Sail down the Thames to the Millennium Dome

Greenwich, 16 March 1998

The New Millennium Experience Company (NMEC) today revealed details of new river boat services that will run to the Millennium Dome at Greenwich during the year 2000. The new services will run from central London to the Dome and introduce a shuttle service between historic Greenwich and the Dome.

Jennie Page, Chief Executive of NMEC said: "The River Thames is London's emptiest highway and will play a vital part in making the Millennium Experience a car-free site. We expect more than one million people to use the river to visit the Dome at Greenwich in 2000, the biggest boost to river transport since the Festival of Britain in 1951. Visitors will be able to cruise to the Dome and leave their cars at home."

Miss Page was speaking at Westminster Pier, central London, where Deputy Prime Minister Rt. Hon John Prescott MP was announcing preferred bidders to operate the new river services.

The new services will be:

• Central London service from Waterloo (Millennium Wheel), stopping at Blackfriars and landing on a new pier at the Dome using boats carrying up to 500 people. The Dome services from central London will run at 30 minute intervals, 15 minutes during peak times, and will involve a journey time of around 45 minutes. These will be operated by City Cruises.
• Shuttle service between the Cutty Sark pier at historic Greenwich and the Dome using boats carrying up to 60 passengers. The shuttle service from historic Greenwich will run every 10 minutes and will involve a journey time of 10 minutes. In addition, there will be a 'Hopper' service in central London linking up to 10 piers at key attractions and transport interchanges along the river. Both the shuttle and 'Hopper' services will be operated by White Horse Ferries.

Notes:

• The new services have been developed by NMEC and the Cross River Partnership. London Transport assumed responsibility for tendering of river services in December 1997 through London River Services Ltd.
• The boat services to the Dome are commercial operations and will not receive any subsidy.
• The new service from central London will be the only boat service offering a direct, express link to the Dome at Greenwich.
• The NMEC is constructing a new pier on the North Greenwich Peninsula.
• The Millennium Dome at Greenwich is expected to attract 12 million visitors in 2000.