Thames Clippers

Thames Clippers

Locale	London, England
Waterway	River Thames
Transit type	River bus and tourist/leisure services
Owner	Anschutz Entertainment Group
Began operation	24 May 1999; 22 years ago (1999-05-24)
No. of lines	5
No. of vessels	19
No. of terminals	23
Website	www.thamesclippers.com

Thames Clippers (since July 2020 branded as Uber Boat by Thames Clippers for sponsorship purposes with Uber) is a river bus service on the Thames in London, England.

The company operates both commuter services between eastern and Central London and tourist services under licence from London River Services. At present they transport around 10,000 passengers daily on average.

Company[]

Sean Collins co-founded Thames Clippers in 1999 with partner Alan Woods as Collins River Enterprises. During his career Sean recognised the opportunity to build a consistent high-speed commuter and passenger river service. Thames Clippers was then taken over in September 2006 by the American Anschutz Entertainment Group,^[1] who promised substantial investment into the company to upgrade the services and to provide a more frequent "hop-on-hop-off" between Central London and The O₂ (formerly the Millennium Dome), also owned by the Anschutz Entertainment Group. In 2007 the company purchased six new catamarans to be used on the commuter service in order to carry a large number of passengers in a comfortable environment. In 2015 and 2017, a total of four new 'Hunt Class' catamarans were purchased for use primarily on the RB6 Service.^[2]

In July 2020, the company announced a partnership with U.S.-based ride-sharing service Uber, which acquired naming rights to the ferry and rebranding the service as Uber Boat by Thames Clippers.^[3][4][5][6]

Tickets[]

Thames Clippers operate under licence from Transport for London. The river boat service is now better integrated into the tube and bus ticketing network. From November 2009, Thames Clippers services started to accept Oyster pay as you go on all of its services, which also provides a discount on single and return fares. Contactless payment is also accepted.^[7]

A River Roamer ticket, valid for one day, is available from Thames Clippers which allows the holder to hop on and hop off along the banks of the Thames between Putney Pier and Woolwich Arsenal Pier (including the Canary Wharf - Rotherhithe Ferry). The cost is £19.90 for an adult and £39.80 for a family. An adult single trip fare changes depending on zones. They range from £4.90 to £13.00 (or £4.50 to £12.00 if payment is made online, in app or with an oyster or contactless card).^[8] There is a one third discount for holders of valid travelcards (excluding Family River Roamer tickets and fares for The O2 Express).

Special river service season tickets, valid for either 1 week, 1 month, or 1 year, are also available. Discounts for travelcard holders are also available on season tickets. Carnet tickets are also available via the Thames Clippers tickets app.

Park and Glide tickets are also available which grant access to the car park at The O2, and the River Bus.

Commuter services[]

Main commuter service (RB1)[]

This runs between Westminster Millennium Pier (on the north side of the river by Westminster Underground station) and the Woolwich Arsenal Pier (on the south side of the river in Woolwich). The service runs every 20 minutes during the day, and every 30 minutes in the very early morning and evenings.

Hurricane Clipper approaching Greenland Pier with Canary Wharf in the background

Sun Clipper heading upstream just east of Tower Bridge

Hurricane Clipper

Stops include from west to east:

• Embankment Pier, near Embankment Underground station
• London Eye Pier, near Waterloo station
• Blackfriars Millennium Pier (weekdays only) for St Paul's Cathedral and Blackfriars station
• Bankside Pier for Shakespeare's Globe and Tate Modern art gallery
• London Bridge City Pier, for London Bridge station and HMS Belfast
• Tower Millennium Pier, for St Katharine Docks and the Tower of London
• Canary Wharf Pier, for the Canary Wharf financial district
• Greenland Dock Pier, for Greenland Dock
• Masthouse Terrace Pier
• Greenwich Pier, for Greenwich, the Cutty Sark and the National Maritime Museum
• North Greenwich Pier for North Greenwich Underground station (Formerly QEII Pier)
• Royal Wharf ( ExCel London and London City Airport) (Mornings and Evenings peaks only.)
• Woolwich Arsenal Pier (Mornings and Evenings peaks only.)

Canary Wharf/Rotherhithe ferry (RB4)[]

Thames Clippers operates the direct cross river Canary Wharf - Rotherhithe Ferry, between Canary Wharf Pier and the Nelson Dock Pier at the Hilton Hotel in Rotherhithe. The service uses smaller boats than the commuter service but runs at a higher frequency of every 20 minutes and every 10 minutes during peak times. The ferry can be used by guests of the hotel free of charge as well as by passengers not staying at the hotel at a cost.^[9]

North Greenwich to Woolwich (RB5)[]

Operates Every 30 minutes on weekends. Service RB1 serves Woolwich Arsenal Mondays to Fridays (Mornings and Evenings only)

• North Greenwich Pier
• Royal Wharf Pier
• Woolwich Arsenal Pier

Putney to Blackfriars (and Canary Wharf) (RB6)[]

This runs peak times Monday to Friday only. Stops are:

• Putney Pier
• Plantation Wharf
• Chelsea Harbour
• Cadogan
• St George Wharf Pier
• Embankment
• Blackfriars
• London Bridge
• Canary Wharf

Trial service to Gravesend[]

In September 2017, Thames Clippers ran a trial commuter service between Gravesend and Central London.^[10]

Visitor/tourist services[]

Tate to Tate and Service West (RB2)[]

The Tate to Tate and Service West operates between Battersea Pier and London Bridge Pier, serving visitors travelling between the Tate Modern museum on the South Bank and the older Tate Britain in Millbank across the river.

