If it’s not good enough to sit in the front of the DLR and pretend to be a driver, now you can press buttons as well.
Or at least, pretend to, as some DLR trains are being fitted with drivers’ console stickers so you can dial your pretend driving fun all the way up to eleven*.
(c) TfL
You might need to hunt to find them though, as just 10 of the DLR’s 149 trains have been fitted with the decals, which are currently just a test to see if people like them.
Below all the dials and levers, the four buttons say:
- Mind the Gap (which is an odd one on the famously gapless DLR)
- Woolwich Ferry horn
- Bow Church Bells
- Turbo Charge (perfect if you’re running late)
There’s also a QR code, which leads to this webpage about the DLR and plans to replace 33 of the oldest trains with 54 new ones.
Apart from a few obvious social media curmudgeons, who wouldn’t like the smiles that are inevitable when children of all ages, from toddlers to pensioners, sit down and press the button to drive the train?
If the trials are a success, expect to see more DLR trains coming with them, and maybe even steering wheels.
(c) TfL
*Spinal Tap reference
I was sitting in the second row of seats on a DLR train with a panel like that a couple of days ago. A group of senior ladies, who may have been drinking, came in and took the front row. They pressed the “buttons”. I provided some appropriate sound effects. They laughed.
I’m all in favour of a little bit of inexpensive facilitated playfulness in situations like this.
Bravo! Good on you DLR.
They do this in Copenhagen. I think it’s a great idea.