Thames cable car will be sponsored by Emirates

[WestCoast]

Emirates sponsors Thames cable car

A private sponsor for a new Thames cable car river crossing has been announced in a 10-year deal worth £36m.

The cable car system is being sponsored by Dubai-based airline Emirates and will be known as the Emirates Air Line.

It will create a direct link between the 02 Arena in Greenwich and the ExCel exhibition centre, in east London.

The total cost of the scheme, to be completed in summer 2012, is £60m, with additional funding coming from third party funding and fare revenue.

Initially, Transport for London (TfL) estimated the cost for the project would be £25m and said it would use only private finance to pay for it.

But last month TfL pushed its forecast up to about £60m.

London Underground managing director Mike Brown said: "At £36m the sponsorship by Emirates covers a significant portion of the £45m construction value.

"This multi-million pound agreement is proof that our funding strategy is working and we are confident that the outstanding upfront construction costs can be recouped from a range of sources including an application to the European Union Regional Development Fund, additional sponsor agreements, retail space rental and fare revenue."

The cable car will run between two new stations, set to be named Emirates Greenwich Peninsula, in south London and Emirates Royal Docks, in north London.

The service will be able to carry up to 2,500 people per hour in each direction at peak times.

It is anticipated that it will carry two million passengers a year.

Liberal Democrat London Assembly member Mike Tuffrey said: "TfL admits that this sponsorship deal only meets 80% of the construction cost.

"At a time when fares are set to rise by well over the rate of inflation, people will be asking why the mayor has failed to live up to what he had promised and ensured the cable car was entirely self financing."

But London Mayor Boris Johnson said: "This multi-million pound deal is tremendous news for London, helping us to deliver a new addition to the city's skyline.

"The Emirates Air Line will be an exciting and innovative mode of transport easing travel for thousands and offering spectacular bird's eye vistas of our majestic Thames."

Read more...www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-london-15217173

TfL VIDEO ABOUT THE PROJECT: http://youtu.be/tKLeeXmnjnI

 

[WatcherZero]

The RDF is only supposed to be used for the projects in the top 20% most deprived areas, somehow I doubt they will get funding for something in central London.

 

[burneside]

This cable car will go from nowhere to nowhere, there will be precious little commuter demand, and the tourist demand virtually non existent. It won't exactly be on a par with the London Eye. The most optimistic estimate is that public money will account for "only" £16m of the construction costs, and that will have to come out of TfL's rail budget. I think the £16m could be better spent elsewhere, and benefit a far greater number of Londoners than this cable car folly ever will.

 

[eMeS]

I thought this was supposed to be ready for the Olympics, and yet the press release says it will be ready for Summer 2012. Cutting it a bit fine, perhaps...

Some other Olympics venues have already been tested.


I wonder how it will compare with the one in Koblenz?

 

[Greenback]

I don't think any public money should be used for this, regardless of whether it's £16m or 16p.

 

[ainsworth74]

I don't think any public money should be used for this, regardless of whether it's £16m or 16p.

Oh I dunno I think I'd be happy stumping up 16p for it from the public coffers

Though I agree with what others have said that it's a waste of time/money and should be cancelled really. I mean I suppose it might have a slight attraction to tourists but surely not that much that it will ever earn enough to cover it's running costs let alone construction costs?

 

[Mojo]

The RDF is only supposed to be used for the projects in the top 20% most deprived areas, somehow I doubt they will get funding for something in central London.

It isn't in central London though.

It will run from a location in the London Borough of Newham, the 6th most deprived district in England, to Greenwich, 41st.

Connectivity between North and South of the river in South East London is appalling and this is a good step for improving it.

 

[ji459]

Sure it's a waste of money, but I'm looking forward to riding on it. The views will be amazing, plus there's nothing else like it in the UK.

 

[WatcherZero]

It isn't in central London though.

It will run from a location in the London Borough of Newham, the 6th most deprived district in England, to Greenwich, 41st.

Connectivity between North and South of the river in South East London is appalling and this is a good step for improving it.

Yeah but if you look at the detailed statistics you see why, runaway housing prices outstripping local wage growth, i.e. London Inflation. Its not that people have got worse off, its that the rest of London has gotten better off and their using their money to buy up houses in the Borough. Meanwhile some areas of the Borough is quite affluent due to high tourism revenue. Improved transport and more tourism would actually make the problem worse.

 

[radamfi]

There are no details on fares or whether Travelcards will be valid. If it is expensive then the locals won't use it.

 

[T163R]

I don't think it's a really good idea, especially over the docks only. But if it was over the Thames IN London...well why not...

 

[Mojo]

I don't think it's a really good idea, especially over the docks only. But if it was over the Thames IN London...well why not...

Eh? It does go over the Thames. Royal Victoria is on the north side, and North Greenwich is on the south.

 

[Greenback]

If it is such a good idea, it should be perfectly possible to build it using only private venture capital. It shouldn't need any public funding at all.

 

[MidnightFlyer]

It will run from a location in the London Borough of Newham, the 6th most deprived district in England, to Greenwich, 41st.

I'm not questioning what you've written but where did you get that info? I would quite like to see that list in full.

Eh? It does go over the Thames. Royal Victoria is on the north side, and North Greenwich is on the south.

I think he means Central London: the South Bank / London Eye areas etc.

If it is such a good idea, it should be perfectly possible to build it using only private venture capital. It shouldn't need any public funding at all.

I concur.

 

[Mojo]

I'm not questioning what you've written but where did you get that info? I would quite like to see that list in full.

Plenty of sources out there from different dates. My sources came from the council websites themselves, but This is from 2004 and this from the Grauniad is in 2011.

I think he means Central London: the South Bank / London Eye areas etc.

