Docklands Light Railway - DLR and the Olympics

The 2012 venues that will be directly served by the DLR are:

• Olympic Park: a 2.5 km² site that will form the centre stage for the Games.  It features purpose-built and accessible facilities including the Aquatics Centre, Velodrome and Olympic Stadium.
• ExCeL: is London’s largest exhibiton and conference centre.  During the Olympic Games it will host the Weightlifting, Judo, Fencing, Taekwondo, Table Tennis, Wrestling and Boxing.  During the Paralympics it will host Table Tennis, Judo, Wheelchair Fencing, Boccia, Powerlifiting and Volleyball (Sitting).
• Greenwich Park: covers 74 hectares and is part of the Maritime Greenwich World Heritage Site. During the Olympic Games it will host the Equestrian events and Modern Pentathlon. During the Paralympic Games it will host the Equestrian Dressage.
• Royal Artillery Barracks: is owned and operated by the Ministry of Defence and will have a temporary venue beside Woolwich Common to host the Olympic Shooting event and the Paralympic Archery and Shooting events.

For more information please visit the official London 2012 website  

DLR 2012 map showing Olympic venues 

DLR is on track for delivering new infrastructure that will provide extra capacity ahead of the 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games. This extra capacity includes:

• Delivering the Capacity Enhancement Project to allow longer three-car trains to operate on the existing network, more information is provided here.
• Building the extension to Woolwich Arsenal to serve the Royal Artillery Barracks.
• Building the extension to Stratford International to serve the Olympic Park.

Work to plan the services during the 2012 Games is underway. DLR train schedules are being developed to provide maximum capacity for the start and finish of events at each venue. Therefore this means the DLR schedule is dependent on any changes to event schedules. Currently the DLR is predicted to carry over 500,000 passengers on the busiest day during the Olympic Games.

Because the DLR will be serving several venues it will become very busy at times. Only Pudding Mill Lane station will be closed however some other stations serving ExCeL and Greenwich Park will operate one-way systems from time to time, to manage large numbers of passengers. Trains to and from Bank will become particularly busy during peak periods.

Local residents and businesses are advised to check travel news and advice published ahead of the Games. It may be more convenient to make local journeys that are not essential at quieter times, or away from routes used by spectators to and from venues. Employers will be asked to consider using flexible working arrangements; allowing employees to travel outside the peaks or work from home if possible.

More information will be released when it becomes available.