In 1985-87, I was a member of the British-American engineering team that built the original DLR. The functional specification was simple ... specifying only the number of people the railway had to move per hour between the termini. It was an interesting challenge to use our engineering skills and available technology to create a driver-less full-automated and safe railway. We succeeded, and it is satisfying to know that the original DLR has grown into a full-blown transit system.
Well done - and well enough future-proofed that it now copes with vastly more traffic than originally planned and has been relatively cheap to extend, while still maintaining the original concept.
it's a real pity they ditched the driverless part and have a driver using the backup controls instead these days. Still it's the only train where the "driver" stands by the doors operating the thing with a big key and 3 buttons.
I would not call it 'instamt' success. In the beginning there was a recession and most of todays Docklands had not been build yet. Passenger numbers were very low so one could get a front seat most times untill the next stop when the automatic system broke down and the captain would take manual control. The first trains had these weird folding bus-type doors where people were not supposed to stand in the red triangles or the doors would not move. No DLR on weekends due to everlasting 'engineering works' and quite often on other days as well. London Ciry Airport ran its own shuttle bus from Liverpool Street to the terminal because the DLR was not reliable, the North London Line to Silvertown ('for London City Airport') was a nightmare on its own and weirdly Prince Regent, again labelled as 'for London City Airport' on the Beckton Extension, was on the wrong side of the basin. Residents were not too impressed either, the new 'vital rail link' terminated at Tower Gateway, which was not exactly your high street shopping area. Things improved quickly after the Bank extension opened and Canary Wharf became alive but untill then it was a very bumpy start and the DLR was referred to as a novelty or a full scale playset, like some monorail or the Birmingham Maglev.
There have been many, many, many schemes to provide a "lighter" form of transport than subway (but heavier than trams), almost all of which have failed, most in the very early project stages, some lead a dwindling life. Do you have any idea what makes the DLR stand out to make it a well-working, actively maintained system?
No. It couldn't possibly be made more British. It acknowledges controversial points of opinion without committing to a single statement of fact; it makes its primary expression unequivocally positive, while specifying no literal positives and it maintains an overall minimum of polite optimism in spite of the impending negatives that bear down upon it. There remains no recourse to make this any more British than it already is, and the very suggestion that it could be improved upon is an affront, plain and simple, to the Queen and all who sail in her.
It's often rammed now which is a good thing as it reflects the job creation and employment opportunities since 1990s recession. Early days of DLR it was very unreliable due to ever deeper bugs in the management software coming to surface. It was also bitterly cold in winter - exposed raised platforms are pretty much the highest points to feel the chill of east winds from Ural Mountains
Interesting fact: the „old“ DLR rolling stock seen at 5:15 is still in use. The vehicles have been sold to Essen in Germany where they were fitted with proper cabs and are now part of the city's light rail system.
I lived at Crossharbour on the isle of dogs for a year and loved using the DLR every day. Somehow just feels more relaxing and easy to not have to go down underground every time you want to get somewhere. I’d get to sit and watch the evening sun over the city on my late evening return from the office, instead of seeing the darkness inside a tube tunnel. Also, when my grandma would visit me we realised that the DLR is much better in terms of disabled access than a lot of the tube lines - so it was much easier to get around with her.
As a child I got to ride the DLR back in 1988 I think. I'm from a country with lots of light rails (a.k.a. trams) but this one didn't look like one to me. The automated trains were extremely fascinating, as if they came right from the future. On the Stratford branch the signalling was not yet completed, so the conductor took over the train, I was slightly disappointed. And yes, that branch was served with single units. That time the whole area was under construction, with some skyscrapers ready around Canary Wharf. A couple of years later it was already all different, trains were already running from Bank, and one didn't need to use the foot tunnel to Greenwich anymore. Eventually the Jubilee line got extended to the Docklands as well...
I prefer DLR in the summer, but tube in the winter as waiting outside can be freezing cold! The tube being indoors is perfect for avoiding bad weather ☔☃
Loved this one! I once let a train go at Bank because I wasn't sure I'd get the 'pretend to drive' seat. Went and stood all correctly lined up ready, making sure. As the next train came in, a woman with children tried to barge past me with them to take the seat. I wasn't having that and got there first. She said, huffily, 'Do you mind? They want to pretend to drive!' I said, 'So do I!', revving the handrail.
When I was a youngster at college in the 80s we had a day out to the smoke. As he used to be the Chief Executive at our Council, Reg Ward as the first CE of the LDDC gave us a tour of the East London wastelands. He explained how there would be a skyscraper at Canary Wharf and an airport on another dock. We thought he’d been on the beer. Look at it now. What vision. Might be worth a video on him.
I remember in the late 70's traveling in and out of London via the east end and passing disused docklands lines, and DLR was only low cost because routes and infrastructure was preserved. It shows how important it is to preserve this infrastructure and when you see all over the country places where people suffer commuting and transport hell because vital bits of a link have been lost.
@@JagoHazzard they even have the rails for it. also a dockland 8¼ inch line, two branch it used to be.... one branch running from The Arches (Reading RD railway station) to The Bridges in Avonmouth, the other, going from The Bridges on the side of Ashton-Court all the way up the Avon to Bedminster and Temple-Mead's
when i first moved to the area in the mid 70's they were talking about the "avon metro" including the line to portishead, which to this day we are still waiting for!
Bristol has been arguing and debating a metro/light rail system for years with no success, you can blame the likes of Dawn Primarolo and cronies for most of the prevarication in the seventies and eighties which is why Bristol is still a traffic nightmare today. I am proud to say that I was part of a very small West Country engineering company that designed and installed the third rail system in the DLR and continued to install all the extensions to the system to date. All Bristol had to do was look 50 miles south and talk to us, agree a solution and route and we could have had them up and running in a couple of years.
Used to do that on the metro in Tyne and wear - there's a,bit where the train emerges from a "tunnel " straight onto a bridge high above the river . Felt like you were flying hee hee
3 years ago I did the whole of the DLR, going through every station in 2hrs 11 mins and 8 seconds. Started at Lewisham, upto Stratford, Stratford Int, Woolwich Arsenal, King George V, bus to Beckton, Tower GW, Shadwell, Bank. And yes, from Beckton I was 1st on and sat at the front!
“Pretend to be the driver” yeah, shout out to the late 90s/early 2000’s PSAs who let the kids make announcements and press the ATO start buttons! Nice memories for those who were lucky enough to experience that 😉
The last time I used the DLR (maybe only two years ago), a little girl perhaps 8 or 9 years old got the 'driver's seat' and made the announcements. It obviously made her day, and produced smiles throughout the train.
