Eastern DLR travellers wait for Tower Gateway effect
DLR customers are waiting to gauge the impact of a re-opened Tower Gateway station on their daily commute.
The company has revealed the new timetable – and it’s a mixed bag for passengers who have complained of overcrowding on the Woolwich extension.
The city DLR terminal will re-open in the first weeks of March, following a major overhaul to accommodate three car trains.
Britannia Village residents have complained of being unable to board trains at peak time, prompting DLR to arrange a temporary shuttle from Woolwich to Blackwall to ease the burden.
The Wharf first revealed last June that the station was pencilled in for a relaunch around February 2009, and DLR has confirmed work on the station will be completed on March 2, with the opening coming soon after.
DLR’s head of development and planning Rob Niven said: “Originally Tower Gateway wasn’t going to open until May, but we’ve accelerated the programme.
“What the opening does is allow us to introduce a new timetable, which will see an improved framework for travellers on the Woolwich and London City Airport lines.
“We will run a train from Woolwich every five minutes during peak time, instead of every seven minutes. A total of 12 trains will run every hour, six to Canning Town and six on to Bank.�
However, this only partially tackles the main complaint of those who have contacted The Wharf – namely, the number of trains from Woolwich into the City. This stays at one every 10 minutes, leaving West Silvertown passengers still likely to face heavy congestion.
But Mr Niven said: “Passengers on the Beckton line will have their regular 10 minute service, but instead of stopping at Canning Town it will be extended all the way to Tower Gateway.
“Once the Canning Town flyover and the Delta Junction near West India Quay are ready at the end of May, the plan is to increase the frequency of the Beckton to Tower Gateway service to every seven minutes.�
This may tempt some Britannia Village residents to cross over the dock and use Custom House.
More than 14,000 people a day reportedly used Woolwich Arsenal in its first week, causing a few teething troubles for the service.
Mr Niven said: “We’re not surprised by the numbers, but the build up in growth probably happened quicker than we imagined.
“The airport has welcomed it because it opens up a new catchment area in South East London and Kent.�
DLR is also working on the extension from Canning Town to Stratford International, with a simultaneous opening of all stations planned for summer 2010.
The adaptation of the DLR network for three-car trains is also entering its later stages.
The summer will see the end of the long-standing roadworks on Marsh Wall, as the new South Quay station opens in August.
The final major work on the line will be done in late 2009, and will require the closure of Bank through Christmas.
A total of 55 new trains have been ordered, and 12 are already in service. A full three-car service will be up and running between Bank and Lewisham in early 2010.
But while all lines will be three-car compatible by 2011, Mr Niven said: “We’ve no firm plans for the introduction of three car services elsewhere. We will be capable of doing it but it just depends on where the demand is.
“We’ll build it up and phase it in. It could be that by 2011, more development has built up on the Stratford line or possibly the airport line.�
DLR does expect to have three car trains running on all lines during the 2012 Olympics to accommodate the estimated 500,000 passenger journeys that will be made during the games.
In the meantime, it expects to record 67million passenger journeys on the network between April 2008 and March this year, a jump from 65million in the previous period.
And the continuing expansion in and around Canary Wharf could help it break a key milestone.
Mr Niven said: “Considering the perceived downturn and some of the works that have been taking place, 67million is a significant number for a light railway.
“But even considering where the economy is, we’re still predicting that by 2012 we’ll have 100million passenger journeys a year.�
Once again the commuters from the Becton side are forgotten about. Since the Woolwich extension was opened there has been a severe deterioration in the service from Canning Town to Beckton, particularly between 17.30 and 18.00. Most evening I wait as 3 DLR's only half full pass on their way to Woolwich before I have to get onto an overcrowded DLR to Beckton. Why can they not even things up? It would be a lot more sensible to have half the trains go to Beckton and the other half to Woolwich instead of three quarters going to Woolwich.
It seems so much is being done to accommodate those on the Woolwich Arsenal branch when those on the Beckton branch have suffered equally if not more. Not only is there a ten minute wait between trains at peak times, meaning that people are crammed in, but most infuriatingly this only takes you as far as Canning Town. Here you then have to get off and either wait for a packed Bank train (coming from Woolwich Arsenal) or take the Jubilee line which to get to your ultimate destination requires further changes. As for the return journey at peak time, I don't think I need to expand on this equally painful experience. The fact is, that since Tower Gateway has closed, the Beckton line has been shortened and the regularity has decreased, both together creating a very miserable commute. Now to hear that once Tower Gateway reopens, the Woolwich Arsenal line will still be given priority makes me furious. Now it seems we won't even get the service we had prior to the works starting let alone any sort of improvement. which I was given the impression was the whole the point of the works in the first place. It should be a 50/50 split on regularity between both lines.
The stops towards Beckton have been forgotten. Why? Its not that they want to travel from Woolwich Arsenal but its because the Airport on that route has been given priority. The people in the borough have been forgotten and know its all about priority to those folks travellin to and from the airport.
I just wish that the DLR would remember that its most popular route is the Bank - Lewisham and focus on that rather than prioritising the Woolwich Arsenal route. The Bank- Lewisham route has been severely overcrowded for several years and since the closure of Tower Gateway has been operating only every 5 minutes at peak. This is not good enough. The DLR simply has no idea as to how many people use it and is being very badly managed.
Living on the Island, I have to agree with Victoria. Although reading the other views here I can't help but think the DLR provide a universally substandard service. Time for a change of management, perhaps?