Secrets of the DLR

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  • Опубликовано: 11 авг 2014
  • Continuing our 'Secrets' series, we've done all the tube lines now but there's still the Docklands Light Railway! So Geoff Marshall gives us a whistle-stop tour of the curiosities to be found on London's DLR.
    Geoff has also made "More Secrets of the DLR" follow up Video! That's here: • More Secrets of the DLR

Комментарии • 740

  • @XFXRyan99QPR
    @XFXRyan99QPR 7 лет назад +107

    When i was like 7, I sat on the front of the DLR and a worker opened the control box and let me open and close the doors at the station. 10 years and I still remember it.

    • @rookaloot4736
      @rookaloot4736 2 года назад +7

      You had a good childhood

    • @awuraama7185
      @awuraama7185 9 месяцев назад +3

      Perfect childhood, I’m commenting this as of August 2023 ,16 years old, technically in some situations I’m no longer considered a child

    • @konyctg
      @konyctg 7 месяцев назад

      @@awuraama7185how did you do in your GCSE

    • @ROTREV
      @ROTREV 2 месяца назад

      So now you are 23???

  • @LouisOnAir
    @LouisOnAir 9 лет назад +407

    I once got a DLR front seat, I guess now my life is complete.

    • @ZLDSmogless
      @ZLDSmogless 4 года назад +26

      I was once in the front seat but 3 stops later a woman came along to my side of the front and said to me
      "Sorry I have to operate the train from here" I have never been able to get the front seat since

    • @thesalandarian3314
      @thesalandarian3314 3 года назад +1

      ZLD Smogless :(

    • @southern.spotter
      @southern.spotter 3 года назад +1

      ZLD Smogless same as me, and I wanted to visual it

    • @bobmiah
      @bobmiah 3 года назад +3

      ZLD Smogless was she lying or was she an actual worker who needed to do something
      (i know the dlr is automatic)

    • @mariamwoleyi8760
      @mariamwoleyi8760 3 года назад

      I got the front seat until Limehouse

  • @LinkTheFusky
    @LinkTheFusky 6 лет назад +894

    My friend uses the DLR to get home from work and he wears a uniform he once sat in the front seat of the DLR and two tourists freaked out after he got off the train because they thought he was the driver and left them inside they freaked out more when it started to move and he tried his best not to laugh at them

  • @jimmeade2976
    @jimmeade2976 3 года назад +82

    I was a member of the engineering team that built the original DLR. There's an interesting story about the DLR front seat. When the DLR was officially opened in mid-1987, Queen Elizabeth and Prince Philip boarded a train at the original Island Gardens station and rode in the front seat to the Operations and Maintenance Centre at Poplar, where the opening ceremonies were being held. As the train pulled into Poplar station, one of the Queen's security guards opened one of the train's doors before it came to a full stop. This caused the train's emergency track brakes to activate, and the Queen and Prince were jostled a bit forward in their seats. Fortunately, they did not strike the windscreen.

    • @ILiKeLmAo
      @ILiKeLmAo 3 года назад +3

      do you know what the DLR trains are made of - metal wise?

  • @Tommytillah
    @Tommytillah 7 лет назад +274

    Did you also know that Mudchute station is the only stop on the Bank to Lewisham DLR where you are NOT reminded to 'take all your belongings with you'. Have a listen next time...

    • @cumaproto9466
      @cumaproto9466 6 лет назад +75

      So I can leave my belongings behind there?

    • @Great_WesternTVFan
      @Great_WesternTVFan 6 лет назад +5

      Radioactivechickenishere because of think it has a reversing siding or a quick loop that's why

    • @jpbdude4223
      @jpbdude4223 5 лет назад +2

      Radioactivechickenishere yeah XD

    • @epiconeil3772
      @epiconeil3772 5 лет назад +3

      It’s not because it does not say that announcement ever

    • @Adrianj9107
      @Adrianj9107 5 лет назад +2

      I find it only does it at Greenwich Cutty Sark and a couple of other ones from Lewisham to Stratford, and maybe Canary Wharf

  • @Ben-yq3gu
    @Ben-yq3gu 9 лет назад +374

    Re sitting at the front pretending to drive: on my first ever trip on the DLR just after it opened I did that, and it felt like we were living in the future. My second ever trip, that bubble burst: there was a problem with the computer control, and they actually had a driver sitting at the front driving the train. There's a panel at the front which opens up and has a complete set of driving controls in there. It felt like all my dreams had died that day.

