Dear Jago Hazzard, Unfortunately your so-called "Special Offer" is a bit of a swiz. It's exactly the same as that offered on Surfshark's website; which is open to anyone. I thought I may really be getting something extra!
It's always been very busy with families at the weekends when I've tried to ride it, and there's usually quite a fun atmosphere. This was a slightly grumpy video from Jago in my opinion.
Good point. I only vagely noticed it had been re-branded when the map changed, and couldn't have told you what the new brand _was_ before watching this video. Although "FFS Clown Car" will be the text in my memory from now on.
As someone who has lived in Canning Town and North Greenwich areas: 1. You can get a 10 trip ticket for £17. This is cheaper than the off peak and peak fares per trip. Sure, it would be better as part of the oyster card zones, but what can you do :( 2. It is always incredibly busy on the weekends, especially in the afternoons. A >20 minutes wait is not uncommon. This is why I am not suprised it is profitable. It also speeds up so it's only 5 minutes during busy periods. 3. It looks really good at night, the lights change for each cable car and really do add something to do the skyline. 4. The Victoria Dock parkrun is very good on Saturday mornings and is closest one to residents of North Greenwich. It is easiest to get to with the cable car. Try it!
If I'm a tourist and riding it to enjoy the views, if they speed up the trip from 10 minutes so it's only 5 minutes, I'm going to feel like it's a rip off!
For public transport, it's ridiculously expensive. For a tourist attraction, it's ridiculously cheap. I live near the cable car and I've been on it probably around 20 times over the years. All but two of those were just for fun and not for transport. One time was because the Jubilee line had severe delays and as a result the cable car was being offered for free. Another time I was genuinely commuting across the river but wasn't in a rush so decided I felt like taking the cable car. But this is the sort of thing you only do once in a while because of how expensive it is.
I visited London almost exactly 2 years ago. Maybe I read the prices wrong, but £18 per person for a single ride, including kids under 11 years of age? No, thank you, I'll pass. Instead we took the foot tunnel from Island Gardens to Cutty Sark. The next day we spent most of the saved money at Duck Shed at Covent Garden. Totally worth it.
@@marekstanek112 Not sure where you got that number from. I just went there last week and it was £6 for an adult and £3 for a child. This in itself is up from when (from memory) it used to be about £4 for an adult a few years ago.
Jago doesn't like heights and yet has still braved both early mornings and the dangly pointlessness of the cable car in order to get us this footage. That's real dedication to your audience.
I don't like heights, but things like cable cars and Ferris wheels are fine, it's ladders and anything where my feet might slip. (I even don't really like kick stools - also known as elephants feet, as I fell off one once, and bruised my foot!)
People forget this was something that Boris Johnson pushed through and burdened TFL with. Like his bridge which cost c£40m and didn't get off the drawing table this actually did get made. I recall him saying it would be a great success.
I feel another major problem is the lack of direct connection to the rest of the network at either end. If the cable car actually had a direct platform-to-platform Interchange at North Greenwich and Royal Victoria I might be tempted to use it.
Agree - and way-finding signage is another issue. Admittedly I have not tried to use the cable car recently, but when I last tried to, there was no signage at North Greenwich station for anyone wanting to get to the cable car! Maybe that has improved - and indeed, though tube interchange signage is generally brillant, signage between tube stations and bus stops could often do with being bigger and clearer.
To be honest there are other places where it would be more useful and potentially much better used. One possibility is my home town of Portsmouth to cross the harbour entrance to Gosport. There was going to be a submerged tube around 2000 to give an LRT link which could have extended along the old railway line to Fareham, but this was scuppered by the new aircraft carriers which needed deeper water.
It gives the thousands of people struggling to cross the river in East London who have to rely on the Blackwall tunnel something interesting to look at whilst they are stuck in the nightmare queues.
The problem with the Cable Car is that it serves the wrong parts of both Greenwich and the Docklands, if it had gone from Greenwich town centre to Canary Wharf it might be a bigger success, since these are proper touristy areas, North Greenwich is a major interchange and a destination for the Dome, but Royal Victoria is no more developed than it was a decade ago
Yeah that's the issue. I live south of the river, have got the cable car a couple of times as something to do with the family but there really ain't much worth visiting or doing on the other side other than getting an ice cream from the ice cream van. It's not a nice area to walk around. North Greenwich is a bit better as there is more riverside to walk along but is slightly soulless. It's a lesson in the pointlessness of connecting two areas with no particular 'pull', which is why the lower Thames crossing seems such a bad idea.
@@Gallywomack Indeed, there has to be some natural usage pattern, current or future. The Lower Thames Crossing makes more sense as it provides an alternative route to the overcrowded Dartford Crossing (particularly northbound with the tunnel delays). So its main use will be for people travelling from well beyond the areas that it links directly.
I was working at North Greenwich when they were building this. What amazed me was watching the engineers travel across in open caged cars and when they reached the pillars they would climb out of the top of the car and jump up on to the pillars. Rubber underpants required for a job like that.
If what we foreigners read in the news about the practice of the British sewer companies (brilliantly diguised behind the designation "water companies") is true it would not make any difference for the majority of the stretch if they wore no pants at all..
One of the few uses for this would be for people living around the royal docks, or staying in the hotels around ExCel, to go to a concert at the O2. But you can't go back that way because it stops running at 9pm. Great planning...
Which says everything about why it's not happening. Edgar Bateman nailed it in 1994, Wiv a pair o' steps and glasses you could see to 'ackney Marches - it it wasn't for the tower blocks in between!
Just imagine if Beeching were still here doing his cuts. Presumably he'd kill off the Cable Car with his giant pair of scissors, all the cars falling into the Thames. Almost no risk of killing anyone anyone because it would be empty.
I do wish it had been designed to actually connect somewhere to somewhere, and also wasn't the first major urban cable car in the UK. It's not left the technology with a good impression.
Yes. Cable cars are NOT gadget bahns they are a genuinely brilliant mode of transport in the right context, many many cities all over the world which are well used.
@@Benjamin.Jamin. They're right on the low end of the gadgetbahn scale along with monorails: They have their niche where they're Exactly the right thing and work brilliantly, but become a full on gadgetbahn very quickly when used outside of that niche. The narrower the niche, and the less practical the method, the higher up the gadgetbahn scale you go. Fundamentally, if the answer to 'why not just use a railway?' is anything other than 'the geography doesn't allow it', you first need to look Really Closely at why you're not using a bus. And if the reasons for not using a bus aren't solid and practical? You're Probably looking at a gadgetbahn. ... Also, anything involving the use of 'pods'. Pods are, at the end of the day, worse railcars. Where railcars are 'tram, but you didn't have to build new infrastructure', 'pods' are pretty much universally 'car/truck, but you had to build a whole new set of expensive infrastructure'. ... it tends to go downhill from there and by the time you fix all the problems you've 'invented' either the train or the bicycle (... that's true of most full gadgetbahns, actually).
My guilty pleasure is waiting for Jago to release loads of videos and then binge watch them. Been watching this channel since 2020 when Jago transitioned from beer and model train reviews to what it is now! Well done for the hard work!
No comment on the route’s viability but I love the views you get over quite a fascinating part of London’s industrial heritage. I first rode it during the pandemic and actually fell in love with it as a way of lengthening my ever extending recreational bike ride. I live near Clapton on the river Lea and would cycle all the way down the river, via Hackney Wick, QE2 park, Three Mills, The BowCreek and Cody Dock, all lovely spots, stick the bike on a deserted cable car gondola and then cycle down to the Thames Barrier on the south side before coming back via whichever one of the foot tunnels had a working lift that day. On a sunny day it was extremely good for my lockdown mental health. So I’m grateful for the cable car’s part in that.
This was a surprigingly downbeat video from Jago I thought. I like riding it nearly every time I'm in London, which is maybe about 20 times a year, and it's always been pretty busy whenever I've tried to use it, especially at the weekends with families.
@@Andy_JS2 Yep it's not true to say no one rides it given passenger data shows it saw more riders in 2024 than 2019 (when it more than made its running costs back). The thing is packed much of the day, most days. It's just poor for commuting but apart from that the thing is popular and makes TfL money to spend on other transport modes.
There are hotels on the docks side of the link, therefore if they advertised it as a hotel shuttle post-o2-event (and actually operated it at event kicking out time) I feel like that’d be good for the ridership. Would need some form of verification of hotel booking and it’d become a easy USP as getting out of the o2 after an event can be a right pain in the proverbial
New York has the Roosevelt Island Tram,which was a short cut,before the IND station was built on the island! This line uses really big cars,and was built as a commuter operation! It accepts subway/bus cards,and has always been integral to the Manhattan transport system! Pretty successful in its role,and millions of passengers,with no accidents! Totally Swiss designed,and very overbuilt,which makes safety inbuilt! Anyway,a bit of NYC,transit,that is under most people's radar! Thank you 😇 😊!
