"You know what I find an absolute disgrace?" "Yes. That the RE5 is always late." "Wha... how do you know that?" "It's the same as the last 5 times you told me."
Even the Jubilee-Elizabeth interchange at Canary Wharf can be needlessly complicated - I distinctly recall at one point coming off the Jubilee line to be greeted with four different signs for the Elizabeth line - pointing in *four different directions*
The Elizabeth Line station building has an indoor tropical garden a few levels above the platforms, with plants from different hemispheres seperated on different sides. It is an oasis of tranquility in what is otherwise a hectic part of the city. Well worth a stop & look if time permits!
On the topic of getting lost around Canary Wharf - some years ago I was staying late at work for a project where some auditors were meant to arrive at the HSBC building ~8pm so they could do their job and we could all go home. They didn't arrive on time, and our contact at HSBC said that he'd been told they couldn't find the building. With an exasperated sigh, my manager snapped "Just tell them to look up! There's a bloody great sign on it!"
I come from an auditing firm in the City and had an appointment with a client there. The buildings didn't seem to have names or numbers on them. I had to ask about four different sets of people which was building number x. This wasn't a landmark firm, they were renting some Regus offices on about floor 25. When I finally found it, even the receptionists didn't know the clients' name. Arrived about 25 minutes late. I like knowing where I am; maps and geography are a hobby and its one of the few places I've been in the last 20 years where I was lost.
I remember going to Canary Wharf not long after the Elizabeth Line opened. I saw the long colourful tunnel and assumed the station was that way (we had come from the Jubilee Line) and then got lost and didn't realise we had to walk all the way back down the tunnel and go underneath it. 10/10 Design
It's pretty amazing when you think about it, just how quickly Canary Wharf became a Destination Station. Back in the mid-90's, when my friend and I were exploring London, seemingly every other weekend (Thanks to free travel, due to his stepdad working for Railtrack and me using his Brothers Privilegecard..Shhhh!) , Canary Wharf for us was just a through-station on the way to the then end of the line Island Gardens, with a stop for Refs at the café downstairs before continuing on foot through the Greenwich Foot Tunnel to far-off lands, such as Greenwich Village and Blackheath.
That was the time I started working at Canary Wharf retail mall, it was my destination for a few years. Until Heron Quay and Surrey Quay got blown by the IRA in 1997. Left that fall. Shhh don't tell anyone.
Everything you say about interconnecting there is absolutely correct. The failure in my opinion now lies with the extremely poor, misleading, sometimes non-existent signage supposedly directing visitors walking between stations. If that were corrected so visitors could follow a repeating sign to keep them on route it would work better. Another issue is finding the right DLR platform, signage there is poor too and visitors go wandering around from platform to platform to find their train!
As someone who just had to do this yesterday - its basically just 3 stations. Canary Wharf (proper) and Canary Wharf (DLR) and Canary Wharf (Lizzy line) are seperate entites and you should expect a 10 minute or more interchange (rising to 20 if you inevitably get lost in those underground shopping tunnels)
this honestly just sounds like every poorly signed and over designed major interchange. the people who know it use it well, and can book it across to catch that late train instead of waiting 10-20 mins for the next. casual users and tourists struggle and get lost.
I recently travelled from O2 arena to Canary Wharf as I wanted to change to the Elithabeth line. I was surprised that there was no signaged between the Jubilee and Elithabeth line. Just a handful of signs would have helped so much. Also about the DLR in Canary Wharf. I’m surprised there's no signage at ground level saying which way the trains are going from ground level. I felt dumb that I took an escalator up to the platforms only to find I had to go back to ground level to get on the correct escalator for the direction I was going. There may have been signage but I didn’t see it. 🤣
What's wrong with signs saying "Platform 1", "Platform 2", etc.? There's your signage. 😂 A seasoned DLR traveller waits for a DLR train to stop between the platforms and walks _through_ the train to the other side. No need to take the stairs. Just don't hesitate, the train might shut the doors and depart with you. Extra bonus points if you can make it in one go from Platform 1 to Platform 4. 💯
Is an island created by returning a part of what had been dry land but then was artificially dug out to create a dock, back to dry land actually an "artificial island"?
Ah yes, it was just a couple of weeks ago that my wife and I spent half an hour navigating between Canary Wharf DLR and Canary Wharf Elisabeth Line. I can appreciate how the geography of the area makes it difficult but there's no excuse for the poor signage that makes it so much *more* difficult.
@@Ibis117 Yeah, lack of joined up design is a huge problem. One of my personal bugbears is Euston to St pancras. Some organisation decided to signpost a walking route through the back streets avoiding the heavy traffic on Euston road. The problem is whoever put up said signs seems to only have had permission to attatch them to lamp posts, the result is when starting from the Euston end it's really easy to miss a critical sign and end up lost.
Same. From/to the Lewisham branch it always made more sense to just enter/exit the Jubilee via. the escalators. Walking through the shopping centre is magnitudes busier and no quicker
The Heron Quays - Jubilee OSI actually used to be shown on the tube map around 2010 when it was the only marked OSI as '150m' compared to CW DLR's '200m' walk.
All the time I grew up around there, Canary Wharf DLR has stayed the same, West India and Heron Quays got the upgrade of sorts. South Quay got a brief makeover after the bomb. They all mostly stayed the same into the 00s before everything was unified to look like the Lewisham extension.
As a recent tourist having stayed in Greenwich and using the DLR everyday, it was nice to see that I maybe wasn’t the problem in navigating an unfamiliar shopping mall to get to the Elizabeth line 😂! Used the Heron Quays/CW Jubilee OSI several times and was quite enjoyable during the holiday season when there was no office traffic!
