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Emirates Air Line

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Class377/5

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From TfL;

Emirates Air Line to open to passengers from end of June

18 June 2012

Passengers will be able to take the first flight from midday Thursday 28 June 2012.

This spectacular new addition to London's skyline will provide a much needed new river crossing in the east of our great city.
Boris Johnson, Mayor of London
The Mayor of London will fulfill his pledge to build the UK's first urban cable car when the Emirates Air Line opens to the public from midday on Thursday 28 June 2012, providing a vital new river crossing for east London. *

The 1.1km long river crossing, between Greenwich and the Royal Docks, will have the capacity to carry up to 2,500 people per hour in each direction, the equivalent of 30 buses.

Initially it will operate seven days a week, from 07:00 to 21:00 Mondays to Fridays, 08:00 to 21:00 on Saturdays and 09:00 to 21:00 on Sundays.

Frequent flyer

Transport for London (TfL) confirmed today that passengers will be able to touch in at the gates with their Oyster pay as you go cards to take a flight on the Emirates Air Line; and that they have developed a 'frequent flyer' boarding pass for regular users, which will allow them to make 10 single journeys for £16, equating to just £1.60 per single journey.

The frequent flyer boarding pass will appeal to people living or working in the local area who wish to use the Emirates Air Line on a regular basis and will be available to purchase from both Emirates Air Line terminals.

A single fare boarding pass using Oyster pay as you go for the Emirates Air Line will cost £3.20 (child fare £1.60).

Passengers with a Travelcard or other Oyster cards (including Freedom Passes) will be able to fly for the same fare but will need to buy a boarding pass from ticket offices or vending machines which are available at both terminals, Emirates Greenwich Peninsula and Emirates Royal Docks.*

Fantastic views

Passengers without an Oyster or Travelcard will need to pay a slightly higher cash fare. *
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
For those who want the experience of an extended journey to enjoy the fantastic views of the City, which include Canary Wharf, the Thames Barrier and the Olympic Park, there will be the option to take a non-stop return journey.

This '360 degree tour' will cost £6.40 with Oyster.

The Mayor of London, Boris Johnson, said: 'On 28 June this spectacular new addition to London's skyline will provide a much needed new river crossing in the east of our great city.

Vibrant quarter

'It will open up access to jobs in the Royal Docks enterprise zone and attract businesses and investors to a previously under exploited area.

'The Emirates Air Line is part of my plan to develop a package of new river crossings in east London and transform the surrounding area into a vibrant new metropolitan quarter that will attract new jobs, homes and enterprise.'

The innovative Emirates Air Line is a key plank of the Mayor's plans to revitalise east London and create jobs for Londoners and attract investment into the capital.

Over 50 people have been employed by Mace Macro to operate the Emirates Air Line; nearly half of these employees come from the local area.*

Peter Hendy CBE, London's Transport Commissioner, said: 'Passengers will very soon get to experience this unique and exciting new addition to London's transport network.

10-year deal

'Londoners and visitors to the capital will be able to experience a direct and quick way of crossing the river while enjoying the fantastic views from the cabins.

'The Emirates Air Line is an amazing achievement for all of those involved, given the timescale they worked within from it being an initial idea to a completed mode of transport.'

Emirates, one of the world's fastest growing airlines, helped to make this new transport scheme a reality by investing £36m in a 10-year sponsorship deal.

'Emirates is known for its innovative customer experiences and our partnership with Transport for London to link communities in the city is a testament to this,' said Tim Clark, President, Emirates Airline.

'The Emirates Air Line will bridge people closer, enabling them to discover, connect and express their ideas about this diverse city through crossing its majestic river, providing an incredible travel experience for residents, commuters and visitors alike.'


Notes to editors:
There will be extended opening hours when there are events at the local venues, including Olympic events. Details of the extended hours will be announced nearer the time
All cabins are wheelchair accessible. Cabins can accommodate up to two bikes
The standard fares for the Emirates Air Line are shown in the table below
* Cash single fare Fare for Oyster pay as you go users, Travelcard & Freedom Pass holders 'Frequent flyer' ticket*
- 10 journeys
*Adult boarding pass £4.30 £3.20* £16.00
*Child boarding pass £2.20 £1.60** n/a

** Oyster pay as you go users making 5 or more journeys in a week will be charged £1.60.
** For children aged 5 to 15. *Children under 5 travel free.
Multi trip journeys need to be used within 12 months
Emirates Air Line fares will not be included in the Oyster daily capping
 
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jopsuk

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The single fare is ridiculous, as is it not being included in travelcards. As an alternative, a single stop on the Jubilee to Canning Town and a single stop on the DLR to Royal Victoria (or more usefully, two stops to Custom House) is £1.50 peak/£1.40 off-peak. It'll take a little longer, yes, but at over 50% saving/can use travelcards.
 

