Planned cuts to the opening hours of the London Cable Car are to go ahead – with evening opening hours being reduced on one night of the week, as well as mornings as first planned.
In November last year TfL announced it was planning to cut morning hours on Mondays to Saturdays, affecting a small number of morning commuters as well as visitors to Victoria Dock Parkrun, which takes place at 9am on Saturday mornings.
The cable car runs across the Thames between the Greenwich Peninsula and Royal Victoria Dock, on the north side of the river. It has been mocked for its low commuter numbers, but has become a successful tourist attraction.
The morning opening hours were due to be cut from the beginning of December, but the proposal was later put on hold. Now the Silvertown Tunnel is open, there is now effectively a cable car replacement bus service in the shape of the 129 bus, which stops near the south side of Royal Victoria Dock.
Now TfL has confirmed that hours will be cut from May 6. The new opening hours will be 8am to 9pm on Mondays to Thursdays (the previous start time was 6am), 9am to 10pm on Fridays (previously 8am to 11pm) and 9am to 11pm on Saturdays (the previous start time was 8am). Sunday hours remain 9am to 9pm.
Cyclists have also been carried free before 9.30am on weekdays – this concession will now last until 10am as part of the changes, TfL said.
Josh Crompton, the head of the IFS Cloud Cable Car at TfL, said: “We are making some small changes to the opening hours of the IFS Cloud Cable Car to better reflect customer travel patterns.
“These changes will reduce running costs, helping ensure the continued financial success of the cable car while helping TfL achieve its ambitious environmental targets by reducing our carbon footprint. The cable car remains popular with both Londoners and visitors to the capital with a record 1.5 million customers enjoying a trip high above the River Thames last year.”
The change to Saturday morning opening hours means that parkrunners heading to Royal Victoria Dock will not be able to use the cable car. They had been given free travel if they showed their barcodes – an arrangement that will continue under the new opening hours, but only if they head south before 10.30am.
The newly-extended 129 runs from North Greenwich past West Silvertown, a short walk from Royal Victoria Dock, and also stops at Beckton District Park, which is home to Beckton Parkrun. The route has free travel with an Oyster or contactless card for at least a year as part of the Silvertown Tunnel concessions.
Travellers can also use the Jubilee Line from North Greenwich to Canning Town, before taking the Docklands Light Railway to Royal Victoria.
The cable car opened in time for the London Olympics of 2012, at a cost of £60 million – £36 million of which came from the airline Emirates, its first sponsor.
Boris Johnson, the London mayor at the time, said it would “provide a much needed new river crossing” that would “open up access to jobs in the Royal Docks enterprise zone”.
But commuter numbers were minuscule and Sadiq Khan initially pledged to scrap the system in 2016 when he was running for mayor. Instead, he has increased fares and capitalised on the cable car’s status as a tourist attraction. A one-way ticket cost that £3.20 for Oyster users in 2012 now costs £7, the same price as tourists queueing up for paper tickets pay.
Discounted 10-trip tickets are available for £19 for those who do use the cable car regularly.
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