Latest news with #TransportHistory
Yahoo
13 hours ago
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
History of London's rollercoaster railway where 'passengers can be the driver'
Like a rollercoaster ride in slow-motion, travelling the elevated lines of the Docklands Light Railway (DLR) has become a much-loved experience for many Londoners. First opened in 1987, the railway has grown into a series of interconnecting routes over the years, stretching from the City to south east London. Initially built to serve the Docklands in the hope of spurring redevelopment in the area, the first trains ran from Tower Gateway or Stratford to Island Gardens. The trains were fully automated and driverless, giving passengers the opportunity to pretend to be a train driver for the day (let's be honest, we've all done it). READ MORE - Over the coming weeks, we'll be using maps to tell you the story of each of TfL's lines. The images used in this story have been provided by TfL Corporate Archives. To find out more about the history of the London Underground visit TfL's Google Arts and Culture page - London Tube map from 1988 showing the initial DLR branches from Stratford and Tower Gateway to Island Gardens (Image: TfL Corporate Archives) A station at Bank, which connected to the existing line through an Underground tunnel, was opened in 1991. Three years afterwards, an extension to the railway between Poplar and Beckton was in operation. Tube map from 1994 showing the extension between Poplar and Beckton (Image: TfL Corporate Archives) Before the end of the Millenium, a further expansion of the route had been built, taking trains underneath the River Thames from Island Gardens to Lewisham. The south side of the Royal Docks was the next area to benefit from the DLR, with a new branch between Canning Town and King George V opening in 2005. DLR map from 1997 (Image: TfL Corporate Archives) Four years later, an extension of this spur under the river brought trains to Woolwich Arsenal. In 2011, ahead of the London 2012 Olympics, the newest section of the DLR opened, between Stratford International and Canning Town via West Ham. Tube map from 2000 showing DLR extension to Lewisham (Image: TfL Corporate Archives) The first of 54 new walk-through, air-conditioned trains are expected to be rolled out on the network before the end of this year. A further extension of the Beckton branch is also expected over the next decade, with new stops at Beckton Riverside and Thamesmead. Today, the railway spans 34km of track and calls at 45 stations on three separate branches.
BBC News
24-05-2025
- Automotive
- BBC News
Rare District Line carriage restoration appeal launched
The London Transport Museum has launched an appeal for funds to help restore some of the last remaining "Q stock" underground carriages, which ran on the District Line from the 1930s to at the museum said the seats require upholstering in "iconic and historical" moquette - a durable, woollen seating material used on public restoration project, based at the museum's depot in Acton, west London, aims to get the carriages back up and running and in operational is now hoped the public can raise £30,000 to restore the "rare pieces of Underground history". Q stock trains were formed from a combination of cars with different seating designs. Passengers never knew what formation of carriages would pull into their London Museum said the three remaining carriages would be refurbished to reflect a different time period in the train's history - and would each have a different seating to design to match. It said: "One will explore life in wartime London; the second will reflect life during the post-war years of austerity; and the third will illustrate the growing optimism and prosperity" of the 1950s, as well as tell a story of direct recruitment to London Transport from the Caribbean."To ascertain the correct seating design for each era, the curatorial team have been examining more than 300 historic photographs from 1920 to the present day and the museum's archive of more than 400 moquette McKay, the director and chief executive of London Transport Museum, said: "These iconic Underground cars wouldn't be complete without distinctive moquette seats, which we know were designed by pioneering women like Joy Jarvis and Enid Marx. "The Museum has been able to secure funds to reupholster one Q stock car as part of the restoration project, but we need the public's help to raise £30,000 for the final two." Since the creation of London Transport in 1933, artists and designers have been commissioned to create the moquette patterns for Tube trains, buses, trams, trolleybuses and, more recently, London's cable car over the museum said it was keen to reflect in the designs "the central role" women played in deciding how train and bus interiors would look in the designer Joy Jarvis will be the inspiration for one of the carriages. She was responsible for the iconic 'Roundel' and 'Bullseye' moquette design in the 1940s which, until recently, was erroneously attributed to a male designer. The artist Enid Marx will be the inspiration for the other carriage. Her green and red "Shield" design appeared on sub-surface trains on the District line towards the end of the Second World War.
