The Custom
House DLR station which serves the ExCeL centre in East London is set to be
rebuilt on 3rd February 2017 to link with the new Crossrail service.
From TFL press release
Transport for London (TfL) is advising
customers who use Custom House DLR station that work to redevelop the station
will start on Friday 3 February, 2017.
The work will include taking down the
existing station canopies and the installation of a new mezzanine deck above
the DLR platforms, as well as two additional staircases. Work is due to be
completed late December and will increase
capacity at the station by 50 per cent and will allow customers to interchange easily with new Elizabeth line
services from December 2018.
Given the scale of the work, which will
include the installation of around 400
tonnes of steel and the use of 300,000
litres of concrete, the station will need to be closed while the work takes
place. While the station will be closed trains will continue to run and
customers are advised to use either Royal Victoria or Prince Regent stations
which are both short walks away from Custom House station and ExCeL London.
TfL's DLR Director, Claire Mann, said: `Work
will be taking place from next month to increase capacity at Custom House
station ahead of Elizabeth line services
commencing in 2018. We apologise to customers for the disruption this may
cause but it is vital work and due to its nature it will not be possible to
keep the station open while construction work takes place. When the work is
complete, the station will be much more spacious - making journeys for
customers easier and preparing the station for increased passenger numbers.'
Stretching from Reading and Heathrow in the
west across to Shenfield and Abbey Wood in the east, the Elizabeth line will
change the way people travel around London and the South East and add much
needed new capacity to London's transport infrastructure. A fleet of brand new 200 metre long trains will run on the
Elizabeth line, featuring nine walk-through carriages, air conditioning,
CCTV and real-time travel information.
The work will be carried out by Dyer &
Butler.
The DLR
network was the first fully accessible railway in the UK and provides
step-free entrance and exits to all stations and trains.
The number of people using the DLR has increased rapidly, rising from 10
million in the early 1990s to more nearly 117 million in 2015.
The Elizabeth line will serve 40 stations and run more than 100km from Reading and Heathrow in
the west, through new twin-bore 21km (13 miles) tunnels below central
London to Shenfield and Abbey Wood in the east.
When the Elizabeth line opens it will
increase central London's rail-based transport network capacity by 10 per cent,
supporting regeneration and cutting journey times across the city. Services are
due to commence through central London in 2018 and an estimated 200 million
passengers will use the Elizabeth line annually.
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Image Attribution
By Oxyman - Own work, CC BY 2.5, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=4529332