An interesting chain of occurrences: Cargo ship workers would steal lot's of goods by "breaking/ writing off" so the container was invented as a solution. Containers -> big ships -> need for big ports -> docklands disuse & repurposement. Also, I've been working on DLR trains and stations for a while now and I'm yet to see a single-car train (outside the depot of course)
It was not simply seen as a cure for "shrinkage" but was in fact. simply a much quicker method for turning ships around in port - ALL ports not just London
My dad has a story about this. He worked in a garage as a lad, and they’d get the lorries coming from the docks (I think Birkenhead). One day, one of the drivers handed out some boxes of cereal he had in the cab. My granddad asked if this was legit. The driver explained that the dockers, being deprived of the perk of being able to swipe a couple of boxes from a pallet, had taken to breaking into the containers. So the factory gave the drivers some boxes to bribe them with. “But,” the driver said, “I don’t see why those idle b*stards should get it all, so enjoy.”
I believe single-car trains getting 'gapped' (stuck in the gaps between sections of electrified third-rail) used to be a not terribly infrequent problem on the DLR. I suspect that may be a significant reason why they no longer run single-car trains.
The expectations (of passenger numbers) sounds exactly like the first new light rail line in Stockholm since the 1940s. Tvärbanan (the "cross line", runs in a half-circle around the city) was expected to - at most - run single-car trains at 10 minute intervals. Now they're upgrading the systems so that it will be able to handle double sets every three minutes, because double sets every five minutes isn't enough at times!
A few years ago we stayed at a hotel near the Exel centre and used the DLR quite a lot. It's a great little line and allows you to have a vacation in the capital without being in the middle of things. It's also nice if you've been to London so many times you've seen all the big tourist stops; it's an area many visitors might never experience.
@@Sophiebryson510 That's not the famous Sundowner yacht in Ramsgate. We stayed at the Doubletree by Hilton hotel, which is literally the next building east of the Excel Centre.
I did, in fact, succeed at getting a seat at the front on my very first DLR ride! I took my 5-year old son who was a big train enthusiast at the time and he loved the view. The odd thing was that a couple stops in a driver boarded, connected his portable controls, and proceeded to manually operate the DLR for the rest of our journey. So we had the best of both worlds - pretending to drive and joining the driver in his cabin.
Yes, when I took my daughter, then aged around 10 years for a ride from Waterloo to Bank, we had the front "drivers" seat. The train suddenly stopped half way and a railway guy appeared with a toolbag and asked my daughter just what had she done to make the train stop! He removed a panel and fiddled with something and we were soon on our way. Thanks for another interesting video, keep them coming.
Good little video. I've only been to the UK once and did use the DLR to get about on as it travelled through the areas I wished to see or connected me to other railways as well. This was an interesting background to the lines travelled, well done.
I used to work in South Quay in an office just the right level to have the train tracks go straight past my window just a few metres away. So I would take the DLR to work and watch the trains go past all day
Great video, jogged a few more childhood memories. I’m pretty sure the bridge with the DLR unit in early colours at 5:14 is the dock we used to fish on most and dad explained what the bridge was going to be for etc. Brings to mind yuppies out sprayed on the walls etc. I’m not sure how I feel about docklands now, it was certainly in a mess and now it’s certainly regenerated. Yes I would pretend to drive the DLR when it first opened. I also had the most vivid and scary dream about going on the DLR too 🤦🏼♂️🤣
I've always found the DLR to be an interesting 'little'transit system which has since grown considerebly. I travelled the whole line on it's first day of operation (for free) and as you mentioned it immediately became apparent the trains and stations were too short. On that first day riders were stuck inside the trains due to fact that the inward opening doors were blocked by the sheer volume of people, coupled to the occasional teething problem made for an eventful day out..! Fortunately things rapidly got better.
It's great idea to extend these railways, it makes it easier to get around when it's too expensive to dig a hole. That was probably one of the most successful atempts to regenerate east london in the 1980s, and move towards Kent and Essex.
I love these channels on RUclips that you find just digging into London’s history. Became obsessed while living in Whitechapel, I like to imagine that I’m seeing London for what it was 100 years ago
I got into photography because of the docklands. I fell in love with Royal Victoria Dock. So stunning and peaceful. One of the best places in London to experience a sunset
There is a former train line near Paris with a similar fate: back when it was a regional train, it was impractical and sinister, with sparse timetables. So it was decided to convert it to a tramway, and give it some TFS stock (2-car non couplable vehicles like the DLR). Well what do you know, success was immense, partly due to the extension to La Défense and partly due to the more frequent service, to the point they quickly had to find new couplable vehicles and lengthen the platforms for 65-meter trams instead of the 30-meter old ones.
As a person who lives on the c2c line, it would be great to see DLR trains arriving directly at Fenchurch Street instead of having to walk to Tower Gateway to catch the DLR, but then you don’t really have to do that when Limehouse station exists. The real difference would be a direct link between Tower Hill and Fenchurch street, but again, that would make no sense as there’s a very short walk between the two stations if you take the Tower Hill exit, and still, not that long from the main exit.
It's quite frustrating when the c2c trains run right next to the Tower Gateway platform as it approaches Fenchurch. You wonder if they couldn't have built a simple walkway connecting the two when TG was constructed. Looking at the buildings around it now, that's pretty much impossible to retrofit.
My grandfather and uncles were dockers during the heyday of the Royal Docks. I grew up in the docklands during the late 70s, 80s and early 90s and got to see it go from deeply depressed back then to what it is today. My dad was one of the guys building all of the new stuff in the mid to late 80s - the DLR and Canary Wharf being two of the big projects he worked on. I have a memory from when I was about 10 years old of riding on a digger truck with him along what I now know to be the trackbed between All Saints and Devons Road before there was even a track there.
I liked the DLR when I first visited London in 1993... I remember when its eastern terminus was at Island Gardens and its western terminus alternated between Bank and Tower Gateway. The cars reminded me of the light rail vehicles used by the Port Authority of Allegheny County to link downtown Pittsburgh with its southern suburbs. My subsequent visits in ‘96, ‘97, and ‘01 were even more entertaining when I found that the network had expanded to places like Stratford, Woolwich, and Lewisham... in “01 I stayed in Lewisham.
@@ourresidentcockney8776 What I've found is a lot say min or ees (I haven't) but as the word comes from minoress (female under age child) it appears to be wrong.
I worked for the developer of London City Airport in the docklands (which opened in 1987). There were discussions about extending the DLR to the airport at that time, but no one had the cash to do that; and the airport developers were convinced that - as it was designed for business travellers - all the passengers would want to arrive by taxi.
"The corporation was initially received with local hostility, as is often the case with redevelopment schemes, but it can't be denied that they achieved their aims of turning things around in the Docklands." - They did, at the expense of the people living there. Looks like they were right to be hostile...
My only connection to London was a brief period there as a tourist. I found the DLR unexpectedly quite enjoyable on my way out to Greenwich and the Royal Observatory. And yes, sitting in the front is a lot of fun.
