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Emirates Air Line

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tbtc

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The fare may well come down after the novelty has worn off and the Olympic tourists have left the UK - I can see the point of rationing it by price in the short term though.

It doesn't really solve much (compared to all the unmet transport problems in the capital), but it will probably be a hit with tourists for the first few years at least.
 
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Deerfold

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It doesn't really solve much (compared to all the unmet transport problems in the capital), but it will probably be a hit with tourists for the first few years at least.

I can see why it might be a tourist draw. Bit out of the way though.
 

tbtc

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I can see why it might be a tourist draw. Bit out of the way though.

I think it will be, for the first couple of years until everyone has done it once - the hard bit will be attracting people all that way out of central London to do it again.

I guess the question is how much of the Olympic legacy* will continue to attract tourists in future years - will they still be coming to east London in larger numbers after the games finish?

(* - sustainability?)
 

Schnellzug

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I love the way people are saying how it's such an expensive option compared with the Undertube, and how it's such poor value compared with an All Zones 5 day Oyster Card or whatever, and it can only carry 47% of the number of people per hour as the Coronation Line; none of that is the point, is it. It's a novelty for the Tourists. It's like the Routemaster heritage routes, or the sightseeing boats.
 

LE Greys

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I love the way people are saying how it's such an expensive option compared with the Undertube, and how it's such poor value compared with an All Zones 5 day Oyster Card or whatever, and it can only carry 47% of the number of people per hour as the Coronation Line; none of that is the point, is it. It's a novelty for the Tourists. It's like the Routemaster heritage routes, or the sightseeing boats.

We really need NY Yankee's opinion on whether the Roosevelt Island Tramway is part of New York's commuter network or whether it is a tourist attraction. I didn't get the chance to travel on it when I was there.
 

WestCoast

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We really need NY Yankee's opinion on whether the Roosevelt Island Tramway is part of New York's commuter network or whether it is a tourist attraction. I didn't get the chance to travel on it when I was there.

I have been on it and a very pleasant ride it was too. It seemed to be about 50% tourists, 50% locals/commuters, but that was at about 1pm on a Sunday so I've no idea what it's like on a Weekday morning. It's all included on the MetroCard single fare or period ticket, no premium fare or anything like that. It was an essential link, before they built a Subway station on Roosevelt Island.

It's not marketed as a tourist attraction and the 'cars' are much larger than 'Emirates Air Line', so it only runs every 15 minutes during off-peak hours.

It's a very smart move by Emirates sponsoring this installation, they are not only getting their brand plastered all over the actual attraction, the TfL website and all the marketing literature about it, but also the 'disruption boards' at all the Tube stations (and wherever else they appear) across Greater London. What a deal!
 
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Deerfold

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I love the way people are saying how it's such an expensive option compared with the Undertube, and how it's such poor value compared with an All Zones 5 day Oyster Card or whatever, and it can only carry 47% of the number of people per hour as the Coronation Line; none of that is the point, is it. It's a novelty for the Tourists. It's like the Routemaster heritage routes, or the sightseeing boats.

That's not how it's being promoted, though. It's being promoted as an important new high-capacity river crossing.
 

Schnellzug

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That's not how it's being promoted, though. It's being promoted as an important new high-capacity river crossing.

Well, what else can you expect from Politicians? it's just the same as the Borismaster; they promote that as a major breakthrough for London transport, don't they, but we all know it's really for the tourists .... :lol:
 

jopsuk

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The official website is amusing. Look at what each end has to offer!

North
South

Note for those unfamiliar with London: it is highly unlikely that from anywhere whatsoever in the world would you use the cable car as part of your journey to reach those attractions. None of them are anywhere near either end of the line
 

burneside

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The official website is amusing. Look at what each end has to offer!

North
South

Note for those unfamiliar with London: it is highly unlikely that from anywhere whatsoever in the world would you use the cable car as part of your journey to reach those attractions. None of them are anywhere near either end of the line

That website is being ridiculed a fair bit on Twitter.
 

Deerfold

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That website is being ridiculed a fair bit on Twitter.

