Shuttles to combat grand designs rail disruption

By John Hill on May 1, 2008 9:00 AM |

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FREE shuttle buses will be provided for thousands of design show visitors to combat disruption by bank holiday rail closures.

Transport bosses warned travellers to anticipate longer journey times after DLR links around the Docklands were earmarked for closure – potentially cutting off the Grand Designs Live expo from thousands of its customers.

A spokeswoman for the show – which will form part of a major Channel 4 broadcast event – admitted the disruption would “prove a bit of a challenge�? especially as the opening weekend will be packed with crowd-pulling celebrities.

Back-up plans have been put in place. Visitors will be bussed to ExCeL in Royal Docks. And the exhibition centre and Docklands Light Railway are laying on a taxi-rank shuttle every four to five minutes from Canning Town station following the suspension of the DLR for upgrading work.

A standard replacement bus service will also run every 10 minutes from Canning Town, which can be reached on the Jubilee line.

Grand Designs Live has expanded from three to nine days in its fourth year, and organisers expect to attract up to 500,000 visitors to the event. But the DLR will be shut from Bank and Tower Gateway to Beckton and King George V as rail bosses adjust the line for new three-car trains.

Monday closures include the routes from Bank and Tower Gateway to Poplar and Lewisham, and the line from Stratford to Canary Wharf. These will re-open at 3.30pm.

Celebrities such as presenter Kevin McCloud, gardener Diarmuid Gavin and Ready Steady Cook chef Gino D’Acampo look set to ensure a busy start for the show, which drew 43,000 people last year.

A spokeswoman for Grand Designs Live said: “I imagine it will prove a bit of a challenge. The first weekend is the biggest for celebrities. But there’s something exciting planned for each day, and it should all run smoothly if people follow the relevant instructions and plan their journey in advance.�?

DLR began upgrading its lines last year in order to meet increasing demand, which is expected to rise from 62million to 80million by 2010. The company said the closure would have been pencilled in before the event was organised, but that it always engaged with ExCeL over closures “at the earliest possible opportunity�?.

ExCeL organisers are confident the centre will have “more than ample�? staff and facilities to deal with the service. Guest services staff will be on hand at Canning Town station, and the centre boasts 4,000 parking spaces for visitors.

A spokeswoman said: “This is something we do with DLR every time there are closures to make sure there is an alternative mode of transport for visitors.
“We work very closely with DLR on all planned closures, and have regular discussions with event organisers so we know how many people will be attending.�?

Passengers are advised to check www.tfl.gov.uk.

Wharf comment

For all their patina of calm, the organisers of Grand Design Live at the ExCeL must be alarmed about DLR closures at the weekend.

While the disruption is necessary and inevitable in the quest to upgrade the operation, the notion of buses chugging around E16 trying to handle the influx is not one that sits well with a slick exhibition.

At least we should be grateful that both the DLR and ExCeL recognised the clash ahead of time and acted to avoid a complete nightmare.

* DLR trains were stopped for nine minutes at rush hour on Tuesday due to a failure in the computerised signalling system. All trains were stopped between 8.03am and 8.12am while the system was re-booted.