Docklands Light Railway

An automated Docklands Light Railway train at Heron Quays, in the Canary Wharf financial district.

Main article: Docklands Light Railway

The Docklands Light Railway (DLR) is an automated light rail (скоростной трамвай) system serving the Docklands (назв. Района) area of east London. It complements (дополняет) the Underground, largely sharing its fares (плата за проезд) system and having a number of interchanges (транспортная развязка) with it. It is focused on the Canary Wharf business district, although this was not its initial objective upon its opening in 1987.

Partly thanks to the success of Canary Wharf, the system has expanded (расширять)several times and now has five main branches connecting the Isle of Dogs and Royal Docks to each other and to the City of London, Stratford and Lewisham south of the river. It also serves London City Airport and the newly opened Woolwich station. A further extension to Stratford International is under construction.

Trams

A Tramlink tram at Beckenham Junction terminus

Main article: Tramlink

The tram system in London was the oldest in the world dating back to early Victorian time and still remains the largest tram network at its peak^{[ citation needed ]}. However, the highly extensive tram lines disappeared from the streets of London by the mid-20th century, but a new tram system was opened in 2000 to serve the large employment centre of Croydon on the southern edge (край) of London. Named Tramlink, it connects Croydon and its surface railway stations to surrounding suburbs and to the town centre of Wimbledon to the north-west. An extension to Crystal Palace is being planned. Two other tram schemes in London are being planned: the West London Tram along the busy Uxbridge Road bus corridor in west London (although construction is looking unlikely due to much local protest), and the Cross River Tram through central London between Camden in the north and Brixton and Peckham in the south. The London Passenger Transport Board was formed in 1933, taking over the London County Council trams. It was decided soon after to replace all trams in London by "more modern vehicles." The abandonment program began in 1935 with trams in South-West, West, North-West, North and East London mostly being replaced by trolleybuses. The replacement programme proceeded swiftly until 1940 when the last "pre-war" conversion occurred, leaving only the "South London" trams and the "Kingsway Routes" 31, 33 and 35, the only tram routes left operating into North London to survive the war. Prototype "Kingsway Trolleybus" no. 1379, with exits on both sides of the vehicle, was constructed for feasibility tests through the Subway, but these were unsuccessful as trolleybuses would have had to run on battery power through the subway, headroom restrictions making it impossible to use overhead current collection. In 1946 it was decided to replace all London's remaining trams "as soon as possible", this time by diesel buses. The first Kingsway subway route to be withdrawn was Route 31 on 1 October 1950 with the remaining two routes, 33 and 35, being withdrawn after service on Saturday 5 April 1952, the last public services being 'specials' shortly after midnight on the Sunday. During the early hours of the next morning the remaining vehicles still north of the subway were run through to the depots south of the Thames. The Kingsway tramway subway is the only remaining evidence of the old tram system, an underground route along Kingsway.