I was aware of some of some this railway history, didn't link the 1840 Victorian line with modern the day DLR and forgot about old line into, what is now N. Greenwich . Remember the docks being vacant land for many years until developments and Fleet line possibly serving and terminating at Woolwich/Thamesmead West. DLR, cross between tram/train called LRT is answer to weaving in/out of buildings. Read proposal 5 years ago, DLR to extend to Eltham. Excellent, interesting, informative documentary 10/10.
I am so glad that I "have to" use DLR every day (well... had to use before pandemic) instead of underground where you barely can breathe. Thanks for the video, it was really interesting.
One of a number of missed DLR opportunities would have been the Dagenham Dock proposal including up to Dagenham Heathway. Because further extension northwards would have potentially created an orbital route connecting northeast London to the rest of East London to maybe even Thamesmead, partly drawing inspiration from the short-lived Becontree Estate Railway up to Chadwell Heath and Goodmayes that with a bit of creative thinking (drawing from the DLR itself), could have even terminated somewhere on the Hainault Loop if not to Romford or further north to Collier Row, etc.
When the DLR opened in 1987 the West India Docks on the Isle Of Dogs were three huge areas of water. For some reason they've been allowed to expand the peninsula's into the docks, therefore the water areas have got smaller. In fact the central of the three areas of water has virtually disappeared - this was mainly because of the construction of the Jubilee Line Tube station in 1999. So the view from the DLR is different to what it originally was: you previously crossed three huge docks, now you cross what would resemble a couple of medium size lakes and a canal. The West India docks were built in the late 1700's and you would think that the shape and dimensions would have to have been preserved, a bit like the London parks for example - they wouldn't be allowed to take acres off the north east corner of Hyde Park for house building as a preservation order has been put on it - but for some reason they could build into the docks, not just next to the docks. Compare these two photos: ... alchetron.com/West-India-Docks#west-india-docks-b709f1db-8334-442b-b0ff-fab62d7e0b3-resize-750.gif ... www.google.com/maps/place/South+Dock/@51.5046402,-0.0204705,1172m/data=!3m1!1e3!4m5!3m4!1s0x487602ba33e45e0f:0xa73964d61e8e0c18!8m2!3d51.5019442!4d-0.0161497?hl=en-GB
There’s a section outside the ExCeL dockside at the eastern direction that’s now land, but before used to be the water of the dock, if you can find the plan of the area before and after.
As a yorkshireman I don't get to the capital regularly, but when I last came down to London my mind was blown to see that no one is driving the DLR from the train. Yes me and my friends got to the front and our minds were collectively blown.
I hate to ruin the illusion but these days they have a guard to operate the train so it's only semi automated. They run it from backup controls near one of the doors though as most of their job is just making sure nobody gets stuck in the doors then pushing the "go" button once the train is ready to depart. Also there are controls hidden under a plastic cover at the front of the train which you sometimes see the driver using if it's less crowded and they want a sit down.
DLR is working most of the times no matter the weather conditions or strikes. I often use it from Bank to Lewisham and even if the tube lines are not working at Bank Station I can shortly walk to my building. Even when until 2019 I lived in Woolwich it was pretty useful to get to Bank and back home even at late hrs.
They probably would have kept them separate if they continued with the light railway concept... otherwise if they collided, you'd be picking bits of the DLR train off the mostly intact C2C train.
Back when I studied in London I would always snag the front seat if I could. Did a lot of Poplar-Island Gardens runs so I could walk around Greenwich Park, no DLR under the Thames then. These days I do the same thing on Vancouver's SkyTrain when I'm in the city.
Excellent video - thanks so much. I like the DLR, and would like to see more videos about it. A Fleet line to Charing Cross sounds excellent. I think there should even be a line running into the Dagenham marshes maybe linking up with Dagenham Dock Station or Purfleet. 👍🏾
Another superb video, thank you. One observation. Many of us subscribers are not Londoners, so showing a map would have been helpful to help us get a fix on where this is, especially when you list stations on possible extensions. Thanks
I really enjoy the DLR. I try to get the front seats wherever I’m going. I’m a tourist so my use is very infrequent because I’m only in London once a year on average.
Fun fact, single unit DLR units can't cross points (especially the really big ones on westferry) while maintaining traction and have to coast across them and hope for the best. There's a great bit in the train captain training video about what to do when you get stuck.
I remember docklands in the 1970s and I still find the transformation jaw-dropping every time I go there. I also recall what public transport was like back then and it has improved out of all recognition. For example, last year I travelled by train from South Croydon to North Greenwich to meet a friend and I think it took under one hour. Not so long ago I'm not even sure you could have made such a journey!
I call the DLR the Noddy Railway. What I don’t like is the stairs at the stations. They appear to have been built for mountain goats. The lifts are not always working. I try to avoid the Noddy Railway if possible. I lived in Poplar in the 60s. I remember the boats moored on the river. I could see them from my bedroom.
Love the DLR Jago. My new post lockdown (3 times a week) commute now includes a drive to East London then Blackwall to Bank on the DLR before changing for the Central Line to Tottenham Court Road. The DLR is a very pleasant, convenient and quick way to get around East London in all directions. Canning Town is a great (and very busy) interchange with the Jubilee Line and City Island just over the bridge from there is well worth a visit now it homes the English National Ballet
I love the DLR, possibly because I DID have to use it everyday, which I did for 5 years from December 1999. But I kinda know what you mean! Great video as always!
My great grandmother used to live in N. Woolwich, I used to love the DLR, and would sit in her 7th story apartment, and watch the rail, and the aircraft coming into City airport. Sometimes I would switch to the kitchen, and watch the Thames free ferry.
Ann Other Pretty much, however I loved the place, I knew the guy who owned the offlicense, my family owned the pub across from the school, and even further back, they owned a butcher and a fish shop aswell. I knew alot of people there, and loved the park just by the thames, it was full of kids back in the 80s and early 90s, even had a free pool. I live in Denmark these days, and went back to NW a few years back, and could not recognize the place tbh. Used to go to South Woolwich myself quite often as a kid.
The earliest redevelopments in docklands were light industrial, the DLR was expected to serve an area of warehouses and low rise housing. Then Canary Wharf was built and …
I used the DLR from Poplar to Bank everyday when I first moved to London. Really cool litte train. Thanks for this video I always wanted to know the history of the DLR
I've used the DLR lots and enjoy it, so always up for more! Just one query; I've always pronounced Minories as minn-ories, not mine-ories. I don't know which is correct.
YES! I was just about to say the best thing about the DLR is heading to the front so you can pretend to drive it! 😂😂😂❤️ Stop it, you're making me feel homesick!
