For many in Newham, the Docklands Light Railway is the way out.

I’ve lived in East London for three years. It works for studying, working, getting by. But for anything beyond that, days out, shows, the rest of the city, you leave.

That makes the DLR essential.

From Beckton, you can reach central London in under an hour. The fares don’t always make sense, but the route is clear.

The problem is that it no longer works reliably.

Delays are frequent, with waits regularly stretching between seven and fifteen minutes. Transport for London describes these gaps as “not typical” and the result of isolated issues. But when the explanation is the same every day, it stops feeling isolated.

The system feels stretched. Trains are slow, crowded, and increasingly out of step with demand. TfL acknowledges that parts of the fleet are more than 30 years old, with 54 new trains intended to replace the 33 oldest units and increase capacity by over 50 per cent.

Those trains exist.

TfL confirmed that four are already in London for testing, with dozens more built overseas. Their absence is down to delays, signalling problems, and the collapse of contractor Buckingham Group, which was building the depot needed to house them.

Technical issues have added to the delay. During testing, one train overshot its stopping point in low adhesion conditions. A wider review found parts of the signalling system left too little margin between recommended speeds and what trains could reach in rare scenarios. The response has been slower services and adjusted timetables.

In February 2025, TfL said the trains would enter service before the end of the year. The problems were clear.

A year on, the timeline is not.

TfL now points to “testing and assurance work,” with trains expected to enter service in late summer, phased and without a confirmed date.

In the meantime, the network continues as it is.

TfL says it is working to bring the trains into service as quickly as possible, while continuing to cite faults and infrastructure issues for delays.

And when the DLR fails entirely, the alternative is the bus network. Indirect routes, overcrowded at peak times, slow enough that a journey into central London can take up to two hours.

This is no longer occasional disruption.

If the cause is the same every day, the disruption is the system.