Lewisham call for overnight DLR services
Lewisham Council are calling for overnight DLR services into the borough.
At a meeting held earlier this week the council responded to a question on transport and the Bakerloo line extension (or lack of) by stating:
“A further possible alternative, which the Council believes could be delivered through a lesser level of investment could be secured through extending the operation of the DLR into a nighttime service.
“The Council believes that this could be achieved within the confines of the existing DLR network – possibly without the need for signaling improvements.
“The only possible barrier to implementing this service improvement is capacity of on-board staff. The DLR is already a partially automated service – so could serve as a prototype for further improvement.”
They add: “The Council has highlighted this possible option through its recent response to the emerging London Plan”
The DLR is set to see new trains enter service before the end of this year that will increase daytime frequencies in time in a process set to last some time. That hurdle needs clearing first.
Night tube
While the DLR has no overnight service, the tube does along certain lines on weekends as alongside London Overground late night services.
It’s also commonly seen in some cities such as Barcelona, Berlin and New York to name but three major world cities.
The question is would TfL fund it? They did generate a surplus last year and now have a four year funding agreement putting the organisation on stable footing.
The network of course also lacks staffed stations bar the odd exception shared with National Rail such as Woolwich Arsenal.
However fare evasion would be an issue. Will many on board staff be checking at night without back up?
On the flipside the benefits to the night time economy are obvious – and Khan often states that’s a big priority for him. Another obvious beneficiary are those who work night shifts.
There’s also the question of what lines or branches would run overnight. Stratford to Lewisham via Canary Wharf and Greenwich would be an obvious route.
As for the line to Woolwich Arsenal I cannot recall Greenwich Council seeking similar, though it could be of benefit if Woolwich manages to gain a night time economy beyond pubs that close early.
For me at least It’d be a boon if it did head to Woolwich. No more painfully slow night buses from east or north London with a change in central London.
And then there’s the other obvious question: An overnight Elizabeth line service!
As a regular user of the N53 I think this could be a really easy win for the Mayor.
The business case for this was FOI’d a few years back – it came out with a BCR of <1 but this was only measuring direct revenue abstraction from night buses, and not counting the wider nighttime economy benefits (which I think would be substantial). I'd also be hesitant to rely on 2018 forecasting given how well that has worked out for the Woolwich Elizabeth line station…
It does note 'noise mitigation' would need to be funded for it to work so there would be capital cost, I imagine that will have increased as more towers have gone up around Pontoon Dock/South Quay etc.
https://foi.tfl.gov.uk/FOI-0212-2324/Night%20DLR%20Business%20Case%20(2018%20Update)%20Draft%20v2_Redacted.pdf
Meh get earplugs. I’ve lived beside a few rail lines for half my life and never begrudged better services day and night (nor overnight engineering works) as it benefits many others. Little time for “I’m alright Jack” types.
Would it be shown on the Night tube map. Maybe the DLR should run throughout the night 6 days a week.
Elizabeth line to Canary wharf and woolwich ends at or before midnight which is insane while the Liz line to Shenfield goes on until 1am. Parity at least would be a start and to 3am friday and Saturday would make it so much easier and safer for staff and everyone else. Surely the Canary Whaft group would lobby for this which i assume would be listened to as opposed to useless greenwich with their energy spent on their war on icecream vans and foot tunnel lifts users.
They can run the DLR with no staff, it is technically doable. Might not be very much fun, but they could just have some security without responsibility for the actual train, which would be a lot cheaper.
DLR trains can’t operate without staff onboard, there’s always a staff onboard the train
Maybe add the Docklands Light Railway to the night tube map if the DLR is to operate during the night. Do you think that the other tube lines could operate throughout the night. Including night service on the London Overground Weaver Lines, Lioness Line, Suffragette Line, Liberty Line, Windrush Line and Mildmay Line and the Elizabeth Line.
I think it would be a great asset to DLR also the national rail should be included as there’s lots of clubs that close early morning and young girls are left vulnerable getting home