutting along the North London Railway alignment to Bow Church, where it merges from double to single then climbs steeply to meet the link between the National Rail LTSR and Great Eastern routes (this link was the first extension of the L&BR). It then runs along the south edge of the latter's viaduct, with a loop at Pudding Mill Lane station, to Stratford, where it occupies a partial bay in the westbound island platform (giving convenient interchange from westbound main line and Central Line trains).
The Beckton branch runs on a mixture of surface route, viaduct, and cutting. Two stations (Beckton Park and Cyprus) are in the middle of road intersections, and the line runs in the middle of the road between them. From Canning Town to Prince Regent the line paralleled National Rail's North London Line (closed in 2006), while from the latter to Manor Way it largely follows the Port of London Authority line (inherited from the dock company) to Gallions. The line then turns 180 degrees between Cyprus and Beckton, so that the eastbound track actually faces west at the latter; the last hundred metres or so are along the route of the GER Beckton branch. The Greenwich Meridian used to be marked by a green line across the trackbed just east of East India station.
The King George V extension follows the route of the Silvertown Tramway, but on new viaduct, from Canning Town to Silvertown. It then diverges north, running via the City Airport. The extension to Woolwich Arsenal will be in tunnel under the river, meaning a steep descent east of King George V.
The Canning Town to Stratford International branch will take over the trackbed of National Rail's North London Line as far as Stratford.
All the tunnels are 5m (16'5") in diameter and have an emergency walkway beside the track.
The line is electrified using a bottom contact third rail at +750 V, with return through the running rails.
Although Shadwell (2) on this line and Shadwell (1) on the East London Line are completely separate stations, interchange between the two on a single ticket is permitted.
The basic pattern of service is:
| before 06:30 | morning peak | between peaks | evening peak | 19:30 to 21:00 |
after 21:00 |
weekend daytime | weekend other | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Between | Tower Gateway | and | Beckton | 6tph | 6tph | 6tph | 6tph | ||||
| King George V | 6tph | 9tph | 9tph | 9tph | |||||||
| Between | Bank | and | Lewisham | 6tph | 18tph | 12tph | 18tph | 9tph | 6tph | 6tph | 6tph |
| King George V | 6tph | 6tph | 6tph | 6tph | |||||||
| Canary Wharf | 6tph | ||||||||||
| Between | Stratford | and | Lewisham | 4½tph | 6tph | ||||||
| Crossharbour | 6tph | 9tph | 9tph | ||||||||
| Canary Wharf | 4½tph | 12tph | 6tph | 6tph | |||||||
| Between | Poplar | and | Beckton | 6tph | 9tph | 9tph | 9tph |
Weekend daytime is 08:30 to 19:30 Saturdays and 10:30 to 19:30 Sundays.
A between-the-peaks service between Bank and Prince Regent, reversing at Canary Wharf, was withdrawn in February 2002.
While Tower Gateway is closed in 2008/9, all Beckton services (including the Poplar ones) terminate at Canning Town and all King George V services at Bank.
During platform lengthening work in the summer of 2008, only one track was used from Mudchute and from Greenwich (both inclusive), with each direction terminating in its own platform at Island Gardens; the tracks used were swapped over part-way through the work.
Minimum running times from Poplar are:
| Bank | 10 minutes |
| Beckton | 18 minutes |
| King George V | 12 minutes |
| Lewisham | 19 minutes |
| Stratford | 10 minutes |
| Tower Gateway | 9 minutes |
From Lewisham to Bank is 27 minutes and to Tower Gateway is 26 minutes.
Trains in the depots that have been cleaned and are ready to go into service have the destination indicator set to "Brunswick", which was the originally planned name for East India station.
