Olympic effect wears off TfL’s cable car

Transport for London has expressed satisfaction with patronage on its new cross-Thames cable car despite data showing a sharp fall in passenger numbers after this summer’s Paralympic Games ended.

The cable car – named the Emirates Air Line after its sponsor – was opened in June. It connects the Greenwich Peninsula on the south of the Thames with the Royal Docks and ExCeL exhibition centre on the north.

The system has the capacity to carry 2,500 people an hour.

During the first week of the Olympic Games in August, 180,804 people were carried. But in the week after the Paralympics ended in September, ridership fell to 49,402. Weekday trips ranged from 3,200 on Monday 10 September to a high of 4,408 on the Friday of that week.

TfL’s head of Emirates Air Line, Danny Price, voiced satisfaction with the overall data.

“The Emirates Air Line’s passenger journey target for the first financial year (to March 2013) is 1.3 million. Since opening on 28 June it has already exceeded this having 1.4 million journeys.

“The purpose of the Emirates Air Line is to support regeneration in East London,” said Price. “If it was at full capacity now there would be serious concerns about how it could carry the future population growth it was built to support.”

But writing on the SnipeLondon website, blogger Darryl  Chamberlain said: “One advertising slogan, ‘The O2 to ExCeL in less than ten minutes’, sums up the Emirates’ Air Line’s problem – it’s a journey very few people need to make, and those who do can do it cheaper by using the Tube and DLR.”

The cable car is not part of the capital’s travelcard network. Fares are set by TfL, which also bears the revenue risk.

Single fares are £4.30 (child £2.20) but Oystercard holders can travel for £3.20 (child £1.60). Regular users can purchase ten single journeys for £16.

The budget for the cable car was £62.6m, of which £45m was construction costs. TfL has funded the project upfront, recouping much of it from the £36m ten-year sponsorship signed with Emirates. The European Commission has also approved an £8m grant bid from the European Regional Development Fund.  

The cable car is operated by Mace Macro under a three-year design, build and operate contract.