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New Pudding Mill Lane Station Opens

London gets a new station today, plus its latest ghost station. A completely rebuilt Pudding Mill Lane station on Docklands Light Railway opened this morning, a few metres away from the old stop. PML has gone from being one of the capital's smallest stations, to the largest on the DLR network.

The new station was necessitated, and built, by Crossrail, whose tunnel portal will cut right through the land where the old platforms stand.

The move also allows the station to grow. The arrival of the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park and new housing in the area have made Pudding Mill Lane a significantly more desirable stop than the semi-industrial backwater of pre-Olympics days.

To boost capacity, the station now boasts tracks in both directions, where before only a single track passed through. This will increase numbers by up to 1,100 passengers per hour.

Sadly, London's newest ghost station will not last long. The abandoned Pudding Mill Lane station will now be demolished to make way for the Crossrail works.

For anyone seeking more detail, bloggers Ian Visits and Diamond Geezer have been keeping a close eye on the transition.

Images courtesy of Crossrail.