Where have the carriages gone

[Deleted]

We have noticed on our Beckton line that a lot of the trains which all used to have six carriages have now been changed to only four and we are wondering why. Diana doesnt get a seat very often now.

[Chris M]

It's the same on the Woolwich branch, although the proper terminology is that the trains are made up of 2 or 3 cars^[1], carriages or units (all three terms seem to be used^[2]).

As to where they have gone, my guess is that an element of it is overdue maintenance. The fleet was stretched right to the limits during the Olympics, and that level of usage is almost certainly going to be unsustainable in the long term. However, before the Olympics almost all Bank/Tower Gateway services to the eastern branches were 3-car while 2-car trains predominated on the Stratford Internetional route. This past week or so I've been on a couple of Woolwich-Bank trains that were 2 car services and haven't seen a 3-car formation heading to Stratford International in quite a while. I don't travel on the Isle of Dogs routes regularly enough to know how long the trains there are at the moment.

[1] They can of course also be formed of one car, but the only time I've seen a single car outside a depot was a couple of years ago when a failed unit was being recovered to Beckton Depot at walking pace. It was accompanied by about half a dozen staff walking ahead/behind it and was preceded by a three-car train (almost certainly a 2-car rescue train and the other carriage from the failed train).

[2] Although on the first day of longer trains on the Beckton branch, the platform indicators at Cyrpus were advertising that "3 car carriages" were now being operated, which is wrong whichever way you look at it.

[21146]

Or made up of "vehicles"...

[Deleted]

Bank-Lewisham is solid 3 car

[superteacher]

Nov 12, 2012 20:32:37 GMT @cj said:

Bank-Lewisham is solid 3 car

I imagine that's because it's the busiest route on the DLR.

[Chris M]

I have just discovered that the DLR frequencies page on the TfL Website advertises which routes get 3-car services:
Bank-Lewisham (all day), Bank-Woolwich Arsenal (all day), Tower Gateway-Beckton (all day) and Stratford-Lewisham (06:30-10:00).

[davidp]

I'm just wondering if the OP could confirm exactly which services are affected?

AFAIK, the services to and from Stratford International were 3-car trains only for the duration of the Olympics, although [mis-]reading of some Press Releases may have given an different impression - to me at any rate! These services supposedly returned to 2-car trains in September (unless anyone knows differently of course).

Is the OP saying that the Tower Gateway to Beckton service is also back down to 2-car trains?

[Chris M]

I'm not the OP, but from experience there have been a handful of occasions since about mid-October when I have travelled on or seen 2-car services on the Woolwich-Bank route off-peak. Although I haven't seen any 2-car Tower Gateway-Beckton trains, their existence on the other eastern branch gives plausibility for their existence.
Today at about 3:30-4pm-ish I travelled on a 3-car Stratford (presumably) to Canary Wharf service southbound from Poplar, despite this route being advertised as 2-car only after 10am.
I don't travel with sufficient regularity or frequency for my sightings to be more than anecdotal though.

[crusty54]

The peak hour Woolwich Arsenal - Stratford International trains are 2 car & they run Beckton - Stratford International off peak & weekends

[Chris M]

Indeed, but I'm specifically not talking about the Stratford International routes.

[Deleted]

The Stratford - Canary Wharf MF service is scheduled to be a mix of 2-vehicle and 3-vehicle trains throughout the day. The Stratford International - Beckton service is scheduled to be all 2-vehicle and this switches to Stratford International - Woolwich service in the peaks.

None of the carriages have "gone", it's just the previous timetable (from 30/1/12) continuing to apply after the Olympics. Same number of trains, same number of vehicles.

It is an aspiration for all Stratford - Canary Wharf trains MF to be 3 vehicles from late January - we wait and see on that one to see if that is achieved. It will depend on vehicle availability and maintenance schedules.

EDIT - Of course, during the Olympics, all 3-vehicle trains were scheduled.

[Chris M]

This weekend, the Woolwich-Tower Gateway/Shadwell service was formed of two-car trains, while Canning Town-Stratford International was operated with three car trains which seems rather odd given the typical loadings. The Jubilee Line was fully working, so that obvious reason for more traffic on the SI branch doesn't apply.

[Chris M]

I wonder if the DLR are using the carriages a bit more flexibly than previously?
My Bank-Woolwich train on the way home from the meet was only two cars (additional capacity wasn't needed on that service though), and a I saw a three-car Stratford International-Beckton train at Canning Town at about 17:30 this evening - both that train and the high level platforms were rammed though with people heading to ExCeL for something.

[Deleted]

Could well be.

Minor edit by Londonstuff: accidental double post removed.

[snoggle]

Dec 17, 2012 0:01:27 GMT Chris M said:

I wonder if the DLR are using the carriages a bit more flexibly than previously?
My Bank-Woolwich train on the way home from the meet was only two cars (additional capacity wasn't needed on that service though), and a I saw a three-car Stratford International-Beckton train at Canning Town at about 17:30 this evening - both that train and the high level platforms were rammed though with people heading to ExCeL for something.

BBC Sports Personality of the Year show was broadcast from Excel which would explain the crowds.