A Connection Between City Thameslink Station And The Docklands Light Railway
In the Wikipedia entry for the Docklands Light Railway, there is a section describing a proposed Euston/St. Pancras Extension.
This is said.
In 2011, strategy documents proposed a DLR extension to Euston and St Pancras. Transport for London have considered driving a line from City Thameslink via Holborn north to the rail termini. The main benefit of such an extension would be to broaden the available direct transport links to the Canary Wharf site. It would create a new artery in central London and help relieve the Northern and Circle lines and provide another metro line to serve the High Speed line into Euston.
This map from Transport for London, shows the possible Western extension of the DLR.
With all the problems of the funding of Crossrail 2, that I wrote about in Crossrail 2 Review Prompts Fresh Delays, could this extension of the DLR, be a good idea?
Consider,
- Victoria, Euston and St. Pancras are prosposed Crossrail 2 stations.
- It would link Canary Wharf and the City of London to Eurostar, Northern and Scottish services and High Speed 2.
- It would give all of the Docklands Light Railway network access to Thameslink.
- A pair of well-designed termini at Euston and St. Panras would probably increase frequency and capacity on the Bank branch of the system.
- The DLR is getting new higher capacity trains.
- Bank station is being upgraded with forty percent more passenger capacity.
- Holborn station is being upgraded and hopefully will be future-proofed for this extension.
- One big advantage at City Thameslink, is that Thameslink and the proposed DLR extension will cross at right-angles, thus probably making designing a good step-free interchange easier.
- The Bank Branch of the DLR currently handles 15 tph, but could probably handle more, if they went on to two terminal stations at St Pancras and Victoria..
- Waterloo and City Line can run at twenty-four tph.
Cinderella she may be, but then she always delivers, when there is a desperate need, just as she did magnificently at the 2012 Olympics.
The only problem with this extension of the DLR, is that compared to the rest of the system, the views will be terrible.
For myself and all the others living along the East London Line, with a step-free change at Shadwell, we would get excellent access to Euston, Saint Pancras and Victoria
But could the line still be called the Docklands Light Railway, as it spreads its tentacles further?
Maiden Lane And York Road Stations
These two disused stations are in the area of Kings Cross Central to the North of Kings Cross and St. Pancras stations.
- Maiden Lane station used to be on the North London Line and closed in 1916.
- York Road station used to be on the Piccadilly Line and closed in 1932.
This map from carto.metro.free.fr shows the layout of the lines and stations.
Note.
- The lines into Kings Cross station shown in black.
- The North London Line shown in orange.
- The Piccadilly Line shown in blue.
It would appear that York Road station has been designed to generous proportions.
Ian Visits
ThIs article on the Ian Visits web site, is entitled Reopening The Piccadilly line’s Disused York Road Tube Station.
Ian comes to the following conclusions.
A rebuilt Maiden Lane station on the Overground would be much cheaper to build, at around £8 million, and have much lower running costs. The site for the Overground station would be around 100 yards further to the north of York Road Station, roughly where a Camden Council maintains a bus garage.
Replacing that with the usual generic block of flats may generate the cash to fund a rebuilt Maiden Lane station.
However, York Road tube station is unlikely to ever reopen to the public again.
I very much agree.
However, there is a set of circumstances, where the building at York Road station may get reopened.
Look at this picture of York Road station.
The station building is a classic design by Leslie Green and just across the road from Central St. Martins, which is a constituent college of the University of the Arts London. So surely, if the college were to have, it’s own station, it should be to one of London’s iconic designs.
Ian gives a lot of reasons, why York Road would be an expensive station to add to the Piccadilly Line, despite the fact that it could have lifts like Caledonian Road descending to the platforms.
But suppose the Docklands Light Railway were to be extended from Bank station as has been proposed.
This map shows a possible route.
But why stop at S. Pancras.? It could be extended under Kings Cross station, stopping where required to finish at York Road station.
- Only the building would be used.
- There would be no connection to the Piccadilly Line.
