Bankside Pier commuter boat services to be reinstated after 3 year gap

The main Thames Clippers service runs from Embankment and Waterloo in the west to Greenwich and Woolwich in the east. The company also runs the Tate Boat between Bankside and Millbank.

The number of boats stopping at Bankside Pier – which is next to Shakespeare's Globe and Tate Modern – was cut back in November 2007 with no sailings before 10am or after 5pm.

Now Thames Clippers boss Sean Collins has told local politicians that an all-day service to Bankside will be reintroduced this spring.

"We are also working closely with Better Bankside to promote the river and we will be including Bankside Pier for all commuter services as well as leisure from the spring," Mr Collins wrote in an email to Lib Dem London Assembly member Caroline Pidgeon published on the blog of Cllr Lisa Rajan.

The email also contains news of a proposal to reinstate a limited late-night boat service from London to Rotherhithe and Docklands after services were cut back severely last November.

"Last week I met with Mike Weston of Transport for London and can confirm that we intend to introduce a late evening service with two sailings departing from Embankment at 22:08 and 23:08," said Mr Collins.

"This is subject to TfL board approval on our proposed pricing as there will be no discounted tickets and our season ticket holders will be required to pay a supplement.

"This is the only way that we can see a late evening service being viable without any external financial support."

Writing on her blog, Cllr Rajan of Surrey Docks ward has welcomed the news: "It's a compromise, and obviously there's the extra cost for fares, because they had told us they were struggling to make the case financially for the late night services, our strong persuasive case (and of course the huge long petition and campaigning efforts from local residents) helped to demonstrate to Thames Clippers what a lifeline their boat services are for residents at the north end of the Rotherhithe peninsula.

She added: "Local residents will be very pleased they can still get the last boat home after a night out in town."