Everything about London River Services totally explained
London River Services is an arm of
Transport for London (TfL), which manages passenger transport on the
River Thames in
London,
UK. They don't own or operate any boats but
license the services of other operators. The services they regulate are a mixture of leisure-oriented tourist services and commuter services.
The River Thames is generally no more than 300m wide as it runs through central London, and is easily crossed by
bridge or tunnel. River boat services in London therefore mostly travel east or west along the Thames rather than across it, and the only major cross-river ferry services are to be found further downstream where the river is wider.
London's river service network isn't as extensive as those of
Hong Kong or
Sydney, but with recent investment in river public transport and the creation of London River Services, water transport in the British capital is experiencing a revival. More than 2,000 commuters a day now travel by riverwhich adds up to three million people per year, a figure that's set to increase with preparations for the
2012 Olympics and tourist traffic during the games.
History
Before the construction of
London's bridges and the
Underground, the River Thames had served as a major thoroughfare for centuries. Attempts to regulate the transport of passengers and goods began in 1197, when
King Richard I sold the Crown's rights over the Thames to the Corporation of the City of London, which then attempted to license boats on the river. In 1510
Henry VIII granted a licence to
watermen that gave exclusive rights to carry passengers on the river., and in 1555 an Act of Parliament set up the
Company of Watermen and Lightermen to control traffic on the Thames.
For centuries the only bridge across the Thames was
London Bridge. Crossing the river by
wherry (small wooden rowing boat) was a common mode of transport.
The 19th Century
Passenger steamboats were introduced in 1815 and the use of the river as a means of public transport increased greatly. River services ran from
Gravesend,
Margate and
Ramsgate via
Greenwich and
Woolwich into central London. By the mid-1850s about 15,000 people per day travelled to work on steamboat services – twice the number of passengers on the newly emerging railways. With increased congestion on the river, collisions and other accidents became correspondingly more frequent, most notably with the
Princess Alice disaster at Woolwich in 1878.
While the introduction of large steamboats and bridge construction had taken business from the Thames watermen, the growth of the railways took passengers away from the steamboat services and the use of the river for public transport began a steady decline. River service companies struggled financially, and in 1876 the five main boat companies merged to form the
London Steamboat Company. The company ran a half-hourly service from Chelsea to Greenwich for eight years until it went bankrupt in 1884. Nevertheless, river services continued under different management into the next century. Many of the Thames paddle steamers around this time were built by the
Thames Ironworks at
Bow Creek.
The 20th Century
In 1905 the
London County Council launched its own public river transport service to complement its new
tram network, acquiring piers and investing in a large fleet of 30 paddle-steamers. Frequent services operated from Hammersmith to Greenwich. The LCC river service wasn't a success; in the first year it ran up debts of £30,000. It was shut down in 1907 after only two years' service.
Numerous proposals for "river bus" services were considered throughout the Twentieth Century, although the few that were realised were cancelled after a short time in service. In 1940, a temporary
wartime river bus service was introduced using commandeered pleasure cruisers to replace train and tram services which were disrupted by the bombing of the
Blitz.
With the move of the
Port of London downstream in the 1960s, regular river transport was limited to a few sightseeing boats.
Revival of passenger services
In 1997 the then
Secretary of State for Transport,
John Prescott, launched Thames 2000, a £21-million project to regenerate the River Thames in time for the
Millennium Celebrations and boost new passenger transport services on the Thames. The centrepiece of these celebrations was to be the
Millennium Dome, but there was also a plan to provide a longer-term legacy of public transport boat services and piers on the river.
The
Cross-River Partnership, a
consortium of local authorities, private sector organisations and voluntary bodies, recommended the creation of a public body to co-ordinate and promote river services. This agency, provisionally titled the Thames Piers Agency, would integrate boat services into other modes of public transport, take control of Thames piers from the
Port of London Authority, and commission the construction of new piers.
The result was the formation in 1999 of London River Services, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Transport for London.