- The Docklands Light Railway tunnels would be several metres down to travel under buildings and the stations.
- An underground passage could be built to a reopened Maiden Lane station.
A worthwhile use would have been found for an iconic building and Kings Cross Central would have much better public transport connections.
Riding Docklands Light Railway Trains In Essen
This may seem an unusual title, but look at these pictures.
These are the original Docklands Light Railway trains, that were sold to Essen, who rebuilt them for the Essen Stadtbahn.
Note how they have been converted from third-rail to overhead electrification.
Some of our trains will be scrapped when they retire, like probably the Class 314 trains in Scotland and the Class 315 trains in London, but many like London Underground’s D78 Stock, which are being converted into Class 230 trains will find new jobs to do.
This article on Trains Magazine is entitled Pittsburgh-based Company Looks To Test ‘pop-up’ Transit Options In The UK And US.
It describes how they plan to use Class 230 trains, to develop rail services in the US.
This is the first paragraph.
U.S. Railroad investor Henry Posner III and his Railroad Development Corp. have plans to bring rebuilt self-powered former London subway cars to the U.S. to enable cities to introduce low cost rail transit on existing, lightly used freight routes.
I wish Henry well!
But I do think, that a lot of older trains will be recycled to other profitable and worthwhile uses, away from the UK.
Most people would sniff at driving to wor every dayk in a 1980s-built car, but many travel to work in a quality train of the same era.
The difference is that most cars are built for a life of perhaps ten years, so you will buy another,
UK trains, (Pacers excepted!) were built with a design lifetime of forty or even fifty years.
Some mid-life updates and refurbishments have confused passengers into thinking they were new trains.
We should think of trains much more like houses than cars, when it comes to refurbishment.
Over the next few years, we will see some inteesting recycling of redundant British rolling stock.
Here Are 31 Better Names For City Thameslink, The Worst Name For A Railway Station Ever Devised
The title of this post, is the same as that of this article on CityMetrics.
I tend to agree, as the name doesn’t give too much information about the location, unless you’re a Londoner or someone, who knows about Thameslink.
Look at the passenger statistics for 2013-14 for the station and its neighbours.
- Farringdon – 5.45 million
- City Thameslink – 6.02 million
- Blackfriars – 14.4 million
They are in line with their neighbours, but nothing special.
So would a renaming help.
Of the thirty-one names proposed by CityMetric, one name stands out to me. This is St. Paul’s West.
These pictures show City Thameslink station.
Note.
- It is a double-ended station.
- The Northern entrance is on Holborn Viaduct.
- The Southern entrance is on Ludgate Hill.
- There are escalators and lifts at both ends.
- The station name is given on the platform as City Thameslink for St. Paul’s Cathedral.
This is a Google Map of the area.
Note St. Paul’s cathedral and Southern entrance to City Thameslink station are connected by Ludgate Hill. As Ludgate Hill suggests, it is uphill to the cathedral.
So perhaps a name like Ludgate and St. Paul’s West, might be better.
There could always be a referendum or an on-line vote. But some wag would come up with an unsuitable name that would win.
City Thameslink station is a modern high-capacity station.
- The station is fully accessible.
- The platforms accept twelve-car Class 700 trains.
- Thameslink will soon be running twenty-four trains per hour (tph) in both directions.
- Northern destinations include Bedford, Cambridge, Luton Airport, Peterborough, Saint Pancras International and Stevenage.
- Southern destinations include Brighton, Gatwick Airport, Littlehampton, London Bridge, Maidstone, Rainham and Sevenoaks.
- There is commercial development over much of the station, some of which is better than others.
I have also read that the signalling of Thasmeslink could accept thirty tph through the Snow Hill Tunnel. So the station could see a twenty-five percent increase in train capacity.
What the station needs is better East-West connections to make better use of the station.
Crossrail
Crossrail connects to Thameslink, one station to the North at Farringdon station, which is not a long walk.
