Poplar Depot

Poplar Depot
	Trains stabled at the depot, viewed from Poplar DLR station
Location
Location	Poplar, London
Coordinates	51°30′27″N 0°01′00″W / 51.5075°N 0.0167°W
Characteristics
Type	light metro
History
Opened	August 1987

Poplar Depot, also known as the Operations and Maintenance Centre (OMC), is the secondary depot and headquarters for the Docklands Light Railway (DLR). It is located adjacent to Poplar DLR station, in Poplar, London.

History[edit]

The depot opened in August 1987 as part of the initial DLR system. Due to the constrained site at Poplar, a new, larger depot was built at Beckton - which replaced Poplar as the main train depot in 1994.^[1] Over half the fleet are stored and maintained here. It is situated to the north of Poplar station and has two additional sidings next to All Saints. The depot was extended to hold more trains, when three-car operation began in 2009.^[1]

Future[edit]

Given the depot's location close to Canary Wharf, Transport for London have proposed rebuilding the depot to have residential towers built above it. This would require expansion of the Beckton depot to allow for construction at Poplar.^[2]^[3]

References[edit]

^ ^a ^b Pearce, Alan (2006). Docklands Light Railway : official handbook. Brian Hardy, Colin Stannard, Capital Transport (5th ed.). Harrow: Capital Transport. ISBN 1-85414-298-4. OCLC 137312784.
^ "Download the adopted South Poplar Masterplan SPD | South Poplar Masterplan SPD | Let's Talk Tower Hamlets". talk.towerhamlets.gov.uk. July 2021. Retrieved 19 March 2022. The ongoing retention of the DLR depot function is essential but there is also the opportunity to deck over the DLR depot and to develop a residential-led mixed use development on top of this deck
^ "MD2725 Docklands Light Railway - Housing Infrastructure Fund | London City Hall". Greater London Authority. 10 January 2022. Retrieved 15 May 2023. Poplar works - enabling works at Poplar Depot to unlock an oversite development opportunity for new housing. Works will consist of a reconfigured Poplar DLR station and depot with a deck over the station, and improved accessibility to the Canary Wharf Estate.