Bikes on the DLR

TeeTee, puncture repair kit in the rucksack and a 15mm spanner don't take up much room in a bag. Changing a puncture a is always a bit of a drag, but once it's done it feels so much better being back on the road!

If you are going from Greenwich to Limehouse, you can go through the Rotherhithe tunnel, though I wouldn't recommend it unless you have a gasmask, fumes down there are horrible.

The fucked up thing is that if you stick your bike in a bag, then it becomes luggage and it's allowed.

friend of mine was outside shoreditch station putting his create bike into a black sack to carry it onto the train when a truck pulled up alongside and the passenger leaned out of the window and said "no need to put it in the sack mate, you can just throw it straight on as it is"

TeeTee, puncture repair kit in the rucksack and a 15mm spanner don't take up much room in a bag. Changing a puncture a is always a bit of a drag, but once it's done it feels so much better being back on the road!

Yeah, I know. I didn't have one, I was tired, it was raining, I was right outside the tube...

friend of mine was outside shoreditch station putting his create bike into a black sack to carry it onto the train when a truck pulled up alongside and the passenger leaned out of the window and said "no need to put it in the sack mate, you can just throw it straight on as it is"

friend of mine was outside shoreditch station putting his create bike into a black sack to carry it onto the train when a truck pulled up alongside and the passenger leaned out of the window and said "no need to put it in the sack mate, you can just throw it straight on as it is"

You can take bikes on the Overground no problem outside of peak times. It's only on the deep tube lines and the DLR that there's a complete ban.

cough

Think Gerald was having a funny....

D'oh.

The difference is that the DLR is and always has been a private enterprise - it's not part of TfL proper. I used to run into this all the time when I worked for a firm that did transport data for TfL (amongst others).

    DLR is now officially part of the TfL family but they say they can't take bikes because of the insurance set up by the private operators.  That is crap and it is one of the things we (London Cycling Campaign) have asked the Mayor and TfL to sort out but they ain't bothered.  

You can now cross the river using the overground Rotherhithe to Wapping etc. They now enforce the peak hour bans, when it was the East London tube line they were more relaxed.

DLR is now officially part of the TfL family but they say they can't take bikes because of the insurance set up by the private operators. That is crap and it is one of the things we (London Cycling Campaign) have asked the Mayor and TfL to sort out but they ain't bothered.

Ah, this is what I wanted to hear. If there's anything that can be done to put more pressure on TfL/Boris to alter the restrictions, I'd definitely support it.

A little while back, I contacted DLR about this. Here is our email exchange.

Hello

I received the leaflet ‘A guide to using Docklands Light Railway’. I would like to know why full-size, unfolded bicycles are not allowed on the DLR. I have three questions:

    1.     What, exactly, are the ‘safety reasons’ that are referred to
    in the leaflet and which are the grounds on which bicycles are not
    allowed?
    2.     How, exactly, is a bicycle, which when it is not being ridden
    is basically a large piece of luggage, different from a pram, heavy
    shopping, or a mobility scooter, which is pictured on the leaflet?
    3.     How, exactly, does the DLR differ – other than in management
    structure – from those elements of the TFL network on which bicycles
    are allowed outside of peak hours (i.e. the Metropolitan, Circle,
    Hammersmith and City, District lines, sections of the Piccadilly,
    Central, Bakerloo, Jubilee and Northern lines, and the Overground)?

It seems to me that unless there are very good reasons otherwise, the DLR should be in line with the rest of TFL, and that bicycles should be allowed outside of peak hours.

I look forward to your response.

Best wishes

Bicycles cannot be carried on the railway for safety reasons. If in an emergency, such as fire, and a train needs to be evacuated quickly, a bicycle would become an obstruction that may obstruct an escape route, and hence endanger life. Such an emergency could occur anywhere where escape routes are limited, not just underground or sub surface; for example on a viaduct. It is also impossible to predict the likeliness of a train being empty or crowded during the whole course of its journey; that it is lightly loaded at one station does not guarantee it is lightly loaded during the entire course of its journey. Therefore, for safety's sake, bicycles cannot be carried anywhere at anytime on DLR trains, unless they can be folded and carried in a case. With this in mind, pictorial signs with "No Bicycles" legends are posted on all of our ticket machines.

Thank you for your prompt response.

You have not answered my question about the difference between a regular bicycle and any other item of bulky luggage, a pram or a mobility scooter, all of which are permitted on the DLR but all of which could become an obstruction in an emergency and so endanger life. What is the difference?

Nor have you answered my question about the difference between the DLR and the other sections of the TFL network that permit bicycles outside of peak hours. As with the DLR, it is not possible to predict the number of passengers who will board an Underground or Overground train and in every case there are areas where escape routes could be limited in an emergency, yet bicycles are permitted outside of peak hours. Again, what is the difference?

I'd be grateful if you could answer these questions for me.

Thank you also for forwarding the conditions of carriage. I was interested to read these. The sections you highlighted state:

4.5. For safety reasons on Docklands Light Railway trains and stations you must not:
• use bicycles, roller skates, roller blades, scooters, skateboards or similar equipment

12.1.1. For safety reasons, and for the comfort of other passengers, we have to control what you can bring with you onto our trains and property, although we do not charge you for the things we allow. If you have luggage or a folding buggy/pushchair, or a shopping trolley or folding cycle you must not put it on the seats or allow it to block gangways, stairs, lifts or passages.

