I know you joke about adding a seating wheel to the front, but on the Copenhagen Metro (Which if it isn't the same to the DLR stock it's very similar), they've stuck stickers representing buttons and switches on the panel on a front so you can pretend to press them. My partner wasn't the most pleased when I sat jamming my finger on them at every station!
Nick Slater, If my recollection of Copenhagen is correct, there is no risk of anyone falling onto the track since the station platforms are protected with screens and automatic doors, as will be the case with the Elizabeth Line. I guess it is technically not feasible to retro-fit the tube with life-saving screens and doors. More's the pity . . .
My favourite little known fact about the DLR is that many (all?) stations have what looks like an arbitrary red line on the ground. This denotes the “compulsory ticket area”, beyond which you need a ticket (or to have touched in). It dates back to the original opening, when there were fears over fare dodging as no stations were to have staff or ticket barriers.
6:05 On the Metro in Copenhagen, they have stickers with train controls so that kids (of all ages) can pretend to drive. DLR is definitely missing a trick here!
The DLR Pudding Mill Lane station and adjacent bridges have a special meaning to me. When before the Crossrail was built, the DLR Pudding Mill Lane Station and the bridges had to be relocated. I was responsible for the check of structural engineering design of the new station and bridges. The project was not small and I still put it on my CV these days.
New York has the equivalent to the DLR,but not as long! If you go to Jamaica Station,on the Long Island Railroad,and go upstairs,there is the Port Authority Air Train,(built by Bombardier), which goes to JFK Airport. It covers the terminal area,and also connects to the Howard Beach subway station( on the A line - to the Rockaways,)! There is an extra fare,and it takes somewhat of the long way round,but it is scenic,and Southern Queens isn't too bad looking either! This is one of New York's lesser known lines! Also there is a line operated in Newark Airport,which connects on New Jersey Transit out of Penn Station,as a variation on the theme! New York needs to have a good comprehensive all connected transit system,as London or Berlin,but has a long way to go! Thanks for the information,and keep up the good work!😇😀👍👍👍👏
Try Hampstead Underground. The stairs have 320 steps and a warning notice to the effect that should you use them you might drop dead before you get to the top.
When I was student in London the DLR ran right behind the house I lived in and I used it a fair bit, especially going to the original Island Gardens station and walking through the tunnel to get to Greenwich Park or to and from Bank to switch to the Underground. It was always fun to ride.
Interesting you mention a plastic steering wheel... I posted a tweet a few years ago of me sitting on the front seat of the DLR. Their social media team got in touch with me and sent me, I kid you not, an inflatable steering wheel with a suction cup so you could stick it onto the window. It says 'front seat on the DLR #happydays' on it.
Canning Town Station is kinda like North Station here in Boston. We have the Green Line (trains (Light Rail) that each end in different places and are light rail. Inbound is on the lower level and outbound is on the upper level. However, the Orange line (Subway) towards forest hills is on the same platform as the Inbound green line but on the other side. The outbound Orange Line (Forest Hills towards Oak Grove) is opposite the Inbound (another platform, like a typical subway). Both platforms connect up to the upper level and the upper level has an underground connection to TD Garden which serves Commuter Rail (Commuter Train), Amtrak, and local bus connections. There’s a really similar aspect to another station called South Station (basically a major station on the South side of Boston instead of the North side) but it’s a tad more complicated.
You hit the nail smack on the blunt end Geoff, when you said "If you're not in a hurry, stop and look around the station." We should all slow down and look around us. I didn't do this until I retired. I thought "What a mug I've been!" Stop and smell the roses! Stop and hear the birds singing! Stop and watch a sunrise! Stop and see kids playing. I do it all now, nothing can stop me stopping to take it in!
Great video as always Geoff. Canning Town interchange is, as you say, rather confusing, especially if you're transferring from the Jubilee line to the DLR for London City Airport. I do wish they'd make the signage a little clearer, as we always find ourselves wandering around trying to find the right DLR platform. If one only uses the station once or twice a year (as we do) it's impossible to remember.