Im hypnotised by the Vistas you make as the DLR crawl across the screen . Then you intersperse old footage . Very good quality . Just have no idea where abouts all of this is in London haha
I have i fact been successful in sitting at the front and pretending to be the driver! Up 'til now this was a secret pleasure I hadn't previously admitted to. Great videos Jago, keep up the great work.
Vancouver Canada has a light railway the ALRT and it too is driven by a computer rather than a human, driverless would be a bit terrifying. Of course I always try to ride it in the 'drivers' seat :)
I was working in London for 2 and half months last year, and I was staying very close to the South Quay DLR station. I really enjoyed travelling in the DLRs. Somehow, it always felt better than the tube.
as you said at the beginning, it's more panoramic than the tube for sure and also of the trains considering not many of them, in London at least, are at street level and there isn't much view available.
The DLR to me is a modern-day version of the Chicago L. Mainly runs on elevated bridges, stations are close-knit yet get tons of ridership, the trains cars are short to go around sharp curves, and it had several branches and service patterns. I wish more Light Railways were like the DLR. The only one I think of is the REM in Montreal which is under construction and uses a similar infurstructure to the DLR including running on old railway lines. Hell, they abandoned a railway FOR the conversion to REM.
Yes , I too love the DLR although I don’t get to use it that often. And yes I did like to sit in the front seat, with my son when he was young so we could pretent to drive. It’s a great success , like my local Croydon Tramlink ( a video on that please?)
running into Charing Cross would be a great connection into the city with good connecting options. They could use the old jubilee line platforms and create a set of switches before Charing Cross coming from Green Park so just in case the jubilee line still could turn their trains around. Everybody will should be happy with such. solution. There's certainly enough space to do it.
If you The Box, it posits the main reason the docks closed was because of strikes against containerising the port. In the end the main port was moved to Felixstowe.
I love the DLR too. It's like the best themepark tour train in the world. Incredible views, exciting rises and dips, tunnels, bridges. It's like it was designed to be interesting first and public transportation second. Wish they'd do more that in other parts of London
I saw A DLR train overshoot the platform at West India Quay. The train captain brought it back and as I boarded he said, "Let's see them do that on the Northern Line."
The DLR is surely one of the best railway-related schemes of the last fifty years? I doubt very much if even those responsible realised just what a great idea it was. Apart from anything else, it illustrates perfectly why every piece of former trackbed should be protected from any sort of "development". Most new railways surpass the estimates of usage but the DLR blew the guesses out the water, as witnessed by all the extensions. I would imagine/hope that extensions will continue, creating further links with heavy rail, UndergrounD and every other form of transport, as well as spreading the system further into the suburbs. In twenty years time, I would think the DLR will be twice it's current size, running longer trains, closer together.
I like to sit at the front and........ oh, you just said it. Deptford Bridge was part of my view for some years. Witnessed Doreen Lawrence take the Olympic torch on its next leg from that window.
And there were supposed to be Fleet Line stations at Fenchurch Street and Ludgate Circus and St Katherine's Dock, then from Canary Wharf to Deptford Maze Hill and Greewich.
The Isle of dogs has come a long way since the 80s. I remember riding this train as a kid when the first phase of canary wharf started construction and marvelled at the dozens of tower cranes. Then thru most of the 90s nothing much happened, but since the millennium this part of London really has exploded. This humble railway has seen a lot of changes in such a relatively short period of time.
In 1985-87, I was a member of the British-American engineering team that built the original DLR. The functional specification was simple ... specifying only the number of people the railway had to move per hour between the termini. It was an interesting challenge to use our engineering skills and available technology to create a driver-less full-automated and safe railway. We succeeded, and it is satisfying to know that the original DLR has grown into a full-blown transit system.
Well done - and well enough future-proofed that it now copes with vastly more traffic than originally planned and has been relatively cheap to extend, while still maintaining the original concept.
it's a real pity they ditched the driverless part and have a driver using the backup controls instead these days. Still it's the only train where the "driver" stands by the doors operating the thing with a big key and 3 buttons.
I would not call it 'instamt' success. In the beginning there was a recession and most of todays Docklands had not been build yet. Passenger numbers were very low so one could get a front seat most times untill the next stop when the automatic system broke down and the captain would take manual control. The first trains had these weird folding bus-type doors where people were not supposed to stand in the red triangles or the doors would not move. No DLR on weekends due to everlasting 'engineering works' and quite often on other days as well. London Ciry Airport ran its own shuttle bus from Liverpool Street to the terminal because the DLR was not reliable, the North London Line to Silvertown ('for London City Airport') was a nightmare on its own and weirdly Prince Regent, again labelled as 'for London City Airport' on the Beckton Extension, was on the wrong side of the basin. Residents were not too impressed either, the new 'vital rail link' terminated at Tower Gateway, which was not exactly your high street shopping area. Things improved quickly after the Bank extension opened and Canary Wharf became alive but untill then it was a very bumpy start and the DLR was referred to as a novelty or a full scale playset, like some monorail or the Birmingham Maglev.
There have been many, many, many schemes to provide a "lighter" form of transport than subway (but heavier than trams), almost all of which have failed, most in the very early project stages, some lead a dwindling life.
Do you have any idea what makes the DLR stand out to make it a well-working, actively maintained system?
“I love the DLR, possibly because I don’t have to use it everyday” could you possibly make this intro more British than this 😂😂
You could speak it while simultaneously saluting the queen and trying to drive straight over a roundabout?
No. It couldn't possibly be made more British. It acknowledges controversial points of opinion without committing to a single statement of fact; it makes its primary expression unequivocally positive, while specifying no literal positives and it maintains an overall minimum of polite optimism in spite of the impending negatives that bear down upon it.
There remains no recourse to make this any more British than it already is, and the very suggestion that it could be improved upon is an affront, plain and simple, to the Queen and all who sail in her.
@@WillDLon what
@@WillDLon Just so. First prize: a week with some minor celebrity. Second prize: two weeks.
It's often rammed now which is a good thing as it reflects the job creation and employment opportunities since 1990s recession. Early days of DLR it was very unreliable due to ever deeper bugs in the management software coming to surface. It was also bitterly cold in winter - exposed raised platforms are pretty much the highest points to feel the chill of east winds from Ural Mountains
Interesting fact: the „old“ DLR rolling stock seen at 5:15 is still in use. The vehicles have been sold to Essen in Germany where they were fitted with proper cabs and are now part of the city's light rail system.
Somewhat related, Essen is twinned with Sunderland, would love a video on the tyne Wear metro system
Lewis Kerr Check out Geoff Marshall's video on it.
