Study of Congestion at DLR Stations
Docklands Light Rail
Background
Docklands Light Railway (DLR) is an automatic light rail system running out of central London and feeding the financial district of Canary Wharf, London City Airport, Stratford and the 2012 Olympic site. Trains normally run under computer control with no Drivers. A Passenger Service Agent on each train provides revenue control and passenger assistance. At peak commuter hours, DLR needs to move high volumes of passengers into and out of its central London station Bank. DLR were experiencing reduced passenger loadings on platforms at Bank station and within trains operating at peak times. Regularly loadings would be 30% down on that predicted by capacity modelling resulting in station congestion and, on occasion, the need to close platforms for safety reasons. CCD was contracted to investigate the causes of reduced platform and vehicle loading at Bank station and to propose viable actions to increase capacity and reduce congestion.
Project
We set up passenger behaviour and movement video observation at station platforms and inside trains. Time lapse video was collected to allow analysis of passenger queuing and movement on the platform, at the platform/train interface and within the trains. In addition, we put observers onto platforms and trains who recorded passenger loadings, undertook passenger counts and spoke with a sample of passengers about their experiences. Finally we undertook a Human Factors assessment of station and platform designs including passenger flow controls, signage, passenger information, DDA support, timetable effects, staffing and platform furniture. The project established nine major contributory congestion factors and ten Human Factors objectives for reducing congestion. Fifty one recommendations were made to relieve station congestion.
Implementation
The study led to a capacity train being designed, manufactured and tested on the DLR system. This vehicle offered 25% increase in capacity and incorporated an interior design based on results from the Human Factors passenger behaviour studies. The study also led to a new layout being proposed at Bank station incorporating changes in passenger movement, new and re-located signage, new barrier design, new staff training and role, escalator direction control at peak and use of CCTV. Changes were modelled using PEDROUTE to show capacity advantages.
Outcome
Capacity recommendations were implemented in part at Bank, Canary Wharf, Tower Gateway and Stratford stations. The capacity train ran on the system and was used to assess passenger opinions for changes in seating versus standing options in future train designs.