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Post by littlebrute on Oct 25, 2013 20:47:53 GMT
Having recently moved to the area, I can't help but notice how ignored the Beckton branch actually is. Particularly when it comes to central bound trains, the ability is obviously there to run trains to Bank (and I'm aware this happens early in the timetable), so why don't they bother during the day? Not to mention essentially halving the service at peaks.
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Post by Chris M on Oct 26, 2013 2:20:23 GMT
The reason the Stratford International services go to different branches in the peak/off-peak is I believe lack of rolling stock to serve both all the time. The official reason for the split is that Woolwich Arsenal branch has a very peaky demand profile - significantly more people want to travel on it in the peaks than in the off peaks. In contrast the Beckton branch east of Prince Regent (east of Royal Victoria when there isn't a major event on at ExCeL) has a much flatter profile - there is greater demand off peak than on the Woolwich Branch but lower demand than the Woolwich branch on-peak.
Having lived near Cyprus, Gallions Reach and Woolwich Arsenal stations that matches my experience. Off-peak Woolwich-Stratford trains would be very nice for me though!
In terms of the city branches, I don't know the official reasoning, but as both terminals need to be served and you have three incoming routes to serve them. Because of the track layout the split has to be 2:1 in favour of the Bank branch. You could alternate each line with each terminal (e.g. Beckton-> Tower, Beckton -> Bank, Beckton -> Tower, etc) but that is more confusing for passengers, doubles the wait for a direct train and I guess will be much harder to timetable reliably. The alternative is to pick one route to go to Tower Gateway all day and two to go to Bank all day. Given that the track layout doesn't favour or penalise trains coming from one route over another, There are two options for how to decide which route goes to Tower Gateway (1) the route with the highest (absolute or proportional) demand for Tower Gateway; or (2) the route with the lowest (absolute or proportional) demand for Bank. I don't know which method they chose (and they are not necessarily mutually exclusive), or if there is another oprion that I hadn'thought of.
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Post by DrOne on Oct 28, 2013 23:35:36 GMT
Is the ability to provide multiple connections between the City and City Airport also not a factor?
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Post by Chris M on Oct 29, 2013 1:54:07 GMT
I expect that it is considered, but with same-platform interchnanges available at every station between Shadwell and Westferry/Canning Town (depending whether you get a Lewisham or Beckton train) I would imagine that things other factors are given a higher weighting.
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Post by Deep Level on Oct 30, 2013 5:08:00 GMT
I heard that when the Bank Branch was built they built in a straight section underneath Tower Hill Station for a possible future station here replacing Tower Gateway, what happened to that?
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Post by Chris M on Oct 30, 2013 9:18:38 GMT
Nothing. It's still there, but having two terminals is good for service reliability. I think something happening with it is unlikely to happen unless and until the DLR gets a westward extension and even then it isn't guaranteed.
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Post by Hassaan on Oct 30, 2013 22:30:43 GMT
Changes to DLR services 4-7 November 2013 due to an Excel event, more info here developments.dlr.co.uk/NewsDetail.aspx?newsid=1401Additional services at certain times of the day: Bank-Beckton Canning Town-Prince Regent Poplar-Woolwich Arsenal West Ham-Beckton Bank-Woolwich Arsenal services in evening peak appear to run Poplar-Woolwich only. |
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