And a key part of the Roosevelt Island Tramway's success is being the same price as the subway. If the Tramway was $6 and the subway next to it was the $2.90 the commuters who live/work on Roosevelt Island wouldn't use it and it'd be nothing but a tourist line. Think this is the issue with their cloud car mainly.
The cable car is basically a Boris Johnson vanity project. However, as a fairground ride, it's great fun and I've always been able to get a car to myself!
It really isn’t promoted as the tourist attraction that it is. Come on Transport for London! Disney is bold enough to call their monorail a ride, just admit the cable car is meant for tourism purposes.
Most cable cars in the world seem to either serve as tourist attractions in and of themselves or as the only pracitcal way to get to the one specific thing at one end of it from the everything else at the other (and is usually owned and operated by the same outfit that owns that one particular destination in that case). The few places where they're actually used as viable public transport and see regular use as such involve very specific geography (such as a city with very little flat ground and rather steep slopes).
@laurencefraser Most gondolas (cable cars) are used for ski lifts. Every major ski resort in the world has at least 1. But if there is no skiing, gondola systems are great for mountains. I took one to the castle of San Marino when I visited Italy/San Marino and I loved it. I loved riding the cable car in the Docklands as a tourist. You can't beat the views.
@@laurencefraser Actually you are missing the one very specific use that cable cars and gondolas (which this actually is) have, they are used extensively in a large number of ski resorts as a very quick method of transporting people up a mountain where alternative would be extremely expensive. So normally used as the first and fast method to the very tops of mountains from the resort level. Have been on them extensively in France.
I have no problem with heights as long as I don't unexpectedly find myself falling from them. Seems unlikely for the IFSCloud as long as it's properly maintained. Anyhow, during our last London visit and after a home exhibition at the ExCel Centre we decided to do something different to get back to our AirBnB. We took the cable car over the Thames and thoroughly enjoyed the view. Then we took the ferry down the river to the Greenwich Pier. Then we walked under the river through the Greenwich Foot Tunnel and thence to Island Gardens station from which we took the DLR to the tube and home. So that afternoon we traveled over, along and under the Thames all within a couple of hours. I reckon we've 'done' the Thames now.... Thanks Jago.
@@RochRich. Actually, I think both worked that day, although on one side at least you had to cram in among the bicycles that people like to ride down to tunnel in apparent contravention of the signs that say not to.
@@tsegulin Pretty shocking that both the lifts actually worked. About the cycling, I live locally and it’s rare to see a dismounted bike in that tunnel. It’s one of those rules people accept gets ignored. Apart from commuters, I think most of the cyclists are food delivery people because the food delivery apps allow you to order anywhere within a radius and don’t care that there’s a river between you and the restaurant. And Cutty Sark station / the DLR in general is difficult for so many bikes to get into.
I was in the Philippines and they use cable cares to connect areas for commuters in the city centre. It goes on for miles and miles cost about a £1 and means people from poorer areas can travel to work in the city which would previously been inaccessible by slow busses or too expensive. Loads of people use it. Seems a success.
They’re popular in poorer countries because they don’t cost that much to build or maintain compared to other forms of onrails public transportation, and they can be planned, built, and opened within a single election cycle so politicians can campaign for one and then campaign for the change it made the next election. There are also some geographic features where they work comparably well, but those aren’t present in London.
@@donkeysaurusrex7881 Much like monorails, they're right at the low end of the gadgetbahn scale, where they have their niche where they're prefectly suitable and appropriate and do very well... but trying to use them as more than a tourist attraction outside that niche very quickly becomes vastly more trouble than it's worth compared to using a regular bus, train, or in some cases even boat. The high end is basically anything which starts going on about the advantages of 'pods'. For reference, cablecars are pretty much maximum practical pod. Anything that is more pod than a cablecar will have substantial problems and by the time you're done fixing them all you'll have 'invented' either the train or the bicycle. Possibly got most of the way towards 'inventing' the car on the way past, too, depending on the specifics.
I used to be a regular commuter for many years. Working at the O2, living in Royal Victoria, this was the best way to transport, 10 minutes and you there! Even on the busy days, staff allowed me to skip the queue which I really appreciated. If traveling regularly, you can purchase a multi-ride ticket which is way cheaper!
@@rogerblackwood8815you could plan the trip to get the Jubilee/DLR to "somewhere else" though. Do not have to go over and back. So, if it's a way to look at the skyline, agree it's far better value than either the O2 or the Eye as a trip.
Two things to keep in mind there are a lot fewer river crossings in East London, and you can take your bike with you at any time to Cable Car. Living in Canning Town, I use cable car a few times every week to cross to Greenwich and continue cycling from there. It's also fantastic that it is not crowded during rush hours.
IIRC this was a Boris Johnson vanity project from when he was mayor of London, and a pretty solid predictor of how he would goven as Prime Minister. Basically "Ooh, shiny thing! Me want!...... Me bored now".
Thats a bit of a character-based narrative, it wasn't born as a vanity project, it was a quick and cheap project to get people between the two Olympic Venues of the O2 and Excel Centre. Remember back in 2000 when the millenium dome exhibition closed after the billions of tax payers money was spent cleaning up the industrial land of Greenwich Penninsular? Guess what was meant to be built there in the 00s, a new district of nearly 15'000 inhabitants, by 2015 after the Olympics that had been revised upwards to 35'000. On the otherside of the Thames, the Royal Docks was too meant to see a large new district built called SilverTown Quay (complete with an aquarium that would stand up on the global stage), again this had 5000 homes planned in the 00s and post Olympics this was revised up slightly. The fact neither of these two masterplans have seen anywhere near the numbers of homes and offices built (Silvertown Quay is a zero) after some two decades is a failure of the fat cat private sector that consists of a handful of big players who have become addicted to 40% profit margins and no competition. Oh and just compare the Cable car, built in less than a year from planning to budge and compare it to the Rotherhithe Thames footbridge!
I think the problem is that we are looking at it as an unsuccessful transport project, where we should look at it as a tourist activity. It should operate tourist hours from say 10am to 10pm on weekdays and through to 11pm on Saturdays, and say 11am to 9pm on Sundays. It should also be taken out of TfLs portfolio and sold. I suspect the only reason it wasn't sold at the height of its popularity is that the sponsorship and ticket money more than covered operating costs.
my dad who insists he isn't afraid of heights (He is deathly afraid of heights) went on this with me when it was still called the Emirates Cable Car, and safe to say he likely won't be choosing to return to it. Great view, though!
I have some fear of heights but I like playing with it, so sky rides like this are some of my favorite tourist attractions--I ride them when I get the chance. But on my last visit to London it was a bit too far out of the way to justify a trip just to ride it. It's telling that the London Eye gets huge crowds but this doesn't.
I enjoyed this - bonus points for getting through it without referencing the former mayor/PM responsible for it. I would have had difficulty not doing so. If you were interested in making a video on the subject, I think it would be interesting to learn more about the Riverboat services - I'd be curious about who uses them, how they're funded (Uber sponsership?), and if they'd be worth using time-wise if they were included in the TfL's fare structure.
I used to get the cable car pretty regularly because it used to be (and might still be) free for parkrunners to use on a Saturday morning for those attending Victoria Dock Parkrun.
London Cable Car Multi-journey ticket A Multi-journey ticket is £17 and can only be bought from London Cable Car ticket offices at the Terminals. Multi-journey tickets can be used for 10 one-way journeys and are valid for 12 months from the date issued. They are not transferable from one guest to another.
... and does make it more plausible for the hypothetical commuter, even an occasional one (assuming that mythical person both exists and knows of the multi journey ticket -- have TfL actually tried advertising this option?)
To be fair to the dangleway, it is quite a pleasant ride with friends especially at night, doesn’t take too long or cost too much but memorable. Quite fun if there’s no queue.
I used it once. At the last instant someone else got on. As the gondola began an unexpectedly steep ascent from the Greenwich end, this individual suddenly engaged in conversation with some invisible familiar. The higher the gondola rose, the more belligerent this conversation became. Outside was a vertiginous drop to the Thames, and I don't think the doors could be manually opened anyway. I was trapped. For 10 minutes or so I endured this often furious wrangling in what had become a very intimate and claustrophobic bubble. Finally, at the other end, the doors opened and he stormed off as though intent upon frightful vengeance. I gave him a few minutes head start. On reflection, it might've been a lot worse. He might've gone completely berserk. He might've been carrying a knife. I haven't used it since...
@@OpenbaarVervoer2D Bit late if you're stuck in a box over the middle of the river at the time, if the other person had actually been violent. Still, it's not like using any other mode of transport when such a situation arose would have made all that much difference, save perhaps being on foot or a bicycle...
