Services on sizeable parts of the DLR line will be temporarily paused, ahead of new trains entering service later in 2025.
TfL says that testing of the £900m fleet of Spanish-made DLR trains is "progressing well", but that as part of the switch-over, parts of the DLR network will be severely affected from Monday 21 July.
"These changes," says TfL, "are necessary due to the age of the existing DLR trains. Some of the oldest trains will need to be retired this summer meaning this temporary reduction in DLR service levels is necessary to maintain a safe and reliable service."
The timetable changes includes:
- No Beckton to Canning Town/Stratford International services. (Tower Gateway to Beckton services will continue to run as normal).
- No peak hour* services between Stratford and Lewisham (services between Canary Wharf and Stratford will run every five minutes at peak time, and every 6.5 minutes off-peak. Bank to Lewisham services will continue to run as normal. Passengers will need to change at Canary Wharf to continue their journey.
*Peak hours: 6.30am-10am and 4pm–7.30pm, Monday-Friday.
Though TfL has pointed out that this temporary timetable shake-up has been timed to coincide with the summer holidays — when fewer people use the DLR — no set end date has been given.
54 new DLR trains were originally supposed to begin roll-out on the network from 2023, but the date was set back to 2024, and then again to later in 2025. Complications have arisen from signalling issues, not to mention that the trains' main contractor, Buckingham Group, went into administration.
After they've all eventually been set in motion, the trains will increase the DLR network's capacity by more than 50%. Each new train offers 10% more space, air-conditioning, walk-through carriages, improved live travel information, and enhanced accessibility features.
Cutty Sark station, on the DLR, was recently closed for escalator replacements, and won't reopen till spring 2026.
Earlier today (20 June) it was confirmed that long-awaited new Piccadilly line trains now won't be rolled out until the second half of 2026.
