The Mayor of London has said the rollout of 54 new DLR trains has been delayed until 2026 after the contractor went into administration last year.

The rollout of 54 new DLR trains was originally set to begin in April this year, but Sadiq Khan said during a recent London Assembly Meeting on May 29 that the full rollout would be delayed further.

This comes after Beckton, the company working on the project, went into administration in September 2023.

As a result, the first of the 54 trains will be rolled out later this year, with the full rollout not expected to be in service until as late as the end of 2026.

Sadiq Khan said: “The new DLR trains will be fantastic, enhancing the experience for customers with features such as real time information, air cooling and USB charging points. They will provide additional capacity, unlocking thousands of new homes.

“The first train is scheduled to enter service this year. However, the programme has been hampered by a contractor working on the expansion of the depot at Beckton going into administration in September 2023.

“As such, whilst Transport for London is striving to have all 54 trains in service by the end of 2026, this is subject to how testing of each train goes and how the depot programme progresses which will provide the additional stabling and maintenance building required.”

In a recent TFL Commissioner's Report this month, TFL confirmed that 30 DLR trains had currently been built and are undergoing testing, with the first train set to begin service this year.

The report added that TFL had experienced some “challenges” during this phase, but are working to mitigate the effects following the issues.

Work is currently underway to expand the sidings at Beckton Depot to allow the additional 11 trains to travel on the route.

The report said: “To date, 30 new DLR trains have been built and are in various stages of testing. Work continues to prepare for the first train in revenue service later this year.

“Key to this will be the integrated testing and operational proving phase. While we have experienced some challenges with this phase, we continue to work collaboratively with our suppliers and operator to mitigate this.

“Works are progressing well to construct the new sidings at Beckton Depot and we expect these to be ready for use in the summer.

“We have completed power works on three routes of the DLR to enable the new trains to operate and works to construct a second entrance at Blackwall Station have progressed with the piling now complete.

“We have now also issued the tender for the design and build of the further expansion to the sidings at Beckton Depot. This is required to stable the additional 11 trains funded by the Department of Levelling Up, Homes and Communities. Enabling works on site have now commenced for this work.”

It is currently not known when the first train will commence serving on the route, however it is expected to begin service later this year.