"Richard J." wrote in message

Recliner wrote on 16 September 2011
12:08:41 ...
Yesterday, I took my first trip to Westfield Stratford and the DLR
extension. Here's a few observations:
[snip]

3. Walking the route of the DLR.

When the DLR extension enters Stratford station from the south (using
the former NLL platforms), it's at local ground level. But when it
leaves heading north, it appears to be in a cut and cover tunnel. Of
course, it's still at the original ground level, but Westfield
bridges over it.

What's interesting is to walk one of the open curved 'streets' in
Westfield, from M&S to the Cow pub (I think this may also be one of
the main routes for spectators walking to the Olympics site from
Stratford station). If you carry a GPS (as I did), you realise that
you're walking directly over the DLR route.

I'm not sure how you come to that conclusion, but it's entirely wrong.
The DLR tunnel curves sharply left on leaving platforms 16/17, passing
under M&S, after which it's not under the shopping centre. The line
emerges from the tunnel, facing west, just north of the Aquatics
Centre. At that point it's adjacent to the Overground NLL tracks. You
can see it at the top of the photo at
http://www.london2012.com/photos/201...ics-centre.php
, also on Google maps satellite view.

Looking further at plans I've found on-line, it looks like the
restaurant piazza end of the curved street is over the DLR at the
western edge of Westfield (as my GPS showed), but the more sharply
curved DLR is indeed routed further south, under M&S, rather than just
to its north as I had thought. See p9 and p10 in
http://docs.google.com/viewer?a=v&q=...v9 A35yoD098A

It's interesting how the new LU northern ticket office bridges the DLR
tracks.

If you descend to car park B in the 'basement', you can work out
where the lower level of the car park flanks the line to the north.

The curved wall of the car park does indeed follow the DLR tunnel, but
the DLR is to the *south* of the car park. Have a look at
http://uk.westfield.com/stratfordcit...retailer=45219
and click on Lower Ground Floor. You can see the DLR tunnel next to
the green car park. (Confusingly, the top of the map faces
north-west.)

Yes, as I said, the car park is on the north flank of the DLR 'tunnel'.
In other words, we agree.


I suspect
that if you inspected the walls carefully, you might even find
emergency/maintenance access doors to the line from the service
corridor. Similarly, there are a surprisingly large number of utility
access hatches in the 'ground' of the street above; I assume some
provide access to the DLR line beneath, as well as local utility
services (for example, for a waterless electronic 'fountain').

What surprised me about the DLR tunnel was the lavish provision for
emergency evacuations. We're familiar now with all new tunnels
having a walkway at the side, but this double track tunnel has a
proper (albeit narrow) platform on each side, with a continuous
barrier at the back (clear of the tunnel wall) that incorporates
lighting, plus overhead lighting too.

Yes, I noticed that, too.