Talking of DLR artwork and the Beckton branch, I used to study at University of East London, right next to Cyprus station, which is virtually identical in appearance to Beckton Park station. In my last year of studying art there, we had to find a client outside of the university to look at how they'd put an art installation together. My choice was TfL, for how to get platform artworks up at these 2 stations so you could tell them apart more easily (many students and even staff members had mistakenly got off the train 1 stop early at Beckton Park!). Beckton Park's artwork ought to have been a wrap-round tile mural of the park itself, complete with the horses at the horse track, while Cyprus's artwork was intended to have an abstract composition of stationary (pencils, paper, rulers, pens, laptop computer, graduation scroll, etc.) for the university. Though I graduated with a top mark, TfL never got back to me. Hopefully in the future.....
Loved going on the ‘train with no driver’ back in the 90s with a travel card we would get on at the back, ride the train to the end of the line then we’d be a the front when it went back. Good times
As being from Baunschweig, Germany, I first thought you meant the 'Deutsches Zentrum für Luft- und Raumfahrt', short DLR, which is located there and roughly translates to 'German center for aviation and astronautics'.
An idiosyncratic feature of the Cutty Sark DLR station is that the "swipe out" machine is easily missed/difficult to find, and you could end up getting charged for a longer journey than you actually made. - Er.... like we did.
The D L R used to shut at 7 30. After watching Pink Floyd at the now demolished London Arena we all had to get on a little hopper bus, literally one. So we walked
Next time I am in the UK I am going to ride the DLR. Did not exist when I left in 1975 & Stratford at that time was a bit of a back water. How it has all changed. Another good movie, keeping us in touch.
Used to live there so have been down those stairs. That exit also seems to double as a toilet for some people and stinks of piss a lot of the time. Junkies also hang out there and shoot up once seeing myself someone sticking a needle in themselves at the side of the stairs as I walked down them. It's in part why the built that metal bit at the back too to deter people but they're still there. Brave of you to sit on them stwice so hope you washed your trousers after.
Wait wait wait wait wait... I've never seen that entrance or exit for Canning Town before all I know is the bus station... well the sun's out so you know what I'm doing this afternoon lol
Hi Geoff. Love the videos. I don't think the Stratford to Island Gardens line was built at the same time as the Tower Gateway to Island Gardens line. The latter was built first. Part of the former line track was used for some time by the overground to get down to Woolwich North (through that great tunnel under the Royals).
The entire system would need to be reprogrammed and the mirrors for when the Operator is sitting at the front would need to be repositioned at great cost.
Grammar nerd here - the machine boreD the tunnel - past tense of bore. If it BORE the tunnel, that would mean it parented it or gave birth to it or possibly carried it, past tense of bear, not to be confused with BARE or BARED (to make naked). And also not to be confused with large furry animals which defecate in the woods.
When I started using the service in 1988 the computers were always going down that the "guard" had to come to the front of the train open the box and drive it manually. If you were sat in the front you had to move.
Oh wow! Berlin has one of the *most interesting* Underground/Metro/U-Bahn systems in the world... and also one of the oldest! It's history is inevitably linked with the partition of the city during the Cold War (look at the route of Line 7, for example) and it compliments the S-Bahn and Straßenbahn (Tram) systems very well... of course! I'd definitely watch a "Secrets of the Berlin U-Bahn" video!
I bloody hate catching the dlrs at canning town. I'm always heading to the excel and I was on the top platforms and had to sprint to find the stairs to the bottom platforms to catch a dlr to custom house
Shark Tails Not really cross platform - At stratford the Canary Wharf branch is at the same level as part of the Central Line and you can access main line trains and Overground without exiting the station barriers. Also Jubilee line. At West Ham there is an internal footbridge where you can get to the C2C trains, District and Jubilee Canning Town - Jubilee and Overground. At Tower Hill you can see the Fenchurch Street platforms at the same level but no footbridge to connect them Bank, multiple connections including to Waterloo and City
@@ianmoseley9910 I was after track connections not passenger ie, you can take a class 66 onto the district line via london overground at barking is there anywhere on the dlr that has track access for other locos if needed or would they have to be put on at the depot if they ever needed to?
