please empty your brain below

I know there are lifts but looking at your photo of what seems to be a lot of stairs I am surprised they did not install an escalator, even if only one going up.
John,

have a read: http://www.stationmasterapp.com/blog/2014/04/new-pudding-mill-lane/

we spoke to the architect who was their at the station that he'd designed yesterday lunchtime taking photos of it, he told us that the outside staircases have been put in place with escalator pits beneath, again ready for the future when it's deemed fit to spend the extra money and install them.
DG said:there are no immediate plans for any fresh station openings elsewhere.

There is Lea Bridge which is due to open at the end of the year.
http://wfoc.blogspot.co.uk/2014/01/lea-bridge-station-works-to-start-in.html
So pleased to read about the platform seating. Since being hit by a car in Stratford three years ago I struggle with standing waiting for trains. It can be a real problem to find a seat (for example on the Shenfield bound platform at Stratford). With an ageing population these things really matter.
Like DG, I visited PML yesterday, in my case by approaching it from the QE Park. Signage non-existant. In fact that awful 'London's New Park' map (the only one available from the park's Information hut) does not even show PML.

Apparently liason with Newham Council about signage has started (but why couldn't it have been ready from Day 1?).

So many things just needed a bit of intelligence - the visual signage (lack of) - the audible signage (PA levels too high/too low) - no repeaters of the 'next train' indicators at the bottom of the stairs - lack of essential knowledge by staff (London Fire Brigade team "Where's the dry riser?", staff "Dunno").

Even the tin of mints had its 'lack of planning' aspect - the only information about how to open the tin is contained on the tear-off plastic seal that has to be ripped off and discarded.

I gave my card to a DLR manager who was there and he followed it up by emailing me in the afternoon. I have sent in some comments.
"Even the tin of mints had its 'lack of planning' aspect - the only information about how to open the tin is contained on the tear-off plastic seal that has to be ripped off and discarded."

You need instructions on how to open a tin?
Getting from the station to the QEO Park and View Tube is going to be a bit of a challenge for some time to come. Any idea on time scales for all that building site to be finished, cleaned up and the roads opened?
Ah ha...I was there when the original service started and did explore PML and its environs then....maybe I'll take a look again.
"You need instructions on how to open a tin?"

Ah but this tin does not have the more normal screw-top or simple friction hold. It is opened by pushing down on the centre of the lid. To close the lid again you have to squeeze the sides. If the sides get squeezed before the lid is replaced then it won't fit and (using three hands) you have to a) hold the open tub of mints b) hold the lid c) push down on the lid with the index finger of your third hand.

Probably designed by the same person who designed the 'London's New Park' map and left out half the park.
There's something about DG's enthusiasm that makes me want to visit the new station, even if I've got no particular reason to visit! Thanks for a great post and I'll look out for the 'violent' lime green lifts when I'm there.
Good to see a bit of planning for that eventual day when the DLR will have longer trains. I was standing the other night on Greenwich station with someone who had worked on the Lewisham extension in the 1990s. He was still annoyed at the cost-cutting measures at the time -- from the frankly ludicrous (BR/Railtrack didn't want a joined-up roof at Greenwich because it would confuse passengers about who owned the station; hence, passengers get wet, as we did) to the really short-sighted (people on the team were suggesting a bit longer station tunnel at Cutty Sark during the design phase, to provide for eventual lengthening, but nothing happened in order to save a few quid).
@Alan Burkitt-Gray

I hate to throw doubt on this. I would love to believe that the station is long enough for four carriages but I didn't think it was when compared to the old station. I may be wrong.

My concern is that Pudding Mill Lane is served by a mix of 2-car and 3-car trains and that DG actually saw a 2-car train in the platform together with the additional space and jumped to conclusions. It is certainly unusual for stations to be fully fitted out with functional longer platforms than currently necessary and I cannot see 4 car trains being a reality any time soon - if ever.

dg writes: Ah, yes. I've been back today in a (definitely) 3-car train, and that filled the platform. So that paragraph I wrote about the station being 4-car-ready was rubbish. I've deleted it, ta.
I expect the "purdah" period for elections may explain the lack of smiling Mayor opening the station. There's next to nothing happening at City Hall nor many announcements / press releases emerging. As you say the Tube Strike talks are also a good reason for certain TfL people not to be available.
@ Whiff - yes Lea Bridge is on the list but it's not strictly a TfL scheme. I do think DG has forgotten that the initial phase of the vastly expanded Tottenham Court Road will open in a year or so. I do expect Boris to be smiling and spouting forth some ancient Greek to open that.
@Alan Burkitt-Gray

On the point of Cutty Sark station being short, I suspect it was not just a case of saving "a few quid" - many millions in fact.

Apart from a 3 car station being very speculative at the time it was built, I have heard that there was extreme concern about the geology of the site and it sensitively to buildings nearby. Apparently it was hard enough to get permission to build a station there at all let alone one that would bring additional risk for no current need at the time.

I don't know if the above is true but given that they (fortunately) built a 3-car platform at Bank when they were only running 2-car trains it does seem very plausible.
Sounds good.

Again, what kind of pudding? And why mill it?

Sorry, in very trivial mood today.
So, no doubt more closures when the escalators are eventually installed. Classic British short-termism!
A water mill implies a mill race: to start a race you only need sago.

For a sensible answer look here:

http://www.londonancestor.com/globe/adv-mill.htm

http://hidden-london.com/gazetteer/pudding-mill-lane/

I still don't know what sort of pudding the mill resembled - apparently it disapperaed in the 1830s to make way for the Eastern Counties Railway - but the Olympic Stadium bears a passing resemblance to a Yorkshire pudding.
Think the last thing this station or any other needs is estate agents. Convenience store, dry cleaners & coffee shop yes...estate agents can go rent or buy somewhere more expensive.
More background to the Pudding Mill, by some blogger or other

http://diamondgeezer.blogspot.co.uk/2010/08/pudding-mill-river.html
@Kim,

au contraire!

Excellent prudent long term provision without short term wasted expense. If the escalators were run all day that would be about £100,000 in electricity costs alone - for a barely used station. Add capital costs and maintenance and the fact that an escalator will deteriorate in an open-to-the-elements station whether used or not and it is precisely what we should be doing.
@Kim, You can get escalators that only start when you tread on, or approach, the first step. They also stop if no one is using them.
This saves energy and wear and tear in places where the escalator does not get much use.
Look at it another way. If you were to start having a general policy of installing escalators at DLR stations Pudding Mill Lane would probably not, at present, be anywhere near top of a the list - even if the job was made slightly easier and cheaper because of a bit of foresight.
Mints? Come on people, I'd have expected pudding.
@ Ray

There is a display in the under-viaduct concourse showing next trains just above the ticket machines (as there is now in many DLR stations) it can be seen in this photo.
Before West Ham move in, the new station may prove its full worth when the Rugby World Cup visits QEOP within 17 months. Mind you, that also depends on the state of the Crossrail construction site and access via Marshgate Lane / the Greenway.
I *really* want a pack of DLR mints.
I also went on Monday - but nobody gave me any mints. Sob, sob, sniff, sniff!










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