Eagle

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Although TfL won't admit it, it's clearly a novelty mode of transport, and I'd say it warrants the higher fare for being an "experience".
 

Nym

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Although TfL won't admit it, it's clearly a novelty mode of transport, and I'd say it warrants the higher fare for being an "experience".

This...^^

The pricing structure, and in my opinion correctly, is similar to that of the river boats where a discount is gained for having another TfL travel product but a premium is applied for this mode of transport.
 

jon0844

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Seems pretty fair to me. For those going for the experience, it's expensive (and those people won't care - it's London and most experiences cost a fortune).

For regulars, the discount for multiple trips is significant. To me, that's how things should be.. and could be a sign of how we get ticketing for rail with smartcards in the future. Those who travel regularly (but don't necessarily need or want a season ticket) get benefits to reward loyal custom.

There's obviously limited capacity on the cable car too. If it was too cheap, the queues would be horrendous.
 

Techniquest

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I didn't even know of this until I saw a new bit on the Tube map the other week, could be funky to try out. Wonder how long it'll be until someone asks for mileage details :lol:
 

Eagle

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There's obviously limited capacity on the cable car too.

From the videos on tfl.gov.uk, it looks to be ten people per gondola. And there are around 24 gondolas. So that's a total of 240 people on the system at one time—120 each way. Compared to the tube which can reasonably accommodate around 800 people per train.


EDIT: bit of Googling gives the official maximum capacity of the system as 2,500 per hour each way.
 

Ivo

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Notwithstanding the Olympics, will this thing actually improve congestion at all? Surely it's nothing more than a means to improve the tourism prospects of Greenwich (complete with inflated prices that only tourists would pay)...
 

jon0844

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Notwithstanding the Olympics, will this thing actually improve congestion at all? Surely it's nothing more than a means to improve the tourism prospects of Greenwich (complete with inflated prices that only tourists would pay)...

Yup, that's about the size of it. If it's as popular as the London Eye, I am sure it will be worth it.
 

snail

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I've got tickets for an Olympic event at the Dome or whatever it's going to be called, this sounds an interesting way of getting there!

The publicity has the same feel as the London Eye but at least with this you get from A to B, not travel in a circle for 30 minutes...

If it catches on with locals then I could see it being absorbed into the TfL global pricing one day but for now it is definitely a 'premium' product, like the boats as Nym said.
 

route101

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Saw this for first time last week , it was up and running but testing by the looks of it . Never knew it was getting built . Its on the tube maps.
 

ushawk

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Notwithstanding the Olympics, will this thing actually improve congestion at all? Surely it's nothing more than a means to improve the tourism prospects of Greenwich (complete with inflated prices that only tourists would pay)...

Just to link The O2 Arena (North Greenwich Arena for the Olympics) to Excel - also easier as theres the interchange at North Greenwich with the Jubilee line to Stratford and into Central London.
 

jopsuk

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I've got tickets for an Olympic event at the Dome or whatever it's going to be called, this sounds an interesting way of getting there!

It's a detour if you're coming from, well, almost anywhere but Beckton.
 

Drsatan

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What annoys me is that Boris Johnson claimed that this cable car would be privately financed, but in the end TfL funded £36 million of its £60 million cost. If you want to read about this see here


After the Olympics I feel the cable car will become a white elephant. Its premium pricing will put off locals, it will carry fewer passengers per hour than the Jubilee line and its 21:00 closure means anyone leaving the O2 Arena after a gig won't be able to use it.
 

burneside

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Considering you can do the same journey on existing public transport in as little as five minutes the cable car would appear to be a very expensive duplication.
 

jon0844

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Why will it end at 9pm? Are they worried drunks would fall out?
 

