In late 2013, I visited this area of London. I took the Docklands Light Rail, alighted at Custom House DLR station, took a short walk and this was the sight that greeted me. I wanted to check this area out because the future Crossrail station will be located near Custom House DLR.
What is Crossrail?
Crossrail is the most exciting thing happening to London from a public transport perspective in the past 10 years. It is a high capacity, high frequency train system, with more than 100km of track, cutting across London and increasing overall capacity of the train network by 10%. There will be 38 Crossrail stations, expected passenger capacity - 200million. The Crossrail website is very interesting and highly recommended to take a read. And guess what, there are plans for Crossrail 2!
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| Coming online, 2018! |
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| Crossrail Route Map - http://www.crossrail.co.uk/route/maps/ |
Singapore SMRT North-South line - Trains are 138M long, 6 cars.
Crossrail - Trains will be at least 200M long!
Back to my Visit of Custom House and London Excel
This map (taken from Google Earth) shows you where I walked. I got off at Custom House DLR, walked to the river front, and then walked towards Emirates Royal Docks.
I alighted the DLR at Custom House for ExCel.
A picture of the DLR trains from the outside. The ride was smooth and I quite enjoyed it. The DLR is a driverless system. Each car can take 284 passengers (though that would be quite a squeeze!). I think they operate 3-car trains.
After alighting from the station, I walked towards London ExCel Exhibition venue. A picture of the Custom ExCel DLR station from higher ground.
There was this huge bridge to walk, towards ExCel Exhibition venue. Behind me was the DLR station.
There were some shops and eateries, but they didn't look open at the time I was there.
Excel London - they call themselves UK's most flexible event space. It certainly looked like a very large convention centre.
I didn't have time to explore the Convention Centre. Instead, I walked towards the water. From this picture, you can see the foot bridge across the Docks, to the other side. On Google Maps, this structure is at (51.507410, 0.025602) There is a lot of development in this area of London, which is good.
I walk closer to the waterfront. If you cross the footbridge, you will get to the other side of the docks. The footbridge itself is about 200M long. If you look at Google maps, it would be a long walk to Pontoon Dock DLR, where the Royal Wharf development is located. (Check out Barrier Point Rd on Google maps.)
There are already some residential developments, on the other side of the Docks.
Here I am, at the waterfront. See the IBIS hotel? That is Hotel Ibis London Excel. It certainly has great water views over the Royal Victoria Dock.
There was also a Novotel.
I've walked from the Western Terrace entrance of London Excel, to this point.
I will be heading towards Emirates Cable Car. But first, I would take a walk inside.
More scenery.
The structures of these cranes have been preserved, however, I don't think they are functional any longer.
That is the O2 arena. Used to be called the Millenium Dome.
There was some development here, but I couldn't figure out which one. Later when I came back, I think this was The Pump House, Royal Victoria Dock.
This marketing video is pretty neat. It shows you the location of the Pump House, which isn't too bad.
I didn't have much time to investigate, so I took a few pictures and moved on.
his development will be rather near the future Crossrail station at Custom House for Excel.
Along the way, I passed by a Sales and Lettings agent.
And I realised it was Life Residential! Here was an advert for Denison House, Lanterns Way, E14. I am familiar with Denison house, we have a unit there.
Yet another advert for another one bed unit in the same development.
Yet another advert for a one bedroom in the same development. Looks like some owners are selling. Well, Denison House isn't in a bad location. 8 minute walk to Canary Wharf. If you live in Denison House, you definitely can walk to your office in Canary Wharf. Check out these resale prices against the prices that Royal Wharf are going for.
Looks like a nice office, Life Residential.
And I keep walking. That is the Emirates Cable Car station.
Those would also be residential apartments. They look fairly new.
This tall building by the water, 17 or 18 storeys. Compared to new generation Singaporean high-rise housing, an 18 storey residential tower is considered short.
ExCel Site Map.
The sign says Emirates Royal Docks. This was the cable car. Well, they gave a fanciful name, calling it the Emirates Airline.
Quite excited to go up there. Very high up!
Your Travel Card doesn't work on this. You have to pay. I had an Oyster Card with pounds pre-loaded, so I just went through without having to go in line for tickets.
The entrance to the Cable Car.
The ride across took 10 minutes. The views were great. However, it did struck me that if I had to take the Cable Car everyday, just to get across to the Tube station, it would be quite a hassle. The Cable Car ride felt more like a scenic fun ride to me, than a means of transport. But then again, it is most probably the fastest way to get from Royal Docks to the Greenwich Peninsula.
Here is the video of my ride. The aerial views were good, I enjoyed the ride. Pardon the crazy voice.
Here I am, on the opposite side - Greenwich Peninsula.
See the cable cars operating. When the winds get too strong, the cable cars stop operating.
O2 Arena.
Inside the O2 arena, there were many eateries. Some looked pretty interesting. But I didn't stop for lunch here.
Graphical map of the O2 arena.
The Greenwich Peninsula. The prices here have gone up a lot. The key advantage is that the North Greenwich Tube station is just here.
Here I am, North Greewich Station, Jubilee Line. A very big station, one stop to Canary Wharf.
Goodbye Greenwich
This area is certainly shaping up nicely. Many existing developments and also many more developments on the way. The docks areas have long been neglected. In recent times, there is renewed interest and much money being poured in. However, the prices of some of the newer developments, e.g. Royal Wharf, are already very high!
Update - more projects near the North Greenwich station have been recently approved. Check out this blog post for more information.
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