A Pedestrian Connection To St. Paul’s Tube Station
I believe this is possible and I wrote about it in A Pedestrian Connection Between City Thameslink Station And St. Paul’s Tube Station.
A Connection To The Docklands Light Railway
This map from Transport for London, shows the possible Western extension of the DLR.
I wrote about this extension in detail in A Connection Between City Thameslink Station And The Docklands Light Railway.
Conclusion
City Thameslink station could grow significantly in importance.
As to the name, if it grows in importance, perhaps it deserves a more important name?
The French would name it after an important politician, artist, philosopher or soldier!
We don’t do that!
If City Thameslink station ends up with a good pedestrian connection to St. Paul’s station and the cathedral, perhaps the whole station complex should just be called St. Paul’s.
New Trains For The Docklands Light Railway And The Tyne And Wear Metro
Transport for London and Nexus (The Tyne And Wear Passenger Transport Executive) are both asking for bids for new trains on the Docklands Light Railway and the Tyne and Wear Metro respectively.
Both systems are standard gauge light railways, but how do they compare to each other and to other trains running or soon to run in the UK?
Width and Height Of Cars
This table shows the width and height of various trains, that are currently in use on the UK network.
- Class 994 train (Tyne and Wear Metro) – 2.65 x 3.45 metres
- Docklands Light Railway – 2.65 x 3.51 metres
- Class 399 tram-train – 2.65 x 3.60 metres
- Class 319 train (1980s electric train) – 2.82 x 3.58 metres
- Class 508 train (Merseyrail) – 2.82 x 3.58 metres
- S Stock (London Underground) – 2.82 metres width
- Electrostar – 2.80 x 3.78 metres
- Class 345 train (Crossrail) – 2.78 metres width
Note.
- What surprised me was how similar the width and height of these vehicles are.
- The Class 345 train uses clever design to make the train as wide as possible inside.
Wikipedia says this about how Bombardier Electrostars were designed and built.
The Clubman/Turbostar/Electrostar platform is a modular design, which share the same basic design, bodyshell and core structure, and is optimised for speedy manufacture and easy maintenance. It consists of an underframe, which is created by seam-welding a number of aluminium alloy extrusions, upon which bodyside panels are mounted followed by a single piece roof, again made from extruded sections. The car ends (cabs) are made from glass-reinforced plastic and steel, and are huck-bolted onto the main car bodies. Underframe components are collected in ‘rafts’, which are bolted into slots on the underframe extrusion. The mostly aluminium alloy body gives light weight to help acceleration and energy efficiency.
From what I’ve seen in the media about the manufacture of Bombardier’s new Aventra, the manufacturing methods are similar but improved.
I would suspect that most modern trains are made in a similar way, with extensive use of lightweight aluminium extrusions for sides and roof.
Bombardier’s method of making the cabs of glass-reinforced plastic and steel, must also give the flexibility required to create an appropriate cab for different classes of trains. Currently, there are Aventras on other, that feature cabs without and with a gangway.
I suspect that Bombardier’s design team for the Aventra made sure that the design of the body could be adapted to produce a replacement train for the Tyne and Wear Metro or the Docklands Light Railway. After all, they built most of the current cars for the DLR!
This all leads me to the conclusion, that production of the bodies for the new vehicles for both routes will not be a problem. And not just for Bombardier! Stadler seem to have downsized a Flirt for Merseyrail.
Using an existing design, must also mean that equipment like seats, air-conditioning, doors and other fitments, just have to resized if needed.
Design Of The Cars
Bombardier have shown with the Aventra, that they can make cars in different lengths for different versions of the train. The Class 710 trains for the London Overground are being built as twenty metre long trains, whereas other variants have longer cars.
All Aventras ordered so far, appear to be walk-through between articulated cars.
The picture shows the inside of one of Crossrail’s Class 345 trains.
So what can we ascertain about the design the new fleets for the Docklands Light Railway and the Tyne and Wear Metro?
Docklands Light Railway
Under Future Stock in the Wikipedia entry for the Docklands Light Railway Rolling Stock, this is said.
