This morning, a couple of weeks later than expected, the new South Quay station on the DLR opened to the general public.

There was already a South Quay station, but it couldn’t be extended for the new 3-car length trains, so they built a brand new station a hundred yards or so further along the line.

And a rather nice station it is – and not just because it is clean and still devoid of black chewing gum spots. Being built over a link between two docks, people waiting on the platforms will have very nice views across the water.

The escalators are also low-energy in that they run slowly when no one is using them, then speed up when someone approaches. Seen it before and while a bit weird when you first use them, it is something you get used to quite quickly.

One issue in the design which may be a problem, or not – is that there is a concrete “barrier” right next to the up escalator on the southbound platform – and will surely be jumped over by most passengers. Expect another barrier to be installed there when some idiot hurts themselves, then complains it was the fault of the DLR.

The old station is already being demolished.

The fluff piece from TfL is here.

A few photos:

More photos over at Flickr – and some photos taken the weekend the station was originally expected to open.

Somehow missed this, but the DLR has published A Brief History of Time the Docklands as a station by station guide. The booklet, some 28 pages long gives 2-3 paragraphs to the history of the area which each station is located in.

I picked up a copy from the Greenwich Tourist Advice Centre (which I visit reguarly to see if any events are being promoted) and its not a bad little publication. It’s rather light on detail, but it isn’t supposed to be an Encyclopaedic journal after all, so that is acceptable.

From the press release:

For example, did you know that St Anne’s Church, a few minutes from Limehouse station, inspired the Victorians to make tiered wedding cakes?

Yes, that is a very well known story.

Or that The Gun pub, built in the 1700s and now close to Blackwall station, houses a concealed staircase with a spy hole facing the river that was once used to spot revenue inspectors.

No – and I must go to have a look!

It seems that the booklet wont be on general distribution though, as it is being made available though “schools, libraries and visitor attractions”, so you might have to hunt a bit to get a copy. The DLR will post out leaflets though, and when it is available, presumably you can order a copy from their ordering form.

Today was the completion of a DLR extension project which had taken the light railway down towards City Airport – and after a short hiatus for tunneling work – under the River Thames to Woolwich town centre.

I had planned to be particularly geekish and catch the very first train to Woolwich at about 5:30am, but the temptation to finish off an opened bottle of Port the night before proved too difficult to resist, so with a slightly heavy head I caught the train at a far more reasonable hour.

As we headed out towards King George V station, which had been the temporary end of the line for the extension, the train progressively emptied until we got to the station and there were about 4-5 people on the train. I actually got off here as I wanted to get a photo of a DLR train approaching the station with a display board showing the new destination.

Catching the following train, we drop steeply into the tunnel – which I noticed has a pedestrian walkway along the entire length – and thence to Woolwich. A couple of air vents towards the end give you glimpses of the construction techniques used, and then a very sharp curve brings us to the new station itself.

The station has two exits – one which maintains a clinical grey colour leads to the existing overland station – and the other exit, with somewhat garish artwork leads to the town centre.

The Costa Coffee shop was unfinished as the station opened – someone probably screwed up there, but the station itself was fully completed including all the posters and signs which, ahem – enhance the decor.

As part of the opening day celebrations, a brass band marched through the town centre and the council had set up some trestle tables to promote the regeneration of the area.

When I arrived, the bulk of the few passengers around seemed to be fellow geeks with cameras – and when I left it was a mixture of geeks and locals out to explore the “shiny new thing” with their kids.

There is an interesting historical parallel here.

In 1902, a foot tunnel was opened under the Thames at Greenwich – and in 1999, the DLR dug a tunnel in almost the same spot (just deeper) to run though Greenwich to Lewisham.

Ten years after the original Greenwich foot tunnel was opened, a second almost identical tunnel was opened in Woolwich – and with quite spooky timing, ten years after the DLR opened its Greenwich tunnel – they also opened a tunnel at Woolwich.

Back to the station opening though – and the place was packed full of smiling DLR staff – and the trains themselves seemed to have a lot of staff around. All smiles and helpfulness – except one smiling chap who warned me that photography would only be tolerated on the first day.

Here we go again – yet another damn jobsworth with a photo-phobia.

I presume that as photography is acceptable on Saturday 11th January 2009, but will be frowned upon on Sunday 12th January 2009, that some mysterious change will occur to the building overnight which renders it suddenly a security threat of some sort and hence photography will be banned?

Nope – just damn stupidity from a jobsworth who wants to spoil a harmless hobby.

A bad way to end the morning.

The next “big change” will be the oddly little published opening of an entire new line on the DLR – running between Stratford and Canning Town stations. Before that though, a lot of stations are being upgraded to support 3-car trains which will offer an effective 50% increase in capacity along parts of the line, and a redesigning of the junction by West India Quay to take out a bottleneck at that point.

The ever cynical Diamond Geezer has a sadly accurate report on the delights at Woolwich – and as I used to live nearby, I never failed to marvel at how a town centre can feel like it is perpetually stuck in a wet autumn, even in the height of a hot summer. The town centre has some amazing heritage, but a lot of it is frankly being left to rot. Hopefully, the link to Canary Wharf and the restoration of the Arsenal will bring in the money to improve the town centre and restore those grand old buildings.

I have uploaded the rest of my photos to the usual Flickr location.

One of the new 3 carriage DLR trains has been shown off to the press (and nosy bloggers) today at West India Quay, so I wandered over to have a sniff around and take some photos.

An arty photo of the station dot matrix which had a good message on it didn’t come out – damn.

The rest you can see at my usual Flickr account.