J <= West East =>
|
/---S
| |
| |
T---\ / \
M----------F---*---P--------N--------------B
A-------/ \ / \
D \------K-----W
|
C
/|
IG
|
L
A = Bank
B = Beckton
C = Crossharbour
D = West India Dock
F = Westferry
G = Island Gardens (2)
I = Island Gardens (1)
J = Stratford International
K = King George V
L = Lewisham
M = Royal Mint Street Junction
N = Canning Town
P = Poplar
S = Stratford
T = Tower Gateway
W = Woolwich Arsenal
The DLR does not use Ongar-based distances, and so I have arbitrarily set Poplar to 28.00000 (which makes Canning Town have approximately the same value as on the Jubilee Line). The DLR have been kind enough to supply me with their official inter-station distances for the original sections, which really are given to a precision of 10mm.
Unlike LU, the two directions are called "up" (towards Bank, Tower Gateway, and Stratford via West Ham) and "down" (towards Beckton, Lewisham, and Stratford via Bow Church) in the same way as NR lines. Platforms are simply labelled with notations such as "trains to Stratford" (though they are also numbered).
"Up" is upwards on the page and "down" is downwards.
| 337808 | 23.92772 | [T=T X] | Tower Gateway | |||
| 341809 | 24.29 | [=UD= ud X] | (Leman Street) | |||
| 342809 | 24.4 | [-] | [Royal Mint Street Junction] | |||
| 346809 | [OPX] | (Cannon-street Road) | ||||
| 349809 | 25.20043 | [U=D ud X] | Shadwell (2) | |||
| 350809 | 25.25 | [=UD= ud X] | (Shadwell L&BR) | |||
| 361811 | 26.31845 | [=UD= =ud= X] | Limehouse DLR | |||
| 361811 | 26.31845 | [=UD=ud= X] | (Stepney East L&BR) | |||
| 368809 | 27.05 | [OPX] | (Limehouse L&BR) | |||
| 370808 | 27.26366 | [OPX] | Westferry | |||
| 372807 | 27.44 | [OPX] | (West India Dock) | |||
| 377807 | 28!00000 | [U=ud=D X] | Poplar DLR | |||
| 380806 | 28.23 | [ub=UD= X] | (Millwall Junction) | |||
| 383807 | 28.58 | [OPX] | ((Poplar L&BR)) | |||
| 384807 | 28.67686 | [OPX] | Blackwall DLR | |||
| 384807 | 28.68 | [OPX] | (Poplar L&BR) | |||
| 388808 | 29.06785 | [OPX] | East India | |||
| 389808 | 29.113 | [-] | [Greenwich Meridian, see above] | |||
| 394814 | 30.17032 | [U4=3D/e6=5ww1=2e] | Canning Town (1)[3] | |||
| 395810 | 30.45 | [-] | [Thames Wharf Junction] | |||
| 395809 | 30.64 | [-] | [junction with City Airport branch] | |||
| 399808 | 30.91 | [UD =we= X] | (Tidal Basin) | |||
| 401808 | 31.15198 | [=UD= we X] | Royal Victoria | |||
| 407809 | 31.71710 | [=UD= =we= X] | Custom House | |||
| 410809 | 31.98 | [-] | [former junction with tunnel line] | |||
| 412809 | 32.23658 | [CPX] | Prince Regent | |||
| 413808 | 32.28 | [-] | [Beckton Junction] | |||
| 421808 | 33.15383 | [OPX] | Royal Albert | |||
| 427808 | 33.80287 | [OPX] | Beckton Park | |||
| 428808 | 33.9 | [OPX] | (Central) | |||
| 433808 | 34.43022 | [OPX] | Cyprus | |||
| 436807 | 35.0 | [OPX] | ((Manor Way)) | |||
| 437807 | 35.0 | [OPX] | (Manor Way) | |||
| 438810 | 35.16863 | [OPX] | Gallions Reach | |||
| 432815 | [-] | [converge with GER alignment] | ||||
| 431815 | 36.36596 | [V=V X] | Beckton DLR | |||
| 378846 | 26.5 | [-] | {{Stratford International}} | |||
| 385843 | 27.05 | [=13^^=15^ =1UD2=] | {Stratford} | |||
