Monday 10 December 2007

Stratford DLR bridge finally opens

I took a detour to Stratford on the way home today to check on the DLR bridge, and by the power of Ken it is open. Bemused commuters were being herded that way even if they were going east (it connects only to the westbound platforms).

It's actually less a footbridge and more a walkway - it only has stairs at one end (the short flight shown in the picture), while at the DLR end it comes out level with the platforms. It didn't need to be built any taller because the only thing it goes over is the westbound Central Line descending into its tunnel.

Meanwhile, in second platform news, they still weren't using both platforms at once.

Update: Building has an excellent aerial photo of it.

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

And as of the 4th of February it is closed again until 2009! Fabulous.

Anonymous said...

Indeed, any idea what is going on with this? Seems very strange to open it up only to close it again a few weeks later.

Mr Thant said...

Basically the bridge was put in as part of the new DLR station, which was planned for a long time. During its construction the Olympics came along, which required a major upgrade to the station's subways, and that's what's blocking access to the bridge.

But I think it made sense to complete the DLR project and get it all open regardless. As far as I'm aware, the Olympic upgrade doesn't require any further work to the bridge itself, so it can go back to being open as soon as the subway work is done.