Woolwich ferry

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The two ferries of the type LMG 60-DEH at the quay in Woolwich and North Woolwich
One of the ferries operated until October 2018 at the northern pier

The Woolwich Ferry ( Engl. Woolwich Ferry ) runs over the river Thames in London . It connects North Woolwich in the London Borough of Newham on the north side with Woolwich in the Royal Borough of Greenwich on the south side. It also connects the main roads A205 and A406, which together form the inner ring road of London. Use of the ferry is free.

history

A ferry operated here as early as the 14th century . Sir Joseph Bazalgette suggested the introduction of a free ferry service. This began operations on March 23, 1889 and was under the supervision of the Metropolitan Board of Works . The current owner is the Transport for London authority and the Greenwich borough administration takes over the management.

The ferry company owned three ships, which were built in Dundee in 1963 by the Caledon Shipbuilding & Engineering Company and had Voith-Schneider drives . They were named after local politicians: Ernest Bevin , John Burns and James Newman . The ships could carry 500 passengers and vehicles with a total weight of 200 tons.

These ferries were decommissioned in October 2018 and replaced at the beginning of 2019 by two new LMG 60-DEH ships built at the Remontowa shipyard . The Ben Woollacott and Dame Vera Lynn have a hybrid drive and can carry 45 vehicles and 150 passengers.

From Monday to Friday the ferries run every ten minutes from 6:10 a.m. to 8:00 p.m. (two ships), every 15 minutes on Saturdays from 6:10 a.m. to 8:00 p.m. (one ship) and every 15 minutes from 11:30 a.m. to Sundays 7:30 p.m. (one ship). Pedestrians also have the option of crossing under the river through the nearby Woolwich pedestrian tunnel; Motor vehicles, on the other hand, have to accept major detours outside of operating hours.

A little further downstream, the Thames Gateway Bridge was planned, which would have made ferry operations unnecessary. In 2008 the project was stopped by the (then) new Mayor of London, Boris Johnson .

Web links

Commons : Woolwich Ferry  - Collection of pictures, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Ben Woollacott. LMG Marin, accessed October 18, 2019 .
  2. ↑ Dame Vera Lynn. LMG Marin, accessed October 18, 2019 .
upstream
Thames Barrier 		River crossings of the Thames downstream
Woolwich Pedestrian Tunnel

Coordinates: 51 ° 29 ′ 48 ″  N , 0 ° 3 ′ 40 ″  E