| 27.17 | [-] | [Stratford Southern Junction] | ||||
| 387840 | 27.43 | [ew =UD=^ X] | {(Stratford High Street)} | |||
| 28.18 | [V =ew UD X] | [Stratford Staff Halt] | ||||
| 391833 | 28.2 | [-] | {{Abbey Road}} | |||
| 391829 | 28.59 | [e=wU=D X+2] | {West Ham} | |||
| 391826 | 29.00 | [-] | [Abbey Mills Lower Junction] | |||
| 391821 | [-] | {{Star Lane}} | ||||
| 393816 | 29.89 | [OPX] | (Canning Town (2)) | |||
| 394814 | 30.17032 | [U4=3D/e6=5wU1=2D] | Canning Town (1)[3] | |||
| 395810 | 30.45 | [-] | [Thames Wharf Junction] | |||
| 395809 | 30.64 | [-] | [junction with Beckton branch] | |||
| 405800 | [OPX] | West Silvertown | ||||
| 412801 | [OPX] | Pontoon Dock | ||||
| 423802 | 34.2 | [IPX] | City Airport | |||
| 432801 | 35.0 | [IPX] | King George V | |||
| 438788 | 37.5 | [=UD=du= X] | {Woolwich Arsenal} | |||
| 327811 | 22.82335 | [CPX8] | Bank[4] | |||
| 342809 | 24.4 | [-] | [Royal Mint Street Junction] | |||
| 370808 | 27.26366 | [OPX] | Westferry | |||
| 372807 | 27.55 | [OPX] | (West India Dock) | |||
| 374805 | 27.85652 | [U=UD= X+1] | West India Quay | |||
| 374803 | 28.05552 | [=1U2=3B4=5D6=] | Canary Wharf (1) | |||
| 374801 | 28.24303 | [OPX] | ((Heron Quays)) | |||
| 374800 | 28.289 | [OPX] | Heron Quays | |||
| 376798 | 28.69452 | [OPX] | South Quay | |||
| 378797 | 28.9 | [OPX] | {{South Quay}} | |||
| 379792 | 29.50450 | [OPX] | Crossharbour | |||
| 379792 | 29.50 | [OPX] | (Millwall Docks) | |||
| 379787 | 29.994 | [OPX] | Mudchute (2) | |||
| 379787 | 30.07 | [-] | [tunnel mouth] | |||
| 382784 | 30.441 | [IPX] | Island Gardens (2) | |||
| 382777 | 31.216 | [IPX] | Cutty Sark for Maritime Greenwich | |||
| 380773 | 31.76 | [-] | [tunnel mouth] | |||
| 378773 | 31.877 | [=ew=UD=] | Greenwich | |||
| 374768 | 32.621 | [OPX] | Deptford Bridge | |||
| 378762 | 33.438 | [OPX] | Elverson Road | |||
| 380759 | 33.884 | [IPX4] | Lewisham | |||
| 381758 | 33.95 | [-] | [end of tracks] | |||
| 379789 | 29.80 | [-] | [divergence from current route] | |||
| 379786 | 30.15190 | [OPX] | (Mudchute (1)) | |||
| 382783 | 30.59198 | [V=V X] | (Island Gardens (1)) | |||
| 374805 | 27=70491 | [=DU=u +1] | West India Quay | |||
| (Up tracks through West India Quay become down tracks to Poplar, and vice versa) | ||||||
| 377807 | 28!00000 | [u=UD=d X] | Poplar DLR | |||
| 380808 | 28.63 | [-] | [East India Dock Road Junction] | |||
| 379809 | 28.71 | [OPX] | (Poplar NLR) | |||
| 379809 | 28.71359 | [OPX] | All Saints | |||
| 379814 | 29.2 | [OPX] | Langdon Park | |||
| 378816 | 29.39 | [IPX] | (South Bromley) | |||
| 376822 | 30.06029 | [OPX] | Devons Road | |||
| 373828 | 30.63 | [-] | [Bow Junction NLR] | |||
| 373828 | 30.68299 | [OPX] | Bow Church | |||
| 373829 | 30.73 | [OPX] | (Bow) | |||
| 373830 | 30.85 | [-] | [Tilbury Junction] | |||
| 373831 | 30.94 | [-] | [Bow divergence] | |||
| 373832 | 31.08 | [-] | (Victoria Park & Bow) | |||
| 378835 | 31.67864 | [IPX] | Pudding Mill Lane | |||
| 384844 | 32.68859 | [V'4a'='4b'V w=5we6=8ew=10eb'10a'=11we=] | Stratford | |||
[3] Eventual layout uncertain. The existing DLR tracks are above the Jubilee Line.