0:53 Stopping at the wrong end of the platform seems to be becoming a thing. Since 10-car trains appeared on my line, eight car trains are now stopping two carriages further on than they used to, meaning that everyone has to run from the top of the steps to the back of the train, which has stopped next to the narrowest part of the platform and inevitably causes a logjam of people. Also, on three carriages, instead of five, are under the awning. 1:50 why would C2C passengers change at Limehouse for Canary Wharf, when they can do so at West Ham? 6:00 interesting to note that, as on the Tube, three of the five least-used stations on the DLR are the penultimate stations on their respective branches - as you have observed is also the case on the Tube.
I was a member of the engineering team that built the original DLR in 1985-86-87. It's nice to see how it has grown from "The Little Railway".
You're joking
I know you joke about adding a seating wheel to the front, but on the Copenhagen Metro (Which if it isn't the same to the DLR stock it's very similar), they've stuck stickers representing buttons and switches on the panel on a front so you can pretend to press them. My partner wasn't the most pleased when I sat jamming my finger on them at every station!
The trains in Copenhagen were made by Ansaldo, later AnsaldoBreda and now Hitachi Rail Italy.
Nick Slater, If my recollection of Copenhagen is correct, there is no risk of anyone falling onto the track since the station platforms are protected with screens and automatic doors, as will be the case with the Elizabeth Line. I guess it is technically not feasible to retro-fit the tube with life-saving screens and doors. More's the pity . . .
James Neilson Graham People would whinge about 'nanny state' and complain about the cost coming out their fares
@@tomeklecocq I love how the sign says it's reserved to kids.
Erik Griswold Copenhagen Metro Is Controlled By ATM Milano Which,No Surprise,Has Ansaldobreda Stocks
So, I did the easter egg thing OF COURSE! You know what to do.. right? Type it in the comments when you've worked it out!
What Easter egg?
Nope didn't see anything give us a clue geoff
Was it that you could see the new station on the DMI or that there is going to be a new station with houses?
Rockwell?
Rockwell?
My favourite little known fact about the DLR is that many (all?) stations have what looks like an arbitrary red line on the ground. This denotes the “compulsory ticket area”, beyond which you need a ticket (or to have touched in). It dates back to the original opening, when there were fears over fare dodging as no stations were to have staff or ticket barriers.
6:05 On the Metro in Copenhagen, they have stickers with train controls so that kids (of all ages) can pretend to drive. DLR is definitely missing a trick here!
Good timing. I've been using the DLR between Lewisham and Bank this week due to the Bexleyheath line closure. And I bagged a front seat on Tuesday!
i love how this got recommended to me exactly 4 years after it came out
I love the plastic steering wheel idea. I am a big kid!! 😂 (Not a London resident, in fact never been to London; would love to visit in the future)
It might feel just like the steering wheels in some modern cars with power steering.
@@cedriclynch yup you are right!! Very similar!!
The DLR Pudding Mill Lane station and adjacent bridges have a special meaning to me. When before the Crossrail was built, the DLR Pudding Mill Lane Station and the bridges had to be relocated. I was responsible for the check of structural engineering design of the new station and bridges. The project was not small and I still put it on my CV these days.
New York has the equivalent to the DLR,but not as long! If you go to Jamaica Station,on the Long Island Railroad,and go upstairs,there is the Port Authority Air Train,(built by Bombardier), which goes to JFK Airport. It covers the terminal area,and also connects to the Howard Beach subway station( on the A line - to the Rockaways,)! There is an extra fare,and it takes somewhat of the long way round,but it is scenic,and Southern Queens isn't too bad looking either! This is one of New York's lesser known lines! Also there is a line operated in Newark Airport,which connects on New Jersey Transit out of Penn Station,as a variation on the theme! New York needs to have a good comprehensive all connected transit system,as London or Berlin,but has a long way to go! Thanks for the information,and keep up the good work!😇😀👍👍👍👏
70 Steps later ;-) How many floors is that? Must be nearly 15 ;-)
Try Hampstead Underground. The stairs have 320 steps and a warning notice to the effect that should you use them you might drop dead before you get to the top.
