The Silvertown Tunnel’s opening date has been revealed by Transport for London – with two new bus routes serving the new river crossing from day one.
Drivers will be able to use the link between the Greenwich Peninsula and Royal Docks from Monday, April 7, while no fares will be charged on the two new buses – an extended 129 from Lewisham to London City Airport and Great Eastern Quay, and the SL4 Superloop service from Grove Park to Canary Wharf – for the first year.
Pedestrians and cyclists will be banned from the new tunnel, which has a dedicated lane for HGVs and buses.
But a cycle shuttle bus will be introduced with distinctive branding. TfL has confirmed that the bus will run every 12 minutes, seven days a week from 6.30am to 9.30pm. It will run between a stop on Millennium Way close to Old School Close – opposite St Mary Magdalene school – on the Greenwich side of the Thames, and Royal Victoria DLR station on the northern side of the river.
Drivers will have to pay tolls to use the tunnel and, for the first time, the neighbouring Blackwall Tunnel. Car and small van drivers will pay £1.50 at off-peak times, and £4 during peak hours – applying northbound between 6am and 10am and southbound between 4pm and 7pm.
Motorbike riders will pay £1.50 at off-peak times or £2.50 in peak times; large van drivers will pay £2.50 or £6.50; while HGVs will be charged £5 or £10.
The two tunnels will be free to use between 10pm and 6am, while the off-peak rates will only be available to those who sign up to the TfL AutoPay system, which already manages congestion charge payments in central London and ULEZ. Concessions will be available for low-income residents in east and southeast London.
Previous documents published by TfL had pointed to a March opening date for the new tunnel, including a financial report anticipating some toll income in this financial year, while the contracts for the new bus services were slated to start on March 1.
The tunnel has been the subject of controversy since it was first announced by Boris Johnson as mayor more than a decade ago, with tolling long part of the proposals. After being lukewarm about the proposals during his election campaign in 2016, Sadiq Khan, took just a few weeks to sign off and support the proposals, which TfL says will do away with the notorious queues at the northbound Blackwall Tunnel.
However, opponents say that despite the tolls, the tunnel will bring extra traffic and congestion to areas around the Blackwall and Silvertown crossings, including on the southbound A102, which is frequently congested in the evening rush hour.
A number of councils, including Greenwich, also expressed their doubts during a consultation on tolling levels, saying that off-peak charges were too low to stop congestion.
There has also been criticism that the initial bus network is less extensive than that indicated during the public hearings for the tunnel, which took place eight years ago. No routes from east London have been extended south and one of the new services – the SL4 – will not stop close to the tunnel entrances, instead running fast to the Sun in the Sands roundabout.
Victoria Rance, of the Stop the Silvertown Tunnel Coalition, said: “We despair at the massive waste of time, money and brilliant engineering on a project that makes the climate emergency worse, rather than help alleviate it. The tunnel is now built but there is the opportunity to take away the car and HGV lanes and repurpose it for clean public transport, cargo bikes and cycling.
“Instead we have new capacity for up to 30,000 extra vehicles daily, including juggernauts, in and out of Newham, already the most polluted borough in London. Those vehicles will worsen the health, safety, and quality of life for children there and in Greenwich in the short term, and worsen the well-being of future generations in the long term.”
Stuart Harvey, TfL’s chief capital officer, said: “”The new tunnel, along with the initial user charges, discounts and exemptions, will support growth in the local area and provide new public transport connections across the river.
“These measures will also help manage traffic demand as well as the environmental impacts, and ensure the new tunnel delivers on its objectives of reducing traffic congestion and providing resilience at the Blackwall Tunnel, while ensuring we support local residents on low income, small businesses, sole traders and local charities.”
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