I lived at Crossharbour on the isle of dogs for a year and loved using the DLR every day. Somehow just feels more relaxing and easy to not have to go down underground every time you want to get somewhere. I’d get to sit and watch the evening sun over the city on my late evening return from the office, instead of seeing the darkness inside a tube tunnel. Also, when my grandma would visit me we realised that the DLR is much better in terms of disabled access than a lot of the tube lines - so it was much easier to get around with her.
As a child I got to ride the DLR back in 1988 I think. I'm from a country with lots of light rails (a.k.a. trams) but this one didn't look like one to me. The automated trains were extremely fascinating, as if they came right from the future. On the Stratford branch the signalling was not yet completed, so the conductor took over the train, I was slightly disappointed. And yes, that branch was served with single units. That time the whole area was under construction, with some skyscrapers ready around Canary Wharf.
A couple of years later it was already all different, trains were already running from Bank, and one didn't need to use the foot tunnel to Greenwich anymore. Eventually the Jubilee line got extended to the Docklands as well...
I prefer DLR in the summer, but tube in the winter as waiting outside can be freezing cold!
The tube being indoors is perfect for avoiding bad weather ☔☃
That's because you're not a mole
I didn't realise there was a conductor until the bewhiskered gentleman in that role when I went on it in 1994. Like a blast from the past.
Dawn and evening sun and cloudscapes on DLR can be spectacular, especially as sun turns office windows to fluid gold and bronze!
Loved this one! I once let a train go at Bank because I wasn't sure I'd get the 'pretend to drive' seat. Went and stood all correctly lined up ready, making sure. As the next train came in, a woman with children tried to barge past me with them to take the seat. I wasn't having that and got there first. She said, huffily, 'Do you mind? They want to pretend to drive!' I said, 'So do I!', revving the handrail.
Good for you, i get so annoyec with people pushing in front of me, although in my case it's on the bus
When I was a youngster at college in the 80s we had a day out to the smoke. As he used to be the Chief Executive at our Council, Reg Ward as the first CE of the LDDC gave us a tour of the East London wastelands. He explained how there would be a skyscraper at Canary Wharf and an airport on another dock. We thought he’d been on the beer. Look at it now. What vision. Might be worth a video on him.
I remember in the late 70's traveling in and out of London via the east end and passing disused docklands lines, and DLR was only low cost because routes and infrastructure was preserved. It shows how important it is to preserve this infrastructure and when you see all over the country places where people suffer commuting and transport hell because vital bits of a link have been lost.
Dr Beeching will never be forgiven.
Bristol needs a light railway. There are plenty of rail beds that could be used spreading out into the suberbs and employment areas.
I have friends living in Bristol who say the same thing.
@@JagoHazzard they even have the rails for it.
also a dockland 8¼ inch line, two branch it used to be.... one branch running from The Arches (Reading RD railway station) to The Bridges in Avonmouth, the other, going from The Bridges on the side of Ashton-Court all the way up the Avon to Bedminster and Temple-Mead's
when i first moved to the area in the mid 70's they were talking about the "avon metro" including the line to portishead, which to this day we are still waiting for!
Bristol has been arguing and debating a metro/light rail system for years with no success, you can blame the likes of Dawn Primarolo and cronies for most of the prevarication in the seventies and eighties which is why Bristol is still a traffic nightmare today.
I am proud to say that I was part of a very small West Country engineering company that designed and installed the third rail system in the DLR and continued to install all the extensions to the system to date.
All Bristol had to do was look 50 miles south and talk to us, agree a solution and route and we could have had them up and running in a couple of years.
we might consider it when we finish build Crossrail 3
I like to sit at the front and drive the train
Me too!
Used to do that on the metro in Tyne and wear - there's a,bit where the train emerges from a "tunnel " straight onto a bridge high above the river . Felt like you were flying hee hee
I favour the tail gunner seat at the back. Besides you’re less likely to have to compete with small boys for the seat.
Me too
I absolutely love the DLR. I’d love to see more about it, and would love to learn more about what original lines it reused.
Ooh, start with the Palace Gates to North Woolwich service!
I have a lot of respect for the dlr, it's a modern-day success story. Not dissimilar to the Manchester metrolink
3 years ago I did the whole of the DLR, going through every station in 2hrs 11 mins and 8 seconds. Started at Lewisham, upto Stratford, Stratford Int, Woolwich Arsenal, King George V, bus to Beckton, Tower GW, Shadwell, Bank. And yes, from Beckton I was 1st on and sat at the front!
That is very specific. But alright then
Nice one. 👍 I used to live near Bow Church and always enjoyed catching the DLR to the cinemas at West India Quay. Good memories. 🥰
“Pretend to be the driver” yeah, shout out to the late 90s/early 2000’s PSAs who let the kids make announcements and press the ATO start buttons! Nice memories for those who were lucky enough to experience that 😉
The last time I used the DLR (maybe only two years ago), a little girl perhaps 8 or 9 years old got the 'driver's seat' and made the announcements. It obviously made her day, and produced smiles throughout the train.
A driver let me open the doors and sound the horn😌
An interesting chain of occurrences: Cargo ship workers would steal lot's of goods by "breaking/ writing off" so the container was invented as a solution. Containers -> big ships -> need for big ports -> docklands disuse & repurposement.
Also, I've been working on DLR trains and stations for a while now and I'm yet to see a single-car train (outside the depot of course)
It was not simply seen as a cure for "shrinkage" but was in fact. simply a much quicker method for turning ships around in port - ALL ports not just London
My dad has a story about this. He worked in a garage as a lad, and they’d get the lorries coming from the docks (I think Birkenhead). One day, one of the drivers handed out some boxes of cereal he had in the cab. My granddad asked if this was legit. The driver explained that the dockers, being deprived of the perk of being able to swipe a couple of boxes from a pallet, had taken to breaking into the containers. So the factory gave the drivers some boxes to bribe them with. “But,” the driver said, “I don’t see why those idle b*stards should get it all, so enjoy.”
@@Cheeseatingjunlista True :)
@@JagoHazzard Yeah, you need to "grease the wheels" for them to spin.
I believe single-car trains getting 'gapped' (stuck in the gaps between sections of electrified third-rail) used to be a not terribly infrequent problem on the DLR. I suspect that may be a significant reason why they no longer run single-car trains.
The expectations (of passenger numbers) sounds exactly like the first new light rail line in Stockholm since the 1940s. Tvärbanan (the "cross line", runs in a half-circle around the city) was expected to - at most - run single-car trains at 10 minute intervals. Now they're upgrading the systems so that it will be able to handle double sets every three minutes, because double sets every five minutes isn't enough at times!
i remember traveling from the netherlands just to check out the DLR, just to see it and i was lucky enough to have a front seat.
A few years ago we stayed at a hotel near the Exel centre and used the DLR quite a lot. It's a great little line and allows you to have a vacation in the capital without being in the middle of things. It's also nice if you've been to London so many times you've seen all the big tourist stops; it's an area many visitors might never experience.