I've always liked Canary Wharf for some reason. My dad used to take us here when I was a kid in the 90s to go to the farm a couple DLR stops away, when Mudchute was still elevated and you had to walk through the foot tunnel to get to Greenwich. Back then, it only had the one skyscraper with the flashing light in the pyramid on the roof. Mainhattan (Frankfurt on the river Main) was the only place in Europe that anyone compared to Manhattan in those days but today Canary Wharf, the city of London, downtown Warsaw, Paris-La Defense, Rotterdam and downtown Milan all share this reputation. Still not much when compared to the amount of high rises in Asian cities.
I've got lost in the shopping centre trying to change lines before. The signage is awful to non existent. Now I know to simply avoid changing there on my occasional tourist visits.
@@mrapps135 And also, many would probably prefer a good surface level route - preferably one with some more surface level shops, facilities, cafes, etc - rather than grumpy private security and a dated, 1980s Singapore low roof shopping mall.
You probably already know this because you also love the DLR. Who doesn't love the DLR? But I never get tired of videos which feature the DLR heavily. I am also unnaturally fascinated by Canary Wharf. Loving all the stock footage of it in this video. Nice work! 👌🏻💜😀 Doug
6:31 yes, roller-skate backwards onto a train platform where one can easily lose your balance and land in front of a train… Also don’t want to hear any complaining if the train has to make an emergency stop and he goes flying.
See, I'm certainly not the only one who complained about that clip when it was used by Jago before, that behavior has been noticed by me quite a bit on my travels on the National rail network last year and I've had to report it. I enjoyed roller skating when I was a kid and that behavior makes me really ashamed, honestly! :/
When I watch your videos, I often wind back through them afterwards to click 'like' just as you say what I think is the wittiest pun. I like to imagine that YT shows some kind of spike that correlates with them
knowing that it’s the newest area to be developed in the whole of London, the simple reason is that they’re kluged together interchanges. it’s meant to be a destination not an interchange, so transferring is a tertiary thought
The signage in particular is terrible. It's really hard work changing between the DLR and Jubilee line to and from City Airport at Canning Town too, if I'm remembering correctly.
Had Rip Van Winkle woken up in Canary Wharf after 100 years, he would have been amazed at the changes. But one thing would not have surprised him was the disjointed arrangement of stations all called Canary Wharf with no evidence of any planning into their uncoordinated locations. From a 1925 prospective, he would have just assumed that they had been built by three competing railway companies and not a development corporation whose job was ro come up with an integrated plan!
The simple solution is to provide better signposting. Perhaps too simple? After all, if you're a canary wharf commuter you know your way around, if you're not, you're obviously lost anyway... ;)
My former employer moved from bank to Canary Wharf at the turn of the century Still had to change at bank so went DLR in the morning so I could at least enjoy some sunshine
my working theory is, as i hear it from most places with public transport that almost every place has its own canary wharf version, kind of... there are sometimes people at the helm, who had not used public transport since the days of adam and eve...have no glue how to design and streamline new and old ways together and then there are politicians who are especially wrong in their place, occupation and getting reelected because the public does not see the truth....
Regarding the 'Manhattan on Thames' comment. I occasionally get random relatives coming to London for the first time, so they ask if I can show them around. Our first stop is always Canary Wharf Tube station, and every time, without fail, they gasp when they emerge at the surface as it is so unlike the London that everyone expects. I did the same the first ever time I travelled there. 👍
Mr Hazzard, Last in Docklands two years ago. I liked DLR -sat at the front and pretend to be a train driver😊😊. I agree the three stations are a bit spread out, but I had no problems navigating between them.
The video I've been waiting for! I live near to Canary Wharf and use the interchanges a lot. It's all very well I know where I'm going, but I'm sure I got lost when I first moved here. Cheers, Jago!
I worked in a lego building near Heron Quays in the late 90s, just before the Jubilee Line extension opened, so had to squeeze onto horribly overcrowded DLR trains! Heron Quays station was one of the original basic ones, with stairs down to a desolate road (Bank Street). I wish camera phones existed back then, as it would be really interesting to directly compare the landscape then with now.
My tips: From the Jubilee use Heron Quays to switch to the DLR toward Lewisham or to the Jubilee or use Canning Town elsewhere on the DLR. If coming from Stratford use the DLR via Bow Church rather than the Jubilee. I learned just this week to use West India Quay if trying to get to the Elizabeth Line. If you want to get from the Elizabeth to the Jubilee try to avoid the place altogether and Change at Stratford or Bond Street unless you fancy getting lost in a underground maze.
Canary Wharf reminds me of Long Island City. Long a light industrial area cut off from the rest Queens by Sunnyside Rail Yard (for Penn Station), as the industrial aspect tapered away, developers swooped in, and either converted building to office or residential, or demolished them for skyscrapers. When Citi Bank wanted to build the tallest one (at the time) the city asked them to build a tunnel connection between two subway stations (serving the E/M and G these days), complete with moving sidewalks! (Those have since been removed because they broke down too often to be useful) later a 3rd connection was made to the above ground 7 train station. However, there still is no connection between the above ground Queensborough Plaza (7/N/W) and the below ground Queens Plaza (E/M/R) even though it’s quite a short walking distance between the two. The excuse is probably “Just ride one stop to that other station with all the connectivity between 7/G/E/M”. (The M and R make the same stops in Queens after this, but they do not in Manhattan.)
I slept in a hotel in the district and the feeling you get walking around there is bizzare. It doesn't feel like a piece of land, but a giant structure instead. There are multiple street levels which you have to navigate like floors of a building. Also, being a business district it felt abandonned during a bank holiday. Still enjoyed my time though, even before openning of the Elizabeth line the multitude of connections is great.
In an effort to save myself a little bit of time, and feeling adventurous, I once decided to change at Canary Wharf. I exited the station, then as far as I could tell, I would have to navigate through a closed shopping centre. It was late and there were no signs to help me, so in the end I gave up, went back into the station I'd just left and went home.
the station name is actually Cannery Wharf. so called as all the commuters arrive as Sardines having been closely packed during their travel attempt on any of the lines
Poplar got a mention towards the end. I found Upper Bank Street the simplest way of switching between the Jubilee, DLR and Elizabeth Line. There's an eastern entrance to the Jubilee, Poplar DLR and the Elizabeth Line island almost in a row and it's less crowded there than around Canada Square. It might not so useful if you are at the western end of CW or want to take the DLR south. Canary Wharf is also served by the Thames Clippers/Uber Boats at Westferry Circus.