TfL is seeking to order 43, 87-metre-long (285 ft) trains, 33 of which will replace the 70 B90/92 trains currently in use, which are the oldest on the DLR. The remaining 10 would support capacity increases in the Royal Docks area. DLR services presently operate with two or three trains coupled together, but the new fleet will be fixed formation units with walk-through carriages equivalent to the length of three current trains. The aim is to issue an invitation to tender for the new fleet later this year, with contract award planned for summer 2018.
Note.
- The trains will be walk-through.
- The new train length quoted of 87 metres, doesn’t fit the length of three current trains, but it is close to the length of three current cars, so I suspect that is what is meant.
- In the early 2010s, the whole Docklands Light Railway was upgraded for three-car trains.
- The trains need the ability to handle tight curves.
It does appear that Bombardier and the other manufacturers could design a train for the Docklands Light Railway by adapting their current design.
Consider.
- To handle the tight curves, it would probably be a walk-through train with several articulated sections.
- The current trains running as a three-car unit are 84 metres long.
- Each of the current cars is 28 metres long.
- Each of the current cars is articulated in the middle. Thus a three-car train has six sections.
- The current cars have four double doors on either side. Thus a three-car train has twelve doors.
- The new trains will be 87 metres long.
It should be noted that Edinburgh has a similar problem of tight curves and gradients like the Docklands Light Railway. The city’s Urbos 3 trams are just forty metres long, but have seven articulated sections, with six doors on either side.
Note the short sections, which show what is possible in an articulated rail vehicle.
I suspect the following.
- As the current trains have six sections, this would be a starting point for a new design.
- Four or five sections would be a more affordable design.
- There will be an optimum number of sections to handle the curves and gradients.
- Does an articulated walk-through design need quite as many doors as current trains?
It looks like a good cost-effective design is possible.
Tyne And Wear Metro
Under Proposed New Fleet in the Wikipedia entry for Tyne and Wear Metro Rolling Stock this is said.
In November 2017, the Chancellor Philip Hammond announced that the government would provide £337 million towards the new fleet. The proposed new fleet would consist of 84 trains to replace the existing 90 train fleet, as Nexus believe that the improved reliability of the newer trains would allow them to operate the same service levels with fewer trains. These are proposed to have longitudinal seating instead of the 2+2 bench seating arrangement of the present fleet, and a full width drivers cab instead of the small driving booth of the existing trains. The proposed new fleet is planned to have dual voltage capability, able to operate on the Metro’s existing 1.5 kV DC electrification system and also the 25 kV AC used on the national rail network, to allow greater flexibility. Battery technology is also being considered.
Note.
- A dual-voltage capability will be required.
- Battery capability would be ideal for short movements and regenerative braking.
- In my view longitudinal seating needs a walk-though capability.
- Currently, trains are two-car units and generally work in pairs.
- Trains can work in formations of three and four units, but the ability is not used.
If trains generally work in pairs would it be more affordable to have four-car trains?
- Could they be adapted from proven lightweight main line rolling stock, by perhaps giving the trains a smaller cross-section?
- They would only have two instead of four cabs.
- They could be articulated, walk-through trains.
- Class 399 tram-trains have shown dual voltage through one pantograph is possible.
Using a certified main line train, that had been made smaller would surely mean that certification would be easier.
I believe, that a section of the Tyne and Wear Metro works using tram-train principles under the Karlsruhe model, which allows the current trains to share tracks with other rail services.
So the new trains would make it possible for the Metro to be expanded onto main line railways. If they were electrified using 25 KVAC. Freight lines, which might see a reopened passenger service, could be electrified using the current Metro 1,500 VDC system.
It strikes me thyat by getting the design of the rolling stock right, a lot of possibilities could open up for the Tyne and Wear Metro.
Custom House DLR Station Reopens – 10th January 2017
Custon House DLR station has now reopened and trains are now stopping again.
As the pictures show, there is still a fair bit of work to do.
