DLR Stratford International

And so it begins. Work has physically started on the DLR extension to Stratford International this week. there has been some work in recent weeks including putting turnstiles into the fence between the track and pavement/road. this is for worker access.

The extension from Canning Town to Stratford International is going to be the mass transit system nearest to the Olympics in 2012 as well as serving the international station there. In true DLR style most of the route is using old trackbed, this time part of the North London Line, which in turn shut once the City Airport DLR extension opened a few years ago. From the mega junction south of Canning Town trains from both Woolwich Arsenal and Beckton (and in 2017 Dagenham Dock) which branch off into different platforms at Canning Town. 

Canning Town will be an interchange point for the DLR, but unlike other DLR station, passengers from the Bank/Tower Gateway direction will require some time as you have to go down to the Jubilee Line platform level, down to basement/ticket office level, walk around and then go back up to the Stratford International platforms. I can see this creating alot of problems especially for tourists (ie from City Airport or even changing from the Jubilee Line as DLR will be both upstairs and downstairs).

Im curious what they are going to do at West Ham as there isn't much space to put the lift in as the station end of the platform (which are narrow to start with) go straight into steps to the bridge over the road (I think this might be the only part of the JLE that isn't wheelchair friendly). Time will tell. 

Around Star Lane station the road is already closed and they have begun to take apart the road barriers. This is because they are actually moving the road at this point to provide space for the DLR platforms. They had the toilets there by thursday so it seems this is going to be a major point for the workforce. I hope to get some pictures soon. 

So the extension is due for opening some point in 2010, once open the whole DLR system will spend about two years without a single change. Hopefully all the new train will also be running by this point. Then once the Olympics are over is back to building new bit for the DLR starting with Dagenham Dock. 

Jubilee Line......

Well seems the Jubilee had a really bad day. In the same week the Wharf published a front page story on how last week was the worst week on the Jubilee since the JLE opened back in 1999. Now it seems this week really has got worse with a complete rush hour closure of the line.

From what I can tell there was a power failure at Neasden control tower which killed the radio over the entire line (explaining the two different reasons given for the shut down). as I type this at 23:45 the line still isn't working between Finchley Road and Stratford. Ie the busy tunnel section. Not good when this happened somewhere before 6pm. 

I myself managed to get caught up in all this when coming from Beckton to Stratford this evening. The DLR staff where on the ball announcing it quickly on the trains. So I had a trek to Poplar tonight and then had to fight to get onto a DLR to Stratford which was packed the whole way. Lets only hope tomorrow goes better for the line!

Stratford Station - Update

Mini update on Stratford station works. The posters on the Jubilee concourse have been removed and show the foundation for the new Central line platform. One thing that comes to mind is how wide the space for the new platform is going to be. The concrete stairs over the NLL platforms has been destoryed with the top part now being under the steel of the new platform. Outside the old railway engine has gone on his holidays for a few years as they ramp up major work on the station.

Just to remind people the works include a new northern ticket hall, new gateline on the east side of the Jubilee concourse linking to the new footbridge into the shopping center. This is as well as a new Central line west bound platform (Central London) and the re-opening of the 1940's station entrance to provide better access. The new NLL platforms will also be build to the north of the station as well.

Wrong Stick?

I wonder what happened here?

Seems as a
promotional event they got one of the new Javelin trains into Stratford Market Depot on London Underground's Jubilee Line. As you can see from the two pictures they managed to fit a bus in there as well. The depot is LU's newest on the eastern end of the Jubilee and on the edge of the Olympic site.


All good and well now as a
promotional event for the 2012 London Olympics but these pictures show a white Javelin with a tellow nose rather than bule with a yellow nose. Does this mean that SouthEastern is repainting all these new trains once they have finished testing them? Why didnt they just have them painted when they were making them?

Just incase you don't what the Javelin's are all about they are the the new high speed trains. Basically the only way they could get Kent's councils to drop any challenge to building the Channel Tunnel Rail Link (CTRL) or HS1 as it now known was to promise to provide high speed trains from Kent towns to Central London using new trains with a maxiuium speed on HS1 of 140MPH. Quite an improvement for some people, I.E. Ashford will drop from 83mins to 37mins, Some towns will only get minor gains like Chatham goes from 47mins to 43mins. But with connections to Stratford and St Pancras International means the Kent traveller willing to pay extra for this service will have great onwards connections. For me it means I can visit my mums in about an hour with one train compared to two Tube trains and one train for about 2hrs 30mins. Quite a saving for the extra 30% they will be charging. But we have to wait till decenber 2009 before these trains will run. This is partly because Stratford International isn't safe to let passengers use as its currently in the middle of the Olympic building site construction. This won't be helped when it opens in december 2009 as it still won't have an links to anywhere really. The DLR extension isn't supposed to open to mid 2010. I can see it now, people walking the half mile as the nice new shiny DLR train run in test mode empty. Or will the DLR work its magic and have the extension finished ahead of time again?

Which way?

This is a sight quite a few people travelling around Stratford have seen, especially on sundays. Im still not 100% which way the Central line replacement buses go towards Liverpool Street but this sign is shortly before Angel Lane (so takes you Leyton station direction).

The Central Line is off around here (between Liverpool Street and Leytonstone) because of platofrm works at Stratford. New platform is going to be connected to the Jubilee building and provide two platforms to wait for your Central London train.

The Jubilee Line has been off due to testing from Stratford depot to North Greenwich of the new signalling system due to be in daily operation in 2009. The same system is due to be operation on the Northern in 2011 and the Piccadilly 2014 (from Tubelines).

The DLR is off due to 3 car work on the route to let the extended trains run as part of the improvement project. This is going to continue untill 2010 if all goes to plan (as is typical with the DLR).

One line that isn't on here is the London Overground (North London Line) between Stratford and Hackney Wick. Im not 100% sure but it could be connected to the works for the Olympic site with the new Overground Platforms as well as the new DLR track through the area.

TfL engineering work on 1st March 2008

1st March 2008
Originally uploaded by MackenzieBlu

TfL engineering work on 1st March 2008.

Central Line
Shepherd's Bush station closed untill November 2008

Circle Line
Suspended all weekend due to engineering work

District Line
No service beween Earl's Court and Aldgate East

Jubilee Line
Suspended between North Greenwich and Stratford for signalling work

Northern Line
Suspended between Camden Town and Kennington Via Bank.
Highgate station closed.

Piccadilly Line
Southgate station closed.

TfL engineering work on 2nd February 2008

02_02_08
Originally uploaded by MackenzieBlu

Engineering work taking place on the 2nd February 2008. The Jubilee Line is suspended between North Greenwich and Stratford for testing of the new signalling system. The Circle line is completely closed as is the Hammersmith & City line west of Baker Street. The District line from Earl's Court to Edgware Road is also closed.