@@cedriclynch That'll also be 15 storeys, then.
Cedric Lynch r/wooosh
How many steps at bus stops?
Here At Stanford International We Have A 15 Story Building For An Escalator
When I was a kid, Limehouse station was called Stepney east.
Ikr
This is literally the best video series on youtube, ever!
*sees new secrets video*
*delighted screaming*
Travelled the DLR today for the first time. Great experience. And was at Pudding Mill Lane (among others), too. Great vids, well done!
When I was student in London the DLR ran right behind the house I lived in and I used it a fair bit, especially going to the original Island Gardens station and walking through the tunnel to get to Greenwich Park or to and from Bank to switch to the Underground. It was always fun to ride.
Another great video! Really enjoy these videos, they're so insightful. I'm a Londoner born and raised but I don't know half of these things!
Interesting you mention a plastic steering wheel... I posted a tweet a few years ago of me sitting on the front seat of the DLR. Their social media team got in touch with me and sent me, I kid you not, an inflatable steering wheel with a suction cup so you could stick it onto the window. It says 'front seat on the DLR #happydays' on it.
You know what Geoff, the more of your stuff I see the more less daft I feel - smile.
fun fact: the start of every facts or tidbits spell "rockwell", very cool geoff!
I wish there was more of these videos, I've watched all the others and absolutely love them
If you love the DLR, come to Vancouver! They have the DLR on a whole other level!
The first letter of the pop up captions at the bottom of the screen spell ‘Rockwell’
I love going on the (DLR), Docklands Light Railway
Canning Town Station is kinda like North Station here in Boston. We have the Green Line (trains (Light Rail) that each end in different places and are light rail. Inbound is on the lower level and outbound is on the upper level. However, the Orange line (Subway) towards forest hills is on the same platform as the Inbound green line but on the other side. The outbound Orange Line (Forest Hills towards Oak Grove) is opposite the Inbound (another platform, like a typical subway). Both platforms connect up to the upper level and the upper level has an underground connection to TD Garden which serves Commuter Rail (Commuter Train), Amtrak, and local bus connections.
There’s a really similar aspect to another station called South Station (basically a major station on the South side of Boston instead of the North side) but it’s a tad more complicated.
I always see the artwork at Woolwich as that's my local DLR station 🙂
Pudding Mill DLR will be useful for the forthcoming ABBA concerts
Did you know that central line was planned to run to denham? (one more stop from west ruislip)
Two more via Harefield Road
Great video Geoff and nice to see another video of the DLR.
Cool! The PID shown at 4:50 uses the same font as the displays in the Stockholm underground!
You should do old abandoned London stations tube and rail especially in Bow area ?
You hit the nail smack on the blunt end Geoff, when you said "If you're not in a hurry, stop and look around the station." We should all
slow down and look around us. I didn't do this until I retired. I thought "What a mug I've been!" Stop and smell the roses! Stop and hear
the birds singing! Stop and watch a sunrise! Stop and see kids playing. I do it all now, nothing can stop me stopping to take it in!
Great video as always Geoff. Canning Town interchange is, as you say, rather confusing, especially if you're transferring from the Jubilee line to the DLR for London City Airport. I do wish they'd make the signage a little clearer, as we always find ourselves wandering around trying to find the right DLR platform. If one only uses the station once or twice a year (as we do) it's impossible to remember.
"secret entries you'd never know were there" - would be a great video.
Great video. Such a interesting person and a inspiration to me
Talking of DLR artwork and the Beckton branch, I used to study at University of East London, right next to Cyprus station, which is virtually identical in appearance to Beckton Park station. In my last year of studying art there, we had to find a client outside of the university to look at how they'd put an art installation together. My choice was TfL, for how to get platform artworks up at these 2 stations so you could tell them apart more easily (many students and even staff members had mistakenly got off the train 1 stop early at Beckton Park!). Beckton Park's artwork ought to have been a wrap-round tile mural of the park itself, complete with the horses at the horse track, while Cyprus's artwork was intended to have an abstract composition of stationary (pencils, paper, rulers, pens, laptop computer, graduation scroll, etc.) for the university. Though I graduated with a top mark, TfL never got back to me. Hopefully in the future.....