I’m curious, as to what the structure on top of the station is for.
At the moment, it’s just a framework of steel beams, but is it for retail or a ticket office for either Crossrail or Excel.
Crossrail’s information on the design of the station is non-existent.,
Stadler To Build Another Special
Stadlet seem to be getting a reputation for building trains for niche markets.
This article on Global Rail News is entitled Stadler to build narrow-gauge EMUs for Stockholm’s Roslagsbanan.
Wikipedia has an entry for the Roslagsbanan.
After trains for the Glasgow Subway and Merseyrail, the Class 88 locomotives and Class 399 tram-trains, they must be one of the companies in prime position for the new Docklands Light Railway trains.
Extending The Docklands Light Railway West From Bank Station
Two possible routes have been proposed foe extending the Docklands Light Railway to the West
Whether either is worth developing, I don’t know.
But consider.
- The Thameslink Programme will improve access between London Bridge and Charing Cross stations, which could take pressure off the Jubilee Line.
- The Thameslink Programme will improve Southeastern services into Cannon Street and Charing Cross stations.
- Charing Cross station has a couple of spare platforms, that some would like to re-use.
- Euston and St. Pancras stations have bad access to Canary Wharf and South East London.
- The Bakerloo Line Extension has been given the green light.
- Crossrail connects Canary Wharf to Bond Strreet, Heathrow, Liverpool Street and Paddington.
But the big issue, is what happens about Crossrail 2.
I feel that the more likely extension to the West is to go from Bank to Euston via City Thameslink and Holborn and/or Tottenham Court Road stations and finish by going on to St. Pancras.
It could link HS2 at Euston and European services at St. Pancras to the following.
- Thameslink at City Thameslink station.
- Crossrail at Tottenham Court Road station.
- Bank and Canary Wharf stations.
It would also provide a decent link between the long distance services at Euston, Kings Cross and St. Pancras.
These factors would also influence the design of the DLR Extension.
- The DLR has all the agility of a mountain coat to climb hills and turn sharply, so it might be possible to squeeze it through places impossible for a Crossrail or an Underground line.
- 3D-design techniques are getting better every year.
- Tunnel boring machines are getting more accurate.
- Escalators are getting longer.
So could we see the extension going from Bank to City Thameslink as a traditional extension and then going in a long double-track loop via some or all of the following stations.
- Holborn
- Tottenham Court Road
- Oxford Circus
- Regents Park
- Euston
- St. Pancras
- Covent Garden
It would all depend on where they could squeeze the tracks through.
- Stations could be island platforms between the tracks.
- Platform edge doors could be fitted.
- Escalators and lifts could link the platforms to existing station.
There’s no reason why the line should be designed traditionally for the DLR.
How Will Crossrail Affect The Docklands Light Railway?
When Crossrail opens, there will be a simple step-free walking link between Canary Wharf station and and Poplar DLR station.
As Poplar is the station on the DLR, where the North-South and the East-West routes cross, this is one of the better connectivity features of Crossrail.
Poplar serves a junction in four directions:
- Eastbound towards Beckton and Woolwich Arsenal.
- Northbound towards Stratford and Stratford International.
- Southbound towards the Isle of Dogs, Greenwich and Lewisham.
- Westbound towards Bank and Tower Gateway.
At present to get to Greenwich and Lewisham, you need to change at Canary Wharf DLR station, but as there is a reasonable walking route between Canary Wharf station and Canary Wharf DLR station, passengers for Lewisham could use that route.
As Crossrail will also have a reasonable link to the DLR at both Stratford and Woolwich, I wonder if we’ll see some reorganisation of services on the North-South DLR route between Lewishan and Stratford International.
Will some services go all the way between Lewisham and Stratford International?
Obviously, this will be determined by the routes travellers take after Crossrail opens.
There will also be affects due to the Law of Unexpected Consequences.