    • @TheUrbanGaze
      @TheUrbanGaze 6 лет назад +34

      Most trains usually operated by computer have those contingency manual control panels, just in case.

    • @erkinalp
      @erkinalp 6 лет назад +1

      manual override is limited to 20km/h.

    • @dhairyagurung8939
      @dhairyagurung8939 6 лет назад

      Ben Wheeler doer
      Dlr

    • @nightavenger375
      @nightavenger375 6 лет назад +4

      I'm so sorry to hear about your dreams crushed

    • @mirgezyf6425
      @mirgezyf6425 6 лет назад

      Ben 23 i

  • @user-ky6vw5up9m
    @user-ky6vw5up9m 5 лет назад +22

    The DLR has an “upside-down” traction-current-rail / train-shoe interface which gives it greater resilience to winter icing-up than the traditional U.K. third rail system.

  • @railotaku
    @railotaku 9 лет назад +113

    City Airport shuts on a Saturday afternoon to give the locals a break from the noise

  • @MeMyselfAndEyez
    @MeMyselfAndEyez 4 года назад +25

    Would quite happily watch an hour length episode of each of these (including the Tube ones), shame they're so short! :-D

    • @TheKlink
      @TheKlink Год назад

      Watch these 2 channels, plenty to see:
      ruclips.net/user/geofftech2 geoff marshall
      ruclips.net/user/JagoHazzard jego hazard

  • @jamestoyn9755
    @jamestoyn9755 8 лет назад +6

    I remember watching Geoffrey Marshall on the tube programme back in 2003 episode 24 hours which was the world record for travelling on all the underground line and to all 250 stations I will never forget that episode.

  • @draftsmann
    @draftsmann 6 лет назад +3

    As an Anglo-Maltese mongrel I divide my time between London and Malta. Woolwich Arsenal is my local station... where the terrazzo floor tiles on the DLR platforms and walkways were made, wait for it, in Malta. By a company called Hal Mann. Kind of nice to have a bit of home from home.

  • @shadowfan982
    @shadowfan982 7 лет назад +49

    I managed to get the front seat as a child once

    • @buksi6342
      @buksi6342 6 лет назад +16

      Shadow Fan every time i was on the DLR, i got the front seat. Once a whining kid came and told me to give him teh seat. I did not give it up for him.

    • @SRBAnimate
      @SRBAnimate 5 лет назад +3

      Weird flex but ok

    • @YukiGersaniba
      @YukiGersaniba 4 года назад

      Guess I am a child

    • @danbotten5602
      @danbotten5602 3 года назад

      @@buksi6342 that kid deserved it . they will have to wait

  • @chriswood642
    @chriswood642 9 лет назад +5

    thanks Geoff, appreciate your work as always :)

  • @robster773
    @robster773 4 года назад +2

    The DLR is very handy to Get from Bank or Tower Gateway to Beckton or Royal Albert where I travelled to on a really regular basis catching the Main line train down from the East Midlands to St Pancras getting the Tube from King’s X on the Northern Line down to Bank and changing there to catch the DLR changing at Shadwell, or Lime House for DLR services to Beckton
    Great video Geoff!

  • @skidawg22
    @skidawg22 4 года назад +60

    1:16 "To this day, it's only used by wankers."

    • @adrianatgaming8640
      @adrianatgaming8640 3 года назад +9

      -Jay Foreman

    • @skidawg22
      @skidawg22 3 года назад +2

      @@adrianatgaming8640 Exactly.

    • @atlantic_31
      @atlantic_31 3 года назад +1

      This is stuck in my head whenever I see City Airport 🤣

    • @qon_noq6925
      @qon_noq6925 3 года назад

      I dont get it

    • @skidawg22
      @skidawg22 3 года назад

      @@qon_noq6925 Look up Jay Foreman's video on London's airports.

