The Mayor of London, Boris Johnson, officially opened the £180 million extension of the Docklands Light Railway to Woolwich Arsenal on Monday 12th January (as previously reported services had started running there on Saturday 10th January). The project has been completed seven weeks ahead of schedule and is also well within the budget.
Boris Johnson said: “'I am absolutely delighted that this extension of the DLR with its cracking new station is up and running and puts Woolwich Arsenal firmly on the Tube map. Woolwich has long lacked the transport links that encourage the creation of new jobs, homes and shops; and this is exactly the sort of project that will help kick the credit crunch where it hurts. The extension will also play an important role in the Olympic transport network. People in this part of London will now be just a 24-minute hop, skip and a jump away from the Olympic site.”
The line now goes under the River Thames from the former terminus at King George V with a tunnel running at depths of up to 35 metres. From the time the train leaves King George V it does not hit daylight again with the station at Woolwich Arsenal being underground.
Peter Hendy, London’s Transport Commissioner, commented: “'The Mayor and Transport for London (TfL) are investing billions to improve transport in London and this is a great example of that. This extension delivers a fully accessible step-free station and another much needed north-south transport link for this under served area of London.”
Ian Brown, TfL Managing Director London Rail, added: “'The DLR's most recent extensions to London City Airport and Lewisham were also both completed ahead of schedule and on budget and I am absolutely delighted to see this impressive track record continue. This extension and new station will further enhance the DLR's reputation as the 'regeneration railway’. Our next task is to deliver a 50 per cent increase in capacity across the DLR network by 2010, through the addition of 55 new carriages and extending platforms. This also now includes the line to Beckton.”
The majority of direct trains leaving Woolwich Arsenal will go to Bank although there will be a few peak time extras to Blackwall.
Source: Transport for London