Modern Railways – April 2019

http://www.modern-railways.com April 2019 Modern Railways 77

to a minimum of 30,000km with the new stock

(on a three-car equivalent basis). A 35-year

design life is planned for the new fleet.

BECKTON DEPOT ENLARGEMENT

Like the rest of the DLR, the main depot at

Beckton was not designed for the current

multi-vehicle operation and requires expansion

to accommodate the new fleet. The current

shed has three roads each able to handle three

vehicles, while there is one lifting road which

can hold two vehicles, plus a wheel lathe road.

A planning application has been submitted

for expansion of the depot; TfL owns some

spare land which can be used to create extra

stabling space, while a new shed will be required

to accommodate the new fleet. Poplar depot

is to be retained as a stabling facility but will

mostly be dedicated to the B2007 vehicles.

The enlargement is planned through a series

of small works packages, designed to ensure

current depot operations can continue with

the existing fleet while the work takes place.

Initial stages include enabling works to backfill

land, utilities alterations, vegetation clearance

and contaminated land assessment (the depot

site was formerly a gas works). Provision of

new sidings to the south side will then follow,

incorporating three new stabling roads to

accommodate six vehicles, with the worksite

segregated from the operational depot.

A key aspect of the work will be provision

of a longer test track at the depot. The current

track has a 20km/h limit, and the aim is to build

a 750-metre track for testing under the DLR’s

automatic signalling system at up to 50km/h.

This will be used to test the new trains prior

to their introduction onto the network.

INTRODUCING THE NEW FLEET

A carefully staged introduction will see extensive

testing of the new trains to build up reliability, with

periods of fault-free running conducted before

entry into service. The key aim with the introduction

is to promote out-of-the-box reliability, with any

modifications taking place away from the live railway.

Once the first 10 trains have been

delivered, replacement of the old fleets will

begin with three B92s withdrawn as each

new train is introduced. At least one of the

retired vehicles is likely to be preserved. a

Thanks to TfL for assistance in the

preparation of this article, which is

partially based on a presentation to the

Institution of Mechanical Engineers.

Tranquil waters: a southbound service passes West

India Quay on 28 February 2018. Antony Guppy

073-077_MR_Apr 2019_DLR.indd 77 12/03/2019 15:08