  • @sunilmistry1896
    @sunilmistry1896 9 лет назад +89

    No mention of the really fun roller coaster bit on your way into bank

    • @1974cfjl
      @1974cfjl 7 лет назад +8

      Bank D.L.R platforms are the second deepest in London at about 136ft below ground level.

    • @jpbdude4223
      @jpbdude4223 3 года назад

      @Joseph Stalin angwy

  • @ednuttah
    @ednuttah 9 лет назад +2

    You never fail to fascinate me Mr Marshall, just when I think the DLR HAS no secrets you explain them all, by the way 4:50 you big kid! hahahe! Love it, keep them coming I can't get enough of these Railway videos!

  • @billythekid8910
    @billythekid8910 6 лет назад +10

    The DLR has turned 30 Years Old
    It has linked East London for that long and I think its a very reliable light metro railway
    My regular DLR journey is form Langdon Park to Stratford

  • @PisauraXTX
    @PisauraXTX 5 лет назад +3

    I once rode a DLR train, but not in London. They had to sell a bunch of their old rolling stock to Essen Stadtbahn in Germany when they added the tunnel section back in the eighties.

  • @johncalvert2232
    @johncalvert2232 5 лет назад +1

    I was on a DLR train once, sat behind couple of elderly ladies from the North American continent. One said to the other, "I can't believe they could have named a station called "Shagwell"!

  • @DoubleDeckerAnton
    @DoubleDeckerAnton 5 лет назад +2

    Really enjoying these London videos! 😁👍

  • @RyutoOfficialYT
    @RyutoOfficialYT 8 лет назад +108

    Ending = My Childhood xD

    • @AtheistOrphan
      @AtheistOrphan 8 лет назад +14

      +jeffrey2014 - The DLR has always been driverless. Look it up

    • @petercdowney
      @petercdowney 6 лет назад +2

      I'm 19 years old and even at this age I still like to sit right at the front when I take the DLR. Is this worrying?

    • @KlausKokholmPetersen
      @KlausKokholmPetersen 6 лет назад +1

      I'll never grow too old to sit in the 'drivers seat' on an automated train! It's the greatest feature of the DLR!!!!!

    • @dx_ream9277
      @dx_ream9277 6 лет назад +1

      CHANNEL SHUT DOWN More like EveryAgeHood

    • @dorthusiast
      @dorthusiast 4 года назад

      @@petercdowney Nah even Geoff likes it and he's an adult

  • @pavarottiaardvark3431
    @pavarottiaardvark3431 4 года назад +1

    When I was a kid I was on the DLR (1998?) and I swear there were little toy steering wheels at the front to play with

  • @kaollakitten
    @kaollakitten 6 лет назад

    Loving the detail of you matching the DLR colourways ☺️

  • @faisarmohamed6988
    @faisarmohamed6988 5 лет назад +1

    Amazing

  • @Ibis117
    @Ibis117 5 лет назад +2

    I have caught a train to Bank from Platform 3 at Mudchute. Only once, in 15 years, but it has happened. Granted, there was a failed train on Platform 2, but still.

  • @striderpaul
    @striderpaul 9 лет назад +1

    Another brilliant video.

  • @edp6000
    @edp6000 8 лет назад +13

    You just know at some point there's going to be a major fight over who gets the front seat of the train.

  • @travellingthechilternmainl3379
    @travellingthechilternmainl3379 9 лет назад

    Another great video Geoff!

  • @burgerman2337
    @burgerman2337 9 лет назад +1

    Brilliant video! :D thank you

  • @andrewholloway231
    @andrewholloway231 9 лет назад

    Great video once again. I enjoyed this one.

  • @nickytanner
    @nickytanner 9 лет назад +12

    Great T shirt, now it's time to buy an orange one Geoff!!!!!

    • @jacklong1844
      @jacklong1844 9 лет назад

      ***** yeah wear it for the secrets of the overground

  • @jonathanbrett-warren2031
    @jonathanbrett-warren2031 5 лет назад

    This is awesome!

  • @ben.x
    @ben.x 9 лет назад +11

    Great video! Can't wait for the London Overground Secrets!

