Docklands Light Railway
February 11 2008
In 1987, a transport revolution occurred in London , yet few imagined just what it would become. For £77 million, the Docklands Light Railway (DLR) opened as the first driverless railway in the UK . Primarily to serve as the key transport mode for the London Docklands and surrounding regeneration, the DLR has since built on its success and extended its route to Bank, Beckton, Lewisham, and most recently, London City Airport, where the seamless transition from rail to air can be achieved in just a few steps.
It is no surprise, then, that all attendees of the IRO Young Professionals visit to the DLR were suitably impressed with the setup and continued planned expansion of the network. In 21 years, the DLR fleet has expanded from 11 to 94 vehicles, opened 23 new, fully accessible stations whilst both keeping fleet reliability and customer satisfaction remarkably high.
Members of IRO Young Professionals are shown the workings of the DLR Control Centre
The railway was the first to achieve its fully accessible status in the UK ; however help is at hand if needed. Customer service Agents travel around on the trains, performing ticket checks, providing customer assistance and manually driving the trains themselves, in both service and emergencies.
When not being operated manually, the trains are controlled by an automatic control system (ATC), under supervision of the control centre at Poplar. Every train has its own onboard computer, which communicates constantly back to the central computer. In the event this communication fails, the train will come to a safe stop until the control centre at Poplar intervene and assess the cause. Linked in with this, information is passed to the train as to which side to open doors along with which route is being taken and the times scheduled.
During the visit, the intricate setup of the control centre was explained, and a ride on one of the trains to London City Airport outlined the more technical aspects of the track, power sources and the onboard computers.
Despite the central computer operating the network by itself, all trains are fitted with automatic train protection. This system protects the trains from running too fast along sections of track, or coming too close to the preceding train. This coupled with the unique ‘moving block' signalling system ensures the safety of the railway at all times, whilst being able to run an intense timetabled service.
The DLR Control Centre
Today, the DLR carries around 64 million people a year, with planned growth of an additional 16 million plus journeys by 2009. This planned growth is being accompanied by a whole host of changes to the DLR network, including additional route extensions both planned and in progress. The existing fleet of 94 vehicles have already been refurbished with an order for an additional 55 confirmed.
With the commercial and residential benefits extending the DLR has already demonstrated, the extensions to Woolwich Arsenal, Stratford International and the planned extension to Dagenham Dock can only bring benefit to Londoners, providing new jobs, stimulating residential developments and of course, offering an efficient transport service.
Thanks go to Steve Helfet and Steve Whitley for their time and for making the visit so interesting.
Writen by Phil Sullivan.
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