BTW. Two of the places seen in this video have been in Star Wars: * Canary Warf underground station in Rogue One. * Exterior of the walking tunnel from "Crossrail Place" in Andor 5:38
I worked in Canary Wharf for a couple of years, older colleagues had to be lured with free parking spaces to move in back in the early 1990s, that's how unpopular it was with people. Prior to Crossrail, when the jubilee Line was shut, you could not get out other than take the DLR which was absolutely bonded. It's a horrid place.
2:50 One only needs to look at a Dimensions in Time outtake or clip of Sylvester McCoy where you see only One Canada Square in the background and yet today, we have a mini Manhattan. Quite a change over 30 or more years.
The bit of history you missed is that before the DLR it was proposed to extend the Jubilee Line from its then terminus at Charing Cross east to Docklands, but the project was killed off and replaced with a low cost above ground transit link - the DLR - which was felt to be more appropriate for the low intensity development then expected in the area (as well as a lot cheaper than an underground line). The DLR was routed across the middle of the West India Docks on a viaduct, to provide passenger access to the mid point of the otherwise inaccessible fingers of land which were Canary Wharf and Heron Wharf (later Heron Quays). Even before it was completed it was clear the DLR would be inadequate, and Olympia & York's Canary Wharf project changed the whole transport landscape. O&Y promoted the rebuilding of Canary Wharf station, the extension of DLR to Bank and the lengthening of the system to accommodate 3-unit trains. All this was not enough, and O&Y later persuaded government to extend the Jubilee Line. By this time the Canary Wharf site was partly built out, with piled building foundations preventing tunnelling under the development. Hence the Jubilee Line Station was built in the dock south of Canary Wharf. And later on the same reason meant the only space available for the Elizabeth Line was in the dock to the north of Canary Wharf. Hence the poor interchange between the lines.
Yes, it was pretty desolate but it didn't stop the Powerboat Racing taking place in the Royal Victoria Docks in the 1980's. Pretty exciting to watch with a backdrop of deserted buildings all around.
Before Canary Wharf Station was built, Heron Quays looked only a stone's throw away from West India Quay, so they really are "bunched up" a bit here, separated by water!!
I've never quite understood why the stations aren't labelled Canary Wharf North, Canary Wharf East, Canary Wharf West, or whatever. They are separate stations. And they don't take you to the same place. I presume its the owners of land and brand Canary Wharf wanting it to all sound like exactly the same place. Same applies to the 2 separate, confusing District/Circle stations at Paddington - it would be tricky on the Tube map, but why no Paddington Canalside, and Paddington Praed Street, or something simpler? Also, did I read somewhere that the bridge between Canary Wharf Crossrail and Poplar (which would be logical as an Elizabeth line 'Canary Wharf for Poplar and DLR to City Airport' terminal shuttle-like journey connection) is now cancelled??
The Hammersmith & City line platforms can be called Paddington because they are in the same trainshed as the GWR platforms. The District Line platforms should take back their old name of Praed Street.
This is good timing after I got lost a few weeks ago changing at Canary Wharf. between the DLR and Elizabeth Line. I would have missed my booked train at St Pancras if I hadn’t run.
My old Nan used to say to me “when things are annoying just pretend they’re not”. It’s can be an occasionally useful philosophy if employed whilst also using alcohol or drugs.
4:55 You can make this argument - and I get it, these are basically commuter stations for people to enter and exit the place they work - but I can say from experience that it just isn't true. I have on multiple occasions made that DLR > Jubilee Line interchange; it's often one of the quickest ways for me to get to where I'm trying to go. I'll admit that's perhaps a niche use case - most useful to those who live around Lewisham perhaps - but it is absolutely a use case. I do not work in Canary Wharf, I don't have much of any business there generally; for me it is honestly first and foremost a major transport interchange. It's easier for me to get to than Canning Town or Stratford (approaching from the southeast), hence using that over either of those changes. I can appreciate that the local geography makes having a massive station where the three lines all meet virtually impossible - I did always wonder why Canary Wharf had three separate titular stations like that as there aren't too many other cases of that in London. I've done that change enough times to where it is second nature to me and doesn't really bother me at all, but it is rather more convoluted than a lot of OSIs across the network. I've never done the change from Heron Quays to the Tube though, I actually didn't know that one is simpler... will have to try it some time. Also - I've never actually used the Elizabeth Line station at Canary Wharf; never had to make the change between it and the DLR. It seems like it'd be about as long as the DLR > Jubilee change, but the need just hasn't presented itself yet, I dunno. I knew there was an OSI between that station, and West India Quay and Poplar... another change to try out sometime. Great video!
TBH the biggest problem is the awful signage in the Subterranean Mall under Canary Wharf, I've used it a few times and always somehow manage to lose my bearings, I think it's because there's nothing to relate to, it's a big brightly lit Corridor that splits off in different directions.
A further complication is that southbound trains at West India Quay usually terminate at Canary Wharf, whereas the DLR trains to Lewisham mostly go through West India Quay without stopping.
Is the Docklands Light railway officially called the DLR now? Every sign, map, and logo now seems to have just the initials, never the whole name, even where there's plenty of room for the name in full. I'm sure there must be people who have never heard the term Docklands Light Railway, and have no idea what DLR means. It can't be purely to abbreviate a long name, because other long names, such as Hammersmith And City Line, are never shortened to their initials. It's more like Kentucky Fried Chicken becoming KFC, or British Home Stores becoming BHS.