  • @1974cfjl
    @1974cfjl 7 лет назад +7

    Most of the original 1987 section of the D.L.R was built on the old London & Blackwall railway (1840 - 1926).

    • @ianmoseley9910
      @ianmoseley9910 6 лет назад +1

      1974cfjl Which was apparently cable drawn for part of the distance at one time

  • @jalabi99
    @jalabi99 6 лет назад +1

    Favorite secret: the line on the building marking the Greenwich Meridian!

  • @gdwnet
    @gdwnet 7 лет назад

    I go to East India DLR many times because of the data centre. I always wondered what that sundial was for, thanks for finally answering that question!

  • @TheUnknown313
    @TheUnknown313 9 лет назад +1

    4:46 Oh yes!! The first time I went on the DLR, I was thinking "where's the driver?" Until it pulled off by itself lol. Love the front seat

  • @fernandofalando
    @fernandofalando 7 лет назад +4

    All of these Londonist videos coming up on my recommendations really make me want to move back to London!

  • @josh_da_don7572
    @josh_da_don7572 9 лет назад

    Love these vids keep up the good work

  • @Jjtwhite
    @Jjtwhite 5 лет назад

    So cool!😄

  • @esftracksydeomg
    @esftracksydeomg 4 года назад +2

    I've actually used Platform 1 at Mudchute before, there have sometimes been trains that terminate right then and there since passenger demand for the DLR drops off after Mudchute so they operate fewer trains there

  • @Sophiebryson510
    @Sophiebryson510 3 года назад +1

    I like the design of the dlr and the jubilee line extension

  • @AndrewTiffin
    @AndrewTiffin 9 лет назад +9

    I noticed the first letter in each caption would make Docklands

  • @cr-yi7ep
    @cr-yi7ep 4 года назад

    That cool front seat also exists on Ligne 1 of the Paris Metro. Not so much a front seat as such, there are seats on each side right up to the front window. You get a great view down the line ahead. Specially interesting coming in to Bastille station, the train turns a sharp curve and suddenly you're in a station on a bridge over a canal basin.

  • @elizabethmckenzie8050
    @elizabethmckenzie8050 6 лет назад +1

    The DLR is a very helpful transportation system

  • @kathleenryan7081
    @kathleenryan7081 5 лет назад

    Geoff you da best. Plus the dlr is my favourite train ever

  • @altalternative2425
    @altalternative2425 4 года назад +2

    3:23 I saw the Canary Wharf station when I was going to the farm!

  • @ianmoseley9910
    @ianmoseley9910 6 лет назад +1

    If you stand at the end of Tower Gateway you can see the Fenchurch Street mainline platforms only yards away across the road
    Watching the elevated sections being built was interesting - built pillars first and then had a machine going across the top of the pillars hauling prefab sections into place

  • @emmapaignton4765
    @emmapaignton4765 5 лет назад +1

    Canning town great view of the DLR and jubilee line

  • @edwardmiessner6502
    @edwardmiessner6502 5 лет назад

    Largest all-automatic urban railway! Here in the US ours are small railways called "people movers" and they are usually at airports. Our largest is the Downtown People Mover in Miami.

  • @codelyokofanful
    @codelyokofanful 8 лет назад +1

    the front seat of the dlr is very common in singapore and we always have to compete with the train staff for it but except that there is no seat

  • @EuropeanTrainDriver
    @EuropeanTrainDriver 7 лет назад

    just great

  • @faizanzayansworld6314
    @faizanzayansworld6314 3 года назад +1

    😯 awesome

  • @Spaceqowboy
    @Spaceqowboy 7 лет назад +5

    Hahaha, sit in the front seat, thats what I always tried when getting on at London City Airport. Ride it quite a few times towards the City :)

  • @MikeGMcDermott
    @MikeGMcDermott 4 года назад

    And to think that the original DLR trains dating from when the DLR opened in 1987 are still in use over in the city of Essen in Germany.

  • @ellenkingsley
    @ellenkingsley 7 лет назад

    I've only been on the DLR twice now after seeing this video I'm gonna use it more

  • @user-pv9kg9ou1l
    @user-pv9kg9ou1l 6 лет назад

    Just around the back of Tower Gateway :
    station there’s the remnants of Minories station depot which was the Western Terminus of the London and Blackwell railway, it’s been shut since the 1950s.

