A few Docklands Light Railway questions

[Russel]

I've got a couple of questions in regards to the DLR, things I've wondered about for a while...

1 - Between Limehouse and Westferry, the trains run under a tunnel of blue girders, what is the reason for this?

2 - Elverson Road, Royal Albert, Gallions Reach and Cutty Sark have not been extended for three-car trains, what is the reason for this, apart from Cutty Sark which is underground so would probably cost a small fortune, all look like there should be room to extend the platforms.

3 - Stratford International is built in a concrete box, there is concrete cross-members every few meters, are these in place so the station can be built over at some point, turning it into an underground station?

That's all for now!

Thanks

 

[MotCO]

Your point 3 - maybe they are structural cross members to keep the sidewalls in place.

 

[Russel]

Your point 3 - maybe they are structural cross members to keep the sidewalls in place.

I did think that could be why, but it's only just below street level and the much larger HS1 station doesn't look to require anywhere near as much support.

 

[MotCO]

I did think that could be why, but it's only just below street level and the much larger HS1 station doesn't look to require anywhere near as much support.

The Beckenham diveunder is just below street level and has cross members, presumably for structural purposes.

 

[bramling]

I've got a couple of questions in regards to the DLR, things I've wondered about for a while...

1 - Between Limehouse and Westferry, the trains run under a tunnel of blue girders, what is the reason for this?

I’m not 100% sure, however I’ve heard it suggested that the viaduct required noise mitigation work, and it wasn’t possible to do this by way of modifying the actual structure of the viaduct. Therefore the cage provides a framework to house the noise mitigation. Presumably this was for heritage reasons.

As I say, I’m not 100% on this, but I’ve heard it said.

 

[DanNCL]

2 - Elverson Road, Royal Albert, Gallions Reach and Cutty Sark have not been extended for three-car trains, what is the reason for this, apart from Cutty Sark which is underground so would probably cost a small fortune, all look like there should be room to extend the platforms.

Elverson Road was unable to be extended as at the north end there's a sharp curve and at the south end there's land acquisition issues. Royal Albert and Gallions Reach are both elevated, extending them would have involved significant expense and construction work to widen the viaduct, not considered worthwhile for two of the least used stations on the network. Some elevated stations, such as Blackwall and East India, were extended, but they had to see enough use for the investment to be worthwhile.
With the area around Gallions Reach station now being developed there may be more justification to extending the platforms there in the future. There remains little development near Royal Albert so there's still unlikely to be a case for extending the platforms there.

 

[vla50]

Might add another question here if people don’t mind - what time will the new DLR trains be tested on the Lewisham branch? Many thanks

 

[northwichcat]

2 - Elverson Road, Royal Albert, Gallions Reach and Cutty Sark have not been extended for three-car trains, what is the reason for this, apart from Cutty Sark which is underground so would probably cost a small fortune, all look like there should be room to extend the platforms.

From Wikipedia

While most on the network have had their platforms extended as part of Transport for London's three-carriage capacity enhancement project, the two-car-long island platform at Cutty Sark cannot be lengthened due to cost (estimated at £30m) and risk of damage to the heritage site at street level. This is addressed by using selective door operation, allowing three-car trains to stop at the station by only having the doors near the centre of the train open in both end carriages; the first and last two sets of doors on each train do not open.[10] Customers are warned of the need to move to the centre to leave the train by on-board announcements. A similar situation applies at Elverson Road.

Cutty Sark for Maritime Greenwich DLR station - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

Reference 10 goes to a dead link so can't still be verified.

 

[XAM2175]

Reference 10 goes to a dead link so can't still be verified.

Did you see where it said "Archived 8 August 2009..." at the end of reference 10? That link would have worked for you if you'd clicked it. I've changed it now to make the archive version the primary link.

 

[northwichcat]

Did you see where it said "Archived 8 August 2009..." at the end of reference 10? That link would have worked for you if you'd clicked it. I've changed it now to make the archive version the primary link.

I did try that yesterday but the link timed out. If platform extensions were priced at £30m in 2005 it'll be a lot more now.

 

[LLivery]

I couldn't find anything explicitly saying there will be any oversite development after Googling it. I always thought it was designed for it though, it's a waste of land, otherwise. I found one page saying the DLR platform canopies can be removed easily to facilitate development.

I also found a 2019 pdf study about expanding the HS1 station for International services, which surprised me.

I imagine TfL must be at least studying the possibility of oversite development to bring in income.