Briggs Marine
What operated Woolwich Ferry from Apr 2013 to Apr 2014?
Woolwich Ferry The Woolwich Ferry is a free vehicle and pedestrian ferry across the River Thames in East London , connecting Woolwich on the south bank with North Woolwich on the north . It is licensed and financed by London River Services , the maritime arm of Transport for London ( TfL ) . The service is operated by Briggs Marine under contract to TfL and carries both foot passengers and vehicles . Around two million passengers use the ferry each year . A ferry has operated on the Thames at Woolwich since the 14th century , and commercial crossings operated intermittently until the mid-19th . The free service opened in 1889 after tolls were abolished on bridges to the west of London . Traffic increased in the 20th century because of the rise in motor vehicle traffic and it remained popular because of the lack of nearby bridges . Pedestrian use dropped after the construction of a parallel foot tunnel and the extension of the Docklands Light Railway to Woolwich Arsenal station . Alternatives such as the Thames Gateway Bridge and Gallions Reach Crossing have been proposed as replacements , but there are no plans to discontinue the Woolwich Ferry as long as there is demand . Services . The service links Woolwich in the Royal Borough of Greenwich with North Woolwich in the London Borough of Newham . It also links two ends of the inner London orbital road routes : the North Circular and the South Circular . On weekdays , the ferry operates from 6.10 am until 8 pm with a two-boat service ( 10 minutes nominal interval between sailings ) ; on Saturdays , from 6.10 am to 8 pm with a one-boat service ( 15 minutes nominal interval ; the last south-to-north sailing is 15 minutes earlier at 7.45 pm ) ; on Sundays , from 11.30 am to 7.30 pm with a one-boat service ( last south-to-north sailing at 7.15 pm ) . The ferries can carry heavy goods vehicles and other road traffic across the river , up to a maximum height of and width of . The service is free for all traffic ; in 2012 Transport for London ( TfL ) estimated a subsidy cost of 76.5p per passenger . Nearest alternative crossings . The nearest alternative crossing for pedestrians is the Woolwich foot tunnel about 100 metres ( 110 yds ) to the east . A Docklands Light Railway ( DLR ) station , Woolwich Arsenal on the south side of the Thames , was opened in January 2009 as the new terminus of the London City Airport branch . King George V DLR station , on the opposite side of the river , is close to the north ferry dock . The nearest vehicle alternatives are the Blackwall Tunnel about upstream to the west , or the Dartford Crossing around downstream to the east . Both tunnels have height restrictions for heavy goods vehicles , and users of the Dartford Crossing incur toll charges . History . Early services . There has been a connection across the Thames between what is now Old Woolwich and what would later be North Woolwich since the Norman Conquest . The area was mentioned in Domesday Book as belonging to Hamon , the dapifer ( steward ) , which belong to ( pertinent in ) Woolwich ; the pertinent here refers to the portion of land north of the Thames yet also part of the county of Kent . State papers in 1308 show that a service was running between North Woolwich and Warren Lane . That year , William de Wicton sold the business to William atte Halle for £10 . The ferry was subsequently sold in 1320 for 100 silver marks . Cross-river traffic increased following the establishment of the Royal Arsenal in 1671 . To enable movement of troops and supplies , the army established its own ferry in 1810 . The following year an Act of Parliament established a commercial ferry company , but it was dissolved in 1844 . In 1846 , the Eastern Counties and Thames Junction Railway extended its lines to include a Thames wharf branch ; eventually three steam ferries operated , but they proved inadequate to meet the growing demand . In October 1880 , a public meeting was held in Woolwich to discuss setting up a locally run steam-ferry service , but the cost was seen as prohibitive . Following the establishment of the Metropolitan Board of Works , which had taken over toll bridges in west London and opened them to free public use , it was suggested that the board should fund a free crossing of the Thames in east London . Proposals were made to provide services at Woolwich and further upstream at Greenwich , but the latter plan was abandoned . In 1884 the board agreed to provide two steam-powered ferries , each costing £10,650 , and asked chief engineer Sir Joseph Bazalgette to lead design and construction . In September 1887 Messrs Mowlem and company were awarded contracts valued at £54,900 to build approaches , bridges and pontoons . Modern service . The service was officially opened on 23 March 1889 , with the paddle steamer Gordon . Two days before the first service , the Metropolitan Board of Works was replaced by the London County Council ( LCC ) , and the opening ceremony was conducted by Lord Rosebery instead of the expected Bazalgette . The sister vessel Duncan was introduced on 20 April . By the end of the 1920s , the rise in motor traffic had put pressure on the ferrys capacity . A proposed bridge between Shooters Hill and East Ham was rejected as too obvious a target for wartime bombings , and a third vessel was introduced instead . Because of the lack of a fixed crossing , the Thames became a psychological barrier for those living in the East End of London , who could only use a limited number of routes to cross the river , including the Woolwich Ferry . The lack of a suitable alternative route was instrumental in creating plans for what eventually became the Dartford Crossing further downstream . By the 1950s it was still quicker for ferry traffic to divert via the Blackwall Tunnel even with all three vessels operating at full capacity . In April 1963 , the paddle steamers were replaced and the ferry service upgraded to a roll-on/roll-off model , reducing waiting times on the approach roads . The LCC continued to operate the ferry until it was replaced by the Greater London Council ( GLC ) on 31 March 1965 . In 1964 , Marples Ridgway started building the current reinforced concrete terminals , which can operate over a tidal range . The current terminals were opened in 1966 . After the abolition of the GLC in 1986 , the responsibility for operating the service was transferred to the Secretary of State for Transport , who contracted the then London Borough of Greenwich to run the service . Asset ownership and operating rights were subsequently transferred to Transport for London ( TfL ) on the establishment of the Greater London Authority , but the London Borough of Greenwich continued to operate the ferry on behalf of TfL . In March 2008 , the London Borough of Greenwich gave TfL notice that it would cease operating the service from 30 September 2008 . On 12 September TfL announced that the outsourcing group Serco would take over the operation of the service from 1 October 2008 ; the contract ran initially until 31 March 2010 . Control of the crossing passed from Serco to Briggs Marine , which was expanding into public passenger services , in December 2012 . The company was awarded a £50 million seven-year contract , which began in April 2013 . In 2014 , TfL began an upgrade of the ferry service , starting by refurbishing the piers and in 2016 ordering two new boats to replace the existing vessels that were nearing the end of their working life . In early 2017 , it was announced that the new ferries were being built by Polish firm Remontowa to a design by LMG Marin . The diesel-electric hybrid vessels have of space for road vehicles over several lanes and dedicated cyclist accommodation . The vessels are licensed to carry 150 passengers segregated from road traffic . Continuing the tradition of naming the ferries after local people , it was announced in June 2017 that the two new vessels would be named after Dame Vera Lynn , a singer and entertainer from nearby East Ham , and Ben Woollacott , the 19-year-old deckhand on the Woolwich Ferry who drowned after being dragged overboard in a mooring accident in 2011 . In October 2018 , the Woolwich Ferry was suspended for four months in order to undertake major repair work for the piers , and the existing vessels were taken out of service . The foot tunnel remained open . The ferry service resumed on 1 February 2019 . Upon the expiry of Briggs Marines contract in December 2020 , the service will be by London River Services . Incidents . On 3 August 2011 , 19-year-old ferry worker Ben Woollacott died after falling off the boat into the River Thames . The MAIB report published in August 2012 blamed unseamanlike working practices during the unmooring operation for the death . When two new ships were bought to update the service in 2018 , one was named after him . Fleet . The first ferries were the side-loading paddle steamers Gordon , Duncan and Hutton , named after General Gordon of Khartoum , Colonel Francis Duncan MP and Professor Charles Hutton . Each was powered by a condensing engine manufactured by John Penn and Sons of Greenwich , producing 100 nominal horsepower . The initial fleet was eventually replaced , starting in 1923 with The Squire ( named after William Squires , a former mayor of Woolwich ) , and in 1930 with the Will Crooks ( Crooks was Labour MP for Woolwich , 1903–21 ) and the John Benn ( Benn was a member of the London County Council , Liberal MP for St George—which included Wapping—and grandfather of Tony Benn ) . Three vessels were built in Dundee in 1963 by the Caledon Shipbuilding & Engineering Company to replace the paddle steamers , and were each named after prominent local politicians : James Newman ( mayor of Woolwich , 1923–25 ) , John Burns , and Ernest Bevin . These ferries featured Voith Schneider propulsion systems for manoeuvrability . A cycloidal propeller was fitted centrally at either end , each driven by a 500bhp 6-cylinder Mirrlees Blackstone diesel engine . Transport for London introduced an Art On The River scheme in 2014 , showing decorative artwork on the ferry vessels . These vessels ceased operation on 5 October 2018 , after which service was suspended for four months and the ferries sold for demolition . Two new vessels , the Ben Woollacott and the Dame Vera Lynn , were delivered from the Remontowa shipyard in Gdańsk , Poland , to replace the previous fleet in October 2018 . The new vessels entered service on 1 February 2019 . Passenger numbers . The ferry typically carries about two million passengers a year ; occupants of vehicles ( including drivers ) are counted as passengers . In 2012 the ferry carried around 20,000 vehicles and 50,000 passengers weekly . At all times of day , but particularly at peak hours , it is common for vehicles to have to queue beyond the next ferry departure . Various improvements have been made to the vehicle queueing arrangements over the years , especially to avoid impacting local traffic . For foot passengers , bus services connect to both terminals . There is a small bus station on the north side , but some cross-river foot passengers take the foot tunnel instead . About 300 foot passengers used the ferry daily between 1983 and 1985 . Further competition arrived in 2009 with the extension to Woolwich of the Docklands Light Railway , which crosses under the river to the east of the crossing and the tunnel , and has led to a reduction in the number of foot passengers using the ferry . Future . The ferry service provides one of the few road crossings of the Thames east of the City of London . As long as there is a demand for a vehicle ferry it is unlikely to be discontinued , and doing so would require changing the Metropolitan Board of Works ( Various Powers ) Act 1885 . Planning applications were submitted for a new bridge , the Thames Gateway Bridge , close to the Woolwich Ferry , in 2004 although the project was cancelled in 2008 . In 2012 , the Mayor of London , Boris Johnson , announced the Gallions Reach Crossing , a replacement ferry service running further east from Beckton to Thamesmead which was expected to open in 2017 . This did not occur and has been replaced with proposals for either a new bridge or tunnel in the area . TfL planning director Richard de Cani has said that the ferry will continue to operate as long as there are no alternatives , and there are no current plans to discontinue the service . Tolls cannot be levied on the ferry without changing the 1885 Act of Parliament . However , it is possible that the service may eventually be tolled in conjunction with other projects . Media appearances . The Woolwich ferry has made several appearances on TV and film . The John Benn is seen being destroyed by the titular monster in the film Behemoth , the Sea Monster . A detailed scale model is used to interact with a model of the monsters head , which capsizes the ship in the Thames .