@@OpenbaarVervoer2D What would they have noticed? Two blokes in a gondola and one's having a rant at the other. He didn't get violent or start vandalising it. He just sat there.
I bought a multi-rider ticket which isn’t bad value at £17 for 10 journeys but I struggled to use it over the course of a whole year, last year. After the 1st few times, it loses its novelty. The London Cable Car feels like it’s in the wrong place to really see the skyline. It would’ve been better in the west of the city/ Surrey suburbs. There are just better transport options in its current location, not just the tube but the river boats are better and make more sense too. When the Silvertown Tunnel opens and the SL4 bus comes with it, it really will be pointless. I did enjoy using the cable car at night though.
@@amanda-we9fv Yes every time you use it, they clip a hole in the ticket so they know how many times it's been used. Also the ticket really stands out as it is purple. It was pretty worn out by the time I got to the 10th journey on it.
In Mexico City we currently have 3 lines (with others planned). It was such an innovative way of getting around since the outskirts of this city are super hilly. The same happened in Colombia and in other places. The cable car offers a very good alternative for navigating the hills. However in London… well, yeah, I don’t think that really takes you anywhere 😅
I love taking friends that have not been to London much on this, it is very good value and a pleasant trip with great views. Yet I do agree with the truth of the video.
In New York we have the Roosevelt Island Tram, which runs between said Island and 2nd Avenue and 60th street. Unlike this, there are only 2 cars that run independently but the 2 cars are massive compared to these little ski lift sized cars. It’s the same price as the subway and bus ($2.90). You could walk over to 3rd Avenue and 63rd street to take the F train one stop (it’s orders of magnitude faster, but you don’t get the nice view.)
Cable cars are good public transport alternative in hilly or mountaineus cities. Where I live we have a cable car that runs from the main train station downtown, up to the university campus on top of the mountain. It also has a station (stop?) in the middle of the way. The cost of a ride is the same as a bus ride, and all season tickets and discounts for busses and trains apply. it takes about 15 min. end to end including the stop in the middle station. A bus trip between the same locations on the winding mountain streets takes more than 30 minutes, depending of traffic. The drawbacks are (like in London) that it doesn't work when the weather is windy, and during rush hours there is sometimes a long queue.
Made for tourists but plopped down in an area of London tourists don’t visit unless they’re going to the O2. Would have been a lot more successful if it was somewhere further west.
Made specifically for Olympics visitors, back in the day. Now it's there, and the Commonwealth Games have also been and gone, it is a landmark looking for a controlled reason to exist.
I used the cable car once to access a flight from Heathrow Airport. Sort of. And I was the pilot! I'm talking of course about the Emirates Flight Simulator that used to be at the south end of the cable car. I flew an Airbus 380 from Heathrow to Gatwick (I only had 45 minutes maximum) where I landed successfully on runway 26L. Unfortunately I couldn't cope with the foot brakes so we ran into the grass. It was fun, but the Simulator closed some time ago now. From what you, say the cable car may go soon too.
If you compare the Cable Car with the London Eye it seems a lot less popular - largely due to its location and consequent lack of visible London landmarks close by. Maybe the whole thing should be taken down and rebuilt between say London Bridge and the City or between Waterloo and Somerset House - that way the tourists would actually see it and want to ride it.
It should always have been somewhere central... No idea what drove the business choice to plop it connecting two places that don't make any sense at all to connect.
As more of a view-loving flaneur who likes too explore obscure parts of London in detail most weekends, rather than a typical tourist, the cable car is right up my sky-alley. Something of a niche customer admittedly.
I used it up until recently as part of my regular commute. Travelling from Charlton to Canning Town, on my bike, I’d often use it (for free, as it is before 9.30am of you take your bike) between 9 and 9:30. To be honest some days I wouldn’t see another passenger, perhaps the odd other cyclist, and then you’d get the odd day when they’d be lots of visitors to the excel. The best deal not advertised very well (probably on purpose)is the multi journey ticket. 10 journeys in a year for £17. You can only buy this at the ticket office. They give you a card that they punch with a hole every time you use it. So odd in the TfL world of contactless payments.
I can see similarities with Sydney's monorail. When it reaches about 25 years old, don't be surprised if it needs major overhaul but closes permanently.
I've got a friend who lives in Dorset who always makes a point of going on the cable car any time she comes to London just for the fun of it. But you can see why it's neither a convenient commuter route nor a tourist attraction. It's convenient for nowhere and the views are of building sites and skyscrapers. Unless you just want to go on a cable car, it's not worth going on. I can think of places where a cable car might be useful in London (Richmond station to Richmond Park for example -- there are some actual views there).
Trying to use Oyster to go across, stay on board, return and go across again to fully appreciate the view was not straight forward. Nowheresville to Nowhesreville's little sister. Found myself explaining to the other summer travellers what they were looking at. A great view of nothing seeing as most of the industry has closed, Thames shipping is minimal and everything else is big rectanguloid buildings apart from the dome, which is now dwarfed by tall structures. The fad for calling things by the dullards' names who sponsor them really grates - it's a cable car, it goes from the dome to the exhibition centre, and it croses the (as yet unsponsored) River Thames.
It’s the most underrated attraction in London. I love it. There aren’t too many uncrowded novelties left in London. It serves as the boldness London once alluded to which it has now long lost (aka the proposed garden bridge which was never approved and began the end of bold London). It must never fall into disrepair and should be preserved. It needs to be promoted and more attractions need to be pointed out nearby
Another reason commuters wouldn’t use it is that it’s not reliable. As you say, it can’t operate in high winds, for which reason it’s closed today, as it has been several times recently. I would never go on it because I have absolutely no head for heights.
To be fair it is *particularly* windy today to the point you wouldn't be entirely surprised if regular public transit was disrupted (and perhaps it might have been were it not a sunday, and thus inevitably disrupted anyway).
@@Art3free-3 I refuse to set foot in the place since they closed Windsor Safari Park. If I can't have a chimp rip off my car aerial, I'm not interested.
I live in Greenwich, about a mile from North Greenwich, and I’ve never used it. My sister and brother in law used it once, and they were disappointed to find that there was nothing of interest to see on the other side of the river.
I used it to get to the 02 a couple of weeks ago, and it's great! We made a specific trip change to use it. Its completely impractical and silly. It's a sensational view and I'll be bringing people to use it but it's absolutely not a transport hub
It was pretty busy when I went on it in July. But then it was very warm and sunny at the time. And you do get some nice views. If you're staying in Docklands, it's a very handy ride over to the other side of the river. I just used my Oystercard. It actually gives access to O2 and we used it to get over to the walk through to Greenwich. Yes, you can get on the underground but it gets pretty warm when on it. The Cloud is very handy for tourists... not travellers in a rush. As for politics, best avoided.
First rule of public transport: Make connections. The Underground stations connect to Overground stations. Bus and tram stops connect to both and each other. They left out the connections to the cable car. I wonder if they had ever intended to finish building it?
Jago, until today, I had no idea there was even one species of shark to be found in the Thames, let alone five. Your contributions to the betterment of the human condition remain invaluable.
Boris is a moron and like all politicians loved to waste money which wasn’t his. But I’ll defend the water cannons, they are a useful tool and it was the criminal-loving judges who made them useless by dictating that they couldn’t be used against violent rioters.
Silver lining: there was a plan to build this here in Prague. London was often used as an example of it being a really dumb idea. Now it finally got cancelled and there's gonna be a new tram line instead. Thanks, London, for your sacrifice. :-)
My wife and I travelled on it last year, purely as tourists. We did the return journey. And you're right, It was not being used very much. Since there were so few travellers on it the staff were able to give every customer their very own car. Maybe if they moved it more into central London and made it more a tourist attraction it would be better served. Since it was part of the London Transport system we gave it the nickname of the "overhead underground".
Your response is lovely and endearing but until a recent rename earlier this year, the London travel system had a sprawling overground system of lines embedded in the same map as the cable car. That said, this is legitimately and significantly overground 😊 It is also a lovely date idea IMO. If there was a day pass on the route for a reasonable price, even capping the number of trips to say 10, feel it would attract a few people
Moving it is actually not a bad idea. I think if it ran from the Isle of Dogs to Greenwich it would be a lot more popular. The only problem would be finding a suitable bit of land on the Greenwich side.
Lol, back when this was still in the talks stage, I met a man who was working on the plans for it. I told him it was a bad idea because there's not much there. He replied, "the area will build up around it." I laughed. He was talking like they were opening up the very first rail station. I told him it was a waste of money and he wouldn't listen. 😂
Yup. Architects generally have that attitude, because they never have to live in what they build, and usually end up a world away afterwards on the next project. It's been said postwar Architects did more harm to the country than the Luftwaffe ever did. Not all though (there's one in the family so I'm obligated to add that 😉)
Using it at night, seeing the city all lit up, it felt very atmospheric. It reminded me of scenes in teen movies where they go on a ferris wheel after dark; maybe a good finale to a date night if you're in London.
