A �10 MILLION contract has been awarded for station extensions to be able to run longer trains on the last part of London’s DLR automatic rail network. The contract on the Beckton route awarded last night to Taylor Woodrow completes the picture for the whole network

By Mike Brooke

A �10 MILLION deal has been signed for station extensions to be able to run longer trains on the last part of London’s DLR automatic rail network.

The contract on the Beckton route awarded last night to Taylor Woodrow completes the picture for upgrading the whole network through East London and Docklands to run three-carriage trains instead of two.

Taylor Woodrow is already in the final stages of upgrading all other parts of the DLR’s network, which will increase capacity by 50 per cent.

The DLR network linking the City with Canary Wharf, Docklands and London City Airport needs to run longer trains to keep pace with growing passenger numbers and the demands of the 2012 Olympics. The founding fathers could not have foreseen such growth when the first all-computer trains began running in 1987.