  • @harrytrainspotter1177
    @harrytrainspotter1177 6 лет назад +2

    I have been to London and went on the DLR

  • @Thunderer0872
    @Thunderer0872 7 лет назад

    Last time I did the DLR was in 2009 from Woolwich to City airport, on the Sunday went to Bank and there was a driver sat in that chair with the box open driving it in manual mode.

  • @jntrains4526
    @jntrains4526 6 лет назад

    it is so cool when you are at the back

  • @real10g
    @real10g 7 лет назад +5

    Londist,can you do a story of the London Underground "East London Line"

  • @KarlBlackOfDublin
    @KarlBlackOfDublin 7 лет назад +1

    The first Island Garden station was on the site across the road from the viaduct, on the site that now has apartments. Not on the viaduct itself.

  • @TraindudeShields
    @TraindudeShields 8 лет назад +1

    THE DOCKLANDS LIGHT RAILWAY IS SO COOL!

    • @andrewcaicedoortiz3397
      @andrewcaicedoortiz3397 3 года назад

      no it isn't I use it everyday to take trains to Dartford from Greenwich and honestly its horrid

  • @geezerbutler4582
    @geezerbutler4582 2 года назад

    Platform 3 at Mudchute now has a service to Stratford. Also used as a siding for faulty trains.

  • @user-ky6vw5up9m
    @user-ky6vw5up9m 5 лет назад

    The DLR is much less likely to fail to during winter weather with ice and snow.
    Reason is that unlike other London railways (third and fourth rail systems) the sliding puck-up shoe on the DLR train is upside down facing upwards and makes contact with the UNDERSIDE of the traction current rail which is less likely to be iced up.

  • @radagastwiz
    @radagastwiz 9 лет назад

    A 'railfan window'! Toronto subways (except the new Rocket models) all have these too. (You're actually just next to the driver, whose booth takes up less than half the car's frontage).

  • @user-zg9kt2dn2w
    @user-zg9kt2dn2w 5 лет назад +1

    Unbelievable secret!

  • @maritime_history1912
    @maritime_history1912 2 года назад +1

    Went on the DLR today and my dreams came true...

  • @keithrussell9662
    @keithrussell9662 7 лет назад +1

    another thing that is a secret about the DLR that the onboard train assistant are called the train captain not guards or conductors. these trains are driven on the left hand side so snagging the front left seat is the best seat on the train. I sat on that seat on Sunday after taking a sunset flight on the emirates air line.

  • @daniellewis9006
    @daniellewis9006 6 лет назад

    On the scene where it has the beatles song titles on the poster. I dont know if they realise that one song is not highlighted. Where it says "Unfortunatley you are at the wrong Abbey Road, however WE CAN WORK IT OUT and HELP you get back to the correct location". Now the words get back in the sentence is another song title and thats the only one on that poster which has not been highlighted. Maybe you should mention that to them Geoff.

  • @luk3c1ary
    @luk3c1ary 6 лет назад

    I’ve been lucky enough to sound the horn going the wrong way into Canning Town. This was while it was being controlled

  • @PlanetoftheDeaf
    @PlanetoftheDeaf 5 лет назад

    I always head for the back seat, a much better chance of getting it than the front one!

  • @touringgrand9369
    @touringgrand9369 6 лет назад

    DLR is so convenient when I lived near Stratford International!

  • @theukbowlertrainspotter
    @theukbowlertrainspotter 9 лет назад

    thanks geoff for this dlr video also when you said that its quicker to change at heron quays for the jubilee line i definetly agree coz last time when i was in london i got off at canary wharf and i realised i could of got off at heron quays instead to change for the jubilee line

    • @UnseenSpirit
      @UnseenSpirit 2 года назад

      It's quicker for sure. Perhaps a minute or so. I am a security officer for canary wharf and I agree

  • @lorrainepickering1288
    @lorrainepickering1288 5 лет назад

    DLR has a great line

  • @ttrjw
    @ttrjw 4 года назад +1

    Plane movements are banned at London City Airport on Saturday afternoons; the Lewisham Extension PFI contract ends next year.

