All change for the Woolwich Ferry!

Woolwich Ferry 'James Newman' in service.
Woolwich Ferry 'James Newman' in service.
Woolwich Ferry ‘James Newman’ in service.

We like plucky little people-movers here at transportdesigned – see our post on the Stourbridge Class 139 railbus for starters – and with Briggs Marine taking over the running of London’s Woolwich Ferry next month, we thought we’d take this opportunity to put the spotlight on this quirky south London crossing.

The Woolwich Ferry, in its current guise, has been around for 50 years (the current vessels were built in 1963!). It links the (very busy) north and south circular inner-city ring roads of London, and forges an important connection between Woolwich, London City Airport and the Docklands.

With a crossing time of around five minutes, the Ferry is a serious contender for the prize of ‘UK’s quickest ferry journey’!

Sadly however, unlike with the Stourbridge railbus, the Woolwich Ferry’s days appear to be numbered. TfL launched a consultation in 2012 to replace it, and the favoured options so far include a new road tunnel at Silvertown or a brand new ferry service at Gallions Reach.

We’ll be sad to see it go!

Do you know of any other quirky little ferries? Comment below, or tweet us – @transportdsn.

Image credit: John A King on Flickr.

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