Loved going on the ‘train with no driver’ back in the 90s with a travel card we would get on at the back, ride the train to the end of the line then we’d be a the front when it went back. Good times
I have been at the exit at shadwell with my school when we were heading to the Centre of the Cell
As being from Baunschweig, Germany, I first thought you meant the 'Deutsches Zentrum für Luft- und Raumfahrt', short DLR, which is located there and roughly translates to 'German center for aviation and astronautics'.
An idiosyncratic feature of the Cutty Sark DLR station is that the "swipe out" machine is easily missed/difficult to find, and you could end up getting charged for a longer journey than you actually made. - Er.... like we did.
Another excellent video Geoff.
Geoff taking the 'Edd China' approach to T-shirt fashion it seems.
The D L R used to shut at 7 30. After watching Pink Floyd at the now demolished London Arena we all had to get on a little hopper bus, literally one. So we walked
Next time I am in the UK I am going to ride the DLR. Did not exist when I left in 1975 & Stratford at that time was a bit of a back water. How it has all changed. Another good movie, keeping us in touch.
John Murray Up to 1965 Stratford was technically not in London - outer boundary of the old LCC was the River Lea
@@ianmoseley9910 All a long long ago metropolis far far away.
I always take the back entrance at stratford international as it takes you to the mainline station
THE POP UP INFO IN THE VIDEOS CREATED THE WORD/STATION ROCKWELL
Used to live there so have been down those stairs. That exit also seems to double as a toilet for some people and stinks of piss a lot of the time. Junkies also hang out there and shoot up once seeing myself someone sticking a needle in themselves at the side of the stairs as I walked down them. It's in part why the built that metal bit at the back too to deter people but they're still there. Brave of you to sit on them stwice so hope you washed your trousers after.
Wait wait wait wait wait... I've never seen that entrance or exit for Canning Town before all I know is the bus station... well the sun's out so you know what I'm doing this afternoon lol
I have work on PIDS (passenger information system) and POTS (position of train system) in Melbourne.
Hi Geoff. Love the videos. I don't think the Stratford to Island Gardens line was built at the same time as the Tower Gateway to Island Gardens line. The latter was built first. Part of the former line track was used for some time by the overground to get down to Woolwich North (through that great tunnel under the Royals).
Very nice watch.
Nice another one
How hard would it be to make the trains stop at a sensible place at All Saints?
The entire system would need to be reprogrammed and the mirrors for when the Operator is sitting at the front would need to be repositioned at great cost.
There is a DLR in Sydney as well, call Metro
There are tons of original DLR logo on tube maps (like the Jubilee line board next to London Bridge NR entrance) that TfL never bothered to replace.
Grammar nerd here - the machine boreD the tunnel - past tense of bore. If it BORE the tunnel, that would mean it parented it or gave birth to it or possibly carried it, past tense of bear, not to be confused with BARE or BARED (to make naked). And also not to be confused with large furry animals which defecate in the woods.
06:14 when I started using the Dlr in the 1980s the computers would often break down and the Guard would open that box and drive the train manually.
Nice. I'm only in London for a frew days, but I just used those new escalators at Limehouse a good hour ago ;-)
Brand-new escalators at Limehouse?! Those escalators are about the equivalent of 15 floors!
I love the "Secrets Of" videos!
Interesting fact the original trains of the DLR (The p86 and 87) are now running as Subway/Train/Trams in Essen, Germany.
When I started using the service in 1988 the computers were always going down that the "guard" had to come to the front of the train open the box and drive it manually. If you were sat in the front you had to move.
I don't even live in London, why do I watch these. Geoff, if you ever come to Berlin, I'd like to help you with videos here :D
Oh wow! Berlin has one of the *most interesting* Underground/Metro/U-Bahn systems in the world... and also one of the oldest! It's history is inevitably linked with the partition of the city during the Cold War (look at the route of Line 7, for example) and it compliments the S-Bahn and Straßenbahn (Tram) systems very well... of course! I'd definitely watch a "Secrets of the Berlin U-Bahn" video!