Are you talking about sundowner yacth?
@@Sophiebryson510 What? That's in Ramsgate and has nothing to do with what I'm talking about. Why would you even mention that?
@@mcarp555 the sundowner yacht (that we stayed at) was in sight of the excel centre, it was next to the ibis and novotel exel centre hotels
@@Sophiebryson510 That's not the famous Sundowner yacht in Ramsgate. We stayed at the Doubletree by Hilton hotel, which is literally the next building east of the Excel Centre.
@@mcarp555 meh, it’s good though it’s more famous in gibraltar
I used the DLR extensively when I worked, it always brightened my day with the views over the old docks
I did, in fact, succeed at getting a seat at the front on my very first DLR ride! I took my 5-year old son who was a big train enthusiast at the time and he loved the view. The odd thing was that a couple stops in a driver boarded, connected his portable controls, and proceeded to manually operate the DLR for the rest of our journey. So we had the best of both worlds - pretending to drive and joining the driver in his cabin.
Yes, when I took my daughter, then aged around 10 years for a ride from Waterloo to Bank, we had the front "drivers" seat. The train suddenly stopped half way and a railway guy appeared with a toolbag and asked my daughter just what had she done to make the train stop!
He removed a panel and fiddled with something and we were soon on our way.
Thanks for another interesting video, keep them coming.
Good little video. I've only been to the UK once and did use the DLR to get about on as it travelled through the areas I wished to see or connected me to other railways as well. This was an interesting background to the lines travelled, well done.
I can call myself a DLR commute veteran. I always admire this railway all my life and grateful to witness all the constructions and work.
I used to work in South Quay in an office just the right level to have the train tracks go straight past my window just a few metres away. So I would take the DLR to work and watch the trains go past all day
Great video, jogged a few more childhood memories. I’m pretty sure the bridge with the DLR unit in early colours at 5:14 is the dock we used to fish on most and dad explained what the bridge was going to be for etc. Brings to mind yuppies out sprayed on the walls etc. I’m not sure how I feel about docklands now, it was certainly in a mess and now it’s certainly regenerated. Yes I would pretend to drive the DLR when it first opened. I also had the most vivid and scary dream about going on the DLR too 🤦🏼♂️🤣
By the looks of it, and that you can see the early south quays developments in the background I'd say that photo is of what is now Heron Quays
I've always found the DLR to be an interesting 'little'transit system which has since grown considerebly. I travelled the whole line on it's first day of operation (for free) and as you mentioned it immediately became apparent the trains and stations were too short. On that first day riders were stuck inside the trains due to fact that the inward opening doors were blocked by the sheer volume of people, coupled to the occasional teething problem made for an eventful day out..! Fortunately things rapidly got better.
It's great idea to extend these railways, it makes it easier to get around when it's too expensive to dig a hole. That was probably one of the most successful atempts to regenerate east london in the 1980s, and move towards Kent and Essex.
I love these channels on RUclips that you find just digging into London’s history. Became obsessed while living in Whitechapel, I like to imagine that I’m seeing London for what it was 100 years ago
I got into photography because of the docklands. I fell in love with Royal Victoria Dock. So stunning and peaceful. One of the best places in London to experience a sunset
I'm a big tram and light rail fan so the more the merrier.
Where do you get big trams ?
There is a former train line near Paris with a similar fate: back when it was a regional train, it was impractical and sinister, with sparse timetables. So it was decided to convert it to a tramway, and give it some TFS stock (2-car non couplable vehicles like the DLR). Well what do you know, success was immense, partly due to the extension to La Défense and partly due to the more frequent service, to the point they quickly had to find new couplable vehicles and lengthen the platforms for 65-meter trams instead of the 30-meter old ones.
The first part of this reminds my of Harold Shand's plans for the Docklands area in the film The Long Good Friday.
As a person who lives on the c2c line, it would be great to see DLR trains arriving directly at Fenchurch Street instead of having to walk to Tower Gateway to catch the DLR, but then you don’t really have to do that when Limehouse station exists. The real difference would be a direct link between Tower Hill and Fenchurch street, but again, that would make no sense as there’s a very short walk between the two stations if you take the Tower Hill exit, and still, not that long from the main exit.
It's quite frustrating when the c2c trains run right next to the Tower Gateway platform as it approaches Fenchurch. You wonder if they couldn't have built a simple walkway connecting the two when TG was constructed. Looking at the buildings around it now, that's pretty much impossible to retrofit.
Loving the videos. Would be great if they had some maps to demonstrate some of the locations when explaining some of the plans :)
I remember taking this railway to visit the Greenwich Observatory when I visited the UK in 2017. :-)
I literally went to London in September 2017 and used the DLR to get to the Observatory hahaha
Ditto in 1992...AND I got to sit in the "Driver's" seat. What a hoot!
My grandfather and uncles were dockers during the heyday of the Royal Docks. I grew up in the docklands during the late 70s, 80s and early 90s and got to see it go from deeply depressed back then to what it is today.
My dad was one of the guys building all of the new stuff in the mid to late 80s - the DLR and Canary Wharf being two of the big projects he worked on. I have a memory from when I was about 10 years old of riding on a digger truck with him along what I now know to be the trackbed between All Saints and Devons Road before there was even a track there.
I liked the DLR when I first visited London in 1993... I remember when its eastern terminus was at Island Gardens and its western terminus alternated between Bank and Tower Gateway. The cars reminded me of the light rail vehicles used by the Port Authority of Allegheny County to link downtown Pittsburgh with its southern suburbs. My subsequent visits in ‘96, ‘97, and ‘01 were even more entertaining when I found that the network had expanded to places like Stratford, Woolwich, and Lewisham... in “01 I stayed in Lewisham.
I once had a driver while on the DLR. Naturally, I still took the other front seat.
Have you commented also on the pronunciation of Minories ?
@@millomweb why do you ask? Anyway, I'm sure you are smart enough to figure that out for yourself with a simple page search...
@@ourresidentcockney8776 What I've found is a lot say min or ees (I haven't) but as the word comes from minoress (female under age child) it appears to be wrong.
I was on a train where the driver kicked the person, sitting at the front, out of his seat.
I worked for the developer of London City Airport in the docklands (which opened in 1987). There were discussions about extending the DLR to the airport at that time, but no one had the cash to do that; and the airport developers were convinced that - as it was designed for business travellers - all the passengers would want to arrive by taxi.
"The corporation was initially received with local hostility, as is often the case with redevelopment schemes, but it can't be denied that they achieved their aims of turning things around in the Docklands." - They did, at the expense of the people living there. Looks like they were right to be hostile...
My only connection to London was a brief period there as a tourist. I found the DLR unexpectedly quite enjoyable on my way out to Greenwich and the Royal Observatory. And yes, sitting in the front is a lot of fun.
