Uber Boats by Thames Clippers receives £59m for further expansion
The Thames sees over four million boat passengers in a year, but new funding for Uber Boats will increase service capacity and frequency.
Watching the commuter boats speeding along the Thames, leaving waves in their wake, is a familiar sight when walking along the Thames Path. This week’s announcement of a £59 million funding boost for Uber Boats by Thames Clippers will mean an increase in river traffic, but boats will be cleaner.
The boat service, which sails to various stops along the Thames including Canary Wharf, the Tower of London and Isle of Dogs, has received funding from NatWest and Santander to fund more vessels, and increase service frequency and capacity.
Thames Clippers boat service began in 1999 with just one boat in operation, and has sailed passengers to Canary Wharf since its inception. The original route transported 80 passengers daily from Surrey Quays to what is now Woods’ Quay, with stops at Canary Wharf and London Bridge. In 2020, the vessels got a new livery and a booking app when Thames Clippers partnered with Uber.
Since then, traveller numbers have soared, increasing from 80 per day to about 30,000. There was a noticeable rise of 7% following the COVID pandemic. This continued to increase in 2023, when passenger rates grew by an additional 10%.
New stops have been added to cope with demand, including Tower, near the Tower of London, and Masthouse Terrace Pier, on the Isle of Dogs.
For Uber Boats by Thames Clippers, the funding will allow even more Londoners looking for a non-conventional route across the capital to board the boats.
‘For Londoners, this investment means a more frequent and reliable service, increased capacity, and the continued rollout of cleaner, greener vessels – supporting the capital’s ambition for a low-emission transport network,’ according to a spokesperson from Uber Boats by Thames Clippers.
With no exact numbers given for how many extra boats will be coursing through the Thames, questions remain on what the river will look like if the boat service continues its exponential growth.
Thames Clippers operates services from all major London piers every 10-20 minutes, operating 20 high-speed Thames river boats and an all-electric cross-river ferry.
Santander and Natwest will contribute up to £29.5 million each towards the operator’s multi-year development strategy, which includes plans for two new ‘clean’ vessels, an upgrade to the pier infrastructure and improvements to drydocking facilities for repairs, cleaning or inspections.
The funding will also increase the number of electric-powered boats, aligning with wider goals to decarbonise London’s transport system. Uber Boats aims to halve its carbon emissions by 2035 and achieve net zero by 2050.
‘This facility will contribute to the improvement of transport infrastructure across the River Thames and London. Uber Boat by Thames Clipper provide a much-loved service to London commuters and visitors, and we look forward to working with them in the future,’ says Lawrence House, Relationship Director at NatWest.
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