12.1.2. You may bring with you:
• personal luggage that you are able to carry yourself (including up/down fixed stairways) • folding buggies and pushchairs and folding cycles that you are able to carry yourself (including up/down fixed stairways) • any other item, provided it is not dangerous or likely to injure anyone

12.1.3. You must not bring with you anything:
• that is more than 2 metres long
• that you are unable to carry yourself (including up/down fixed stairways) • that is a hazardous or inflammable substance • that is likely to cause injury or offence to other customers or to our staff • that is likely to cause damage to buses, DLR trains or stations.

12.1.4. Bicycles are not permitted on DLR trains or stations (except folding bicycles when folded – see clause 12.1.2 above)

Standard bicycles are less than 2m long and are not made of hazardous or inflammable substances. They are no more or less likely to cause injury or offence to other customers or DLR staff or damage to DLR trains or stations than bulky luggage, a pram or a mobility scooter. Therefore, if someone had a regular bicycle that he were able to carry himself (including up/down fixed stairways), and he was able to position it in the train not on the seats and in a way that did not block gangways, stairs, lifts or passages, and he did not intend to use (i.e. ride) it on the train, why would he not be allowed to take it on the DLR?

It appears to me that there is no reason why bicycles should be singled out from any other item of luggage, prams or mobility scooters, all of which pose a similar risk of obstruction in an emergency. Please can you explain why it has been deemed necessary to ban standard bicycles when these other items are permitted?

I look forward to your response.

I forwarded your second email to our safety department for further information, please see below.

The key difference is the size (a bike can be in excess of 6 foot long from wheel to wheel and can be 2 foot wide across the handle bars and 4 foot
high) and as such can not easily fit within the vestibule area of a DLR train without blocking the gangway or an exit. Pushchairs/prams are smaller and can be placed in the area besides the door allowing people to walk around them. Larger wheelchairs and mobility scooters are asked to use the designated wheelchair area on the DLR carriages which is away from the doors and clear of the gangway. This are is not big enough for bikes.

It is true that other areas of TFL do allow bikes on their trains. This is done on a risk assessment basis and there are a couple of key factors which differentiate the DLR from LU in this matter. Firstly, LU stations are staffed where DLR stations are not, this means that there will be staff available to give advice, enforce peak time restrictions and assist with an evacuation of a train at a station. Secondly LU trains have inter-car doors, this provides an additional means of exit from a train of the gangway is blocked. These are only an example of the issues that have been considered in the risk assessment process which has determined that bicycles should not be carried on the DLR.

Due to the low numbers of staff on the DLR it would not be able to enforce any deviations from this requirement and as such we could not guarantee the bikes were not blocking gangways or exits and potentially causing a safety risk, therefore a blanket ban has been imposed across the network.

made for very interesting reading. they really do get themselves in a twist don't they? i wonder what their views on unicycles would be?

The DLR is a badly-constructed light railway, a railway on the cheap. It was never going to be adequate for Canary Wharf alone, let alone the Stratford connection. In addition to the factors mentioned above, there are also the tiny lifts and narrow stairs at stations. It is simply amazing that it continues to be extended on the same poor template.

I have put my bike in a large binbag many times and they don't even bat and eyelid. It's such a fucking joke. Especially how they won't let bikes on the DLR whilst the Greenwich foot tunnel is closed.

It does not have to be adequate for Canary Wharf alone - it is a suplement to the jubilee line surely?

Not sure what you mean--it was obviously built long before the Jubilee Line Extension.

Of course, there are other means of accessing CW by public transport, but the DLR is still the only railway line along the alignment from the City to CW (and most of its other branches, including the only railway line to cross under the river at Greenwich).

Stratford is served by numerous overground routes, Jubilee line and DLR - I'd guess that the DLR accounts for under 5% of users of the station.

Again, the DLR serves particular alignments where there is no other rail line. All users wishing to go where the DLR goes suffer from its imperfections.

The DLR fulfills a completely different role to the tube... the stations tend to be closer and it should be regarded as a super-tram as much as it should be regarded as an inferior tube.
Many cities permit cycle carriage on trams (see towards the end of this presentation):

http://www.cyclenation.org.uk/papers/031003.pdf

The closeness of the stations isn't a major factor. Passenger volume and the safety constraints cited in the DLR e-mails are much more important.

The simple fact is that the DLR was never designed as a railway line that permitted cycle carriage, although it could have been. It was designed more like a glorified airport shuttle.

http://www.southlondon-today.co.uk/News.cfm?id=9834&headline=Wheel%20result%20for%20cycle%20commuters

I like how not cycling a bike (putting it on a train) is a huge step forward for cycling. Tits.

^

The option of using public transport to return home due to breakdown, weather or tiredness should not be underestimated and the Thames out east is a big barrier.

this isn't hard to understand, is it? when you're out in woolwich or gallions reach and it's cold/rainy and late, home might seem a long way away. the ability to put your bike on the DLR to get you either across the river or somewhere more central, makes cycling a whole lot more attractive.

on a purely personal front, it makes it more likely that I'll attend SE socials if I'm stuck out east after the ferry has closed. I'm too lazy to do the foot tunnel and stairs.

I do wonder whether they will need to enforce or advertise variations to "off-peak = can take bike", I know it's always in the small print anyway that it's dependent on how busy the train is, but the line between Canning Town and Excel is sometimes sardines, even off peak.

This pleases me.

Me too.

After pestering Boris about this for two years, I am glad progress has finally been made.

About time.

We've been waiting 25 years, finally bikes will be allowed on DLR for a 6 month trial beginning in July.
http://lcc.org.uk/articles/bikes-on-dlr-success-for-london-cycling-campaign

good good

meh :D