I was aware of some of some this railway history, didn't link the 1840 Victorian line with modern the day DLR and forgot about old line into, what is now N. Greenwich . Remember the docks being vacant land for many years until developments and Fleet line possibly serving and terminating at Woolwich/Thamesmead West. DLR, cross between tram/train called LRT is answer to weaving in/out of buildings. Read proposal 5 years ago, DLR to extend to Eltham. Excellent, interesting, informative documentary 10/10.
Whats this old line running to North Greenwich? Is there an old railway tunnel under the river to North Greenwich, aside for the Blackwalls tunnel(s)?
@@spotite No. Only the foot tunnel.
I am so glad that I "have to" use DLR every day (well... had to use before pandemic) instead of underground where you barely can breathe. Thanks for the video, it was really interesting.
Ditto
One of a number of missed DLR opportunities would have been the Dagenham Dock proposal including up to Dagenham Heathway. Because further extension northwards would have potentially created an orbital route connecting northeast London to the rest of East London to maybe even Thamesmead, partly drawing inspiration from the short-lived Becontree Estate Railway up to Chadwell Heath and Goodmayes that with a bit of creative thinking (drawing from the DLR itself), could have even terminated somewhere on the Hainault Loop if not to Romford or further north to Collier Row, etc.
When the DLR opened in 1987 the West India Docks on the Isle Of Dogs were three huge areas of water. For some reason they've been allowed to expand the peninsula's into the docks, therefore the water areas have got smaller. In fact the central of the three areas of water has virtually disappeared - this was mainly because of the construction of the Jubilee Line Tube station in 1999. So the view from the DLR is different to what it originally was: you previously crossed three huge docks, now you cross what would resemble a couple of medium size lakes and a canal. The West India docks were built in the late 1700's and you would think that the shape and dimensions would have to have been preserved, a bit like the London parks for example - they wouldn't be allowed to take acres off the north east corner of Hyde Park for house building as a preservation order has been put on it - but for some reason they could build into the docks, not just next to the docks. Compare these two photos: ... alchetron.com/West-India-Docks#west-india-docks-b709f1db-8334-442b-b0ff-fab62d7e0b3-resize-750.gif ... www.google.com/maps/place/South+Dock/@51.5046402,-0.0204705,1172m/data=!3m1!1e3!4m5!3m4!1s0x487602ba33e45e0f:0xa73964d61e8e0c18!8m2!3d51.5019442!4d-0.0161497?hl=en-GB
@Mr Spoon I agree. I don't know how they got away with it.
There’s a section outside the ExCeL dockside at the eastern direction that’s now land, but before used to be the water of the dock, if you can find the plan of the area before and after.
Really loving your videos man
As a yorkshireman I don't get to the capital regularly, but when I last came down to London my mind was blown to see that no one is driving the DLR from the train. Yes me and my friends got to the front and our minds were collectively blown.
I hate to ruin the illusion but these days they have a guard to operate the train so it's only semi automated. They run it from backup controls near one of the doors though as most of their job is just making sure nobody gets stuck in the doors then pushing the "go" button once the train is ready to depart. Also there are controls hidden under a plastic cover at the front of the train which you sometimes see the driver using if it's less crowded and they want a sit down.
I love the DLR and my son loved sitting at the front pretending to be the driver. More please!
Currently binge watching your videos... bang goes the chance of any chores or work getting done today!
Sorry about that...
@@JagoHazzard Please don't apologise. It is a very enjoyable way to 'work-avoid'.
DLR is working most of the times no matter the weather conditions or strikes. I often use it from Bank to Lewisham and even if the tube lines are not working at Bank Station I can shortly walk to my building. Even when until 2019 I lived in Woolwich it was pretty useful to get to Bank and back home even at late hrs.
I wonder what it would be like if the DLR ran into Fenchurch Street alongside the c2c
They probably would have kept them separate if they continued with the light railway concept... otherwise if they collided, you'd be picking bits of the DLR train off the mostly intact C2C train.
@@metropod Yup. And Jago's "Too expensive" could be expanded to "would have involved knocking down some rather costly office blocks."
Yes, please, do more on the wonderful and interesting DLR!
My favourite line in London simply because of the scenery that you can enjoy en route.
Back when I studied in London I would always snag the front seat if I could. Did a lot of Poplar-Island Gardens runs so I could walk around Greenwich Park, no DLR under the Thames then. These days I do the same thing on Vancouver's SkyTrain when I'm in the city.
Great content. So, so, so nerdy. Great work. Upwards and onwards..
Excellent video - thanks so much. I like the DLR, and would like to see more videos about it. A Fleet line to Charing Cross sounds excellent. I think there should even be a line running into the Dagenham marshes maybe linking up with Dagenham Dock Station or Purfleet. 👍🏾
Just an interesting anecdote, there is a sharp curve between Canary Wharf and Island Gardens, caused by a banana warehouse that refused to move.
These are fun and fascinating videos of the local history of the various areas in London, many of which I have lived in. I really enjoy them.
Thanks!
Another superb video, thank you. One observation. Many of us subscribers are not Londoners, so showing a map would have been helpful to help us get a fix on where this is, especially when you list stations on possible extensions. Thanks
I really enjoy the DLR. I try to get the front seats wherever I’m going. I’m a tourist so my use is very infrequent because I’m only in London once a year on average.
Fun fact, single unit DLR units can't cross points (especially the really big ones on westferry) while maintaining traction and have to coast across them and hope for the best. There's a great bit in the train captain training video about what to do when you get stuck.
Interesting! I didn’t know that!
I remember docklands in the 1970s and I still find the transformation jaw-dropping every time I go there. I also recall what public transport was like back then and it has improved out of all recognition. For example, last year I travelled by train from South Croydon to North Greenwich to meet a friend and I think it took under one hour. Not so long ago I'm not even sure you could have made such a journey!
I call the DLR the Noddy Railway. What I don’t like is the stairs at the stations. They appear to have been built for mountain goats. The lifts are not always working. I try to avoid the Noddy Railway if possible. I lived in Poplar in the 60s. I remember the boats moored on the river. I could see them from my bedroom.
Used to like sitting at the front when I lived in London back when it was all new. Sat there on the opening day of the Beckton branch
Love the DLR Jago. My new post lockdown (3 times a week) commute now includes a drive to East London then Blackwall to Bank on the DLR before changing for the Central Line to Tottenham Court Road. The DLR is a very pleasant, convenient and quick way to get around East London in all directions. Canning Town is a great (and very busy) interchange with the Jubilee Line and City Island just over the bridge from there is well worth a visit now it homes the English National Ballet
I love the DLR, possibly because I DID have to use it everyday, which I did for 5 years from December 1999. But I kinda know what you mean! Great video as always!