[4] Distances between Bank and Royal Mint Street Junction are measured via the down/eastbound line. The up/westbound tube is about 22m shorter than the km values indicate (putting Bank at 22.801).
The GER Beckton and PLA Gallions branches had the following layout (platform numbers are unavailable):
| 413808 | 32.28 | [-] | [Beckton Junction] | |||
| 431815 | 34=3 | [-] | {Beckton DLR} | |||
| 432815 | 34=4 | [-] | [DLR alignment diverges] | |||
| 438815 | 34=96 | [V=] | Beckton GER | |||
| 407809 | 31.71710 | [=UD=T] | Custom House | |||
| 410809 | 31.98 | [-] | [junction with tunnel line] | |||
| 412809 | 32.23658 | [-] | {Prince Regent} | |||
| 413808 | 32=28 | [-] | [Beckton Junction][5] | |||
| 415808 | 32=50 | [-] | [junction with swing bridge line, start of PLA ownership] | |||
| 416808 | 32=52 | [OP] | (Connaught Road) | |||
| 421808 | 33=0 | [-] | {Royal Albert} | |||
| 427808 | 33=6 | [-] | {Beckton Park} | |||
| 428808 | 33=65 | [OP] | (Central) | |||
| 433808 | 34=1 | [-] | {Cyprus} | |||
| 436807 | 34=78 | [OP] | ((Manor Way)) | |||
| 437807 | 34=79 | [OP] | (Manor Way) | |||
| 439807 | 34=99 | [OP] | [junction with City Airport branch] | |||
| 442807 | 35=24 | [CP] | (Gallions) | |||
[5] Between Beckton Junction and Royal Albert, the present DLR alignment is south of that used by the PLA branch.
There are two depots. Poplar Depot is north of Poplar station; trains may enter eastbound from the station, and may leave either westbound into the station, or northbound towards All Saints. Beckton Depot is to the east of the line between Beckton and Gallions Reach; single track links from each lead to the west end of the depot.
There are no connections to any other line.
The line is served by two-car articulated units. Five different types of these have been constructed:
| Type | Numbers | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| P86 | 01 to 11 | now running as trams in Essen, Germany | |
| P89 | 12 to 21 | now running as trams in Essen, Germany | |
| B90 | 22 to 44 | now converted to type B92 (see below) | |
| B92 | 45 to 91 | ||
| B2K | 92 to 99, 01 to 16 | sometimes also called B92 | |
| B2007 | 101 to 155 | being delivered |
Various engineers' vehicles were originally numbered 92 to 100 but subsequently renumbered 992 to 999 plus 990.
The line now operates using SELTRAC moving-block signalling, which is only fitted to B92 and later units. This is the reason for the conversion of the B90 units and the disposal of the P86 and P89 units.
Most services use coupled pairs of units, though some trains are still single units. Work is in progress to extend some station platforms to allow triple-unit trains.
Back to the CULG index.
Back to the Rail
index.
Back to
Clive's home page.