I am fairly sure, that Crossrail trains on the two Eastern branches will interface well at Whitechapel station, so passengers going between a station on the Abbey Wood branch to one on the Shenfield branch may prefer to go via Whitechapel, as it will be a simple cross-platform interchange.
How will this affect passenger numbers on the Jubilee Line and the DLR?
I suspect that passengers will use the route that is best for them and this can only mean spare capacity on the two historic routes.
As Crossrail will also be a bypass for the Central Line with connections between the two lines at Stratford, Liverpool Street, Tottenham Court Road, Bond Street and Ealing Broadway, the Greater East London area will be a big beneficiary from Crossrail.
We’ll have to wait and see how passenger numbers work out, but I think that the North-South route of the DLR could be blessed with spare capacity because of Crossrail, so there may be scope to extend the route past Stratford International and Lewisham.
Two possible extensions from Lewisham are detailed on Wikipedia.
But there is nothing past Stratford International. The DLR Horizon 2020 Study, does propose an extension up the Lea Valley to Tottenham Hale. This is the report’s summary of this route.
A DLR extension to Tottenham Hale via the Lea Valley was tested extending all services (15tph) onwards from Stratford International. The route would run alongside the Lea Valley rail route. The DLR extension is seen as serving intermediate markets (heavy rail would only stop at Tottenham Hale and Stratford) and would serve the Olympic site(s) and the Olympic legacy with additional stops at Lea Bridge and Walthamstow Marshes. Potential drawbacks are largely environmental, covering concerns over Hackney Marshes and the Lea Valley reservoirs.
I talked about it in a sub-section of The High Meads Loop At Stratford. This is a summary of what I said.
Extension of the DLR to Tottenham Hale was mooted a few years ago and a document called DLR Horizon 2020 talked about extending the system from Stratford International up alongside the Lea Valley Lines to Tottenham Hale station
It may be a worthy idea, but does it really make economic sense, when according to what you believe a lot of things may be happening in the area.
- A new Lea Bridge station has been created.
- A new Hall Farm Curve will happen.
- A rebuilt Hackney Wick station is being constructed.
- Crossrail 2 is being promoted and will serve Tottenham Hale and to the North.
- Transport for London have taken over the Lea Valley Lines.
- There will be a a major upgrade in the Tottenham Hale area, which is described in this document on the Haringey Council web site.
- Four-tracking will happen through Tottenham Hale station.
When the heavy rail expansion is sorted and the area between Tottenham and Walthamstow is developed as housing and a very large wetland and leisure area, the case for a Lea Valley Light Railway may be stronger and in need of reassessment.
What happens to the North-South route will be driven by the consequences of Crossrail and the massive need for housing in London and the transport links to serve it.
The Mayor’s Plan For A Gallions Reach Extension
The latest plan is to extend the DLR from Gallions Reach station across the Thames to Thamesmead and Abbey Wood.
I wrote about this plan in The Mayor’s Plans For East London River Crossings.
I shall repeat what I said, as I think this is a plan with legs.
A BBC article says this about this proposal.
A DLR crossing at Gallions Reach, helping support the development of around 17,000 new homes across Newham and the Royal Borough of Greenwich
It is different to the original proposal of a Docklands Light Railway extension to Dagenham Dock, which stayed on the North bank of the Thames.
This map shows the area of London from Gallions Reach to Abbey Wood.
Gallions Reach To Abbey Wood
Note.
- Gallions Reach DLR station is marked with the red arrow.
- Just to the North of Gallions Reach station is the main DLR depot, which would probably be an excellent site to start a tunnel.
- The tunnel would probably emerge on the South bank of the Thames to the West of Thamesmead.
- It could then weave its way along the side of the main road.
- The North Kent Line with Abbey Wood and Belvedere stations runs along the bottom of the map.
- Crossrail could be extended to Gravesend.
- Crossrail should also be extended Ebbsfleet International for European rail services.
If the DLR extension went from Gallions Reach DLR station to Abbey Wood station it will be a loop on Crossrail serving a lot of areas ripe for quality housing and commercial development.