NY Yankee

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Although TfL won't admit it, it's clearly a novelty mode of transport, and I'd say it warrants the higher fare for being an "experience".

The fare is ridiculous given the short distance it travels. However, it will attract tourists who want spectacular views of downtown London. It's basically a cheaper version of the London Eye. Locals would probably save money by using the Millennium Bridge.
 

WestCoast

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The fare is ridiculous given the short distance it travels. However, it will attract tourists who want spectacular views of downtown London. It's basically a cheaper version of the London Eye. Locals would probably save money by using the Millennium Bridge.

Erm, it's out near the O2 Arena and the Excel Exhibtion Centre, in East London, not really anywhere near the Millennium Bridge or the London Eye in central London.

Regarding the fare, well, that's London for you...
 

LE Greys

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It's forever the Dome in my book! :D

I'm going to travel on the thing precisely twice, once to do each line, unless I'm showing someone around London and they ask to go on it.
 

Clip

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After the Olympics I feel the cable car will become a white elephant. Its premium pricing will put off locals, it will carry fewer passengers per hour than the Jubilee line and its 21:00 closure means anyone leaving the O2 Arena after a gig won't be able to use it.

I think you may not have read the notes to the editor in the OP

Notes to editors:
There will be extended opening hours when there are events at the local venues, including Olympic events. Details of the extended hours will be announced nearer the time

I think its a great thing to have anyway - though the cost is a little high IMO I just think its great to have another crossing and a little tourist attraction on the river. Nothing wrong with having one built at all.
 

causton

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Regarding the fare, well, that's London for you...

London is *very* cheap for what you get. In Hertfordshire £8.25 gets you an all day bus ticket on the few bus services there are, in London £8.60 gets you *loads* of trains, buses, tubes, DLR, trams etc...! I wish a maximum fare of £1.30 was around for buses in Hertfordshire!
 

bb21

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Boris and his fancy jargons.
92.gif


Does he not realise that no matter how many airline industry terms he deploys, a cable car will still be a cable car and not an aircraft, just like the fact that no matter how much WorstGroup wants people to think that ftr is a tram-equivalent substitute, it is still a bus and will always be seen as a bus.
 

WestCoast

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London is *very* cheap for what you get. In Hertfordshire £8.25 gets you an all day bus ticket on the few bus services there are, in London £8.60 gets you *loads* of trains, buses, tubes, DLR, trams etc...! I wish a maximum fare of £1.30 was around for buses in Hertfordshire!

I am talking about tickets for 'attraction transport' like this, where the single fare doesn't form part of the Oyster Daily Capping. In another way, if you compare what a ride on the London Eye costs compared to the Manchester wheel (until it was removed) it was someting like a £20 vs. £6 on walk-up tickets.

The cable car is reasonable for regular users, but if it's not part of the Travelcard or Daily Capping, I don't see too many commuters going out of their way to use it. Which is probably just as well considering the lower capacity. Look at the amount of people in London who will use the buses to save money....

Oh and if you're used to New York prices for transport, which on a 7 day ticket is less than £2.60 a day (no peak fare) for whole network subway, bus and cable car travel (which covers more area than Greater London), then UK transport will seem expensive. The cable car there is treated as part of the subway network for pricing.
 
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burneside

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I think you may not have read the notes to the editor in the OP



I think its a great thing to have anyway - though the cost is a little high IMO I just think its great to have another crossing and a little tourist attraction on the river. Nothing wrong with having one built at all.

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.
 

jon0844

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Won't TfL get any of its money back through the fares? Ever heard the phrase speculate to accumulate?

If TfL won't get its money back, I'm inclined to agree with you - except I'd also look at the bigger picture. If a lot of people come specifically to ride the cable car and spend money in the local area, then it might be considered a success.

Far too many people look at individual costs and don't consider the indirect benefits.

Yes, it might be a total disaster but if it isn't, then shelling out to make the project happen instead of ditching it could have been a wise move.
 

burneside

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I don't think it's TfL's business to get involved in a glorified fairground attraction, it was forced to of course because Johnson couldn't find enough private money to finance the thing.
 

Deerfold

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Yes, it might be a total disaster but if it isn't, then shelling out to make the project happen instead of ditching it could have been a wise move.

The blurb was that TfL paid so it would be completed before the Olympics. It could have been done with private finance but not in such a short timescale.
 
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