The first of a £1bn new fleet of trains on the Docklands Light Railway have had to be withdrawn from service over safety concerns - only weeks after Sir Sadiq Khan hailed them as “amazing”.
Transport for London has removed three of the new trains – with air conditioning and walk-through carriages – after one train failed to stop as expected during bad weather.
The incident happened on Monday last week at Canning Town station, a key interchange between the London Underground’s Jubilee line and the DLR that is used by many Londoners to reach destinations including City airport, the Excel conference centre and City Hall.
Stuart Harvey, TfL’s chief capital officer, told The Standard: “Unfortunately, during an event last Monday, one of the trains didn’t perform as we would expect in terms of braking.
“The train didn’t stop as it should have done. It’s too early to draw any conclusions [as to why].”
The train was being driven remotely in automatic mode at the time, though a DLR staff member was on board.
The emergency brakes were activated. The train was then taken out of service, as were the two other new trains as a precaution.
A number of passengers were on board the faulty train – though to have been the second of the three new trains to enter service - at the time. Onboard safety devices prevented any of the train doors from opening directly onto the track below.
The train is now being “stripped back” by its manufacturer to search for the root cause of the problem. The industry watchdogs, the Office of Rail and Road and the Rail Accident Investigation Branch, have been notified.
Mr Harvey said: “We apologise to our customers. This is a great new train. We are doing our best to get it back into service as soon as possible. Safety is integral to everything we do.”
The introduction of the Spanish-built fleet of trains was already about 18 months behind schedule and there is no date for their reintroduction.
A fourth new train had been about to enter service at the time of the incident but this has been postponed pending the outcome of the investigation.
The revelation will come as a huge embarrassment to TfL after it invited the mayor to travel on one of the new DLR trains last month and meet staff.
At the unveiling at Stratford on October 1, Sir Sadiq said: “These new trains are amazing. [They] will significantly improve reliability.”
One of the new trains had been due to enter service each week until Christmas. It is not known when the new trains will re-enter service.
TfL had hoped to start restoring a full timetable across the DLR network from next January. It is not yet known whether this will be possible.
Mr Harvey said introducing the new fleet of trains was “a more complex project than most people would appreciate”. He added: “I’m not embarrassed. I’m apologetic. It’s not uncommon that new trains do experience some delays.”
It is the latest problem with new rolling stock to hit TfL. The arrival of a £3bn new fleet of Piccadilly line trains is already about a year behind schedule due to “challenges associated with the design, build and commissioning” of the 94 new trains.
The new DLR trains have been built for TfL in Spain by CAF. At last month’s launch event, Richard Garner, UK director for CAF, said: “We are confident that these new trains will deliver reliable, modern and comfortable journeys, helping to support the continued growth and vitality of London for many years to come.”
The new trains – some of which have been funded by the Government – were ordered to boost capacity by more than 50 per cent on the DLR network, which carries about 100m passengers a year in east and south-east London.
Extending the DLR network to Thamesmead is one of TfL’s “big ticket” Budget funding requests to Chancellor Rachel Reeves.
Most of the 54 new trains – each with five carriages – were due to enter service by the end of 2026, replacing a fleet that is more than 30 years old.
In June last year, The Standard revealed that the project had run over budget by £61m and was facing delays.
In September last year, TfL admitted the launch had been delayed indefinitely after signalling problems meant the existing fleet of DLR trains had been going “too fast” – making it impossible to keep to timetable for the phased introduction of the new trains.
Many of the new trains were stuck in Spain when TfL hit further problems with a new depot when a contractor went bust.
A temporary timetable has been in place on the DLR since June to enable trains that have reached the end of their operational life to be taken out of service.
Passenger numbers on the DLR have fallen five per cent on last year, though TfL attributes this to the popularity of the Elizabeth line.
Sir Sadiq first saw one of the new trains when he visited the DLR’s Beckton depot in February 2023 – an indication of how long it is taking TfL to get the upgrade completed.
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