Editing Docklands Light Railway (section)

===Background===
In the 18th and 19th century, new docks were built east of the [[City of London]] to cater for the rapidly growing city. The last of these docks opened in 1921 in the [[Royal Docks]]. From the early 1960s, the docks began to decline as cargo was [[Containerization|containerised]] and mechanised. The older docks did not have space to expand, and could not handle larger vessels.<ref name=":5">{{Cite book |last=Jolly |first=Stephen |url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/18746528 |title=Docklands Light Railway : official handbook 1987 |date=1986 |publisher=Capital Transport |others=Bob Bayman |isbn=0-904711-80-3 |location=Harrow Weald |pages=6–7 |oclc=18746528}}</ref> The docks had been connected to the national railway network via the [[London and Blackwall Railway]] (L&BR), which was closed in 1966 for lack of traffic.<ref name="Christopher63">{{cite book|last=Christopher|first=John|title=The London & Blackwall Railway|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Wg2oAwAAQBAJ|date=30 September 2013|publisher=[[Amberley Publishing]]|isbn=978-1-4456-2187-6|page=63}}</ref> From the mid-1960s, the docks gradually closed down - leading to major job losses and economic deprivation.<ref name=":5" /> In the 1970s, the opening of new deep water [[Port of Tilbury|Tilbury container docks]] located further east in [[Essex]] exacerbated the issue, with the Royal Docks closing in 1981.<ref name=":5" /> [[File:DLR tower gateway.jpg|thumb|right|[[Tower Gateway DLR station]] was the DLR's original link to central London.]]