I'm one who left London for a job 'oop North' 30 years ago, but have taken grandchildren across on a couple of occasions. Yes, it is unlikely to be a regular commuter route, but if properly marketed it would be as much of a 'bucket list' item as many others. Tower Bridge gets a lot of paying visitors; the Millennium Bridge from Tate Modern to St. Paul's is free, but entry to the sites at either end will cost you. I suggest that a day out incorporating Cutty Sark,the Greenwich Observatory and the Naval College would bring the cable car more passengers, especially if public transport from Greenwich Park to the IFS Cloud were a little clearer for country cousins and furriners.
Last time I was in London from Scotland I still had quite a few squids on my Oyster Card so decided during a very lovely day take the crossing there and back. Loved the views. Decided to come back in the evening, again stunning views. On all 4 journeys I had the cable car all too myself. I was in La Paz Bolivia not so long ago and their cable car system carries a quarter million people per day. We might be comparing apples and oranges but I would rather commute to work in a cable car than the tube.
As a non London resident, whenever I'm asked "what shall I do on my trip to London?", this is always my top suggestion. I'm not aware that anyone I've suggested to has taken my advice.
10 years ago on my first trip to London I had to meet a friend who used to work in North Greenwich. I was coming from Victoria Station. I had to change to the Jubilee line at some point but one of the stairs was closed. In my mind, I thought that all connections to the Jubilee were closed, so I worked out what was my only way to get to my destination: Went to Tower Hill, then DLR to Royal Victoria and lastly..... the cable car. I explained my situation, they looked at me oddly, and they let me on the cable car for free 😂 Been living here for 9 years and never used the service again. But I will never forget that day!
My first trip was on a foggy December night - with an aircraft banking hard and close around lit up tower blocks then passing at cabin height on its way to London City - very much Klingon Bird-of-Prey vibes. Brilliant!
I took my son on it once as a tourist, and it was OK for what it was. It's a lot cheaper than the London Eye if for some reason you really want to spend a few minutes sitting in a moving pod that's very high up. I thought we'd be able to get to some of the other tourist stuff in Greenwich from it, but aside from the O2, pretty much everything else is right on the other end of the peninsula. I didn't know which bus to get, so ended up walking it. It took ages and we nearly got run over. Plus a pigeon shat on me while we were queuing up. Can't say it was the greatest experience of my life.
A quite rare use case but one I took advantage of on a cycle beer trip, I did a circuitous ride from the ferry house pub, Island Gardens under the foot tunnel, down the thames underneath the cable car down to the thames barrier then swift pint in hope and anchor charlton, over on the woolwich ferry, bike ride along the thames path then pop to Trinity Bouy Wharf for a craft ale, back over on the cable car with bike, then another pint down at the greenwich naval college old brewery. Also free with a bike before 09:30 on weekdays (not that I was boozing before 9:30 on a weekday) - it was really useful as you can't take your bike on the JL or navigate the out of order lifts on the foot tunnels, DLR is ok with bikes but with the cable car you are just you and bike, not having to navigate prams and the disgruntled commuters
I like the cable car. Granted, I'm not from London, but it's handy for getting to the 02 Arena for events, as there are lots of Hotels at the docks. Apart from using it to hop from the docks to the 02 arena, however, I'm not sure what other purpose it serves. Still, that was the purpose, I guess, as both the 02 Arena and the Excel Centre were Olympic venues and needed a direct connection between the two sites for people attending the games. Now there is very little reason unless you are attending a show at the Arena to travel between the two. If you were going to a convention you would likely have already been staying on the Dock's side anyway, unless you wanted to break the bank staying at the Intercontinental, and there aren't many other Hotel around the arena itself. So yeah it's a nice relic of the London 2012 games but maybe a bit unessary now.
As London visitor earlier in the year, I would have loved to ride the cable car for the view. IF I knew it existed. Calling it Cloud instead of simply Cable Car is idiocy. I would have loved to ride it for the view. IF it wasn't in the middle of nowhere, from one place tourists don't want to go to, to another place tourists don't want to go to. This is idiocy because a cable car is inherently a tourist thing. Seems to suffer from bad marketing, and stupid location. But the craziest thing to me is that only four passengers can make it profitable.
The "four passengers" thing refers to the average number of commuters using it in the hour after it opens at 7.00. Many more people, perhaps a few hundred tourists, use it later in the day. That, along with the sponsorship, makes it (just) profitable.
One of the most successful of these, perhaps not surprisingly, is at Walt Disney World. The monorail that was the original backbone of their internal transport network turns out to be absurdly expensive to build, and while they built an extension to Epcot, they didn't bother with any of the parks or resorts beyond that, relying instead on buses and ferryboats. But several years ago, they put up a ropeway network with similar vehicles to the London Cable Car, connecting Hollywood Studios, the south end of Epcot, and several of the hotel resorts in that area. It's free and it sounds like it gets a lot of traffic. Extending it further (particularly to the Disney Springs shopping area and the water parks, which are not too far from that area) seems like an obvious proposition but I haven't heard of plans to do so.
Go to surfshark.com/jago for 4 extra months of Surfshark at an unbeatable price!
Dear Jago Hazzard, Unfortunately your so-called "Special Offer" is a bit of a swiz. It's exactly the same as that offered on Surfshark's website; which is open to anyone. I thought I may really be getting something extra!
...he said, complaining about the sponsored cable car :D
NO!
It's always been very busy with families at the weekends when I've tried to ride it, and there's usually quite a fun atmosphere. This was a slightly grumpy video from Jago in my opinion.
@@Andy_JS2 Jago has never been a fan of the cable car!
This thing has so little impact on my life as a Londoner I was completely unaware it wasn't still called the Emirates Air Line
Same
Same here. I don’t know when the name changed.🤷♂️
Good point. I only vagely noticed it had been re-branded when the map changed, and couldn't have told you what the new brand _was_ before watching this video. Although "FFS Clown Car" will be the text in my memory from now on.
And here. But now it’s the “FFS Clown Car” and for that reason alone I hope the sponsor stays!
We must close it down immediately. It has zero impact on your lives. 🤡🤡🤡
As someone who has lived in Canning Town and North Greenwich areas:
1. You can get a 10 trip ticket for £17. This is cheaper than the off peak and peak fares per trip. Sure, it would be better as part of the oyster card zones, but what can you do :(
2. It is always incredibly busy on the weekends, especially in the afternoons. A >20 minutes wait is not uncommon. This is why I am not suprised it is profitable. It also speeds up so it's only 5 minutes during busy periods.
3. It looks really good at night, the lights change for each cable car and really do add something to do the skyline.
4. The Victoria Dock parkrun is very good on Saturday mornings and is closest one to residents of North Greenwich. It is easiest to get to with the cable car. Try it!
this is still very expensive. Rip off britain. Someone said is a good crossing for the river in East London who have to rely on the Blackwall tunnel
@@panathasg13 Is this for a trip or a return trip please?
If I'm a tourist and riding it to enjoy the views, if they speed up the trip from 10 minutes so it's only 5 minutes, I'm going to feel like it's a rip off!
I tried to go on it once. I gave up. Too many people wanting to use it.
Those are all very good points that I for one wouldn't ever have heard of if it wasn't for you
The fact that only FOUR people use the London Cable Car as part of their regular commute will never not be funny to me.
Oh wow
Geoff Marshall should reconsider his 'least used stations' series. But yes, four people during rush hour in one of the world's major cities is a joke.
1 is me. I work in City Hall and live in Greenwich. the cable car is the best way for me
I hope they all share the same car every day and have never spoken to each other even once.
Nice!
For public transport, it's ridiculously expensive. For a tourist attraction, it's ridiculously cheap.
I live near the cable car and I've been on it probably around 20 times over the years. All but two of those were just for fun and not for transport. One time was because the Jubilee line had severe delays and as a result the cable car was being offered for free. Another time I was genuinely commuting across the river but wasn't in a rush so decided I felt like taking the cable car. But this is the sort of thing you only do once in a while because of how expensive it is.
I visited London almost exactly 2 years ago. Maybe I read the prices wrong, but £18 per person for a single ride, including kids under 11 years of age?
No, thank you, I'll pass. Instead we took the foot tunnel from Island Gardens to Cutty Sark.
The next day we spent most of the saved money at Duck Shed at Covent Garden. Totally worth it.
Aye. Poor pricing and bad advertising have been it's biggest failings.
@@marekstanek112 Not sure where you got that number from. I just went there last week and it was £6 for an adult and £3 for a child. This in itself is up from when (from memory) it used to be about £4 for an adult a few years ago.
@@marekstanek112 18£ is definitely wrong, like 3x the price wrong.
