Forty years ago great swathes of eastern London were derelict. The docks on which the area’s economy was based were closed, killed off by the container ships that could not reach so far up the Thames.
Today the area is thriving. A forest of high buildings has grown up and more are being built.
Banks, financial services companies and many others have moved in, many from the traditional financial area in the “square mile” of the City of London. Over 120,000 jobs have been created in the area. The prime catalyst for this growth now celebrates the 30th anniversary of its opening. The Docklands Light Railway provides a case study in how an efficient transport link is all but vital to the regeneration of inner cities.
In 1981 in a scheme dreamed up by the Conservative minister Michael Heseltine, the “London Docklands Development Corporation” (LDDC) was set up. This took planning (zoning) powers away from the five London boroughs that the LDDC spread over parts of. It also guaranteed companies moving in relief from local taxation for a fixed period.
It was assumed that LDDC's success would rest on trying to identify and encourage 'suitable' alternative industrial uses for the vast sites it administered. The unemployed former dock workers and their families wanted equivalent skilled trades in warehousing or manufacturing to replace their lost jobs.
Billingsgate Market [London’s wholesale fish market] had already relocated from the City to Docklands, and this was thought to be typical of the type of industry which might be accommodated. There was some success, however it became apparent that the market for large industrial sites in central London no longer existed. The LDDC was competing with similar organisations based in Manchester, Liverpool, Birmingham, Tyneside, Glasgow and other British cities affected by industrial decline. Lower labour costs and land costs coupled with cheap availability of transport made these cities - and those abroad - more viable as industrial locations.
However, Docklands was close to the City of London and this made it an attractive secondary office location as well as a possible site for riverside residential development to accommodate the phenomenon of yuppies, the young high income single person households created by new jobs in the financial services industry
This strategy however depended on there being good public transport links between the new office areas and other areas of London. There were no passenger railway services to the largest of the areas nearest to central London, the Isle of Dogs. Mainline railway lines into the eastern London termini skirted its north. The lower part of the Isle is (still) only road accessible by two bridges over the old dock entrances.
London’s workforce commutes sometimes large distances into the central railway termini and then on to their workplace using bus or tube services. Those who could afford to live in the “yuppie” apartments would also want good public transport into the City where many worked. It was proposed to build a conventional Underground railway line into the Isle of Dogs. Margaret Thatcher refused to agree that project because of its cost and demanded a cheaper option.
Despite the lack of passenger rail lines, the docks had left a legacy of extensive railway infrastructure to carry freight. including a viaduct that ran down the “spine” of the Isle. The could not carry heavy conventional trains but could be cheaply adapted to a light railway line. The Transport for London web site gives a brief rundown of its expansion.
The railway opened in 1987 with 11 single-car trains and 15 stations. The original network comprised two routes - Tower Gateway to Island Gardens and Stratford to Island Gardens.
Even before opening day, planning was underway for the first extension, to Bank, which opened in 1991. A further five extensions have since been completed, keeping pace with the growth of Docklands as an international business and financial centre, and an increasingly popular place to live and visit.
The routes to Beckton (1994), Lewisham (1999), London City Airport (2005), Woolwich Arsenal (2009) and Stratford International (2011) mean that today, the DLR has 45 stations and 149 vehicles, many operating in 3-car formation.
The trains were (and still are) unique in London as they are completely automated with no driver. Each train has a “Captain” who main job is close the doors after ensuring the passengers are safely aboard and to check tickets. If the automated system breaks down (as happened to the train carrying the Queen at the formal opening!), there is a control box at the front of the car, on the left hand side. The Captain can then drive the train while in contact with the system’s central control. (It was very funny that the Captain driving the Queen was instructed to duck down to avoid spoiling the press photos and then he had to manually open the doors!).
The growth in the area meant that it became obvious that this, mainly surface or elevated, light rail system was insufficient. The Jubilee Line (named after the Queen’s silver jubilee) opened in 1979. It took over part of existing lines with new tunnels through central London to its original terminus at the Charing Cross main line railway terminal. Plans had been proposed to extend this over a variety or routes which did not proerly serve the Isle of Dogs. The costs put off the government but:
Plans to extend the line were revived in the late 1980s, prompted by the Canary Wharf development, which massively increased the predicted numbers of jobs in the Isle of Dogs and required a transport network with much greater capacity than provided by the Docklands Light Railway (DLR). Initially, Olympia and York, the developers of Canary Wharf, proposed building the Waterloo and Greenwich Railway from Waterloo through London Bridge to Canary Wharf and then to Westcombe Park in Greenwich, costing £400 million. However, London Transport resisted this, preferring to wait for the results of studies into new railway construction. One of these, the East London Railway Study, recommended an extension of the Jubilee line from Green Park to Westminster, then following the route of the Waterloo and Greenwich Railway, continuing to Stratford via Canning Town alongside the North London Line. This option was adopted, with an estimated cost of £2.1 billion to which Olympia and York would make a £400 million contribution, the original cost estimate of the Waterloo and Greenwich Railway (Mitchell 2003). In the end it cost £3.5bn, partly because of huge cost overruns during construction. Where initially the developers were to pay for a large part of the extension, their final contribution was less than 5%.
The Jubilee line extension meant route now takes in the other large rail commuter termini at Waterloo and London Bridge. It also links to Stratford. (The existence of public transport there played a big part in London winning the 2012 Olympics. When “HS1” — the Eurorail route - was completed to run to Kings Cross International, a stop was built at Stratford.)
Yet the growth of the Canary Wharf area continues unabated and the transport system to it is creaking. When it fully opens in December next year, one of the new Elizabeth Line’s spurs, from Whitechapel to Abbey Wood in SE London, will pass through Canary Wharf.
The station has already been built and features a rooftop garden protected by a double skinned plastic roof similar to that used at the Eden Project.
The increase in demand for transport to the area can be envisaged by looking at the trains used. The original DLR single car trains were 28m long and could carry around 284 people, depending on wheelchair use. The new Elizabeth Line trains will be 200m long and can carry up to 1500 people. Passengers will be warned to make sure they are heading for the right exit or interchange to another line. If they have to double back, they could be in for a long walk!
Properly considered public transport developments are a bit like “Field of Dreams” — if you build it, they will come.
Incidentally, if you do visit London, a trip on the DLR from Tower Gateway (next to the Tower of London) to Cutty Sark is well worth while. Apart from the tunnel under the Thames, it is all elevated so you get great views of the real London. Cutty Sark takes you to the tourist attraction at Greenwich including the Maritime Museum and Observatory. The old Royal Hospital site is also open to the public — you will recognize it from Les Miserables and a load of other movies. The painted hall is spectacular. After you can get the river bus back to central London to give another perspective.