@@michaeljohnson9421 Changed officially a long time ago. No longer only services Docklands, technically. Priority is people knowing the name of the line or system they need to use, and how to use it. Docklands was a well known term in the 1980s and 1990s (under the original London Docklands Development Corporation) but sometimes now more likely to just be referred to as going to Canary Wharf, or other particular areas.
It (or, rather, the company which owns it) is still officially The Docklands Light Railway Ltd, a wholly-owned subsidiary of TfL. It's split into six separate concessions, all of which are currently operated by KeloisAmey under the DLR (not Docklands Light Railway) brand, but which theoretically could be operated by six separate companies all with different branding. That would be fun for tourism.
You say about the Elizebeth Line station being built on an artificial island, because of lack of land. Wasn't the Jubilee Line station built in the bottom of a dock, and is now completely underwater?
i had to do the jubilee to DLR change only the other week, thought at the time that it was so confusing and stupid but figured as i’m new to london, it was just me, glad i was right in my thinking
Here in America we have a relatable devolution in signage and design, many apartments are in clusters of buildings, numbered, the sign on the building, sometimes unit numbering begins with building number, sometimes not, and covered parking always hides the signage so one must stop and get out, go under the cover right up to the building and get back in the car to go find a spot to park some distance away. No signs face the walkways inside the courts and rarely do the building number sequence...17...18...19 appear obvious until you look at a few buildings. This is modern thinking, not an iota of practical consideration applied or given! And don't get me started on how airport roads are signed!
The question I was hoping you were going to answer is why the tunnel at 5:46 has a flooring constructed from some kind of corrugated(?) metal which makes an almightly racket when you pull a wheely case along it? My family hates it
I can only assume all 3 stations are sponsored by John Lewis and Waitrose - in order to connect between them the easiest way is via their Canary Wharf shop. Feel free to stop off en route for a free tea or coffee!
It would probably help if they had a sort of yellow brick road system to make it easier to follow the routes between the various stations (except of course that they would have be different colours and not all of them yellow, which would rather defeat the purpose ...).
I've often commented that one of the delights of watching/listening to your channel, is that Jago Hazzard English is so delightfully British. Therefore, imagine my horror when listening today and hearing, "...literally my job as a....". I thought I was being literal in writing this comment, but that you were being actual in creating the video. American English is following D.J.Trump Esq into global dominance if even Jago is using it. Then I heard, "I got off OF the train", and decided 🇬🇧RIP🇬🇧. 😪
I find the oyster pay pads at Stratford a lot more confusing. If I switch from or to the DLR there I'm never sure where to tab in or out and somehow even managed to get out of the station without taping out. (Admittedly that was 1.5 years ago but it was confusing nevertheless)
Honestly, the worst part of it as an interchange station is that the signage is in the style of the shopping centre. It's small and lost amongst the signs telling you buildings.
"My friends sometimes vent to me about their issues with the rail network" is so relatable
Knowing things = being a shoulder to cry on. 😂
"You know what I find an absolute disgrace?"
"Yes. That the RE5 is always late."
"Wha... how do you know that?"
"It's the same as the last 5 times you told me."
How carefully did you have to say Can't-ary Wharf?
Sounded about as careful as people who talk about Kant ;)
"Well there was no need for that!"
The elongation of 'a' was very important.
Personally, I would have gone for "Contrary Wharf" for the pun at the end.
maybe a safer option
@stephenlee5929 Sounds less like "C***hairy"
@stephenlee5929 Sounds less like "C.... hairy"
Oh yes. That is very good!
Wrath of the Wharf 😂
Even the Jubilee-Elizabeth interchange at Canary Wharf can be needlessly complicated - I distinctly recall at one point coming off the Jubilee line to be greeted with four different signs for the Elizabeth line - pointing in *four different directions*
🤣🤣🤣🤣
You have reached the Jubilee pole. Your destination lies in any direction, as long a you are willing to walk for a *long* time...
The Elizabeth Line station building has an indoor tropical garden a few levels above the platforms, with plants from different hemispheres seperated on different sides. It is an oasis of tranquility in what is otherwise a hectic part of the city. Well worth a stop & look if time permits!
Thanks for the tip!
And it is often lit up during the Winter Lights event.
One of my favorite places to just chill in London
It's pretty boring tho
Thinking back to 1987, there were no Canary Wharf stations, now there are three with that name!!
On the topic of getting lost around Canary Wharf - some years ago I was staying late at work for a project where some auditors were meant to arrive at the HSBC building ~8pm so they could do their job and we could all go home. They didn't arrive on time, and our contact at HSBC said that he'd been told they couldn't find the building. With an exasperated sigh, my manager snapped "Just tell them to look up! There's a bloody great sign on it!"
I come from an auditing firm in the City and had an appointment with a client there. The buildings didn't seem to have names or numbers on them. I had to ask about four different sets of people which was building number x. This wasn't a landmark firm, they were renting some Regus offices on about floor 25. When I finally found it, even the receptionists didn't know the clients' name. Arrived about 25 minutes late. I like knowing where I am; maps and geography are a hobby and its one of the few places I've been in the last 20 years where I was lost.
Don't ask how I 'found' the Chrysler Building in New York! Okay, it was the reflection of it.
I remember going to Canary Wharf not long after the Elizabeth Line opened. I saw the long colourful tunnel and assumed the station was that way (we had come from the Jubilee Line) and then got lost and didn't realise we had to walk all the way back down the tunnel and go underneath it.
10/10 Design
It's pretty amazing when you think about it, just how quickly Canary Wharf became a Destination Station.
Back in the mid-90's, when my friend and I were exploring London, seemingly every other weekend (Thanks to free travel, due to his stepdad working for Railtrack and me using his Brothers Privilegecard..Shhhh!) , Canary Wharf for us was just a through-station on the way to the then end of the line Island Gardens, with a stop for Refs at the café downstairs before continuing on foot through the Greenwich Foot Tunnel to far-off lands, such as Greenwich Village and Blackheath.
