Greenwich cable car green lit

Plans to build a cable car across the Thames from the O2 to the Excel Centre have been green lit by TfL. Construction is expected to start this summer.

Concerns about the extent to which the public will recoup the initial funding we are contributing have been waved away in a bid to open the service in time for the Olympic Games, but that is a massive challenge, with even the TfL release admitting that that target "remains an extremely challenging timeline for a complex project." An article in Building on April 15th suggested that work could take two years.

The service will be able to carry up to 2,500 people an hour, providing a fun, but not especially useful new transport option for South East London and a new river crossing, which East London is desperately short of.

Much of the cost of the cable car will be met through sponsorship, similar to the Barclay's sponsorship of the Boris bikes.