Thames Clippers


Thames Clippers is a river bus service on the River Thames in London.
The company operates both commuter services between eastern and Central London and tourist services under licence from London River Services. At present they transport around 10,000 passengers daily on average

Company

Sean Collins co-founded Thames Clippers in 1999 with partner Alan Woods. During his career Sean recognised the opportunity to build a consistent high-speed commuter and passenger river service. Thames Clippers was then taken over in September 2006 by the American Anschutz Entertainment Group, who promised substantial investment into the company to upgrade the services and to provide a more frequent "hop-on-hop-off" between Central London and The O2, also owned by the Anschutz Entertainment Group. In 2007 the company purchased six new catamarans to be used on the MBNA Thames Clippers commuter service in order to carry a large number of passengers in a comfortable environment. In 2015 and 2017, a total of four new 'Hunt Class' catamarans were purchased for use primarily on the RB6 Service.
In July 2020, the company announced a partnership with U.S.-based ride-sharing service Uber, which is acquiring naming rights to the ferry and rebranding the service as Uber Boat by Thames Clippers.

Tickets

MBNA Thames Clippers operate under licence from Transport for London. The river boat service is now better integrated into the tube and bus ticketing network. From November 2009, the MBNA Thames Clippers services started to accept Oyster pay as you go on all of its services, which also provides a discount on single and return fares. Contactless payment is also accepted.
A River Roamer ticket, valid for one day, is available from MBNA Thames Clipper which allows the holder to hop on and hop off along the banks of the Thames between Battersea Power Station Pier and Woolwich Arsenal Pier. The cost is £19.80 for an adult and £39.60 for a family. An adult single trip fare changes depending on zones. They range from £4.40 to £9.90.
There is a one third discount for holders of valid travelcards.
Special river service season tickets, valid for either 1 week, 1 month, or 1 year, are also available. Discounts for travelcard holders are also available on season tickets.

Commuter services

Main commuter service (RB1)

This runs between Westminster Millennium Pier and the Woolwich Arsenal Pier. The service runs every 20 minutes during the day, and every 30 minutes in the very early morning and evenings.
Stops include from west to east:
MBNA Thames Clippers operates the direct cross river Canary Wharf - Rotherhithe Ferry, between Canary Wharf Pier and the Nelson Dock Pier at the Hilton Hotel in Rotherhithe. The service uses smaller boats than the commuter service but runs at a higher frequency of every 20 minutes and every 10 minutes during peak times. The ferry can be used by guests of the hotel free of charge as well as by passengers not staying at the hotel at a cost.

North Greenwich to Woolwich (RB5)

Operates Every 30 minutes on weekends. Service RB1 serves Woolwich Arsenal Mondays to Fridays
This runs peak times Monday to Friday only. Stops are:
In September 2017, Thames Clippers ran a trial commuter service between Gravesend and Central London.

Visitor/tourist services

Tate to Tate and Service West (RB2)

The Tate to Tate and Service West operates between Battersea Pier and London Bridge Pier, serving visitors travelling between the Tate Modern museum on the South Bank and the older Tate Britain in Millbank across the river.

The O2 Express (RB1X)

The O2 Express is an express service calling at London Eye, Westminster Pier, Embankment Pier, London Bridge City Pier, Tower Pier, Greenwich Pier and North Greenwich Pier for The O2. The service also provides private charters.

Fleet

MBNA Thames Clippers operates 16 high-speed catamarans with a maximum speed of , plus a more conventional catamaran for the Hilton ferry.
NameLengthPassengersTypeBuilderBuiltAcquiredImage
Venus Clipper38m222Hunt Class Mark 3Wight Shipyard20182019
Jupiter Clipper35m172Hunt Class Mark 2Wight Shipyard20172017
Mercury Clipper35m172Hunt Class Mark 2Wight Shipyard20172017
Galaxy Clipper35m150Hunt ClassIncat20152015
Neptune Clipper35m150Hunt ClassIncat20152015
Aurora Clipper38m220River Runner 200 Mark 2BBSC Marine20082008
Meteor Clipper38m220River Runner 200 Mark 2BBSC Marine20082008
Cyclone Clipper38m220River Runner 200 Mark 2BBSC Marine20072007
Monsoon Clipper38m220River Runner 200 Mark 2BBSC Marine20072007
Tornado Clipper38m220River Runner 200 Mark 2BBSC Marine20072007
Typhoon Clipper38m220River Runner 200 Mark 2BBSC Marine20072007
Hurricane Clipper38m220River Runner 200 Mark 2NQEA20012001
Moon Clipper32m138River Runner 150 Mark 3NQEA20012005
Sun Clipper32m138River Runner 150 Mark 3NQEA20012005
Sky Clipper25m62HydrocatFBM19921999
Star Clipper25m62HydrocatFBM19921999
Storm Clipper25m62HydrocatFBM19921999
Twin Star19m125Former Ford Dagenham ferry?19762004

Accidents

In February 2004, a woman was killed after she was hit, while waiting for a boat, by a mooring bollard which had come loose from the Star Clipper at St. Katherine's Pier.
On 4 October 2011 at 7 pm, the Moon Clipper hit the Tower Millennium Pier when it was carrying about 50 people. No fatalities.
On 5 December 2016 the Typhoon Clipper collided with the workboat Alison, resulting in the sinking of the workboat. No fatalities.

The future

A Policy Exchange report advocates significant expansion in river services on the Thames. The aim of the report is to lead to a "river tube line" being created which would lead to easing of current congestion on London's transport systems, and better quality of travel, at a significantly cheaper price than other options. Opponents note that the river capacity, especially at low tide could mean a reduction of tourist boats, and turn the Thames into urban highway which would be detrimental to London. To be feasible, the report calls for better management of river traffic, improved interchange with other public transport modes and expansion of key piers.
The Mayor of London is responsible for the River Concordat group group, which is made-up of over forty different organisations including Thames Clippers. The publication, By the River , sets out the strategic vision for improving river transport on the Thames.
They plan to expand further East down the river start with a calling at a Pier in Silvertown in October 2019 and plans in the future to go to Thamesmead and Barking.