page_title: Royal Docks
section_title: Transport
hierarchical_section_title: Royal Docks / Transport
caption_attribution_description: London City Airport with a Avro RJ aircraft
context_page_description: Royal Docks is an area and a ward in the London Borough of Newham in the London Docklands in East London, England.
  The area is named after three docks – the Royal Albert Dock, the Royal Victoria Dock and the King George V Dock. They are more correctly called the Royal Group of Docks to distinguish them from the Royal Dockyards, Royal being due to their naming after royal personages rather than Crown ownership. The three docks collectively formed the largest enclosed docks in the world, with a water area of nearly 250 acres and an overall estate of 1,100 acres. This is equivalent to the whole of central London from Hyde Park to Tower Bridge. The area was designated a special enterprise zone in 2012. North Woolwich is part of Royal Docks ward.
  Royal Docks is also a ward of the London Borough of Newham. At the 2011 Census it had a population of 10,679.
context_section_description: Aside from local bus routes, the area is primarily served by the DLR which goes from Canning Town (services west to Canary Wharf and Central London, and North to Stratford) along the north of the dock to Beckton, and along the south of the dock to North Woolwich and under the Thames to Woolwich Arsenal. Transport for London plan to extend the Beckton branch to Dagenham but this is dependent on funding. The DLR replaced the North London Line services that previously served the area from Canning Town to North Woolwich via Custom House and the 600 m Connaught tunnel beneath the docks.
  From 2021 a branch of the Crossrail line will pass beneath the Royal Docks between Canning Town and Woolwich, serving Custom House station (and future provision for a station at Silvertown. Crossrail reuses the southern part of the former North London Line alignment from Custom House to North Woolwich (including the Connaught tunnel built in 1878).
  There has also been a need for a further river crossing in the area. A long-standing proposal has been for a four-lane tolled bridge providing a road link between Beckton and Thamesmead on the south bank: the Thames Gateway Bridge. A public inquiry on the bridge closed in May 2006, it being particularly contentious in the residential neighbourhoods between Plumstead and the Danson Interchange (a junction on the A2). The plans were shelved, along with the DLR Dagenham extension, by Boris Johnson when he came to power in 2008. However, in the run up to the 2012 election Mayor Johnson has started to push for a crossing at Silvertown (the western end of the docks)
  The Royal Docks is also home to London City Airport, between the northern and southern docks. It was opened in 1988 to serve the Canary Wharf development. It is closer to central London than Heathrow, and is served by a dedicated DLR station. In 2010, London City was the fifth busiest airport in terms of passengers and aircraft movements serving the London area.
caption: London City Airport, in the heart of the Docks, has been open since 1988
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