On Sep 3, 9:54*am, Robin9 wrote:
;122558 Wrote:











So finally after however many years it is and hundreds of millions spent
-
TA DA! We now have a light railway running on exactly the same route
as
a heavy railway ran on. Well that was money well spent.

Not exactly. You're forgetting the Stratford International
bit.[/i][/color]

I doubt it would have been beyond the wit of man to realign or branch
off
the original straford line to serve there. Even when the NLL served
these
stations they were allegedly poorly used. Who the hell is going to use
them
now when the service stops at stratford int? People going into london
will
just change at canning town or go all the way to Bank.

B2003

I share your scepticism about the viability of this project and your
alarm at the inordinate cost but I'm more optimistic than you.

The service between Stratford and North Woolwich was very lightly
patronised in the old days but demographics and transport possibilites
have changed in recent years. I think some people will travel to
Stratford for the new shopping centre or to change to either the Central
Line or London Overground. Whether enough do so to justify the cost is
another matter.

--
Robin9[/i][/color]

When I travelled on this some days ago it seemed to duplicate the
route of the Jubillee Line - so I'm not sure why everyone is lauding
the extra benefits. Both lines run parallel from Stratford to Canning
Town and serve the same communities.

At Canning Town the interchange between all is confusing and its seems
that the new DLR line has been added on as an after-thought - as
indeed it has. When the Olympic crowds start using it Canning Town is
going to be a mass of humanity all trying to negotiate conflicting
paths because everyone will need to change there. I mean Beckton or
Woolwich would have very limited attractions for Olympic tourists!!.

The real strength of the new DLR line is that it goes to Stratford
International - maybe. But then the line does not serve the City being
a mere shuttle between Woolwich or Beckton. Both places hardly of
interest to tourists compared to the centre of London which the
Jubille Line eventually gets to (if it hasn't been disrupted - an
everyday occurrence it seems).

Whatever - all passengers from Stratford International will need to
change at Canning Town to get to/from anywhere meaningful.

Then there is the new DLR station at Stratford International. There
are no 'touch out' machines there (that I could find). There are no
gates. No staff appear to be on duty. Its in the middle of a building
site, with heaps of rubble everywhere blowing dust, there's nothing
there, no shops - except for the concrete monstrosity of Stratford
International train station. But that's a misnomer with Eurostar
refusing to stop there.

All in all my impression of the new DLR line is that it may serve a
few extra localities ignored by the Jubillee Line but it is a service
in dire search of a market.

But I expect the contractors made a fortune in building it though.So
that's all right.

CJB.

On Sep 8, 2:44 pm, CJB wrote:
[...]
Then there is the new DLR station at Stratford International. There
are no 'touch out' machines there (that I could find).
[...]

In which case you didn't look very hard...
http://www.flickr.com/photos/dgeezer/6100602532/

On Sep 8, 3:30*pm, "Mizter T" wrote:
On Sep 8, 2:44 pm, CJB wrote:

[...]
Then there is the new DLR station at Stratford International. There
are no 'touch out' machines there (that I could find).
[...]

In which case you didn't look very hard...
http://www.flickr.com/photos/dgeezer/6100602532/

It was raining, cold, windy and I was bored with the journey. So no I
didn't see these two (only two?).

CJB

Oyster acceptance is unlikely, but ITSO cards will presumably be accepted when SouthEastern introduce them.

On Sep 8, 7:30*pm, CJB wrote:
On Sep 8, 3:30*pm, "Mizter T" wrote:

On Sep 8, 2:44 pm, CJB wrote:

[...]
Then there is the new DLR station at Stratford International. There
are no 'touch out' machines there (that I could find).
[...]

In which case you didn't look very hard...
http://www.flickr.com/photos/dgeezer/6100602532/

It was raining, cold, windy and I was bored with the journey. So no I
didn't see these two (only two?).

CJB

Those are the ones at the western end of the station. I took a picture
of that entrance from the other angle on Thursday:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:St...entrance .jpg

There are also at least two others at the eastern side, opposite the
High Speed station:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:St...entrance .jpg

Once can be seen behind the first pillar on the left, while a
passenger can be seen touching in to the right of the staff members.

I don't agree everyone will need to change at Canning Town, as West
Ham and Stratford regional have better options for people arriving
from west of the City.

CJB wrote:

When I travelled on this some days ago it seemed to duplicate the
route of the Jubillee Line - so I'm not sure why everyone is lauding
the extra benefits. Both lines run parallel from Stratford to Canning
Town and serve the same communities.

There are three extra stations on the DLR, serving intermediate stops.
Stratford High Street in particular can help ease a bit of the pressure on
Stratford by providing an earlier exit point closer to the High
Street/Broadway.

At Canning Town the interchange between all is confusing and its seems
that the new DLR line has been added on as an after-thought - as
indeed it has.

I guess the alternatives would have been either to rebuild Canning Town *yet
again* (how many times has it been now?!) or else complicate the system no
end by trying to run the new branch into the high level platforms. But I do
think a bridge from the high level to the low level DLR would be handy - I'm
not sure if there's enough room though (the curse of legacy platforms).

The real strength of the new DLR line is that it goes to Stratford
International - maybe. But then the line does not serve the City being
a mere shuttle between Woolwich or Beckton. Both places hardly of
interest to tourists compared to the centre of London which the
Jubille Line eventually gets to (if it hasn't been disrupted - an
everyday occurrence it seems).

Access to central London is available at all interchange stations along the
new route by the High Speed, by NXEA, by the Central line, by the District
line, by the Hammersmith & City line, by the Bank DLR branch and by the
Jubilee line and, if you fancy a short walk, by the North London Line. It is
also going to get Crossrail. On top of all that exactly how many more direct
routes to central London does Newham need?

Realistically tourists for central London should be using St Pancras not
Stratford International. Tourists for east London can use SI and there are
spots covered by the DLR, from the Olympic village to the ExCel.

Then there is the new DLR station at Stratford International. There
are no 'touch out' machines there (that I could find).

You missed them. On my one visit so far I came up at the rail station end
and they were easy to spot.

There are no gates. No staff appear to be on duty.

All par the course for DLR stations.

Its in the middle of a building
site, with heaps of rubble everywhere blowing dust, there's nothing
there, no shops - except for the concrete monstrosity of Stratford
International train station. But that's a misnomer with Eurostar
refusing to stop there.

Well that's not TfL's fault. That part of Stratford is developing and is not
complete yet but the opening of the DLR is a key step forward - in
particular it makes Stratford International *much* more accessible. I've had
a few times when the connecting bus has been difficult to find (and
sometimes changes its departing point at Stratford) and it just doesn't give
passengers full confidence they will make their connections. A DLR
connection is much smoother.

All in all my impression of the new DLR line is that it may serve a
few extra localities ignored by the Jubillee Line but it is a service
in dire search of a market.

Give it time to fill up. An obvious starting point is the University of East
London, which has campuses in Stratford and by Cyprus DLR.

"CJB" wrote in message


At Canning Town the interchange between all is confusing and its seems
that the new DLR line has been added on as an after-thought - as
indeed it has. When the Olympic crowds start using it Canning Town is
going to be a mass of humanity all trying to negotiate conflicting
paths because everyone will need to change there. I mean Beckton or
Woolwich would have very limited attractions for Olympic tourists!!.

Have you forgotten that ExCel is an Olympic venue (will host a total of
143 sessions)?
http://www.london2012.com/games/venues/excel.php

The link between City airport and Stratford may also be useful for
anyone arriving there.