Is no-one already making videos about the Berlin network? I love travelling in Berlin.
Hi Geoff, you should check out the London underground park in Hounslow East on the right hand side when you exit the station towards the main road.
So how many steps did you go down at Pudding Mill Station?
Enough to account for 15 floors.
I liked the DLRtwork
You forgot to mention the silky smooth train announcer!
There are actually 3 ways in and out of Woolwich Arsenal DLR if you include the access tunnel from the National Rail station.
On the DLR not looking out the window but on my phone. Doh!
I saw train 136 twice in a day which I did not expect
The Easter egg is the "you know i had to do it to em" in the thumbnail
1:34 epic youtuber reference
The first letters of all the captions spell out ROCKWELL
Just at the Tower Gateway station watching this!
Thank you 🙏🏼
Good video as always geoff👍
Geoff could you do a video about remnants of the Liverpool Overhead railway?
I bloody hate catching the dlrs at canning town. I'm always heading to the excel and I was on the top platforms and had to sprint to find the stairs to the bottom platforms to catch a dlr to custom house
I love the Rockwell font, I think they should still use it on the DLR
At 1:04 a nice bit of exercise for the passengers! 🚈🏃♂️😁
I never got to go to stratford international but ive been to stratford!
Hi Geoff, I think it's time for Lewisham branch secrets, don't you think?
Yup... link bridge at Limehouse lots use it.
5:40 seen it back in 2014
I prefer the Tube!
Don’t they normally say it on the PA if westbound train comes from Beckton/Woolwhich Arsenal before it arrives as Westferry?
Ah-ha, the step counts again. Brilliant. :D
Nice
Wow! It is so fun
I love DLR as well 😍
At 6:10. On the Copenhagen driverless metro, they have stickers of controls for kids to pretend to drive.
you most likely not see this but.... is the dlr connected to the network? ie at barking platform 2 and 3 the main line has access to the district line
Shark Tails Not really cross platform - At stratford the Canary Wharf branch is at the same level as part of the Central Line and you can access main line trains and Overground without exiting the station barriers. Also Jubilee line.
At West Ham there is an internal footbridge where you can get to the C2C trains, District and Jubilee
Canning Town - Jubilee and Overground.
At Tower Hill you can see the Fenchurch Street platforms at the same level but no footbridge to connect them
Bank, multiple connections including to Waterloo and City
@@ianmoseley9910 I was after track connections not passenger ie, you can take a class 66 onto the district line via london overground at barking is there anywhere on the dlr that has track access for other locos if needed or would they have to be put on at the depot if they ever needed to?
Hey Geoffers! Can you show us all the controls inside the driver's box, and tell us what they do?
The only reason i watched this is because i ONCE visited London.
0:53 Stopping at the wrong end of the platform seems to be becoming a thing. Since 10-car trains appeared on my line, eight car trains are now stopping two carriages further on than they used to, meaning that everyone has to run from the top of the steps to the back of the train, which has stopped next to the narrowest part of the platform and inevitably causes a logjam of people. Also, on three carriages, instead of five, are under the awning. 1:50 why would C2C passengers change at Limehouse for Canary Wharf, when they can do so at West Ham? 6:00 interesting to note that, as on the Tube, three of the five least-used stations on the DLR are the penultimate stations on their respective branches - as you have observed is also the case on the Tube.
Norbiton Flyer It is a longer walk at West Ham, involving stairs, an escalator, the footbridge to cross the road and another set of stairs/escalator.
Geoff could you please make a video on Star Lane and West Ham please :)
Great Video Geoff, just wondering what the DLR are like with people who want to film and take photos at the stations?
For anything other than snaps, you need permission from TfL Film and Media Department and there's a cost involved.
I have never been on the DLR (yet) but one day.
Ha! I went through that entrance today!
since we have leap seconds are the tides going to be out?