Beckton Depot is the primary railway maintenance depot for the

Docklands Light Railway The Docklands Light Railway (DLR) is an automated light metro system serving the redeveloped Docklands area of London, England and provides a direct connection between London's two major financial districts, Canary Wharf and the City of Lo ...

(DLR).

History

Upon the initial opening of the DLR in 1987,

Poplar DLR depot Poplar Depot, also known as the Operations and Maintenance Centre (OMC), is the secondary depot and headquarters for the Docklands Light Railway (DLR). It is located adjacent to Poplar DLR station, in Poplar, London. History The depot opened ...

was the primary maintenance depot. But the proposed extension to Beckton would require more maintenance facilities, and Beckton provided more space in which to both construct larger facilities and provide easier road access for rolling stock delivery. The depot was built on part of the site of the former

Beckton Gas Works Beckton Gasworks was a major London gasworks built to manufacture coal gas and other products including coke from coal. It has been variously described as 'the largest such plant in the world' Winchester C (Ed), ''Handling 2,000,000 tons of coa ...

, and was opened with the extension to Beckton in March 1994 with capacity for 45 single car trains. The depot is the primary maintenance depot for the DLR, providing both servicing and stabling facilities. Located between

Beckton Beckton is a suburb in east London, England, located east of Charing Cross and part of the London Borough of Newham. Adjacent to the River Thames, the area consisted of unpopulated marshland known as the East Ham Levels in the parishes of Barki ...

and

Gallions Reach Gallions Reach is a stretch of the River Thames between Woolwich and Thamesmead. The area is named for the Galyons, a 14th-century family who owned property along this stretch of the river,Hidden London http://hidden-london.com/gazetteer/ga ...

stations, it is actually closer to the latter - with rail access is from spurs from the running lines from the Beckton branch (in both directions). Road access to the site is off Armada Way, south of the

Gallions Reach Shopping Park Gallions Reach Shopping Park is a major out-of-town retail park in Beckton, east London, England. Located on Armada Way beside the River Thames, Gallions Reach is the largest retail park in London and the M25, containing 34 units in an area of ...

Expansion

In the early 2000s, the DLR network was upgraded and expanded - with extensions to London City Airport and Woolwich, as well as the implementation of 3 car trains across the network. To facilitate this, the depot was extended and upgraded in 2005 and 2006, with additional sidings for 36 new trains and improved signalling. As of the early 2020s, the depot is planned to be extended further in two phases. The first phase will provide space for additional trains, as well as modify the existing maintenance building to allow for easier servicing of the new rolling stock. The second phase will provide additional train stabling facilities, allowing for the rebuilding of

with residential towers above a retained depot.

References

External links

* Railway depots in London Docklands Light Railway Beckton DLR depot Transport in the London Borough of Newham {{London-struct-stub

History

Expansion

See also

References

External links