That is hilarious. As is the fact that the TfL firewall blocks various bits of it from loading...
--- old post above --- --- new post below ---
Well, what else can you expect from Politicians? it's just the same as the Borismaster; they promote that as a major breakthrough for London transport, don't they, but we all know it's really for the tourists .... :lol:

It could have been amusing. But now there's a manifesto commitment to buying 600 of the things.
 
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jon0844

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The official website is amusing. Look at what each end has to offer!

North
South

Note for those unfamiliar with London: it is highly unlikely that from anywhere whatsoever in the world would you use the cable car as part of your journey to reach those attractions. None of them are anywhere near either end of the line

It may as well show Barcelona and Edinburgh on the site. They're both north and south of the cable car!

Pathetic.
 

LexyBoy

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The Royal Albert Hall is south of the north terminal too...

Should be pretty handy for Hampton Court though :lol: Must be some bad blood for the Millenium Marquee to be missed off though!
 

jopsuk

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that's the odd thing- that it doesn't explicitly mention the two places it connects; that it was built to connect- the O2 Arena (aka The Dome) and Excel.

As for the Greenwich heritage site, that's about a two mile walk along uninspiring streets with busy traffic, or alternatively, a bus ride, away. Or even a riverboat ride.
 

Deerfold

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that's the odd thing- that it doesn't explicitly mention the two places it connects; that it was built to connect- the O2 Arena (aka The Dome) and Excel.

As for the Greenwich heritage site, that's about a two mile walk along uninspiring streets with busy traffic, or alternatively, a bus ride, away. Or even a riverboat ride.

Probably because although both are very busy there's actually very few people would want to travel from one to the other.
 

HSTEd

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I don't suppose they give PRIV fares on it do they?

Bit annoying if its on all the tube maps.....
 

Clip

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Johnson promised the cable car would be entirely funded by private investors, but £24 million has had to be raided from TfL's budget in order that the project can be completed. I think it is wrong that public money has been used to finance a tourist attraction.

You are saying its wrong to finance a tourist attraction which will attract more people to a part of East London that most dont really visit and thus spend a little extra in cash in what ever is around there is a bad idea?

Not to mention that its permanent so will then recoup its money after a set period of time that was outlayed.

I truly despair of some people with regards to anything getting done in this country. Even before a thing starts or gets built the people of this country do nothing but kick and pick at things until an unhealthy scar appears on the landscape.

What a bunch of miserable people this country now has. Anything from a 3rd runway to HS2 to a cable car gets nothing but slagging from most corners.

Just for once can some of you not be bloody happy that someone is doing something to try and increase a bit of tourism in a place where not many tourists visit(northside) and just try and be happy for once.
 

NY Yankee

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We really need NY Yankee's opinion on whether the Roosevelt Island Tramway is part of New York's commuter network or whether it is a tourist attraction. I didn't get the chance to travel on it when I was there.

It accepts Metrocards (the NYC subway version of the Oyster Card), but it is not directly connected to the NYC subway. The F train station on Roosevelt Island is about a 5 minute walk from the tram terminal. The tram can hold about 100 people. Roosevelt Island has roughly 10,000 residents, but it is not a major destination. They are opening a new campus of Cornell University on the island, but I wouldn't consider the tram to be a major part of the NYC commuter network.
 

burneside

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You are saying its wrong to finance a tourist attraction which will attract more people to a part of East London that most dont really visit and thus spend a little extra in cash in what ever is around there is a bad idea?

I certainly don't believe it is TfL's responsibility to finance a so-called tourist attraction, it was forced to stump up £24 million only because Johnson couldn't deliver on his promise that the project would be entirely financed by private money. The journey can already be made on existing public transport in five minutes, the cable car is a wasteful duplication.

I even question how much of a tourist attraction it will prove to be given its location deep in the east end, I live close by but won't be going out of my way pay the cable car a visit. I fear after the initial novelty wears off Londoners will be left financing a great big white elephant.
 

Deerfold

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I don't suppose they give PRIV fares on it do they?

Bit annoying if its on all the tube maps.....

I doubt it - TfL staff only get the same price as travelcard holders.
--- old post above --- --- new post below ---
You are saying its wrong to finance a tourist attraction which will attract more people to a part of East London that most dont really visit and thus spend a little extra in cash in what ever is around there is a bad idea?

Not to mention that its permanent so will then recoup its money after a set period of time that was outlayed.