That was the time I started working at Canary Wharf retail mall, it was my destination for a few years. Until Heron Quay and Surrey Quay got blown by the IRA in 1997. Left that fall. Shhh don't tell anyone.
Everything you say about interconnecting there is absolutely correct.
The failure in my opinion now lies with the extremely poor, misleading, sometimes non-existent signage supposedly directing visitors walking between stations. If that were corrected so visitors could follow a repeating sign to keep them on route it would work better.
Another issue is finding the right DLR platform, signage there is poor too and visitors go wandering around from platform to platform to find their train!
‘Professional Train Nerd’. Oh, I want to see it on a business card.
I've seen that but with a bus nerd for real. It's an internal joke amongst my friends.
Does this make us all Amateur train nerds? Hey what a great title and what a privilege!
As someone who just had to do this yesterday - its basically just 3 stations. Canary Wharf (proper) and Canary Wharf (DLR) and Canary Wharf (Lizzy line) are seperate entites and you should expect a 10 minute or more interchange (rising to 20 if you inevitably get lost in those underground shopping tunnels)
this honestly just sounds like every poorly signed and over designed major interchange. the people who know it use it well, and can book it across to catch that late train instead of waiting 10-20 mins for the next. casual users and tourists struggle and get lost.
I recently travelled from O2 arena to Canary Wharf as I wanted to change to the Elithabeth line. I was surprised that there was no signaged between the Jubilee and Elithabeth line. Just a handful of signs would have helped so much.
Also about the DLR in Canary Wharf. I’m surprised there's no signage at ground level saying which way the trains are going from ground level. I felt dumb that I took an escalator up to the platforms only to find I had to go back to ground level to get on the correct escalator for the direction I was going. There may have been signage but I didn’t see it. 🤣
Agreed I was there too couldn’t work it out had to ask staff and felt a bit daft!
Perhaps they don't want you to leave!
What's wrong with signs saying "Platform 1", "Platform 2", etc.? There's your signage. 😂
A seasoned DLR traveller waits for a DLR train to stop between the platforms and walks _through_ the train to the other side. No need to take the stairs. Just don't hesitate, the train might shut the doors and depart with you.
Extra bonus points if you can make it in one go from Platform 1 to Platform 4. 💯
Is an island created by returning a part of what had been dry land but then was artificially dug out to create a dock, back to dry land actually an "artificial island"?
This is one of life's imponderables 😂😂😂
the whole place is artificial really isn't it. haha
Words are only Subjects of Their usage. "If I belive I see it then I see it" Lord Bonkers circa long time ago
Yes because it's surrounded by water.
It's an artificial island in an artificial lake.
Ah yes, it was just a couple of weeks ago that my wife and I spent half an hour navigating between Canary Wharf DLR and Canary Wharf Elisabeth Line. I can appreciate how the geography of the area makes it difficult but there's no excuse for the poor signage that makes it so much *more* difficult.
The excuse will be, and probably is, that TfL have no authority to put signs up outside their facilities.
@@Ibis117 Yeah, lack of joined up design is a huge problem.
One of my personal bugbears is Euston to St pancras. Some organisation decided to signpost a walking route through the back streets avoiding the heavy traffic on Euston road. The problem is whoever put up said signs seems to only have had permission to attatch them to lamp posts, the result is when starting from the Euston end it's really easy to miss a critical sign and end up lost.
It's a very interesting but colourful tale thanks to the lighting, indoor and night scenes particularly when watching full screen.
canary wharf has become my favourite place to stay when visiting london, great to see a video from you about it.
The Docklands hotels always seem to be more available and cheaper than the Central ones, and that's why I'm staying at Westferry later this year.
I always used Heron Quays when going between the DLR and Jubilee
I used to come from the pudding mill lane branch and they tend to terminate at CW platform 3-4
You live in Greenwich or Lewisham?
Same. From/to the Lewisham branch it always made more sense to just enter/exit the Jubilee via. the escalators. Walking through the shopping centre is magnitudes busier and no quicker
Yep, just a short walk across the road 👍
yep having lived in the area for few years, changing between lines in a piece of cake now lol
Love the footbridge to the Elizabeth- always hum the imperial March when I walk through
I was in Canary Wharf the other day, on the way to the Formula 1 Exhibition. Would never expect to get a video from you at Canary Wharf!
The Heron Quays - Jubilee OSI actually used to be shown on the tube map around 2010 when it was the only marked OSI as '150m' compared to CW DLR's '200m' walk.
All the time I grew up around there, Canary Wharf DLR has stayed the same, West India and Heron Quays got the upgrade of sorts. South Quay got a brief makeover after the bomb. They all mostly stayed the same into the 00s before everything was unified to look like the Lewisham extension.
As a recent tourist having stayed in Greenwich and using the DLR everyday, it was nice to see that I maybe wasn’t the problem in navigating an unfamiliar shopping mall to get to the Elizabeth line 😂! Used the Heron Quays/CW Jubilee OSI several times and was quite enjoyable during the holiday season when there was no office traffic!
The museum on naval history is very impressive there!
Wait, they have a museum about bellybuttons?
another masterpiece yet again, and today he talks about the station that commuters queue up nicely in during rush hour!
I've always liked Canary Wharf for some reason. My dad used to take us here when I was a kid in the 90s to go to the farm a couple DLR stops away, when Mudchute was still elevated and you had to walk through the foot tunnel to get to Greenwich. Back then, it only had the one skyscraper with the flashing light in the pyramid on the roof. Mainhattan (Frankfurt on the river Main) was the only place in Europe that anyone compared to Manhattan in those days but today Canary Wharf, the city of London, downtown Warsaw, Paris-La Defense, Rotterdam and downtown Milan all share this reputation. Still not much when compared to the amount of high rises in Asian cities.
I've got lost in the shopping centre trying to change lines before. The signage is awful to non existent. Now I know to simply avoid changing there on my occasional tourist visits.