Ken Livingstone's
Transport Strategy for London 2005 states that:
The safe use of the Thames for passenger and freight services should be developed. Passenger services will be encouraged, particularly services that relate to its cultural and architectural excellence and tourism. Use of London's other navigable waterways for freight, consistent with their roles for leisure use and as ecosystems, will be encouraged.
LRS today
LRS is responsible for integrating river transport with the rest of the public transport network, such as the Tube and buses. It promotes boat services under the London River Services brand, issuing timetables and river maps.
LRS is also responsible for directly managing eight piers on the river, and has invested in LRS-branded signage and passenger information.
Following its launch the service was criticised for its lack of subsidy for private boat operators. LRS now supports the Thames Clipper commuter service financially and has increased the peak service frequency to a boat every 15 minutes., and the
RNLI operates
Thames lifeboat services.
Branding
The public presentation of London River Services is visually associated with existing TfL design standards, using identical graphic design elements to those used on London Underground publicity, signage and other elements, drawing on the design heritage of
Harry Beck.
The London River Services brand is a sub-brand of TfL which uses the familiar
Tube roundel, originally devised for London Underground and now established as the corporate branding for all TfL services. The River Services roundel is a dark blue bar (
Pantone 072) on pale blue circle (Pantone 299).
Corporate signage, stationery and literature all use the
New Johnston typeface in common with other TfL services.
LRS publishes diagrammatic river maps in the tradition of
Harry Beck's iconic
Tube map. Tube maps published by TfL since 2000 denote river interchange stations with a boat symbol.
Services
The service patterns advertised by TfL can vary according to season. They are divided into three main types:
Commuter services
These river services run to a timetable through the day with more frequent services during peak rush hour times. Most services run seven days a week, although some don't operate at weekends. Many operators offer discounted fares to
Travelcard holders.
Oyster card pay-as-you-go isn't valid on any of these services. The main lines of operation are:
» * Embankment - Woolwich
* Putney - Chelsea Harbour - Cadogan - Embankment - Blackfriars
The
catamaran-hulled vessels have on-board coffee bars, airline-style seating, are wheelchair-accessible and have bicycle racks.
Ferry services
In central London, the River Thames is narrow enough to allow it to be crossed by many bridges; further downstream however, the river widens and there are fewer bridge crossings. Two ferry services are still in operation:
Two other ferry services operate upstream in west London:
Hammerton's Ferry and the
Hampton Ferry. These services are independent of London River Services as they don't serve LRS-managed piers.
Leisure services
Leisure boats are aimed mainly at the tourist market; as they don't usually provide rush hour services, they're not normally suitable for commuting. Some boat companies run regular scheduled services, others may run twice daily, only on certain days of the week, or only during certain months of the year. Boats may also be chartered for private hire. Destinations are often tourist attractions such as the
Tate Galleries or
Hampton Court Palace. During the summer, the Scottish paddle-steamer
PS Waverley operates tourist services on the Thames.
Tower Millennium Pier
Blackfriars Millennium Pier
Waterloo Millennium Pier
Westminster Millennium Pier
Millbank Millennium Pier
The new piers were provided to improve previously neglected travel connections on the Thames and promote the river as an alternative means of public transport.
List of piers
Scheduled tourist and commuter services use the following piers, although no single service serves all the piers listed. The piers are listed in order going downstream:
Fares
Unlike the underground and bus networks, boat operators have their own separate ticketing arrangements and charge separate fares which are generally higher than corresponding journeys by tube or bus. Travelcards and Oystercards are not valid, although most boat operators offer discounts to card holders, as well as to freedom pass holders and students. The only exception is the Woolwich Ferry, which is free of charge.
Ticket sales at piers are managed independently by the operators, and tickets are sold at separate kiosks with no facility for cross-ticketing. Many piers have a line of several sales desks, each owned by a different boat firm. Single tickets can often be bought on board the boat, but this is down to individual operator arrangements.
Some operators offer their own season tickets and carnets of single tickets. Thames Clipper, for example, offer a one-day Roamer ticket which allows multiple journeys within off-peak hours; Roamer tickets cease to be valid at 5:00pm on weekdays, however.
Further Information
Get more info on 'London River Services'.
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