Thames Clippers
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
 London River Services |
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| Thames Clippers | |
 Thames Clippers logo |
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| Locale | River Thames, London, UK |
| Vessels | 10 |
| Length (km) | 0.4km |
| Transit type | River bus and tourist/leisure services |
| Began operation | 1999 |
| No. of lines | 4 |
| No. of terminals | 12 |
| Owner | Anschutz Entertainment Group |
| Operator | Thames Clipper |
| Website | official website |
| London River Services | |
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Thames Clipper is a water-bus service operating in London on the River Thames. The company offers commuter services between eastern and central London, as well as tourist services under licence from London River Services. At present they transport around 2500 passengers daily.
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[edit] Company
Thames Clippers was taken over in September 2006 by the American Anschutz Entertainment Group[1], who promised substantial investment into the company to upgrade the services and to provide a more frequent "hop-on-hop-off" between Central London and The O2 (formerly the Millennium Dome), also owned by the Anschutz Entertainment Group.
[edit] Tickets
Thames Clippers operate under licence from Transport for London. However, the river boat service is not fully integrated into the tube and bus ticketing network though passengers holding a valid travelcard pay a reduced fare (2/3 of the ticketed price) on all routes.
A River Roamer ticket, valid for one day, is available from Thames Clipper which allows the holder to hop on and hop off along the banks of the Thames between Millbank Millennium Pier and Canary Wharf Pier (including the Canary Wharf - Rotherhithe Ferry). The cost is £8.00 for an adult and £18.00 for a family. [2]
Special river service season tickets, valid for either 3 months or 1 year, are also available.
[edit] Commuter services
[edit] Main commuter service
Commuter service is between Embankment Pier (on the north side of the river by Embankment tube station and Charing Cross tube and railway stations) and the Woolwich Arsenal Pier (on the south side of the river in Woolwich. The service runs every 15 minutes during the day, and every 30 minutes in the very early morning and evenings.
 
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Stops include from west to east:
- Embankment Pier, near Embankment tube station
- Waterloo Pier, near Waterloo tube station
- Blackfriars Millennium Pier, (Weekdays only) for St Paul's Cathedral and Blackfriars station
- Bankside Pier, (Off-peak only) for the Globe Theatre and Tate Modern art gallery
- London Bridge City Pier, for London Bridge station, HMS Belfast and the London Dungeon
- Tower Millennium Pier, for St Katharine Docks and the Tower of London
- Canary Wharf Pier, for the Canary Wharf financial district
- Greenland Dock Pier, for Greenland Dock
- Masthouse Terrace Pier
- Greenwich Pier, for Greenwich, the Cutty Sark and the National Maritime Museum
- QEII Pier
- Woolwich Arsenal Pier (Direct service mornings only, shuttle to/from QEII Pier at other times)
[edit] Hilton / Canary Wharf ferry
Thames Clippers operates the direct cross river Canary Wharf - Rotherhithe Ferry, between Canary Wharf Pier and the Hilton Docklands Nelson Dock Pier at the Hilton Hotel in Rotherhithe. The service uses smaller boats than the commuter service but runs at a higher frequency of roughly every 10 minutes. The ferry can be used both by guests of the hotel as well as by passengers not staying at the hotel.
[edit] Visitor/tourist services
[edit] Tate Boat Service
The Tate Boat Service serves visitors travelling between the Tate Modern museum on the South Bank and the older Tate Britain in Millbank across the river, with a stop by the London Eye and the Saatchi Gallery.
[edit] The O2 Express
The O2 Express is an express service serving Waterloo Pier, London Bridge Pier and QEII Pier for The O2. The service also provides private charters.
[edit] Vessels
Thames Clippers own 16 vessels which were built between 1990 and 2007.
- Abel Magwitch - This vessel along with 'Twin Star' operates the Canary Wharf - Rotherhithe Ferry. It was built in 2001 and has 220 seats.
- Twin Star - This vessel along with 'Abel Magwitch' operates the Canary Wharf - Rotherhithe Ferry.
- Sky, Storm and Star Clippers - These are the smallest and oldest ships in the fleet. They were built between 1990 and 1991 and have 65 seats. They generally work the Tate to Tate and the Canary Wharf ferries.
- Hurricane Clipper - This is the flagship of the fleet. It was built in 2002 by the Australian Boat builder NQEA in Australia. It has 220 seats and a bar.
- Sun and Moon Clippers - These vessels have 138 seats They were built in 2001 as Antrim Runner and Down Runner respectively for Belfast commuter routes.
- Typhoon, Tornado, Aurora, Monsoon, Meteor and Cyclone Clippers - These are the newest vessels in the fleet, built in 2007, and are generally classed as a mark 2 version of the Hurricane Clipper. They mostly work the main commuter service and The O2 express. They have 220 seats with a bar and plasma screens.
- Mile High Flyer - This vesssel is a RIB used for VIP express services to The O2. It was built in 2007 and has 12 seats.
- Predator II - This vessel is used to transport crews to the Thames Clippers base at the Trinity Buoy Wharf.
[edit] Accidents
In February 2004, a woman was killed after she was hit, while waiting for a boat, by a mooring bollard which had come loose from the Star Clipper at St. Katherine's Pier.[3]
[edit] Onboard Service
Thames Clipper vessels have on-board cafes and bars operated by the London company S & M Cafe.
[edit] Wireless internet
Since May 2006, ThamesOnline is offering wireless internet access to commuters using the Thames clipper service.
[edit] External links
[edit] References
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