Thames Clippers logo
|
|
Locale | London, UK |
---|---|
Waterway | River Thames |
Transit type | River bus and tourist/leisure services |
Owner | Anschutz Entertainment Group |
Operator | MBNA Thames Clippers |
Began operation | 1999 |
No. of lines | 4 |
No. of vessels | 13 |
No. of terminals | 19 |
Website | www |
Thames Clippers (styled as MBNA Thames Clippers) is a river bus service on the River Thames in London.
The company operates both commuter services between eastern and Central London and tourist services under licence from London River Services. At present they transport around 8,500 passengers daily.
Sean Collins co-founded Thames Clippers in 1999 with partner Alan Woods. During his career Sean recognised the opportunity to build a consistent high-speed commuter and passenger river service. Thames Clippers was then taken over in September 2006 by the American Anschutz Entertainment Group, who promised substantial investment into the company to upgrade the services and to provide a more frequent "hop-on-hop-off" between Central London and The O2 (formerly the Millennium Dome), also owned by the Anschutz Entertainment Group. In 2007 the company purchased six new catamarans to be used on the MBNA Thames Clippers commuter service in order to carry a large number of passengers in a comfortable environment.
MBNA Thames Clippers operate under licence from Transport for London. The river boat service is now better integrated into the tube and bus ticketing network. From November 2009, the MBNA Thames Clippers services started to accept Oyster pay as you go on all of its services, which also provides a 10% discount on single and return fares.
A River Roamer ticket, valid for one day, is available from MBNA Thames Clipper which allows the holder to hop on and hop off along the banks of the Thames between St George Wharf Pier and Woolwich Arsenal Pier (including the Canary Wharf - Rotherhithe Ferry). The cost is £16.50 for an adult and £36.00 for a family. An adult single trip fare changes depending on zones. They range from £4.30 to £9 (or £3.90 to £7.20 if payment is made online, in app or with an oyster or contactless card). There is a one third discount for holders of valid travelcards (excluding Family River Roamer tickets and fares for The O2 Express).