@@smathlax We were there on halloween 2022 and this price came up on the cablecar website. That's why we didn't even bother to check it up in person.
"FFS Clown Car" Brilliant. Without sponsorship, it will not be profitable. If privatised, it will close.
That was probably the best line in the whole video :)
Put it this way, John: Is there a chance the cable will bend?!
I didn't mishear. 😂😂😂
@@emjackson2289Not on your life, my Hindu friend
I thought my hearing was going bad. I like Jago when he is funny.
11:34 The "W" in the Greenwich sign not working is actually helping us foreigners with pronunciation
'Sarf eest Lunners' have always called it 'grinnich', as in spinach.
Would be better still if the second E didnt work too!
Pronunciation!
But not helping foreigners with British spelling
@@trueriver1950 I have seen native speakers making far worse mistakes
Jago doesn't like heights and yet has still braved both early mornings and the dangly pointlessness of the cable car in order to get us this footage. That's real dedication to your audience.
I'm pleased he didn't use the V word. The correct term is acrophobia.
I don't like heights, but things like cable cars and Ferris wheels are fine, it's ladders and anything where my feet might slip. (I even don't really like kick stools - also known as elephants feet, as I fell off one once, and bruised my foot!)
"dangly pointlessness"! Love it! ( Could also be used to refer to certain parts of RC clergy, of course! )😂😂
I think your term, "Dangly Pointlessness" might be a good name for such future as it has...(?)
@@caw25sha Had he used that, it would have given him an opportunity to end with "you are the clown to my acrophobe".
People forget this was something that Boris Johnson pushed through and burdened TFL with. Like his bridge which cost c£40m and didn't get off the drawing table this actually did get made. I recall him saying it would be a great success.
More like £56 million, I'm afraid.
I also recall the big liar saying that the Clown Car would cost nothing to the tax payer, £60m later...
And how is the new mayor turning out? 😂😂
What has this got to do with the new mayor? He didn't spaff these tens of millions on stupid vanity projects
Never believe anything that Boris Johnson tells you!
I feel another major problem is the lack of direct connection to the rest of the network at either end. If the cable car actually had a direct platform-to-platform Interchange at North Greenwich and Royal Victoria I might be tempted to use it.
It's a 90 second walk to Royal Victoria and a 5 min walk to NG tube
@@richardarmstrong6513 5 min is not a very good interchange
Agree - and way-finding signage is another issue. Admittedly I have not tried to use the cable car recently, but when I last tried to, there was no signage at North Greenwich station for anyone wanting to get to the cable car! Maybe that has improved - and indeed, though tube interchange signage is generally brillant, signage between tube stations and bus stops could often do with being bigger and clearer.
Agreed, it needs to be extended so that more people can use it
To be honest there are other places where it would be more useful and potentially much better used. One possibility is my home town of Portsmouth to cross the harbour entrance to Gosport. There was going to be a submerged tube around 2000 to give an LRT link which could have extended along the old railway line to Fareham, but this was scuppered by the new aircraft carriers which needed deeper water.
It gives the thousands of people struggling to cross the river in East London who have to rely on the Blackwall tunnel something interesting to look at whilst they are stuck in the nightmare queues.
That the mayors going to now charge for.
@@Trebor74 Is there something left they arent charging at least a £10 in england?
There’s a new tunnel coming to East London
@@panathasg13 Yes, but it's top secret so that the politicians don't realize it's there 😂
@@stephenbagwell8275 Aye, but a laughably overpriced one.
The problem with the Cable Car is that it serves the wrong parts of both Greenwich and the Docklands, if it had gone from Greenwich town centre to Canary Wharf it might be a bigger success, since these are proper touristy areas, North Greenwich is a major interchange and a destination for the Dome, but Royal Victoria is no more developed than it was a decade ago
.......and, in fact, the immediate downward view on the ground is unattractive, in extremis!
If you build it they will come......well 。.. maybe.
Yeah that's the issue. I live south of the river, have got the cable car a couple of times as something to do with the family but there really ain't much worth visiting or doing on the other side other than getting an ice cream from the ice cream van. It's not a nice area to walk around. North Greenwich is a bit better as there is more riverside to walk along but is slightly soulless. It's a lesson in the pointlessness of connecting two areas with no particular 'pull', which is why the lower Thames crossing seems such a bad idea.
@@Gallywomack Indeed, there has to be some natural usage pattern, current or future. The Lower Thames Crossing makes more sense as it provides an alternative route to the overcrowded Dartford Crossing (particularly northbound with the tunnel delays). So its main use will be for people travelling from well beyond the areas that it links directly.
Agreed.
It connects the wrong bits together totally & costs extra beyond the daily cap and that renders it pretty useless.
I think it shows peoples age when we refer to it as the "Dome" rather than the "O2", it'll always be the Millenium Dome to me...
I think of it as 'that useless Tony 'Effing' Blair vanity project that I had to pay for but got mysteriously sold off cheap.'
Same haha
@@lukerogers2257another similarity then, with Johnson's boondoggle
For the record, the government gets 15% of the profit from the o2, though I think that deal comes to an end soon.
Blair's Folly
I was working at North Greenwich when they were building this. What amazed me was watching the engineers travel across in open caged cars and when they reached the pillars they would climb out of the top of the car and jump up on to the pillars. Rubber underpants required for a job like that.
If what we foreigners read in the news about the practice of the British sewer companies (brilliantly diguised behind the designation "water companies") is true it would not make any difference for the majority of the stretch if they wore no pants at all..
pants were brown colored of course!
And a steel resolve
One of the few uses for this would be for people living around the royal docks, or staying in the hotels around ExCel, to go to a concert at the O2.
But you can't go back that way because it stops running at 9pm.
Great planning...
The O2 has a better range of restaurants than near Excel so we've often used it to go get food after a convention.
Absolutely why I used it and exactly what I found.
It's a fun tourist thing to do in the docklands. When I went on it, it was sunset so the views were great.
Which says everything about why it's not happening. Edgar Bateman nailed it in 1994, Wiv a pair o' steps and glasses you could see to 'ackney Marches - it it wasn't for the tower blocks in between!
When I went on the cable car I noticed the main view was of landfill sites!!
I take Airbnb guests and always recommend the DangleWay to them as a much cheaper alternative to the London Eye. (Currently £33, I believe).
@@reececollison5101 There are no landfill sites around there. It's all construction sites
@@lordgemini2376 not now it’s not but it was 8 years ago which was the first and last time I went on it 😂
Two thumbs up for the smooth transition to the sponsor segment. I barely noticed it. The sign of a true professional!🙃
( That's what we. call irony, kiddies. 8-).
Seamless.
Just imagine if Beeching were still here doing his cuts. Presumably he'd kill off the Cable Car with his giant pair of scissors, all the cars falling into the Thames. Almost no risk of killing anyone anyone because it would be empty.
Ok but if we're doing weird historical speciulations on it I really do wonder what Grand Paladin of Rail-Related Evil Yerkes would do with it
I doubt it.
There aren't any roads it is competing with, nor the possibility of building them🤔🤔
There might be a boat passing underneath. Though I grant you it's a long shot...
@@tedthesailor172 I don't think his paymaster had relatives in the shipping industry.
@@spencersfarm Elon would
I ride it and love it. I take an old friend who’s not too well and she adores it. This makes me even happier. The best 6 quid you can spend in London.
I do wish it had been designed to actually connect somewhere to somewhere, and also wasn't the first major urban cable car in the UK. It's not left the technology with a good impression.
Yes. Cable cars are NOT gadget bahns they are a genuinely brilliant mode of transport in the right context, many many cities all over the world which are well used.
@@Benjamin.Jamin. They're right on the low end of the gadgetbahn scale along with monorails: They have their niche where they're Exactly the right thing and work brilliantly, but become a full on gadgetbahn very quickly when used outside of that niche.
The narrower the niche, and the less practical the method, the higher up the gadgetbahn scale you go.
Fundamentally, if the answer to 'why not just use a railway?' is anything other than 'the geography doesn't allow it', you first need to look Really Closely at why you're not using a bus. And if the reasons for not using a bus aren't solid and practical? You're Probably looking at a gadgetbahn.
...
Also, anything involving the use of 'pods'. Pods are, at the end of the day, worse railcars. Where railcars are 'tram, but you didn't have to build new infrastructure', 'pods' are pretty much universally 'car/truck, but you had to build a whole new set of expensive infrastructure'. ... it tends to go downhill from there and by the time you fix all the problems you've 'invented' either the train or the bicycle (... that's true of most full gadgetbahns, actually).
Well it was, during the Olympics….
The one in New York is used by commuters
@@Benjamin.Jamin. Usually a genuinely brilliant mode of transport, if the ground doesn't allow for any other kind of transport.