I truly despair of some people with regards to anything getting done in this country. Even before a thing starts or gets built the people of this country do nothing but kick and pick at things until an unhealthy scar appears on the landscape.

What a bunch of miserable people this country now has. Anything from a 3rd runway to HS2 to a cable car gets nothing but slagging from most corners.

Just for once can some of you not be bloody happy that someone is doing something to try and increase a bit of tourism in a place where not many tourists visit(northside) and just try and be happy for once.

Apparently TfL only needed to spend money on it to ensure it was ready before the Olympics. Boris had previously claimed no public money would be required.

The reasons for building it were not given as a tourist attraction.

It'll recoup its money eventually *if* the fares income stays higher than the cost of running, staffing and maintaning it. Is there any evidence that this is any more likely to happen than with any other part of TfL?

Perhaps people were criticising it before it was built because they thought there were more urgent transport needs where a few million might have helped? There doesn't seem to have been a lot of planning with recent transport developments - except for ensuring there'll be things to remember Boris by, whether it be bikes, cable cars or Borismasters. All seem to have had lots of money thrown at them and two look to have been real bargains for their sponsors.

As for HS2, we seem to be doing that really shambolically. I'm in favour of a high-speed line but worried that no-one will commit to building it a decent distance and we'll end up with a really expensive line between London and Birmingham making little difference in timing for long-distance journeys.
 

tbtc

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Apparently TfL only needed to spend money on it to ensure it was ready before the Olympics. Boris had previously claimed no public money would be required

Given all the millions sloshing around in Olympic funding, and the private funding that was meant to be in place, I'm not convinced that this should have come from the transport budget - I wonder what else they could have spent the money on?
 

Mojo

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It's a shame. It's an absolute pain to travel between the north and south side of the river at this location. I was looking at buying flats in the Royal Docks but was put off by their relative poor connectivity. A number of new offices (including TfL) have opened up on the peninsula in the past few years but the numbers are still small, and I imagine that most of those who work at the o2 will be on low wages so would prefer to use the Tube/DLR.

The river services, whilst at a premium rate like this, are useful and successful because they actually provide useful journeys which people want to make (eg. Putney to the City). Whilst they wouldn't be as useful as a Travelcard, I'm sure there are some people who don't need to make multiple journeys, and the relative cheapness of Off-peak Oyster single fares can help make up for it when they do.
 

furgus2

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[Mod note: Split from Official Meets thread.]

Just to say, I was standing on the top of the O2 on Tuesday (Up at The O2) and from it there was a great view of the Emirates Airline which was operating, presumably testing. It looks very high and well worth a visit
 

Clip

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Had a couple of free tickets aquired to go on this today and have just got back from it. Now im afraid of heights but its well worth a trip on it for sure. Gondolas dont feel claustrophobic to someone like me and the views are stunning.
 
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Clip

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Its great. Just been on it and the views are fantastic on a day like this. bet its better at night with the buildings lit up too.
 

bb21

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If I don't want a "10-trip ticket", are there other ways to avoid paying the over-inflated price?
 

TheJRB

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If I don't want a "10-trip ticket", are there other ways to avoid paying the over-inflated price?

I'm sure you've already seen this but as it could probably do with being in this thread anyway, these are all the fares:

Adult
Cash Single: £4.30
Cash Return: £8.60
Discounted Single: £3.20
Discounted Return: £6.40
Oyster Pay as You Go: £3.20

Child (5-15)
Cash Single: £2.20
Cash Return: £4.40
Discounted Single: £1.60
Discounted Return: £3.20
Oyster Pay as You Go: £1.60

Other Fares
10 journeys in 12 months: £16
Private cabin hire: £86

With a Travelcard you can use the discounted fares.

Then there's the "5+ Reward": when you use Oyster PAYG five or more times in one week on the Air Line, the next time you travel, 50% of the previous week's fares will be credited back on your Oyster PAYG card. In other words, if an adult uses the Air Line five times in a week at £21.50 total, the following week when they touch in on the Air Line, they'll receive £10.75 back as credit. This extra credit is only available to use within 6 weeks after which it expires.

So it looks as though £3.20 in each direction is the best available which does seem a little expensive to me (especially when Boris said it was £1.60 a ticket. He must have been talking about a Child discounted single...).
 
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