Ruislip & Eastcote & Northwood Gazette
Firm hopes to hit 10m passengers on the river
RIVERBUS TRANSPORT ON THE ASCENDANCE ON THE THAMES
A COMPANY is working on a solution which could solve, or at least ease, some of London’s most difficult transport problems.
It’s run entirely commercially, backed by investment firm Northleaf, with a lucrative sponsorship deal with transport giant Uber meaning it runs for profit, unlike TfL’s core network. It’s London’s riverbus service, UberBoat by Thames Clippers.
Starting from just 80 passengers per day in 1999, the riverbus service ramped its way up to an impressive four million passengers per year in 2019.
On April 26, riverbuses were extended to a new pier at Barking Riverside, providing a brand new river crossing from Woolwich in an area which desperately lacks them, as the now familiar London brand rebounds from its suspension at the height of the pandemic in 2020.
Now with a fleet of 20 craft and two greener, hybrid craft in production, London’s riverbus services are on track to transform east-west travel across the capital, particularly in East London and the Thames Estuary, which MyLondon found out in this exclusive interview with founder and CEO Sean Collins.
Mr Collins’ vision for his 23-year-old company is clear. He tells us: “In the future, I’d like us to be at 10 million passengers [per year] serving the vast majority of our piers at least every 15 minutes and to continue to provide one of the best public transport experiences in London, and the world. London deserves the best.”
Reaching 10 million annual journeys would mean the riverbus service would be more popular than around 600 of London’s prepandemic bus routes and just shy of the pre-pandemic usage figures of the entire London Underground’s Waterloo & City line, so it’s quite a tall order.
Unlike London bus routes, service changes do not have to go out to public consultation and importantly unlike rail, the main infrastructure, the River Thames does not require regular maintenance and has spare capacity, despite a number of fixed costs.
Housing developers eyeing up lucrative property hotspots along the popular riversides are taking advantage of this.
In 2002, Woolwich Royal Arsenal Pier became the first new riverbus pier backed by a housing developer and in the following two decades London’s riverbuses have gained Royal Wharf, St George’s Vauxhall and Battersea Power Station all thanks to partnerships between Thames Clippers and developers.
The most recent pier at Barking Riverside, which opened in April, also came about this way, thanks to the conversion of a strategicallyplaced jetty used by Thames Tideway Tunnel construction teams.
Passenger numbers have returned to around 80 percent of pre-pandemic passenger numbers, which is roughly in line with other public transport modes in London.
The company added two late sailings to its RB6 route which extends the service to beyond 11pm from its pre-pandemic finish of 10pm, as on that route it is now seeing 100 percent of prepandemic figures after 6.30pm Tuesday to Thursday.
As has been the case since every Tube strike under TfL, Thames Clippers continues to get an extra boost on days when there is industrial action, but Mr Collins reports that unlike pre-Covid times when Londoners would flock to the river to try to get to Canary Wharf, “people were deciding to stay at home” in the four most recent walkouts, suggesting that homeworking is having an impact.
He also reports the evening peak is much “flatter”, with people returning home from work throughout the afternoons and evenings instead of the standard 5pm time, and quieter boats on Mondays and Fridays. Carnet tickets are now available for flexible workers.
Mr Collins confirmed to MyLondon that Thames Clippers is in a “development stage” of running riverbuses as far as Tilbury, Essex and Gravesend, Kent. So far, trial services on Saturdays have been oversubscribed, with plans now being made to give the route a regular timetable by next year.
Mr Collins added: “Ultimately, it will be a regular route – an ‘RB’ – we just need a little bit more of residential development to take place and we’re there.”
At 22 miles from Central London, the journey out into the estuary is expected not only to be the first genuine Home Counties riverbased commuter service but also a huge tourist boost for the outer stretch of the river.
Tilbury, home to London’s biggest port, cruise ship terminal and Amazon fulfilment centre, could become a popular destination for job-seekers and workers in Outer London.
Despite the potential, TfL’s 94-page bus action plan published earlier this year doesn’t give any consideration to riverbuses.
The Mayor’s pier strategy last published in 2019 does not give any specific plans or set any tasks which would promote or deliver the expansion of London’s riverbuses.
However it does mention intentions to “work with riverbus operators to increase awareness of the best value fare options available” and serve new piers.
Mr Collins concludes: “On the south side of the river from Deptford Creek all the way along the river to beyond Thamesmead, the river has a permanent towpath with excellent pedestrian and cycle access.
“Now imagine it with frequent cross-river bus services - Greenwich Peninsula to Canary Wharf, Thamesmead to Barking Riverside, Belvedere and Erith too – there really is a fantastic opportunity for the river to evolve.”