New escalators for Custom House Docklands Light Railway station

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New escalators at Custom House Docklands Light Railway (DLR) station have opened, ‘boosting the capacity of the station by 72% ready for the London 2012 Games’, TfL has said.

The two new escalators will be able to carry 200 people per minute during the Olympics and major ExCeL events.

Chief Operations Officer for Transport for London’s (TfL) London Rail, Howard Smith, said:

“The new escalators have been delivered a whole month ahead of schedule and will be a massive help in tackling congestion at the station especially during the Games.

“The station also directly serves the busy ExCel centre, the venue for many trade shows throughout the year and when Crossrail is built the legacy of the new escalators will be to provide an efficient interchange with the new railway.”

Work to install the two sets of 77-step escalators began in February this year and was completed one month early.

The project cost £2.7m with £600,000 contributed by the Olympic Delivery Authority (ODA).

ODA Director of Transport, Hugh Sumner, said:

“Investment in the transport network is opening up services to more people than ever before.

“The upgrades to the escalators at Custom House DLR will enable spectator and everyday user demand to be met during the Games and will serve the commuters and communities that use the station long after London 2012.”

A further package of improvements is planned for stations along the Eastern route, from Poplar to Beckton and Poplar to Woolwich, later on this year.

They will deliver ‘better lighting, new seating and enhanced information displays for passengers’.

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