New DLR station opens at Pudding Mill Lane
28 Apr 2014 04:04 PM
New station and tracks
will deliver better reliability and more
capacity
- Works delivered on time and
within budget
The new Docklands Light Railway
(DLR) Pudding Mill Lane station – now the largest on the DLR network -
was today, Monday 28th April 2014, open to the public for the first
time.
The station, along with
‘double-tracked’ rails that link it to the wider DLR network, will
boost capacity to enable the railway to carry an extra 1,100 passengers per
hour and deliver improved service reliability on the increasingly popular route
between Stratford and Canary Wharf/Lewisham.
Transport for London’s DLR
Director, Rory O’Neill, said:
'The new station at Pudding
Mill Lane will be a great asset to commuters, local residents and to visitors
to this part of the capital. With the largest capacity on the DLR network the
station will provide excellent access for people travelling to new
entertainment venues in the area and to Queen Elizabeth Olympic
Park.'
The Pudding Mill Lane station
project was undertaken with Crossrail, which has moved the location of
the previous station to make room for a tunnel portal for one of its new lines,
as part of Europe’s largest infrastructure project.
From the end of 2018, Crossrail
trains will emerge from the new tunnels at Pudding Mill Lane and join existing
rail lines through northeast London to Essex. DLR passengers will be able to
interchange with Crossrail, London Underground, London Overground and National
Rail at Stratford station.
In a major piece of civil
engineering, Crossrail’s works involved building the new Weston
Williamson-designed station, as well as a tunnel portal and approach
ramp.
Careful management of works was
required because of the site’s close proximity to vital sewerage and
power utilities, Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park, live National Rail and DLR lines
and an entry portal for Crossrail tunnel boring machines heading towards the
City.
Andrew Wolstenholme, Crossrail
Chief Executive, said:
'The team is very proud to
have delivered this new piece of infrastructure on time and within budget. This
was a large and challenging project with the London Olympic and Paralympic
Games, Great Eastern Mainline, DLR and several crucial London utilities all on
our doorstep. It required sophisticated engineering and construction work and a
great deal of communication and collaboration to get to this point. It is
another great example of what can be achieved by working well
together.'
ENDS
Notes for
Editors:
- Completion of the double
tracking work at both ends of the site has enabled a capacity of 6,600
passengers per hour in each direction. The current frequency of ten DLR
trains per hour delivers a capacity of 5,500 passengers per hour in each
direction.
- Double tracking involves
augmenting one set of tracks with another, enabling trains to run in two
different directions at the same time rather than having to wait for the single
line to clear before proceeding. This increases capacity. In addition, should
the service on one set tracks be interrupted, the other set can carry the
service while the problem is solved. This improves
reliability.
- The Crossrail route will run
from Reading and Heathrow in the west, through new tunnels under central London
to Shenfield and Abbey Wood in the east.
- There will be 40 Crossrail
stations including 8 new stations in central London and Docklands at
Paddington, Bond Street, Tottenham Court Road, Farringdon, Liverpool Street,
Whitechapel, Canary Wharf, Custom House and Woolwich.
- Crossrail will bring an extra
1.5 million people to within 45 minutes of central London and will link
London’s key employment, leisure and business districts – Heathrow,
West End, the City, Docklands – enabling further economic
development.
- Designed by Weston Williamson +
Partners, the station has completed a design review with the Commission for
Architecture and the Built Environment (CABE).
- The primary contractor for the
Crossrail works at Pudding Mill Lane station is Morgan
Sindall.
- The station comprises
approximately 1,000 square metres of glazing and 33,000 cubic metres of
concrete.
- The former DLR station will now
be demolished, followed by piling works to create a new retaining wall ready to
accommodate the Crossrail tracks as they reach the surface.