My guilty pleasure is waiting for Jago to release loads of videos and then binge watch them.
Been watching this channel since 2020 when Jago transitioned from beer and model train reviews to what it is now!
Well done for the hard work!
I need to go back and catch the beer and model train reviews
As a tourist I really like it, ideally just after sunrise or just before sunset.
No comment on the route’s viability but I love the views you get over quite a fascinating part of London’s industrial heritage.
I first rode it during the pandemic and actually fell in love with it as a way of lengthening my ever extending recreational bike ride. I live near Clapton on the river Lea and would cycle all the way down the river, via Hackney Wick, QE2 park, Three Mills, The BowCreek and Cody Dock, all lovely spots, stick the bike on a deserted cable car gondola and then cycle down to the Thames Barrier on the south side before coming back via whichever one of the foot tunnels had a working lift that day.
On a sunny day it was extremely good for my lockdown mental health. So I’m grateful for the cable car’s part in that.
I rode it a year ago as a tourist and loved it. Doing it again in a few days as part of my yearly trip to London.
This was a surprigingly downbeat video from Jago I thought. I like riding it nearly every time I'm in London, which is maybe about 20 times a year, and it's always been pretty busy whenever I've tried to use it, especially at the weekends with families.
@@Andy_JS2 Yep it's not true to say no one rides it given passenger data shows it saw more riders in 2024 than 2019 (when it more than made its running costs back). The thing is packed much of the day, most days. It's just poor for commuting but apart from that the thing is popular and makes TfL money to spend on other transport modes.
Service is permanently suspended.
Tsing-boom!
Oh well done!
Marvellous.
Not according to TFL web site today (26th Novrmber). tfl.gov.uk/cable-car/status/#line-lul-london-cable-car
Word play
There are hotels on the docks side of the link, therefore if they advertised it as a hotel shuttle post-o2-event (and actually operated it at event kicking out time) I feel like that’d be good for the ridership. Would need some form of verification of hotel booking and it’d become a easy USP as getting out of the o2 after an event can be a right pain in the proverbial
New York has the Roosevelt Island Tram,which was a short cut,before the IND station was built on the island! This line uses really big cars,and was built as a commuter operation! It accepts subway/bus cards,and has always been integral to the Manhattan transport system! Pretty successful in its role,and millions of passengers,with no accidents! Totally Swiss designed,and very overbuilt,which makes safety inbuilt! Anyway,a bit of NYC,transit,that is under most people's radar! Thank you 😇 😊!
And a key part of the Roosevelt Island Tramway's success is being the same price as the subway. If the Tramway was $6 and the subway next to it was the $2.90 the commuters who live/work on Roosevelt Island wouldn't use it and it'd be nothing but a tourist line. Think this is the issue with their cloud car mainly.
All I know about the Cable Car is that we all had a big laugh when it reached the top of Geoff Marshall’s Transport Poll/Bracket.
The cable car is basically a Boris Johnson vanity project.
However, as a fairground ride, it's great fun and I've always been able to get a car to myself!
Boris Johnson is basically a Boris Johnson vanity project.
A fairground with only one ride. That'll attract the crowds.
@@johnrussell5245 It needs a Tunnel of Goats.
This cable car gets a lot of hate but its actually quite fun to ride. Its worth making a trip for at least once.
It really isn’t promoted as the tourist attraction that it is. Come on Transport for London! Disney is bold enough to call their monorail a ride, just admit the cable car is meant for tourism purposes.
Jago's point exactly. It is not for public transport
Most cable cars in the world seem to either serve as tourist attractions in and of themselves or as the only pracitcal way to get to the one specific thing at one end of it from the everything else at the other (and is usually owned and operated by the same outfit that owns that one particular destination in that case). The few places where they're actually used as viable public transport and see regular use as such involve very specific geography (such as a city with very little flat ground and rather steep slopes).
@laurencefraser Most gondolas (cable cars) are used for ski lifts. Every major ski resort in the world has at least 1.
But if there is no skiing, gondola systems are great for mountains. I took one to the castle of San Marino when I visited Italy/San Marino and I loved it.
I loved riding the cable car in the Docklands as a tourist. You can't beat the views.
@@laurencefraser Actually you are missing the one very specific use that cable cars and gondolas (which this actually is) have, they are used extensively in a large number of ski resorts as a very quick method of transporting people up a mountain where alternative would be extremely expensive. So normally used as the first and fast method to the very tops of mountains from the resort level. Have been on them extensively in France.
I have no problem with heights as long as I don't unexpectedly find myself falling from them. Seems unlikely for the IFSCloud as long as it's properly maintained.
Anyhow, during our last London visit and after a home exhibition at the ExCel Centre we decided to do something different to get back to our AirBnB.
We took the cable car over the Thames and thoroughly enjoyed the view.
Then we took the ferry down the river to the Greenwich Pier.
Then we walked under the river through the Greenwich Foot Tunnel and thence to Island Gardens station from which we took the DLR to the tube and home.
So that afternoon we traveled over, along and under the Thames all within a couple of hours.
I reckon we've 'done' the Thames now....
Thanks Jago.
I’d bet money at least one of the foot tunnel lifts wasn’t working
@@RochRich.
Actually, I think both worked that day, although on one side at least you had to cram in among the bicycles that people like to ride down to tunnel in apparent contravention of the signs that say not to.
@@tsegulin
Pretty shocking that both the lifts actually worked. About the cycling, I live locally and it’s rare to see a dismounted bike in that tunnel. It’s one of those rules people accept gets ignored.
Apart from commuters, I think most of the cyclists are food delivery people because the food delivery apps allow you to order anywhere within a radius and don’t care that there’s a river between you and the restaurant. And Cutty Sark station / the DLR in general is difficult for so many bikes to get into.
@@RochRich.
Frankly I was just impressed that London had managed to build a foot tunnel under the river so long ago and that it was still being used!
I was in the Philippines and they use cable cares to connect areas for commuters in the city centre. It goes on for miles and miles cost about a £1 and means people from poorer areas can travel to work in the city which would previously been inaccessible by slow busses or too expensive. Loads of people use it. Seems a success.
They’re popular in poorer countries because they don’t cost that much to build or maintain compared to other forms of onrails public transportation, and they can be planned, built, and opened within a single election cycle so politicians can campaign for one and then campaign for the change it made the next election.
There are also some geographic features where they work comparably well, but those aren’t present in London.
I’ve never heard of this cable car for commuters in the Philippines.. where abouts is it?
IIRC there's one (or several) in Rio de Janeiro.
Mexico City also.
@@donkeysaurusrex7881 Much like monorails, they're right at the low end of the gadgetbahn scale, where they have their niche where they're prefectly suitable and appropriate and do very well... but trying to use them as more than a tourist attraction outside that niche very quickly becomes vastly more trouble than it's worth compared to using a regular bus, train, or in some cases even boat.
The high end is basically anything which starts going on about the advantages of 'pods'.
For reference, cablecars are pretty much maximum practical pod. Anything that is more pod than a cablecar will have substantial problems and by the time you're done fixing them all you'll have 'invented' either the train or the bicycle. Possibly got most of the way towards 'inventing' the car on the way past, too, depending on the specifics.
I used to be a regular commuter for many years. Working at the O2, living in Royal Victoria, this was the best way to transport, 10 minutes and you there! Even on the busy days, staff allowed me to skip the queue which I really appreciated. If traveling regularly, you can purchase a multi-ride ticket which is way cheaper!
You can pay to go on the roof of the dome (O2). That starts at £35. The London Eye starts at £29. This is about £4.
£6 each way and most go over and back as we did. So £12 for a few minutes viewing the rundown parts of London🤔🤔
@@rogerblackwood8815you could plan the trip to get the Jubilee/DLR to "somewhere else" though. Do not have to go over and back.
So, if it's a way to look at the skyline, agree it's far better value than either the O2 or the Eye as a trip.
Most cable cars in Europe cost four times that amount to ride on!
But only takes a few minutes.
Two things to keep in mind there are a lot fewer river crossings in East London, and you can take your bike with you at any time to Cable Car.
Living in Canning Town, I use cable car a few times every week to cross to Greenwich and continue cycling from there.
It's also fantastic that it is not crowded during rush hours.
Pretty sneaky of you sticking "clown car" in there as a pun on "cloud car". Well done.
IIRC this was a Boris Johnson vanity project from when he was mayor of London, and a pretty solid predictor of how he would goven as Prime Minister.
Basically "Ooh, shiny thing! Me want!...... Me bored now".
@@blethigg9320 I think we could say that Boris was "govened".....