Which would be pointless as there are plenty of bridges in central London. East London is so cut off mainly due to the lack of North > South links.
--- old post above --- --- new post below ---

Yeah but if you look at the detailed statistics you see why, runaway housing prices outstripping local wage growth, i.e. London Inflation. Its not that people have got worse off, its that the rest of London has gotten better off and their using their money to buy up houses in the Borough. Meanwhile some areas of the Borough is quite affluent due to high tourism revenue. Improved transport and more tourism would actually make the problem worse.

East London has always been poor, it's not a new phenomenon.

 

[burneside]

If it is such a good idea, it should be perfectly possible to build it using only private venture capital. It shouldn't need any public funding at all.

Exactly. This folly will be a drain on public finances for years to come.

 

[ji459]

Exactly. This folly will be a drain on public finances for years to come.

Just like all other public transport then!

 

[battersea]

Not sure if this has been posted elsewhere... but a really interesting article on the project's (ridiculous) financial situation on London Reconnections.

 

[burneside]

Just like all other public transport then!

I don't this consider this cable car over the Thames to be public transport at all, more like a Boris Johnson vanity project. It will be a drain on TfL's resources, taking money away from where it could be used better elsewhere. I doubt very much that the projected passenger numbers will ever be realised.

 

[Greenback]

I agree burneside. The general perception of anything labeleld a cable car is that it is a bit of a novelty, at best a tourist attraction, rather than a viable or useful method of public transportation!

 

[T163R]

Eh? It does go over the Thames. Royal Victoria is on the north side, and North Greenwich is on the south.

I said IN London. Westminster, London Eye, Tower Bridge...
In the City !

 

[Mojo]

I said IN London. Westminster, London Eye, Tower Bridge...
In the City !

Huh? None of the places you have listed are in the City of London.

What is the point of having a cable car in the areas you have listed? For a start there is no redundant land to have the 'stations,' and secondly there are plenty of bridges in those areas.

 

[T163R]

Huh? None of the places you have listed are in the City of London.

What is the point of having a cable car in the areas you have listed? For a start there is no redundant land to have the 'stations,' and secondly there are plenty of bridges in those areas.

I've listed 4 differentes places, and "the City" is the fourth.

And so what's the point of having a cable car over the (normally) deserted docks ?

 

[jopsuk]

Quite. Westminster is in, um, The City of Westminster. The London Eye is in Lambeth. Tower Bridge connects Southwark and Tower Hamlets- the Tower never lay within the boundary of The City of London.

What the Greenwich peninsula and the Canning Town area could really do with is a free, 24hr opening, pedestrian/bike/etc crossing- much as Greenwich itself and the Isle of Dogs could do with something more reliable than the current foot tunnel (especially the lifts). A further crossing from the peninsula to the Isle of Dogs/Milwall probably wouldn't go amiss.

 

[Mojo]

And so what's the point of having a cable car over the (normally) deserted docks ?

Have you ever been down there? They are anything but deserted. There are a huge number of homes in the Royal Docks and also in places to the north of it. Not to mention a 100,000m2 exhibition and conference centre.

North Greenwich is home to a major entertainment venue as well as a number of offices.

It is currently very difficult to cross the river in East/South East London.

A river crossing in central London would cost much more and would frankly be a gimmick for tourists as there are a number of alternatives. The Emirates Air-Line will be a valuable link between the north side and the south side of the river for people living/accessing attractions on both sides to get across.

 

[T163R]

Have you ever been down there? They are anything but deserted. There are a huge number of homes in the Royal Docks and also in places to the north of it. Not to mention a 100,000m2 exhibition and conference centre.

North Greenwich is home to a major entertainment venue as well as a number of offices.

It is currently very difficult to cross the river in East/South East London.

Maybe but there are more people in the centre of London !

 

[Wolfie]

Maybe but there are more people in the centre of London !

As someone who works in Westminster and has done for nearly 30 years I have to say what a daft comment!

Between roughly Victoria and following the river round to Tower Bridge there are 9 road bridges, 3 rail bridges, 2 foot bridges, and 5 tube tunnels.

Incidently, not that many people LIVE in Central London, many visit and are, by the standards of East/South East London, lavishly provided with crossing opportunities. Are you really unaware that there is not a bridge east of Tower Bridge until you hit Essex/Kent. There is the Rotherhithe tunnel, the Woolwich ferry, a couple of foot tunnels at Greenwich and Woolwich and then NOTHING until the Dartford Bridge/Tunnel......
--- old post above --- --- new post below ---
Oops, for consistency, missed the Brunel tunnel used by the London Overground East London Line and the DLR tunnel to Woolwich!
--- old post above --- --- new post below ---
Oh, don't get me wrong, I think this is a vanity project and a complete waste of money (rather like Boris' other great idea, the new "Routemaster"), but if it is going to be done East London is a sensible place to do it. At least it may actually be of some use to locals as well as being used by tourists.

 

[HSTEd]

Couldn't they just build a bridge..... perhaps a combination foot/road/DLR? bridge if they must have something fancy about it.

 

[Greenback]

I think a bridge would be more use than a cable car. But less of a tourist attraction/gimmick. Then again, a bridge would need public funding. I'm all for the cable car as long as no taxpayers money is used!

 

[anthony263]

I think a bridge would be more use than a cable car. But less of a tourist attraction/gimmick. Then again, a bridge would need public funding. I'm all for the cable car as long as no taxpayers money is used!

I agree, especially when it was 1st proposed i am sure it read that no public money would be used.

Personally i would have prefered a monorail, but i wouldnt even begin to drem how much that would cost.

I did read that this cable car would be shown on the maps as part of the DLR.