£180m DLR Olympic link opens ahead of schedule

THE £180 million extension of the Docklands Light Railway under the Thames was officially opened today.

Mayor Boris Johnson cut the ribbon at the new Woolwich Arsenal station south of the river which links to King George V station on the north.

The extension will provide a vital crossing for local communities and businesses and eventually for visitors to the 2012 Olympics.

Mr Johnson said: "I'm absolutely delighted that this extension with its cracking new station is up and running and puts Woolwich Arsenal firmly on the Tube map.

"Woolwich has long lacked the transport links that encourage the creation of new jobs, homes and shops and this is the sort of project that will help kick the credit crunch where it hurts. The extension will also play an important role in the Olympic transport network. People in this part of London will now be just a 24-minute hop, skip and a jump away from the Olympic site."

The link, commissioned by former mayor Ken Livingstone and opened seven weeks ahead of schedule, will connect Woolwich to City Airport in just six minutes, Canary Wharf in 20 minutes and Stratford in 23 minutes. It will join the main Olympic site with the Royal Artillery Barracks in Woolwich, which will hold the shooting events.

Transport for London, which funded the extension, has pledged to deliver a 50 per cent increase in capacity across the DLR network by 2010 by adding 55 new carriages and extending platforms.