PHILIP SHERRATT outlines the specification of the new trains TfL is ordering for the Docklands Light Railway
In the last 30 years, the Docklands Light Railway has grown beyond all recognition. From a simple system with just 11 light rail vehicles when it opened in 1987, the DLR is now a complex network served by 149 vehicles. And the next stage in its evolution is now approaching, with the replacement of the oldest of these now imminent. Transport for London is currently out to tender for a new fleet of trains, with three bidders vying to win the contract to supply the fleet – Bombardier, CAF, and a consortium of Siemens and Stadler. The order will be for 43 new trains of around 86 metres in length. Currently the DLR operates formations of two and three trains coupled together, but the new vehicles will be full length, fixed formation units.
