Thames Clippers

Thames Clippers

Thames Clippers logo
Locale	London, UK
Waterway	River Thames
Transit type	River bus and tourist/leisure services
Owner	Anschutz Entertainment Group
Operator	Thames Clippers
Began operation	1999
System length	0.4 km (0.25 mi)
No. of lines	4
No. of vessels	13
No. of terminals	19
Website	www.thamesclippers.com

Thames Clippers is a river bus service on the River Thames in London. The company operates both commuter services between eastern and central London and tourist services under licence from London River Services. At present they transport around 8,500 passengers daily.

Company

Sean Collins co-founded Thames Clippers in 1999 with partner Alan Woods. During his career Sean recognised the opportunity to build a consistent high-speed commuter and passenger river service. Thames Clippers was then 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. In 2007 the company purchased six new catamarans to be used on the Thames Clippers commuter service in order to carry a large number of passengers in a comfortable environment.

Tickets

Thames Clippers operate under licence from Transport for London. The river boat service is now better integrated into the tube and bus ticketing network. From November 2009, the Thames Clippers services started to accept Oyster pay as you go on all of its services, which also provides a 10% discount on single and return fares.^[2]

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 St George Wharf Pier and Royal Arsenal Woolwich Pier (including the Canary Wharf - Rotherhithe Ferry). The cost is £16.50 for an adult and £36.00 for a family. It's £6.80 for an adult single trip (or £6.12 if payment is made with an oyster card).^[3] There is a one third discount for holders of valid travelcards (excluding Family River Roamer tickets and fares for The O2 Express).

Special river service season tickets, valid for either 1 week, 1 month, 6 months or 1 year, are also available. Discounts for travelcard holders are also available on season tickets.

Commuter services

Main commuter service (RB1)

This runs between 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 20 minutes during the day, and every 30 minutes in the very early morning and evenings.

Hurricane Clipper approaching Greenland Pier with Canary Wharf in the background Sun Clipper heading upstream just east of Tower Bridge Hurricane Clipper A diagram of one of Thames Clippers' newest vessels, Meteor Clipper, showing the latest Thames Clipper branding which most of the fleet will soon carry

Stops include from west to east:

• Embankment Pier, near Embankment tube station
• London Eye Pier, near Waterloo 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 and HMS Belfast
• 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
• North Greenwich Pier for North Greenwich tube station (Formerly QEII Pier)
• Woolwich Arsenal Pier (Mornings and Evenings only. Daytime shuttle to NGP at weekends)

Hilton / Canary Wharf ferry (RB4)

Thames Clippers operates the direct cross river Canary Wharf - Rotherhithe Ferry, between Canary Wharf Pier and the 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 every 20 minutes and every 10 minutes during peak times. The ferry can be used by guests of the hotel free of charge as well as by passengers not staying at the hotel at a cost.^[4]

North Greenwich to Woolwich (RB5)

• North Greenwich Pier
• Woolwich Arsenal Pier

Putney to Blackfriars (and Canary Wharf) (RB6)

This runs peak times Monday to Friday only. Stops are:

• Putney Pier
• Wandsworth Riverside
• Chelsea Harbour
• Cadogan
• St George Wharf Pier
• Embankment
• Blackfriars
• London Bridge
• Canary Wharf

Visitor/tourist services

Tate to Tate and Service West (RB2)

The Tate to Tate and Service West operates between St George Wharf Pier in Vauxhall and Bankside Pier, serving visitors travelling between the Tate Modern museum on the South Bank and the older Tate Britain in Millbank across the river.

The O₂ Express

The O₂ Express is an express service serving London Eye, London Bridge Pier and North Greenwich Pier for The O₂. The service also provides private charters.

Vessels

Cyclone Clipper (currently being sponsored by KPMG) about to pass under the Millennium Bridge

Thames Clippers operates 13 high speed catamarans.^[5] with a maximum speed of 28 Knots^[6]

• Hurricane Clipper - 220 seats. Built in 2001.
• Cyclone, Monsoon, Tornado, and Typhoon Clippers - 220 seats. Built in 2007.
• Aurora and Meteor Clippers - 220 seats. Purchased in 2008.
• Sun and Moon Clippers - 138 seats. Built in 2001.
• Sky, Star, and Storm Clippers - 62 seats. Built in 1990 & 1991.
• Twinstar - 125 seats. Built in 1976.

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.^[7]

On 4 October 2011 at 7 pm, the Moon Clipper hit the Tower Millennium Pier when it was carrying about 50 people.^[8]

Onboard services

Thames Clipper vessels have cafes and bars operated by Aramark and branded as Costa Coffee. Since May 2006 Wi-Fi has also been available.

The future

A Policy Exchange report advocates significant expansion in river services on the Thames. The aim of the report is to lead to a "river tube line" being created which would lead to easing of current congestion on London's transport systems, and better quality of travel, at a significantly cheaper price than other options. Opponents note that the river capacity, especially at low tide could mean a reduction of tourist boats (especially at peak commuter times), and turn the Thames into urban highway which would be detrimental to London. To be feasible, the report calls for better management of river traffic, improved interchange with other public transport modes and expansion of key piers.^[9]

The Mayor of London, Boris Johnson is responsible for the River Concordat group group, which is made-up of over forty different organisations including Thames Clippers. His publication, By the River , sets out the strategic vision for improving river transport on the Thames.

References

External links

• Official website
• Transport for London River Service information