  • @UHarshanBlackBoy1995
    @UHarshanBlackBoy1995 4 года назад +1

    Is this an automatic train?

  • @reubensmart1757
    @reubensmart1757 5 лет назад +1

    When do we get a ‘Secrets of the meridian line’ video?

  • @johnathonwoodgate2046
    @johnathonwoodgate2046 4 года назад

    v interesting, thnx

  • @irenec4876
    @irenec4876 5 лет назад

    Will you do a video Secrets of Crossrail (E Word Line) Once it Opens?

  • @smyalygames
    @smyalygames 9 лет назад +21

    Do Secrets of Crossrail when it will be released to the public!

  • @dansmith4601
    @dansmith4601 6 лет назад +1

    The situation at limehouse is counterintuitive because you have to get a train there and then a c2c and then you will probably have to get on the tube or a bus from fencurch street

  • @matthewdavidcole
    @matthewdavidcole 6 лет назад

    Funny thing is platform 3 at Mudchute has been used for passenger services in the past. Just not very often. Also London City Airport is the only station with a ticket office which is correct in the sense its run by DLR. Stratford, Bank and Canning Town all have ticket offices but are run by LUL

  • @jacoblaw1994
    @jacoblaw1994 Год назад

    I love DLR

  • @PrincessZoey
    @PrincessZoey 7 лет назад

    Hey it's automated just like the Skytrain system here in Vancouver. Can sit in the front as well!

  • @TraindudeShields
    @TraindudeShields 8 лет назад

    I love any where in London

  • @davidx4591
    @davidx4591 4 года назад +2

    Geoff, could you do a video about all the train depots?

  • @DingeZZ
    @DingeZZ 9 лет назад

    Last week I saw a train parked at platform 3 at Mudchute. It was not in service, but confusingly the displays said 'Lewisham' and Lewisham isn't even reachable from platform 3.

  • @kobayashi_rko.
    @kobayashi_rko. 5 лет назад

    When my mum first moved to London with me, I had to take the DLR to school. I wish I knew all of this.

  • @junaidahmad8581
    @junaidahmad8581 4 года назад +7

    When I was a kid, one of the DLR operator was manually controlling the train and he let me have a go.

  • @andrewrobotbuilder
    @andrewrobotbuilder 4 года назад +1

    Last time I was in London, I took the DLR from Greenwich. After not finding a ticket machine and having no means of contactless payment (or any idea it was accepted), I just got on, with the intention of getting a ticket on the way back I got a telling-off from my more London- and tube-savvy friend about getting a fine that day XD the more you know

    • @fuzzysstuff9888
      @fuzzysstuff9888 6 месяцев назад

      We also didn’t know and tapped in at Poplar

  • @Dovietail
    @Dovietail 3 года назад

    Front seat! We're on the ride!

  • @timorgano
    @timorgano 6 лет назад

    Yeah, the ticket office was shut when I flew back into London City Airport last April, and I had to use the fiddly machines to get my ticket. Not easy when it involves going into London, across it, and back out again

  • @trainspotter930
    @trainspotter930 4 года назад +2

    I get what you did at 2:30. You said a u-turn and you did a u-turn

  • @superdestructorx
    @superdestructorx 9 лет назад

    Would you ever be able to do a video inside of the old stations, like not just behind the doors? (Sorry english isn't my native launguage)

  • @senolhasan1304
    @senolhasan1304 7 лет назад

    Hey Geoff
    Perhaps you can make the secrets of the stanted express that goes to the airport
    I am a huge fan of your videos 👍🏻🇬🇧

  • @scottsimpson9659
    @scottsimpson9659 2 месяца назад +1

    I’ve heard cryprus is nice and does it get busy there and is there anything to see

  • @andrewdemetrius8090
    @andrewdemetrius8090 6 лет назад

    Please cover the Gospel Oak to Barking line electrification..... assuming that they ever finish the job!

  • @jackguerra1716
    @jackguerra1716 9 лет назад

    Secrets of the London Overground
    Plus you can do river and tramlink