This! The centre signage is the worst
@@mrapps135 And also, many would probably prefer a good surface level route - preferably one with some more surface level shops, facilities, cafes, etc - rather than grumpy private security and a dated, 1980s Singapore low roof shopping mall.
ive found signage to be fine, just follow 'JUBILEE LINE and JUBILEE PLACE' 'CROSSRAIL PLACE and ELIZABETH LINE' 'CABOT PLACE and DLR'
i also got lost in this shopping centre while looking for shops. It is pretty awful.
Worst shopping centre in London honestly
I never knew there was a direct route between the railway station and the tube station (nor have I visited the Canary Wharf).
You probably already know this because you also love the DLR. Who doesn't love the DLR? But I never get tired of videos which feature the DLR heavily. I am also unnaturally fascinated by Canary Wharf. Loving all the stock footage of it in this video. Nice work! 👌🏻💜😀
Doug
Canary Wharf Elizabeth Line: an artificial island within the Isle of Dogs... the Isle of Isle of Dogs?
6:31 yes, roller-skate backwards onto a train platform where one can easily lose your balance and land in front of a train…
Also don’t want to hear any complaining if the train has to make an emergency stop and he goes flying.
See, I'm certainly not the only one who complained about that clip when it was used by Jago before, that behavior has been noticed by me quite a bit on my travels on the National rail network last year and I've had to report it. I enjoyed roller skating when I was a kid and that behavior makes me really ashamed, honestly! :/
When I watch your videos, I often wind back through them afterwards to click 'like' just as you say what I think is the wittiest pun. I like to imagine that YT shows some kind of spike that correlates with them
knowing that it’s the newest area to be developed in the whole of London, the simple reason is that they’re kluged together interchanges. it’s meant to be a destination not an interchange, so transferring is a tertiary thought
I'm that person who as gone two stops on the DLR to change between the Jubilee and Elizabeth lines at Canary Wharf ...
The signage in particular is terrible.
It's really hard work changing between the DLR and Jubilee line to and from City Airport at Canning Town too, if I'm remembering correctly.
You can't be a true train nerd if you have friends.
@susanstanleyhammond5699
No friends, but 236,000 subscribers...
Unless they are also train nerds...
@@alanclarke4646 Doesn't work like that. True train nerds are loners. Even the company of another train nerd would be disconcerting to them.
@susanstanleyhammond5699 being a train nerd. I have to disagree.
@@alanclarke4646 Train nerds don't complain to other train nerds about network problems. Come on.
After all these years of trying to guess what you'll say at the end (you are the blank to my blank) I finally got one!!!
Had Rip Van Winkle woken up in Canary Wharf after 100 years, he would have been amazed at the changes. But one thing would not have surprised him was the disjointed arrangement of stations all called Canary Wharf with no evidence of any planning into their uncoordinated locations. From a 1925 prospective, he would have just assumed that they had been built by three competing railway companies and not a development corporation whose job was ro come up with an integrated plan!
The quickest Interchange Heron Quays DLR to Canary Wharf Jubilee line is quicker than going to Canary Wharf DLR.
Your end-of-video puns are getting worse, Jago ( Can't-ary Wharf indeed ) 😂😂😂
The simple solution is to provide better signposting. Perhaps too simple? After all, if you're a canary wharf commuter you know your way around, if you're not, you're obviously lost anyway... ;)
This is one of those places I've always had trouble finding my way around until I started working there.
My former employer moved from bank to Canary Wharf at the turn of the century
Still had to change at bank so went DLR in the morning so I could at least enjoy some sunshine
My worst nightmare is Oxford Circus because of the bloody tourists and the cameras, that's why I used Great Portland Street rather than Oxford Circus
'Why is it so annoying ...'. All the bloody walking if you are changing onto the Jubilee or the Elizabeth Line.
my working theory is, as i hear it from most places with public transport that almost every place has its own canary wharf version, kind of... there are sometimes people at the helm, who had not used public transport since the days of adam and eve...have no glue how to design and streamline new and old ways together and then there are politicians who are especially wrong in their place, occupation and getting reelected because the public does not see the truth....
Regarding the 'Manhattan on Thames' comment. I occasionally get random relatives coming to London for the first time, so they ask if I can show them around. Our first stop is always Canary Wharf Tube station, and every time, without fail, they gasp when they emerge at the surface as it is so unlike the London that everyone expects. I did the same the first ever time I travelled there. 👍
Mr Hazzard,
Last in Docklands two years ago.
I liked DLR -sat at the front and pretend to be a train driver😊😊.
I agree the three stations are a bit spread out, but I had no problems navigating between them.
The video I've been waiting for! I live near to Canary Wharf and use the interchanges a lot.
It's all very well I know where I'm going, but I'm sure I got lost when I first moved here.
Cheers, Jago!
I worked in a lego building near Heron Quays in the late 90s, just before the Jubilee Line extension opened, so had to squeeze onto horribly overcrowded DLR trains! Heron Quays station was one of the original basic ones, with stairs down to a desolate road (Bank Street). I wish camera phones existed back then, as it would be really interesting to directly compare the landscape then with now.
My tips: From the Jubilee use Heron Quays to switch to the DLR toward Lewisham or to the Jubilee or use Canning Town elsewhere on the DLR. If coming from Stratford use the DLR via Bow Church rather than the Jubilee. I learned just this week to use West India Quay if trying to get to the Elizabeth Line. If you want to get from the Elizabeth to the Jubilee try to avoid the place altogether and Change at Stratford or Bond Street unless you fancy getting lost in a underground maze.
