Wikipedia
tells us about the DLR system:
"The Docklands Light Railway (the
DLR) is an automated light metro or light rail system opened in 1987 to serve
the redeveloped Docklands area of London. It reaches north to Stratford, south
to Lewisham, west to Tower Gateway and Bank in the City of London financial
district, and east to Beckton, London City Airport and Woolwich
Arsenal.
The system is not entirely
unmanned: it uses minimal staffing on board trains and at major interchange
stations; the 4 sub-surface stations are staffed to comply with underground
station requirements. Similar proposals have been made for the adjacent system,
the Tube.
The DLR is operated under a
concession awarded by Transport for London to Serco Docklands, part of the Serco
Group. The system is owned by Docklands Light Rail Limited,[7] part of the
London Rail division of Transport for London. In 2011 the DLR carried over 86
million passengers. It has been extended several times and further extensions
are being planned."
Wikipedia tells us:
"Pudding Mill Lane DLR station is
a station on the Docklands Light Railway (DLR) in east London. It
is situated in the road of the same name in a
light
industrial
area. It is next to the Olympic Park; however it was closed for the
duration of the 2012 Olympic Games. It reopened on
Wednesday 12 September.
The
station
is located on the DLR's Stratford branch, between the Bow Church and Stratford stations
and is on the boundary between Travelcard Zone 2
and Zone 3.
This
station was one of two stations safeguarded for future development since the
birth of the DLR. The other is Langdon Park. Pudding Mill
Lane
was
opened on 15 January 1996. Previously this location had been a simple passing point
for trains on the otherwise single-tracked section between Stratford
and Bow Church.
The name of
the station
is taken from the nearby Pudding Mill Lane which, in turn, takes its name from
the former Pudding Mill River, a minor tributary of the River Lea.
This is believed to have taken its name from St. Thomas's
Mill,
a
local water mill shaped like a pudding and commonly known as Pudding Mill. The
area had also been called as Knob Hill up
until the 1890s.
When all
the other platforms on the DLR's Stratford branch were extended to run
three-car trains, Pudding Mill Lane was one of the network's stations
which
remained
with a two-car platform, instead using selective door operation. The lack of platform extensions
in this case is due to the pending rebuild
of the station.
During the 2012 Olympic Games, Pudding Mill
Lane
station
was temporarily closed for safety reasons as, while ideally situated to serve the Olympic
site, it was far too small to cope with
the passenger numbers.
Crossrail, due to open in 2018/19, will have a tunnel portal
on the current Pudding Mill Lane site. Its works requires a replacement station
to be
built on a new viaduct nearby. The current station is to be demolished to make
way for the tunnel portal. This work will also allow for the
track in the area, the only significant stretch of single track,
to
be
doubled. The new viaduct is currently under construction. The plans at the present do
not include widening the curve between Pudding Mill Lane
and Bow Church
In July 2011, Newham Council's Strategic Development
Committee approved
plans by
architect Weston Williamson for the new station. Sited just to the south of the old
station, between the River Lea and City Mill River, it will be
built with a higher capacity to cope for new developments in
the
area.
It will have three-car platforms, better pedestrian links and access to buses, improved step-free
access, and provision for escalators, and is scheduled for
completion in 2013.
"