Dlr: all change

By John Hill on October 11, 2007 12:00 AM

THREE-CAR trains on the DLR are becoming a reality - but it will mean closures in the short term for Wharf commuters.
Bank and Tower Gateway stations will be shut as part of a three-year facelift, but one will remain open while the other is worked on.
The £850million scheme to re-design tracks for three-car trains, increasing capacity by 50 per cent, will kick off this weekend in a bid to accommodate booming passenger numbers, which will rise from 62m to 80m a year by 2010.

A spokesman for DLR said: "We need to make this investment to give passengers more room. Unfortunately, we cannot do this without a certain amount of disruption."
Only two weekend maintenance closures were required this year. But the number will rise as contractor Taylor Woodrow overhauls the 20-year-old system. The first of these will affect the eastbound line from Westferry and the West India Quay to Stratford links this weekend (October 13-14).
Tower Gateway station will be completely rebuilt, allowing a contingency train to be available on site, while Bank station's signalling systems will be re-calibrated. Train frequency to one station will increase when the other is closed.
Passengers travelling between Bank and Lewisham will have to change at Crossharbour, or at Island Gardens for travel between Stratford and Lewisham.
South Quay will be replaced by a new station 200 metres south, while fly-over and fly-under tracks at Canning Town and West India Quay respectively will improve the flow of intersecting lines.
Details will be posted on stations and mailed quarterly to 200,000 households. Customers can check for updates on the hotline at 020 7363 9700, or www.dlr.co.uk/improvements.
Taylor Woodrow will launch a hotline to report excessive construction noise and disruption shortly.
Several other changes to the network are under way. The £7.5m Langdon Park station north of All Saints will open by mid-December, as will the second platform at Stratford.
Woolwich Arsenal station will be unveiled in February 2009 and a Stratford International DLR stop will appear in July 2010.
An eastern extension to Dagenham Dock is being discussed, with an eye on a 2017 opening.
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