Royal Docks - Transport

Transport

Aside from local bus routes, the area is primarily served by the DLR which goes from Canning Town (services east to Canary Wharf and Central London, and North to Stratford) along the north of the dock to Beckton, and along the south of the dock to North Woolwich and under the Thames to Woolwich Arsenal. Transport for London plan to extend the Beckton branch to Dagenham but this is dependent on funding. The DLR replaced the North London Line services that previously served the area from Canning Town to North Woolwich via Custom House and the 600m Connaught tunnel beneath the docks.

From 2018 a branch of the Crossrail line will pass beneath the Royal Docks between Canning Town and Woolwich, serving Custom House station (and future provision for a station at Silvertown. Crossrail reuses the southern part of the former North London Line alignment from Custom House to North Woolwich (including the Connaught tunnel built in 1878).

There has also been a need for a further river crossing in the area. A long standing proposal has been for a four-lane tolled bridge providing a road link between the Beckton and Thamesmead on the south bank: the Thames Gateway Bridge. A public inquiry on the bridge closed in May 2006, it being particularly contentious in the residential neighbourhoods between Plumstead and the Danson Interchange (a junction on the A2). The plans were shelved, along with the DLR Dagenham extension, by Boris Johnson when he came to power in 2008. However in the run up to the 2012 election Mayor Johnson has started to push for a crossing at Silvertown (the western end of the docks)

The Royal Docks is also home to London City Airport, between the northern and southern docks. It was opened in 1988 to serve the Canary Wharf development and is closer to central London than Heathrow. It is served by a dedicated DLR station and in 2010 London City was the fifth busiest airport in terms of passengers and aircraft movements serving the London area.