Greenwich, Tower Hamlets and Newham councils are to hold discussions on the future of their foot tunnels that cross the Thames, which have been blighted by lift problems for more than a decade.

The Woolwich Foot Tunnel lifts have been out of service for months while the lifts at Greenwich remain unreliable, despite recent work to patch them up.

Both sets of lifts have been hit by repeated failures since they were installed in 2011 as part of a botched refurbishment programme, with the council finding it difficult to obtain spare parts. A users’ group disbanded in frustration three years ago. 

Greenwich Council, which runs the two tunnels, says it hopes to have the Woolwich lifts fixed in June. It now plans to talk to its neighbours about paying for replacement lifts.

Greenwich foot tunnel lifts
The Greenwich lifts were patched up a couple of years ago. Image: The Greenwich Wire

While the foot tunnels were traditionally run by London’s city-wide government, when the Greater London Council was abolished in 1986 they were passed on to the three councils, with Greenwich taking responsibility for running them, even after Transport for London was formed in 2000.

However, it may be TfL that ends up paying for new lifts, with the three councils expected to put a bid into the mayor’s transport authority to cover the cost, estimated in recent council documents to be about £3.7 million for both tunnels.

Asked about a bid by Creekside councillor Calum O’Byrne Mulligan, Greenwich’s deputy leader Averil Lekau told last week’s council meeting that talks were planned soon.

North Woolwich
The link to North Woolwich is the most easterly fixed free crossing of the Thames. Image: The Greenwich Wire

“So we had a meeting very recently with someone from the mayor’s office and TfL,” she said. “We’ve agreed to convene a round table discussion with both Tower Hamlets and Newham,   to resolve the issues of the tunnels, the lifts, and so on and so forth. 

“For Greenwich, we share both of those tunnels but for those boroughs, their responsibility is just for the one. So hopefully, we’re going to get something positive out of that and at least more sustainable.”

Relationships with Tower Hamlets over the Greenwich tunnel have long been difficult, with the east London borough objecting to Greenwich’s plans to allow cycling in the tunnel between the Cutty Sark and Island Gardens.

Last year, a Labour councillor there, Abdal Ullah, called for Tower Hamlets to place anti-cyclist barriers at its end of the tunnel.