Olympic tourists boosted passenger numbers by up to 100 per cent on the Docklands Light Railway making 2012 a record-breaking year for the automatic trains.

During the 16 days of the London 2012 Olympic Games, 7.2 million passengers travelled on the DLR with August 3 - Day Seven of the Games - its busiest day on record, carrying over 500,000 people.

The year 2012 has broken all previous records on the 25-year-old railway which was opened by the Queen in August 1987.

A milestone was reached in the early afternoon of Sunday March 31 when the year’s 100,000,000th passenger journey this year was recorded.

Robert Niven, DLR’s head of planning, said: “This significant milestone caps a magnificent year for the DLR which saw us carry 7.2m people during the 2012 Olympic Games - double what we would normally carry during that time.

“And in just 25 years, the DLR has grown from running 11 trains on just two routes to becoming a key part of the world’s most prestigious sporting event while also servicing a rapidly growing local community.”

Since opening, the DLR has been extended to Bank, Beckton, Lewisham, and Woolwich Arsenal and it currently has 45 stations.