When we see that a new timetable is being introduced we’ve become used to the fact that it usually means frequencies will be reduced because of staff shortages or a change in commuting patterns. But it’s a different picture on the Docklands Light Railway as they have just announced a new timetable will start to run from Monday 15th May which will see no reductions in service on any line at any time and every single route will see some form of service increase.
Amongst the highlights of the improved timetable will be:
- Peak service levels will run half an hour longer on all routes in both the morning and evening peaks. The morning peak will now end at 1000 instead of 0930 and the evening peak ends at 1930 instead of 1900.
- Direct Stratford to Lewisham services will run in the evening peak for the first time. This will see an extension of every other train from Stratford to Canary Wharf through to Lewisham in the evening peak. There will be a service every two to four minutes between Canary Wharf and Lewisham instead of every four and there will be direct trains from Lewisham to Stratford every eight minutes.
- Frequencies between Canning Town and Beckton on Monday to Saturday evenings will be doubled. The recently introduced Canning Town-Beckton shuttle service (which has been running since September) will be extended to run until 2330 on weekdays and 2200 on Saturdays instead of 1930. This increases the frequency on the Beckton-Canning Town section to every five minutes instead of every 10. Sunday services remains unchanged.
- Frequencies will be doubled between Stratford and Canary Wharf on Saturday evenings. Trains will now run every five minutes until 2200 instead of until 1930 – halving waiting times.
The changes have been made as more people are now travelling to the office and using the service for leisure activities more regularly. The new timetables are said to be providing trains where people need them.
In making the announcement TfL have made it clear that not only will there be no reduction in frequencies on any line but train lengths will not be reduced either. For now the service will be maintained by the B90, B92, B2K, B2007 and B2009 trains with the newer Inneo trains set to enter service from next year.
Seb Dance, Deputy Mayor for Transport, said: “fter some incredibly challenging years, ridership on the Tube and DLR is beginning to return to pre-pandemic levels, And I am pleased that changes coming in to the DLR timetable in May will mean people travelling around east London will now benefit from additional services and quicker, easier, more frequent journeys. With the entire DLR fleet also being updated over the coming years, this is just one of the ways the Mayor and TfL are continuing to improve London’s world-class public transport network, which is key for to building a better, more efficient London for everyone.”
Tom Page, TfL’s General Manager for the DLR, added: “It’s an exciting time for DLR as we continue to see strong ridership and have now begun testing of the new trains that will transform journeys for millions of customers every year. This latest timetable change builds on last September’s changes to help ensure we have capacity where it’s needed the most. These changes will deliver an improvement for customers with quicker, easier and more comfortable journeys.”