Thames Clipper cuts will hit thousands of travellers

Caroline Pidgeon, Leader of the Liberal Democrat London Assembly Group, commenting on the much reduced Clipper commuter service which will operate from Monday 1st November, said:

“Today you can jump on a Clipper boat just before midnight at the Embankment and travel down the Thames to Bankside, Blackfriars, London Bridge, Canary Wharf, Greenwich and Woolwich. Yet from Monday simply getting home will become a real struggle for many people when they suddenly discover that the last boat now leaves as early as 9.10 pm.

"No one would ever accept the last bus leaving central London as being as early as nine o’clock in the evening - there is no reason why river transport should be any different.

“I accept later boats are provided when events are taking place at the O2 Centre, but what about the many other people who need to travel on the Thames? The reduced commuter service will especially inconvenience the thousands of people in Southwark, Tower Hamlets and Greenwich who wish to spend an evening enjoying the West End and then the delights of travelling back home on the Thames.

“The Mayor was elected promising to improve river services and claiming that the river should be a vital part of an integrated transport strategy. This decision totally shatters that claim.”

You can read more about this issue at:

Also, the London SE1 website reports on the service cuts and on a petition by passengers to restore the evening service.

You can sign the passengers' petition here.