Thats a bit of a character-based narrative, it wasn't born as a vanity project, it was a quick and cheap project to get people between the two Olympic Venues of the O2 and Excel Centre. Remember back in 2000 when the millenium dome exhibition closed after the billions of tax payers money was spent cleaning up the industrial land of Greenwich Penninsular? Guess what was meant to be built there in the 00s, a new district of nearly 15'000 inhabitants, by 2015 after the Olympics that had been revised upwards to 35'000. On the otherside of the Thames, the Royal Docks was too meant to see a large new district built called SilverTown Quay (complete with an aquarium that would stand up on the global stage), again this had 5000 homes planned in the 00s and post Olympics this was revised up slightly. The fact neither of these two masterplans have seen anywhere near the numbers of homes and offices built (Silvertown Quay is a zero) after some two decades is a failure of the fat cat private sector that consists of a handful of big players who have become addicted to 40% profit margins and no competition. Oh and just compare the Cable car, built in less than a year from planning to budge and compare it to the Rotherhithe Thames footbridge!
I think the problem is that we are looking at it as an unsuccessful transport project, where we should look at it as a tourist activity. It should operate tourist hours from say 10am to 10pm on weekdays and through to 11pm on Saturdays, and say 11am to 9pm on Sundays. It should also be taken out of TfLs portfolio and sold. I suspect the only reason it wasn't sold at the height of its popularity is that the sponsorship and ticket money more than covered operating costs.
@@chrisadye1590 It loses a fortune.
my dad who insists he isn't afraid of heights (He is deathly afraid of heights) went on this with me when it was still called the Emirates Cable Car, and safe to say he likely won't be choosing to return to it. Great view, though!
I have a feeling he reacted like my mum travelling the Prater ferris wheel in Vienna
I have some fear of heights but I like playing with it, so sky rides like this are some of my favorite tourist attractions--I ride them when I get the chance. But on my last visit to London it was a bit too far out of the way to justify a trip just to ride it. It's telling that the London Eye gets huge crowds but this doesn't.
I’m impressed that you have ridden this as much as you have, I also suffer with the fear of heights and couldn’t imagine riding the Cable Car
I enjoyed this - bonus points for getting through it without referencing the former mayor/PM responsible for it. I would have had difficulty not doing so.
If you were interested in making a video on the subject, I think it would be interesting to learn more about the Riverboat services - I'd be curious about who uses them, how they're funded (Uber sponsership?), and if they'd be worth using time-wise if they were included in the TfL's fare structure.
I used to get the cable car pretty regularly because it used to be (and might still be) free for parkrunners to use on a Saturday morning for those attending Victoria Dock Parkrun.
It is, although I think the new opening hours mean you'll only be able to use it after the run in future, not before
London Cable Car Multi-journey ticket
A Multi-journey ticket is £17 and can only be bought from London Cable Car ticket offices at the Terminals.
Multi-journey tickets can be used for 10 one-way journeys and are valid for 12 months from the date issued. They are not transferable from one guest to another.
same cost as a bus when brought that way, which I suppose isn't bad.
well that sounds like a bargain, coz I'd be happy to treat myself to a Dangleway ride about once a month just for the hell of it.
... and does make it more plausible for the hypothetical commuter, even an occasional one (assuming that mythical person both exists and knows of the multi journey ticket -- have TfL actually tried advertising this option?)
To be fair to the dangleway, it is quite a pleasant ride with friends especially at night, doesn’t take too long or cost too much but memorable. Quite fun if there’s no queue.
Advertisement was flawless, well done! Your Victorian Christmas Card episode is a staple for the upcoming season. Just wanted to say thanks
I used it once. At the last instant someone else got on. As the gondola began an unexpectedly steep ascent from the Greenwich end, this individual suddenly engaged in conversation with some invisible familiar. The higher the gondola rose, the more belligerent this conversation became. Outside was a vertiginous drop to the Thames, and I don't think the doors could be manually opened anyway. I was trapped. For 10 minutes or so I endured this often furious wrangling in what had become a very intimate and claustrophobic bubble. Finally, at the other end, the doors opened and he stormed off as though intent upon frightful vengeance. I gave him a few minutes head start. On reflection, it might've been a lot worse. He might've gone completely berserk. He might've been carrying a knife. I haven't used it since...
Absolute nightmare. Much worse than the nutter on the bus...
There are cameras. Security should have noticed.
@@OpenbaarVervoer2D Bit late if you're stuck in a box over the middle of the river at the time, if the other person had actually been violent.
Still, it's not like using any other mode of transport when such a situation arose would have made all that much difference, save perhaps being on foot or a bicycle...
@@OpenbaarVervoer2D What would they have noticed? Two blokes in a gondola and one's having a rant at the other. He didn't get violent or start vandalising it. He just sat there.
people that think cctv stops crime need to switch on
I bought a multi-rider ticket which isn’t bad value at £17 for 10 journeys but I struggled to use it over the course of a whole year, last year. After the 1st few times, it loses its novelty. The London Cable Car feels like it’s in the wrong place to really see the skyline. It would’ve been better in the west of the city/ Surrey suburbs. There are just better transport options in its current location, not just the tube but the river boats are better and make more sense too. When the Silvertown Tunnel opens and the SL4 bus comes with it, it really will be pointless. I did enjoy using the cable car at night though.
I've always wondered how the multi rider ticket works/looks like. is it similar to the bus carnet tickets?
@@amanda-we9fv Yes every time you use it, they clip a hole in the ticket so they know how many times it's been used. Also the ticket really stands out as it is purple. It was pretty worn out by the time I got to the 10th journey on it.
In Mexico City we currently have 3 lines (with others planned).
It was such an innovative way of getting around since the outskirts of this city are super hilly.
The same happened in Colombia and in other places. The cable car offers a very good alternative for navigating the hills.
However in London… well, yeah, I don’t think that really takes you anywhere 😅
I love taking friends that have not been to London much on this, it is very good value and a pleasant trip with great views.
Yet I do agree with the truth of the video.
In New York we have the Roosevelt Island Tram, which runs between said Island and 2nd Avenue and 60th street. Unlike this, there are only 2 cars that run independently but the 2 cars are massive compared to these little ski lift sized cars. It’s the same price as the subway and bus ($2.90). You could walk over to 3rd Avenue and 63rd street to take the F train one stop (it’s orders of magnitude faster, but you don’t get the nice view.)
Some ski areas like Squaw Valley (renamed Palisades Tahoe in 2021) in California have big cable cars similar to the Roosevelt Island one.
Love that. "FFS Clown Car" is pretty much what I heard when you said it's name properly the first time.
Cable cars are good public transport alternative in hilly or mountaineus cities. Where I live we have a cable car that runs from the main train station downtown, up to the university campus on top of the mountain. It also has a station (stop?) in the middle of the way. The cost of a ride is the same as a bus ride, and all season tickets and discounts for busses and trains apply.
it takes about 15 min. end to end including the stop in the middle station. A bus trip between the same locations on the winding mountain streets takes more than 30 minutes, depending of traffic.
The drawbacks are (like in London) that it doesn't work when the weather is windy, and during rush hours there is sometimes a long queue.
Right. Lima has like a dozen different cable car lines because it just makes sense in the highest-altitude capital in the world.
Very much seemed like something made for tourists more than anything. Although, it still seems like less tourists are using it now than before.
Made for tourists but plopped down in an area of London tourists don’t visit unless they’re going to the O2. Would have been a lot more successful if it was somewhere further west.
It’s also quite near to the Excel centre, which is always busy..
Made specifically for Olympics visitors, back in the day. Now it's there, and the Commonwealth Games have also been and gone, it is a landmark looking for a controlled reason to exist.
@@theblah12 that wouldn't have worked for the Olympics, which was the original and officially official raison d'être.
I used the cable car once to access a flight from Heathrow Airport. Sort of. And I was the pilot! I'm talking of course about the Emirates Flight Simulator that used to be at the south end of the cable car. I flew an Airbus 380 from Heathrow to Gatwick (I only had 45 minutes maximum) where I landed successfully on runway 26L. Unfortunately I couldn't cope with the foot brakes so we ran into the grass. It was fun, but the Simulator closed some time ago now. From what you, say the cable car may go soon too.
If you compare the Cable Car with the London Eye it seems a lot less popular - largely due to its location and consequent lack of visible London landmarks close by. Maybe the whole thing should be taken down and rebuilt between say London Bridge and the City or between Waterloo and Somerset House - that way the tourists would actually see it and want to ride it.
It should always have been somewhere central...
No idea what drove the business choice to plop it connecting two places that don't make any sense at all to connect.
I love the totally seamless transition to today's sponsor
As more of a view-loving flaneur who likes too explore obscure parts of London in detail most weekends, rather than a typical tourist, the cable car is right up my sky-alley. Something of a niche customer admittedly.
