Mayor Boris Johnson has revealed plans to boost river services for Londoners, in a move which could see the Thames return to its Victorian heyday as a transport hub.
Every borough council which fronts the river has signed up to the river concordat, committing to work with the capital’s pier-owners, boat operators and Transport for London (TfL) to improve ticketing, piers and passenger information.
Johnson announced that from November this year, commuters using the Thames Clipper services would be able to use their Oyster cards to pay for their journey. He also said a new direct service between Canary Wharf and London Bridge would begin immediately.
TfL will fund a £1.5M extension of Tower Pier to tackle congestion caused by increasing numbers of river passengers. Thames Clippers has enjoyed a 388% increase in passengers over the course of the past two years, and carried 2.7M people last year.
The mayor said: ‘Oysterising the Thames as well as providing clearer signage to the piers and services available will make it much easier for Londoners to travel on the river.’
Kulveer Ranger, the mayor’s director of transport policy and chair of the concordat group, said: ‘The sheer number of organisations involved in the capital’s river services has meant making improvements has often felt like a battle against the tide.
‘This concordat provides a real opportunity to finally deliver the river services that our great city deserves.’ More than 30 organisations signed up to the deal, agreeing to focus on the integration of the Thames into the transport system, as well as ensuring services will be ready to cope with demand during the 2012 Olympic Games. Pier expansion will begin in central London before the service heads further east and west.
Westminster City Council’s deputy cabinet member for environment and transport, Cllr Lindsey Hall, said the council was looking at ways the scheme could be practically implemented to encourage more people to use the river, in order to reduce congestion on the borough’s roads.
‘We are also working to encourage TfL to improve its website for the clipper service, provide some bus services along Victoria Embankment, and have bus stops at the piers which should further help ease congestion,’ she added. Greenwich council is calling for clearer commitment to support the service that runs between Woolwich and Greenwich. The route’s current subsidy is set to run out in July.
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