Canary Wharf reminds me of Long Island City. Long a light industrial area cut off from the rest Queens by Sunnyside Rail Yard (for Penn Station), as the industrial aspect tapered away, developers swooped in, and either converted building to office or residential, or demolished them for skyscrapers. When Citi Bank wanted to build the tallest one (at the time) the city asked them to build a tunnel connection between two subway stations (serving the E/M and G these days), complete with moving sidewalks! (Those have since been removed because they broke down too often to be useful) later a 3rd connection was made to the above ground 7 train station. However, there still is no connection between the above ground Queensborough Plaza (7/N/W) and the below ground Queens Plaza (E/M/R) even though it’s quite a short walking distance between the two. The excuse is probably “Just ride one stop to that other station with all the connectivity between 7/G/E/M”. (The M and R make the same stops in Queens after this, but they do not in Manhattan.)
I slept in a hotel in the district and the feeling you get walking around there is bizzare. It doesn't feel like a piece of land, but a giant structure instead. There are multiple street levels which you have to navigate like floors of a building. Also, being a business district it felt abandonned during a bank holiday. Still enjoyed my time though, even before openning of the Elizabeth line the multitude of connections is great.
In an effort to save myself a little bit of time, and feeling adventurous, I once decided to change at Canary Wharf. I exited the station, then as far as I could tell, I would have to navigate through a closed shopping centre. It was late and there were no signs to help me, so in the end I gave up, went back into the station I'd just left and went home.
the station name is actually Cannery Wharf. so called as all the commuters arrive as Sardines having been closely packed during their travel attempt on any of the lines
Poplar got a mention towards the end. I found Upper Bank Street the simplest way of switching between the Jubilee, DLR and Elizabeth Line. There's an eastern entrance to the Jubilee, Poplar DLR and the Elizabeth Line island almost in a row and it's less crowded there than around Canada Square. It might not so useful if you are at the western end of CW or want to take the DLR south.
Canary Wharf is also served by the Thames Clippers/Uber Boats at Westferry Circus.
"My friends sometimes vent to me about their issues with the rail network"
I'm a New York train nerd. This is magnified by a thousand here.
Looks at thumbnail…
Starfleet called, they want their corridor back.
BTW. Two of the places seen in this video have been in Star Wars:
* Canary Warf underground station in Rogue One.
* Exterior of the walking tunnel from "Crossrail Place" in Andor 5:38
I worked in Canary Wharf for a couple of years, older colleagues had to be lured with free parking spaces to move in back in the early 1990s, that's how unpopular it was with people. Prior to Crossrail, when the jubilee Line was shut, you could not get out other than take the DLR which was absolutely bonded. It's a horrid place.
"Ponied up the dough" delivered in a measured fashion, in modern RP, gave me great delight.
2:50 One only needs to look at a Dimensions in Time outtake or clip of Sylvester McCoy where you see only One Canada Square in the background and yet today, we have a mini Manhattan. Quite a change over 30 or more years.
Try the Jubilee Central interchange at Bank. Pack your hiking boots and carry enough food and water for your trek.
Thanks for the interesting video especially as I live out of London and have only been to Canary Wharf a couple of times.
I once got lost trying to change at Canary Wharf.
7:17 _pardoonnnnnnn?!_ 😂
You are the integrated public transport shoulder for my commuting angst to cry on.
The bit of history you missed is that before the DLR it was proposed to extend the Jubilee Line from its then terminus at Charing Cross east to Docklands, but the project was killed off and replaced with a low cost above ground transit link - the DLR - which was felt to be more appropriate for the low intensity development then expected in the area (as well as a lot cheaper than an underground line). The DLR was routed across the middle of the West India Docks on a viaduct, to provide passenger access to the mid point of the otherwise inaccessible fingers of land which were Canary Wharf and Heron Wharf (later Heron Quays).
Even before it was completed it was clear the DLR would be inadequate, and Olympia & York's Canary Wharf project changed the whole transport landscape. O&Y promoted the rebuilding of Canary Wharf station, the extension of DLR to Bank and the lengthening of the system to accommodate 3-unit trains. All this was not enough, and O&Y later persuaded government to extend the Jubilee Line. By this time the Canary Wharf site was partly built out, with piled building foundations preventing tunnelling under the development. Hence the Jubilee Line Station was built in the dock south of Canary Wharf. And later on the same reason meant the only space available for the Elizabeth Line was in the dock to the north of Canary Wharf. Hence the poor interchange between the lines.
I forgot how desolate this area was before all the building
Yes, it was pretty desolate but it didn't stop the Powerboat Racing taking place in the Royal Victoria Docks in the 1980's. Pretty exciting to watch with a backdrop of deserted buildings all around.
Before Canary Wharf Station was built, Heron Quays looked only a stone's throw away from West India Quay, so they really are "bunched up" a bit here, separated by water!!
I've never quite understood why the stations aren't labelled Canary Wharf North, Canary Wharf East, Canary Wharf West, or whatever. They are separate stations. And they don't take you to the same place. I presume its the owners of land and brand Canary Wharf wanting it to all sound like exactly the same place. Same applies to the 2 separate, confusing District/Circle stations at Paddington - it would be tricky on the Tube map, but why no Paddington Canalside, and Paddington Praed Street, or something simpler? Also, did I read somewhere that the bridge between Canary Wharf Crossrail and Poplar (which would be logical as an Elizabeth line 'Canary Wharf for Poplar and DLR to City Airport' terminal shuttle-like journey connection) is now cancelled??
The Hammersmith & City line platforms can be called Paddington because they are in the same trainshed as the GWR platforms. The District Line platforms should take back their old name of Praed Street.
Great video Jago. Canary Wharf underground station still looks futuristic.
This is good timing after I got lost a few weeks ago changing at Canary Wharf. between the DLR and Elizabeth Line. I would have missed my booked train at St Pancras if I hadn’t run.
I was just there yesterday and wondering this! Thanks!
'Can't ary' Wharf. Not up to your usual standard of puns Mr Hazzard
My old Nan used to say to me “when things are annoying just pretend they’re not”. It’s can be an occasionally useful philosophy if employed whilst also using alcohol or drugs.
If someone hadn't spotted the typing error the place might have been called "Cannery Wharf".....
