Thames Clippers has announced it is launching the UK’s first-ever hybrid high-speed passenger boats in the capital this year, writes Joshua Askew…
The two new vessels will operate throughout the Central Zone, between Tower and Battersea Power Station piers, only venturing outside of central London to recharge their batteries.
Thames Clippers recently entered into negotiations with a local council in Gravesend to purchase the town pier, meaning London’s regular riverboat service could be extended to as far as Kent.
The boats, which are being built at Wight Shipyard on the Isle of Wight, will rely on battery power while transporting commuters and sightseers along the river Thames. But switch to biofuel power when outside of the central zone.
Autumn 2022 is when the first boat will enter service, while the second will arrive in spring 2023.
Introducing these eco-friendly boats is part of a wider effort of Uber Boat by Thames Clippers to improve the sustainability of its business and achieve net-zero by 2040.
“This development in technology has enabled us to take the first major steps to meet our future environmental vision,” said CEO Sean Collins.
“We are committed to supporting the sustainable growth, infrastructure and economic development on and around the river to endorse the river’s importance to London as a form of transport.”
Although an increasing number of people are turning to greener forms of transport in London, passenger numbers on public transport have been slow to recover since the coronavirus pandemic.
Thames Clippers carried two million passengers in 2021, representing a 50 per cent reduction compared to pre-Covid numbers in 2019. At present they transport around 10,000 people each day on average.
Sean Collins said: “[The Thames has] got significant potential to do more, both for passengers and light freight. I believe it has got a significant part to play.”
Opponents claim that river capacity, especially at low tide or peak commuter times, is already overwhelmed by tourist boats, and that turning the Thames into an urban highway is detrimental to London.