The O₂ Express (RB1X)[]

The O₂ Express is an express service calling at London Eye, Westminster Pier, Embankment Pier, London Bridge City Pier, Tower Pier, Greenwich Pier and North Greenwich Pier for The O₂. The service also provides private charters.

Fleet[]

Thames Clippers operates 16 high-speed catamarans with a maximum speed of 28 knots (32 mph) , plus a more conventional catamaran for the Hilton ferry.^[11][12][13]

Name	Length	Passengers	Type	Builder	Built	Acquired	Image
Venus Clipper	38m	222	Hunt Class Mark 3	Wight Shipyard	2018	2019
Jupiter Clipper	35m	172	Hunt Class Mark 2	Wight Shipyard	2017	2017
Mercury Clipper	35m	172	Hunt Class Mark 2	Wight Shipyard	2017	2017
Galaxy Clipper	35m	150	Hunt Class	Incat	2015	2015
Neptune Clipper	35m	150	Hunt Class	Incat	2015	2015
Aurora Clipper	38m	220	River Runner 200 Mark 2B	BSC Marine	2008	2008
Meteor Clipper	38m	220	River Runner 200 Mark 2B	BSC Marine	2008	2008
Cyclone Clipper	38m	220	River Runner 200 Mark 2B	BSC Marine	2007	2007
Monsoon Clipper	38m	220	River Runner 200 Mark 2B	BSC Marine	2007	2007
Tornado Clipper	38m	220	River Runner 200 Mark 2B	BSC Marine	2007	2007
Typhoon Clipper	38m	220	River Runner 200 Mark 2B	BSC Marine	2007	2007
Hurricane Clipper	38m	220	River Runner 200 Mark 2	NQEA	2001	2001
Moon Clipper	32m	138	River Runner 150 Mark 3	NQEA	2001	2005
Sun Clipper	32m	138	River Runner 150 Mark 3	NQEA	2001	2005
Sky Clipper	25m	62	Hydrocat	FBM	1992	1999
Star Clipper	25m	62	Hydrocat	FBM	1992	1999
Storm Clipper	25m	62	Hydrocat	FBM	1992	1999
Twin Star	19m	125	Former Ford Dagenham ferry	?	1976	2004

Accidents[]

In February 2004, a woman was killed after she was hit, while waiting for a boat, by a mooring bollard which had come loose from the Star Clipper at St. Katherine's Pier.^[14]

On 4 October 2011 at 7 pm, the Moon Clipper hit the Tower Millennium Pier when it was carrying about 50 people. 4 people were injured.^[15]

On 5 December 2016 the Typhoon Clipper collided with the workboat Alison, resulting in the sinking of the workboat. The two crew members on the workboat were taken to hospital.^[16]

The future[]

A Policy Exchange report advocates^[when?] significant expansion in river services on the Thames. The aim of the report is to lead to a "river tube line" being created which would lead to easing of current congestion on London's transport systems, and better quality of travel, at a significantly cheaper price than other options. Opponents note that the river capacity, especially at low tide could mean a reduction of tourist boats (especially at peak commuter times), and turn the Thames into an urban highway which would be detrimental to London. To be feasible, the report calls for better management of river traffic, improved interchange with other public transport modes and expansion of key piers.^[17]

The Mayor of London is responsible for the River Concordat group [1] group, which is made-up of over forty different organisations including Thames Clippers. The publication, By the River [2], sets out the strategic vision for improving river transport on the Thames.

They plan^[when?] to expand further East down the river start with a calling at a Pier in Silvertown in October 2019 and plans in the future to go to Thamesmead and Barking.^[18]

In 2017, Thames Clippers and London Resort stuck a deal to provide Clipper Services between Central London & The proposed Theme Park Resort located on The Swanscombe Peninsula in Kent.^[19] The Thames Clipper Services are also planned to operate between the resort and a Park & Ride Car Park located on the north of The River Thames in Tilbury Docks. These services are scheduled to start operation when the Resort opens in 2024.^[20]

Sponsorship[]

Cyclone Clipper in new Uber Branding

The first company to enter a partnership with Thames Clippers was NatWest in 2008. The boats were reliveried in black sponsorship stickers displaying the NatWest and Thames Clippers Logo. KPMG won a three-year sponsorship deal in 2011 and sponsored the clippers during the 2012 Olympics and Paralympics.^[21] In August 2014, MBNA the bank holding company signed a three-year sponsorship deal with Thames Clippers, and introduced a better ticketing system.^[22] In June 2020, American company Uber entered a new partnership with Thames Clippers whereby they won naming rights to the service. As of 2020, the service has been rebranded as "Uber Boat by Thames Clippers".^[23]

References[]

External links[]

• Official website
• Transport for London River Service information