page_title: London River Services
section_title: Revival of passenger services
hierarchical_section_title: London River Services / History / Revival of passenger services
caption_attribution_description: Waterloo Millennium Pier on the River Thames, London, UK - Houses of Parliament and the London Eye in shot
context_page_description: London River Services Limited is a division of Transport for London, which manages passenger transport—leisure-oriented tourist services and commuter services—on the River Thames in London. It does not own or operate any boats itself, but licenses the services of operators.
  River service had been a common means of transport in London for centuries, but died off in the early 1900s, as transportation was enhanced with a proliferation of bridges and tunnels. With these numerous north-south crossings of the Thames, which is generally no more than 300m wide as it runs through central London, the revival of river boat services in London therefore mostly travel east or west along the Thames rather than across it; the only major cross-river ferry services are to be found further downstream where the river is wider, and there are far fewer bridge/tunnel crossings.
  The decision to revive London's river service network moved forward in 1997 with the launch of "Thames 2000", a £21-million project to regenerate the River Thames in time for the Millennium Celebrations and create new passenger transport services on the Thames.
context_section_description: In 1997 Secretary of State for Transport John Prescott launched Thames 2000, a £21-million project to regenerate the River Thames in time for the Millennium Celebrations and boost new passenger transport services on the Thames. The centrepiece of these celebrations was to be the Millennium Dome, but there was also a plan to provide a longer-term legacy of public transport boat services and piers on the river.
  The Cross-River Partnership, a consortium of local authorities, private sector organisations and voluntary bodies, recommended the creation of a public body to co-ordinate and promote river services. This agency, provisionally titled the Thames Piers Agency, would integrate boat services into other modes of public transport, take control of Thames piers from the Port of London Authority, and commission the construction of new piers.
  The result was the formation in 1999 of London River Services (LRS), a wholly owned subsidiary of Transport for London.
  Mayor Ken Livingstone's Transport Strategy for London 2005 stated that: "The safe use of the Thames for passenger and freight services should be developed. Passenger services will be encouraged, particularly services that relate to its cultural and architectural excellence and tourism. Use of London's other navigable waterways for freight, consistent with their roles for leisure use and as ecosystems, will be encouraged."
caption: River traffic around Waterloo Pier in 2008
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