Transport for London (TfL) is reminding passengers that Cutty Sark station on the Docklands Light Railway (DLR) will close from Saturday, 31 May until spring next year.

During the closure, TfL engineers will install four new modern, energy-efficient escalators at the station. The existing escalators at the station have become unreliable and too expensive to maintain in service.

Cutty Sark’s new escalators will have more efficient motors and drivers.

They will operate in energy-saving mode when not carrying passengers, which reduces energy use and contributes to TfL’s goal of reducing its carbon footprint.

Transport for London‘s escalators perform an essential and demanding role in transporting passengers around the network.

Many operate in both up and down directions, and run for up to twenty hours a day. Between them, they carry millions of people each year.

A TfL escalator weighs about forty tonnes. A typical escalator, carrying people up fifteen metres in height, has around fifteen thousand moving parts.

Replacing the station’s escalators will be a complicated process, which TfL attributes to the way in which existing escalators were installed.

TfL also points out that it is not practical to keep the station open during the escalator replacement work due to a lack of space.

It believes that replacing all four escalators simultaneously will cause the least disruption to passenger services. TfL had to take similar measures when replacing escalators at Kentish Town London Underground station two years ago.

TfL is advising passengers that while Cutty Sark station is closed, they can use Greenwich DLR station. This is an eleven-minute walk away, or can be reached using local bus services.

There will be additional signage install on streets to show passengers the route between Cutty Sark and Greenwich stations.

The Docklands Light Railway is operated by KeolisAmey on behalf of TfL.

“We welcome the news of improvement works to Cutty Sark DLR station. The escalator replacement will ensure a fully accessible station for all users for many years to come. In the meantime, there are many other ways to get to and from Greenwich including buses, mainline rail stations and riverboat services.

“Greenwich town centre is always open. We’re working closely with local businesses and our tourism partners to make sure the impact of the closure is as minimal as possible. As a UNESCO world heritage, millions of people come to Greenwich to visit its world-famous park, observatory and other attractions every year, so we’ll be exploring all the ways we can work with TfL and others to keep our town centre the vibrant, bustling corner of London that people know and love.”

A Royal Borough of Greenwich spokesperson