My great grandmother used to live in N. Woolwich, I used to love the DLR, and would sit in her 7th story apartment, and watch the rail, and the aircraft coming into City airport. Sometimes I would switch to the kitchen, and watch the Thames free ferry.
North Woolwich was a forgotten part of town!
Ann Other Definitely!
@@GrinddalCPH we used to get the ferry over and then realise there was nothing there except a police station -- and make our way back...
Ann Other Pretty much, however I loved the place, I knew the guy who owned the offlicense, my family owned the pub across from the school, and even further back, they owned a butcher and a fish shop aswell. I knew alot of people there, and loved the park just by the thames, it was full of kids back in the 80s and early 90s, even had a free pool.
I live in Denmark these days, and went back to NW a few years back, and could not recognize the place tbh.
Used to go to South Woolwich myself quite often as a kid.
@@annother3350 they have even shut the police station now.
You should make a video on the London and Blackwall railway in more detail
The earliest redevelopments in docklands were light industrial, the DLR was expected to serve an area of warehouses and low rise housing. Then Canary Wharf was built and …
I used the DLR from Poplar to Bank everyday when I first moved to London. Really cool litte train. Thanks for this video I always wanted to know the history of the DLR
I always wanted to but I hadn't succeed to sit in the front and pretend I'm driving. Sadly.
Great video, thank you!
I've used the DLR lots and enjoy it, so always up for more! Just one query; I've always pronounced Minories as minn-ories, not mine-ories. I don't know which is correct.
Always Min for me too
I said it as "min" (/mɪn/) too, only having read it, but was corrected by a friend who told me it was "mine" (/maɪn/).
Chris McKenna ah I’ve never heard it said that way until the video 👍🏻
Min for me
'MINN-OR-REEZ.' You are correct.
YES! I was just about to say the best thing about the DLR is heading to the front so you can pretend to drive it! 😂😂😂❤️ Stop it, you're making me feel homesick!
Im hypnotised by the Vistas you make as the DLR crawl across the screen . Then you intersperse old footage . Very good quality . Just have no idea where abouts all of this is in London haha
Love to hear more about the DLR history.
And I've never managed to sit at the front on the DLR, but did manage it on the Yurikamome line.
I have i fact been successful in sitting at the front and pretending to be the driver! Up 'til now this was a secret pleasure I hadn't previously admitted to. Great videos Jago, keep up the great work.
Vancouver Canada has a light railway the ALRT and it too is driven by a computer rather than a human, driverless would be a bit terrifying. Of course I always try to ride it in the 'drivers' seat :)
I was working in London for 2 and half months last year, and I was staying very close to the South Quay DLR station. I really enjoyed travelling in the DLRs. Somehow, it always felt better than the tube.
as you said at the beginning, it's more panoramic than the tube for sure and also of the trains considering not many of them, in London at least, are at street level and there isn't much view available.
Fantastic video! Thanks.
Glad you enjoyed it!
It's "minories" min-or-ies not Mine-or-ies (obviously not a City Gent...)
On a Londoner 🙂
I thought the same thing -- shouting MIN ories at the screen!! ;-) For the non Londoner use the Min in Minihaha as the template for the first syllable
I’ll level with you - I’ve also never heard Minihaha said out loud.
The author does pronounce it right: as any educated Englishman would; no one may me a full-time local place-name nerd ;)
Minor'ies - can tell the narrator isn't a Londoner. It's pronounced min'or'ies.
Yes! More about the DLR routes, and the technology. Also an episode examining routes and tech of the Heathrow Pods.
The pods are an interesting one.
Remember first using this dlr service in 1988 a year before the line was opened
It's my favourite London railway :)
I have sat in the front several times, I used to live in East London. The DLR was a definite favourite of mine.
The DLR to me is a modern-day version of the Chicago L. Mainly runs on elevated bridges, stations are close-knit yet get tons of ridership, the trains cars are short to go around sharp curves, and it had several branches and service patterns. I wish more Light Railways were like the DLR. The only one I think of is the REM in Montreal which is under construction and uses a similar infurstructure to the DLR including running on old railway lines. Hell, they abandoned a railway FOR the conversion to REM.
The DLR is one of the great success stories of mass transport in the U.K. (and it’s great to drive the train!)
Yes , I too love the DLR although I don’t get to use it that often. And yes I did like to sit in the front seat, with my son when he was young so we could pretent to drive. It’s a great success , like my local Croydon Tramlink ( a video on that please?)
running into Charing Cross would be a great connection into the city with good connecting options.
They could use the old jubilee line platforms and create a set of switches before Charing Cross coming from Green Park so just in case the jubilee line still could turn their trains around. Everybody will should be happy with such. solution. There's certainly enough space to do it.
I clicked just to find out what DLR stood for, figuring in 15 seconds I'd be on my way. 3 hours later...
Excellent as ever
If you The Box, it posits the main reason the docks closed was because of strikes against containerising the port. In the end the main port was moved to Felixstowe.
I loved sitting right up front going into Bank from the Docklands. It's a little bit rollercoasty at one point.
I love the DLR too. It's like the best themepark tour train in the world. Incredible views, exciting rises and dips, tunnels, bridges. It's like it was designed to be interesting first and public transportation second. Wish they'd do more that in other parts of London
I saw A DLR train overshoot the platform at West India Quay. The train captain brought it back and as I boarded he said, "Let's see them do that on the Northern Line."
Except not at Moorgate, please
The DLR is surely one of the best railway-related schemes of the last fifty years? I doubt very much if even those responsible realised just what a great idea it was. Apart from anything else, it illustrates perfectly why every piece of former trackbed should be protected from any sort of "development". Most new railways surpass the estimates of usage but the DLR blew the guesses out the water, as witnessed by all the extensions.
I would imagine/hope that extensions will continue, creating further links with heavy rail, UndergrounD and every other form of transport, as well as spreading the system further into the suburbs. In twenty years time, I would think the DLR will be twice it's current size, running longer trains, closer together.
I like to sit at the front and........ oh, you just said it.
Deptford Bridge was part of my view for some years.
Witnessed Doreen Lawrence take the Olympic torch on its next leg from that window.
And there were supposed to be Fleet Line stations at Fenchurch Street and Ludgate Circus and St Katherine's Dock, then from Canary Wharf to Deptford Maze Hill and Greewich.
Fascinating.
I use it and love it - DLR all the way! But such a funny line though that you started with 😂.
I just found your videos, thanks for all your posts they are great!
The Isle of dogs has come a long way since the 80s. I remember riding this train as a kid when the first phase of canary wharf started construction and marvelled at the dozens of tower cranes. Then thru most of the 90s nothing much happened, but since the millennium this part of London really has exploded. This humble railway has seen a lot of changes in such a relatively short period of time.