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ferryman.ca
London has many great attractions, but this one was never near the top of my list. This cable car across the Thames was originally promoted a means of transport, for commuters and for people wanting to reach the Millennium Dome (now The O2) in the Greenwich Peninsular from the Royal Docks area north of the Thames. Truly a ferry service across the river.
But it became yet another politician’s vanity project, another white elephant. It is operated by Transport for London as part of the city’s transit system, but the number of people actually using it for transport is negligible—most users are tourists, and out of season it’s pretty quiet.
I was born and bred in London, but back for a short spell in August 2012 as we’d managed to get tickets to the 2012 Olympics closing ceremony, and were taking that opportunity to see some different bits of the city. London during the Olympics was a joyous place—there just seemed to be a friendly, positive vibe among everyone then. We took the Tube and a bus to North Greenwich, and poked our noses in The Dome for a couple of minutes just to say we’d done it. Then we paid our fare and climbed aboard the cable car.
All views look better on a clear sunny day, but this was one of those dreary, overcast downers that London endures all too often. The ride was fun, and despite the gloom we got good views up and down the Thames—the Thames Barrage, the Woolwich Ferry, Canary Wharf, and down onto London City Airport. A few miles to the north east we could see the Olympic Stadium where we had been the day before, with the Orbit Tower beside it (white elephants come in all shapes and sizes.) And of course we could look down onto the roof of the Dome.
We “landed” at the terminus on the Royals Docks side, and then took the short walk to the Royal Victoria station of the Docklands Light Railway, and headed back through the East End to explore more of London.
Sure, it was a fun little experience. Obviously an impractical means of commuting, but a great way to get some brief views from up high of the old docklands and scrap yards. But that’s not what the average tourist to London is looking for—better views are to be had a few miles further up the Thames.

An update from 2024

Twelve years seemed to have softened my cynicism. In September 2024 at the end of a winding two week rail journey that started in Geneva, we wanted to take the Thames River Bus from North Greenwich. We deliberately made the extra effort to take the Tube and Docklands Light Railway to the Royal Victoria station so we could take the cable car again over to the Greenwich Peninsular.
But this time, not only had it changed its sponsorship name from The Emirates Air Line to the IFS Cloud Cable Car, it was also a beautiful sunny day. Also we crossed in the reverse direction from before, which meant we were facing the Dome all the way over, a more interesting view. Having just come from riding several cable cars in Switzerland it struck us how different this one was as it started and finished at the same altitude, but climbed steeply in a high arc over the Thames. We enjoyed the ride and the view, but wished it had been slower so we could have looked around a bit longer from the apogee.

INFO
Location
Ferry info
Operating year-round
Crossing time 10 (5 during rush-hour) and distance 1,100
Operates from 7-9 to 9-11 (Seasonal variations—see official hours)
Cost
£6.00 (adult, 2024, payable by cash, Oyster card or contactless card). See website for other fares
Operator
Transport for London (TfL)
Website
When I used the ferry
August 2012
September 2024
External links to information

A little rant…

Why oh why have we become so beholden to corporate naming?

Why the Emirates Air Line, and now (2024) the IFS Cloud Cable Car, and not just the London Cable Car? The O2 instead of the Millennium Dome? The ArcelorMittal Orbit instead of the Orbit Tower?

The politicians kid us that by accepting commercial sponsorship it does not cost the taxpayer anything. But the sponsors do this for a reason—we end up paying for it eventually in the products we buy.

And some trivia…

Look at the coordinates for the cable car terminus at North Greenwich and you see it is just 29 seconds of longitude east of the Meridian of Greenwich—pretty much slap bang on the line which the British set up to cut the world between east and west.

The closest ferry on ferryman.ca to being the opposite (ie 180° of longitude) is the Wellington terminus of the Cook Strait ferry in New Zealand at 174°. I will need to find a ferry in Fiji to get close to that 180°!


More photos - 2012

More photos - 2024

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