Images of Greenwich - Excel cable car released

A proposal to connect the O2 and the Excel Centre with a cable car has taken a step forward with the release of the design by architects Wilkinson Eyre. The project needs to raise private finance in order to happen, but it has the support of the Mayor and could win planning approval as early as January 2011.

When complete, the cars would carry as many as 2,500 passengers per hour to a height of more than 50 metres on the 1.1km route, taking approximately five minutes.

No substitute for the major river crossing this end of town needs, it's nonetheless a fun and potentially useful crossing, connecting two of London's most important visitor attractions, each at the heart of major regeneration projects.