The new larger Pudding Mill Lane Station on the original Docklands Light Railway Stratford line is set to be connected to the rest of the network during a 10 day closure of line starting from Good Friday, 18th April. The existing station at Pudding Mill Lane is being closed as the Crossrail tunnels through central London will be coming to the surface at this location.
No Docklands Light Railway trains will run between Stratford and Bow Church between 18th and 25th April before the closure is extended to the section between Stratford and Poplar from 2200 on 25th April until 28th April. During this time the new tracks will be connected and signalling and power systems at both ends of the station will also be connected to the rest of the network.
The current station at Pudding Mill Lane has an island platform with single line track either side but the new site will allow double track to be installed and thus will increase capacity on this ever increasingly popular route. Currently only 5,500 passengers can be carried in each direction per hour but the new station will allow 6,600 passengers to be carried each hour.
Jonathan Fox, Transport for London’s Director of Rail, said: “It won’t be long before our passengers can enjoy all the benefits of this new station, which will have the biggest capacity on the DLR network and will provide excellent access for people travelling to events at Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park. We apologise for this interruption to their service, but this is essential work that needs to be done safely, thoroughly and without interruption. We have chosen the timing of this work because fewer people use our service around the holiday period and we are asking our passengers to bear with us for a short time.”
The new Pudding Mill Lane Station is seen during construction on 16th November 2013. (Photo: Gareth Prior)