It certainly looks a feasible area to think about taking the DLR.
I also think if more destinations are created in the East, then this will need other developments.
- More capacity in the new trains, that are being ordered.
- Extra destinations in the West
- Expansion of the North-South route t balance the network.
The North and South extensions were covered earlier.
Extension To The West
I have written about this in Extending The Docklands Light Railway West From Bank Station.
Conclusion
The Docklands Light Railway must be one of the best stop-gap transport projects ever created.
Crossrail’s effects on the DLR will be more about providing opportunities, than creating problems.
We also shouldn’t underestimate the role of the DLR in bringing passengers to Crossrail.
A Design Crime – Stratford International Station
I went to Canterbury today and took the Highspeed service from Stratford International station.
These are pictures I took at the station.
Most stations have the odd design issue, but Stratford International has a whole warehouse that’s full of them.
International In Name, But Not Trains
Stratford International station must be the only station in the world, which is billed as an International station, where all trains are domestic.
That to me is fraud!
Should I report the station to the Police?
Connecting With Stratford Station
I travelled to the station via the domestic Stratford station, which meant I had to walk the best part of a mile through the Eastfield Shopping Centre, which was mainly closed as it was earl;y in the morning.
Surely the connection could have been designed to be a shorter walk.
It’s not even straight through the Shopping Centre, but you have to double back after going right through almost to John Lewis.
It’s just designed so you pass as many shops as possible. I was wanting to use a train, not buy something.
This Google Map shows the two Stratford stations.
Topsy could have designed it better. Even when she was about five!
Surely something better can be done.
The Link To The Docklands Light Railway
You could use the Docklands Light Railway, but then that introduces more changes into to your journey.It is the route recommended by the National Rail Journey Planner.
But the DLR station is on the other side of a road, rather than inside Stratford International station.
The Link To Crossrail
It’s only going to get worse when Crossrail opens, as passengers wanting to go to between say Paddington and East Kent will be drawn to Stratford, only to discover the struggle through Eastfield to Stratford International.
The alternative route via Abbey Wood will be slower and will probably mean extra changes.
There will be one better route available from Crossrail to Stratford International, when the new line opens and that will be to go to Canary Wharf station and, take the short walk to Poplar DLR station. A trip on London’s unique Docklands Light Railway will take you direct to Stratford International station. The DLR always delivers when the chips are down, just as it did in the 2012 Olympics.
No Place To Wait Before The Platforms
Except for a few uncomfortable seats designed by a sadist and what looks to be a comfortable cafe, there is no place to wait on the station concourse before going to the platforms.
A few comfortable seats would be welcome.
The Bleakest Platforms In The UK
That is being charitable, as in all my traels across Europe, even in say a very cold Eastern Europe, any set of platforms as unwelcoming.
Perhaps I should try Siberia!
Appalling Train Access For The Disabled
Considering that the Class 395 trains are the only ones to use the platforms, the disabled acess using a ramp is so nineteenth century.
I joked about the quality of this to a member of staff and they said that in the rush hour, they are sometimes assisting as many as four passengers.
It’s probably lucky that the HighSpeed service is not an intense one, as with this level of disabled access, there would be train delays.
Conclusion
The station and line is a disgrace and especially for the disabled.
Considering it was only built a few years ago, everybody concerned should hang their heads in shame.
What would I do?
- Where the DLR goes under the main line platforms at Stratford station, between the two subways, I’d extend the DLR platforms underneath and provide direct access between the two levels. This must be possible and would enable passengers to change between main line, Crossrail and Central Line services with the DLR between Canary Wharf and Stratford International.
- Try and improve the connection to the DLR at Stratford International
- Replace or modify the Class 395 trains/pltform interface with something fit for purpose, that had level access to the platforms, so wheelchair passengers could just roll in.
- Do something about the bleakness of the station.
I’d also increase the number of Highspeed services through the station, so that all destinations got at least two direct trains per hour from Stratford.
I would also add some extra new destinations like Eastbourne and Hastings.