4:55 You can make this argument - and I get it, these are basically commuter stations for people to enter and exit the place they work - but I can say from experience that it just isn't true. I have on multiple occasions made that DLR > Jubilee Line interchange; it's often one of the quickest ways for me to get to where I'm trying to go. I'll admit that's perhaps a niche use case - most useful to those who live around Lewisham perhaps - but it is absolutely a use case. I do not work in Canary Wharf, I don't have much of any business there generally; for me it is honestly first and foremost a major transport interchange. It's easier for me to get to than Canning Town or Stratford (approaching from the southeast), hence using that over either of those changes.
I can appreciate that the local geography makes having a massive station where the three lines all meet virtually impossible - I did always wonder why Canary Wharf had three separate titular stations like that as there aren't too many other cases of that in London. I've done that change enough times to where it is second nature to me and doesn't really bother me at all, but it is rather more convoluted than a lot of OSIs across the network. I've never done the change from Heron Quays to the Tube though, I actually didn't know that one is simpler... will have to try it some time.
Also - I've never actually used the Elizabeth Line station at Canary Wharf; never had to make the change between it and the DLR. It seems like it'd be about as long as the DLR > Jubilee change, but the need just hasn't presented itself yet, I dunno. I knew there was an OSI between that station, and West India Quay and Poplar... another change to try out sometime.
Great video!
TBH the biggest problem is the awful signage in the Subterranean Mall under Canary Wharf, I've used it a few times and always somehow manage to lose my bearings, I think it's because there's nothing to relate to, it's a big brightly lit Corridor that splits off in different directions.
A further complication is that southbound trains at West India Quay usually terminate at Canary Wharf, whereas the DLR trains to Lewisham mostly go through West India Quay without stopping.
Is the Docklands Light railway officially called the DLR now? Every sign, map, and logo now seems to have just the initials, never the whole name, even where there's plenty of room for the name in full. I'm sure there must be people who have never heard the term Docklands Light Railway, and have no idea what DLR means. It can't be purely to abbreviate a long name, because other long names, such as Hammersmith And City Line, are never shortened to their initials. It's more like Kentucky Fried Chicken becoming KFC, or British Home Stores becoming BHS.
@@michaeljohnson9421 Changed officially a long time ago. No longer only services Docklands, technically. Priority is people knowing the name of the line or system they need to use, and how to use it. Docklands was a well known term in the 1980s and 1990s (under the original London Docklands Development Corporation) but sometimes now more likely to just be referred to as going to Canary Wharf, or other particular areas.
It (or, rather, the company which owns it) is still officially The Docklands Light Railway Ltd, a wholly-owned subsidiary of TfL. It's split into six separate concessions, all of which are currently operated by KeloisAmey under the DLR (not Docklands Light Railway) brand, but which theoretically could be operated by six separate companies all with different branding. That would be fun for tourism.
You say about the Elizebeth Line station being built on an artificial island, because of lack of land. Wasn't the Jubilee Line station built in the bottom of a dock, and is now completely underwater?
i had to do the jubilee to DLR change only the other week, thought at the time that it was so confusing and stupid but figured as i’m new to london, it was just me, glad i was right in my thinking
Here in America we have a relatable devolution in signage and design, many apartments are in clusters of buildings, numbered, the sign on the building, sometimes unit numbering begins with building number, sometimes not, and covered parking always hides the signage so one must stop and get out, go under the cover right up to the building and get back in the car to go find a spot to park some distance away. No signs face the walkways inside the courts and rarely do the building number sequence...17...18...19 appear obvious until you look at a few buildings. This is modern thinking, not an iota of practical consideration applied or given! And don't get me started on how airport roads are signed!
It needs some lines painted on the floor. Follow purple for the Elizabeth Line, silver for the Jubilee and turquoise for DLR.
Preach!
The maps on the DLR suggest Heron Quays for the Jubes and WIQ for the Elizabeth line. Saw it recently and thought it was mildly amusing.
The question I was hoping you were going to answer is why the tunnel at 5:46 has a flooring constructed from some kind of corrugated(?) metal which makes an almightly racket when you pull a wheely case along it? My family hates it
I can only assume all 3 stations are sponsored by John Lewis and Waitrose - in order to connect between them the easiest way is via their Canary Wharf shop. Feel free to stop off en route for a free tea or coffee!
I experienced this a few weeks ago. If you're into to exploring then it's not a major issue lol
I only once changed between jubilee line and DLR I got last as I needed step free so I never do a ymore
Stations close together are an issue in mapping, which may result in some not shown.
It would probably help if they had a sort of yellow brick road system to make it easier to follow the routes between the various stations (except of course that they would have be different colours and not all of them yellow, which would rather defeat the purpose ...).
I had to change at Canary Wharf on Friday because the Elizabeth Line was down. It was extremely annoying 😂
thanks for this video jago, we are the rapidly built high rises to your upgraded station
These days there is surely no excuse for poor signs. They spent 6 million renaming the Overground, somewhat unnecessarily in my opinion.
I've often commented that one of the delights of watching/listening to your channel, is that Jago Hazzard English is so delightfully British. Therefore, imagine my horror when listening today and hearing, "...literally my job as a....". I thought I was being literal in writing this comment, but that you were being actual in creating the video. American English is following D.J.Trump Esq into global dominance if even Jago is using it. Then I heard, "I got off OF the train", and decided 🇬🇧RIP🇬🇧. 😪
Another cause of confusion is that the Elizabeth and Jubilee Line stations have ticket barriers, whereas the DLR station does not.
The Canary Wharf light festival is on at the moment incidentally.
I find the oyster pay pads at Stratford a lot more confusing. If I switch from or to the DLR there I'm never sure where to tab in or out and somehow even managed to get out of the station without taping out. (Admittedly that was 1.5 years ago but it was confusing nevertheless)
You should do a video about the little red boat at 3:04
Honestly, the worst part of it as an interchange station is that the signage is in the style of the shopping centre.
It's small and lost amongst the signs telling you buildings.