On Wednesday, 2 September 2015 19:15:12 UTC+2, Basil Jet wrote:

The reason I'm asking is because I have always thought the DLR branch to
Woolwich was a bit crap, but I didn't know why. I've figured it out.

Whenever I've used the branch it's been well used, so that suggests there is demand for it. Woolwich Arsenal has useful connections both by rail out towards Erith and by bus in a number of directions.

Well, the Woolwich DLR service ends just south of the river, connecting
with a line that runs along the south bank. On the north side the
service runs along the river bank in one direction and gives you nothing
northward or eastward.

Canning Town to Stratford DLR (taken over from NLL) provides useful connections northwards, and Stratford has tons of connections to all kinds of places.

The city destination is not mush use unless you want Tower Gateway,
because the trains to Cannon Street are as quick. Woolwich to Stratford
is admittedly useful, but it wouldn't take *that* much longer via Greenwich.

There is rather a lot of development in the Isle of Dogs part of the Docklands which the DLR is integral to. For people going there from anywhere between Woolwich and Datrford, the DLR from WA is a useful route.

So they spent a lot of money on one of the few river crossings in East
London, but made it available to very few journeys. The tunnel is great
if you want to get from Erith to City Airport, but that's about it. All
sorts of journeys like Kidbrooke to Becontree, where a crow's flight
route passes over the tunnel, have to take wildly circuitous routes
using a different river crossing, such as Cannon Street Bridge.

Certainly circumferential routes in East London across the river are poorly served, but is there really much demand for Kidbrooke to Becontree?

https://www.google.com/maps/dir/Kidb...3e3?force=lite

Chosing the "Leave Now" option on google maps, (mid morning on Friday), it suggests 132 bus to North Greenwich, Jubilee line to West Ham, total journey time 52 mintues. TfL journey planner suggests train to New Cross, ELL to Whitechapel and District from there, in 55 minutes.

So I think they should run a tram...
Harold Hill
Collier Row (which I think has been the most populous area in London
with no railway since New Addington got its tram in 1999)
Newbury Park Stn

[snip]

Bromley South

It would use the DLR Beckton depot, if there's room, but the vehicles
would have both pantographs and DLR shoes.

That's a very long way for a tram, and I'm not sure how easy it would be to interface with the various railway and DLR platforms/power supplies/signalling systems along the route. There is the longstanding on again off again DLR extension along Barking Reach, which if done sensibly could link Woolwich to the end of the Beckton branch and east form there. I wonder just how much demand there is for north-south traffic that far out, though.

A southwards extension from Woolwich does have merit, though, at least to give proper connections with the Bexleyheath and Sidcup lines if nothing more.

I do wonder, though, how the traffic at Woolwich Arsenal will respond once crossrail to Abbey Wood opens. It will definitely provide a much better service between the south side of the river and the Isle of Dogs, so it may take a lot of the current DLR traffic away.

Robin