I used it up until recently as part of my regular commute. Travelling from Charlton to Canning Town, on my bike, I’d often use it (for free, as it is before 9.30am of you take your bike) between 9 and 9:30. To be honest some days I wouldn’t see another passenger, perhaps the odd other cyclist, and then you’d get the odd day when they’d be lots of visitors to the excel. The best deal not advertised very well (probably on purpose)is the multi journey ticket. 10 journeys in a year for £17. You can only buy this at the ticket office. They give you a card that they punch with a hole every time you use it. So odd in the TfL world of contactless payments.
I think the main reason it’s not popular is because it’s bloody high up, and therefore extremely scary.
It does come down to ground level so you can get on.
I can see similarities with Sydney's monorail. When it reaches about 25 years old, don't be surprised if it needs major overhaul but closes permanently.
I fully expect London to sell it off to the highest bidder, in about 10 years, rather than have to repair the useless thing...
Oh the irony of posting this during Storm Bert. Not sure many people will be travelling on it today!
Indeed... it is closed completely today (24/11) due to high winds.
@@AdamJackson89 boring health an safety people, I bet it be quite the ride up there !
I've got a friend who lives in Dorset who always makes a point of going on the cable car any time she comes to London just for the fun of it. But you can see why it's neither a convenient commuter route nor a tourist attraction. It's convenient for nowhere and the views are of building sites and skyscrapers. Unless you just want to go on a cable car, it's not worth going on. I can think of places where a cable car might be useful in London (Richmond station to Richmond Park for example -- there are some actual views there).
Trying to use Oyster to go across, stay on board, return and go across again to fully appreciate the view was not straight forward. Nowheresville to Nowhesreville's little sister. Found myself explaining to the other summer travellers what they were looking at. A great view of nothing seeing as most of the industry has closed, Thames shipping is minimal and everything else is big rectanguloid buildings apart from the dome, which is now dwarfed by tall structures. The fad for calling things by the dullards' names who sponsor them really grates - it's a cable car, it goes from the dome to the exhibition centre, and it croses the (as yet unsponsored) River Thames.
Oh no! Are we going to be calling it the River Tesco in a few years time?
It’s the most underrated attraction in London. I love it. There aren’t too many uncrowded novelties left in London. It serves as the boldness London once alluded to which it has now long lost (aka the proposed garden bridge which was never approved and began the end of bold London). It must never fall into disrepair and should be preserved. It needs to be promoted and more attractions need to be pointed out nearby
Another reason commuters wouldn’t use it is that it’s not reliable. As you say, it can’t operate in high winds, for which reason it’s closed today, as it has been several times recently. I would never go on it because I have absolutely no head for heights.
To be fair it is *particularly* windy today to the point you wouldn't be entirely surprised if regular public transit was disrupted (and perhaps it might have been were it not a sunday, and thus inevitably disrupted anyway).
They should open it in high winds and charge double. At this time of year the theme parks are closed and TFL would rake it in!
@@chinnyvision Totally; I'd go!
@@chinnyvision Legoland Windsor is open a lot over winter.
@@Art3free-3 I refuse to set foot in the place since they closed Windsor Safari Park. If I can't have a chimp rip off my car aerial, I'm not interested.
The cable car is extremely spooky in a way that shouldn’t be possible for a thing that is barely a decade old
Cloud Cars: Crimes against the Clouds
I live in Greenwich, about a mile from North Greenwich, and I’ve never used it. My sister and brother in law used it once, and they were disappointed to find that there was nothing of interest to see on the other side of the river.
I used it to get to the 02 a couple of weeks ago, and it's great! We made a specific trip change to use it.
Its completely impractical and silly.
It's a sensational view and I'll be bringing people to use it but it's absolutely not a transport hub
It was pretty busy when I went on it in July. But then it was very warm and sunny at the time. And you do get some nice views. If you're staying in Docklands, it's a very handy ride over to the other side of the river. I just used my Oystercard. It actually gives access to O2 and we used it to get over to the walk through to Greenwich. Yes, you can get on the underground but it gets pretty warm when on it. The Cloud is very handy for tourists... not travellers in a rush. As for politics, best avoided.
it's a tourist attraction!
@@CarolineFord1 An a not to shabby one If I'm fair to it. An according to TFL profitable.
It's a pretty handy way to get a bike across the river. Easier than the Uber boat or the Greenwich foot tunnel (even when the lifts are working).
First rule of public transport: Make connections. The Underground stations connect to Overground stations. Bus and tram stops connect to both and each other. They left out the connections to the cable car. I wonder if they had ever intended to finish building it?
Jago, until today, I had no idea there was even one species of shark to be found in the Thames, let alone five. Your contributions to the betterment of the human condition remain invaluable.
The best intro to surf shark yet
Thanks Boris. Also thanks for the water cannons and the garden bridge. What a legacy.
Boris is a moron and like all politicians loved to waste money which wasn’t his.
But I’ll defend the water cannons, they are a useful tool and it was the criminal-loving judges who made them useless by dictating that they couldn’t be used against violent rioters.
"... I just like historic ships"
Repeat my call for you to Collab with Drachinifel on the Jellico Special coal trains of WWI.
Silver lining: there was a plan to build this here in Prague. London was often used as an example of it being a really dumb idea. Now it finally got cancelled and there's gonna be a new tram line instead. Thanks, London, for your sacrifice. :-)
My wife and I travelled on it last year, purely as tourists. We did the return journey. And you're right, It was not being used very much. Since there were so few travellers on it the staff were able to give every customer their very own car. Maybe if they moved it more into central London and made it more a tourist attraction it would be better served.
Since it was part of the London Transport system we gave it the nickname of the "overhead underground".
Your response is lovely and endearing but until a recent rename earlier this year, the London travel system had a sprawling overground system of lines embedded in the same map as the cable car. That said, this is legitimately and significantly overground 😊
It is also a lovely date idea IMO. If there was a day pass on the route for a reasonable price, even capping the number of trips to say 10, feel it would attract a few people
'the staff were able to give every customer their very own car' - most cable cars around the world operate like that.
They have always given people their own car.
Moving it is actually not a bad idea. I think if it ran from the Isle of Dogs to Greenwich it would be a lot more popular. The only problem would be finding a suitable bit of land on the Greenwich side.
@@bertiesworld If the cable car system is busy enough, you're sharing with strangers.
Lol, back when this was still in the talks stage, I met a man who was working on the plans for it. I told him it was a bad idea because there's not much there. He replied, "the area will build up around it." I laughed. He was talking like they were opening up the very first rail station. I told him it was a waste of money and he wouldn't listen. 😂
Yup. Architects generally have that attitude, because they never have to live in what they build, and usually end up a world away afterwards on the next project. It's been said postwar Architects did more harm to the country than the Luftwaffe ever did.
Not all though (there's one in the family so I'm obligated to add that 😉)
"Snowy Snowy! I can see the pub from here!"
I'm sure I heard "FFS Clown Car" at one point. I think that's what I'm going to call it anyway
I was at an event at the Excel which lasted a couple of days, and using the cable car was incredibly handy to get over to the O2 for food etc.
Loved by visitors including myself and my family. Hope to visit again soon! Great view. Seriously, you should try it.
Using it at night, seeing the city all lit up, it felt very atmospheric. It reminded me of scenes in teen movies where they go on a ferris wheel after dark; maybe a good finale to a date night if you're in London.
The lost boys, hmm vampires. Thatll put you off it😂
I'm one who left London for a job 'oop North' 30 years ago, but have taken grandchildren across on a couple of occasions. Yes, it is unlikely to be a regular commuter route, but if properly marketed it would be as much of a 'bucket list' item as many others. Tower Bridge gets a lot of paying visitors; the Millennium Bridge from Tate Modern to St. Paul's is free, but entry to the sites at either end will cost you. I suggest that a day out incorporating Cutty Sark,the Greenwich Observatory and the Naval College would bring the cable car more passengers, especially if public transport from Greenwich Park to the IFS Cloud were a little clearer for country cousins and furriners.
Hangin’ with Hazzard on a Sunday.
Last time I was in London from Scotland I still had quite a few squids on my Oyster Card so decided during a very lovely day take the crossing there and back. Loved the views. Decided to come back in the evening, again stunning views. On all 4 journeys I had the cable car all too myself. I was in La Paz Bolivia not so long ago and their cable car system carries a quarter million people per day. We might be comparing apples and oranges but I would rather commute to work in a cable car than the tube.
Used it a few weeks ago after visiting Excel to get back to the O2, purely as a novelty.
This is London's best attraction. Beautiful views, relatively cheap price, no crowds and lines, no need to book in advance.
*Very* rare for a Lindon attraction 😂
As a non London resident, whenever I'm asked "what shall I do on my trip to London?", this is always my top suggestion.
I'm not aware that anyone I've suggested to has taken my advice.
10 years ago on my first trip to London I had to meet a friend who used to work in North Greenwich. I was coming from Victoria Station. I had to change to the Jubilee line at some point but one of the stairs was closed. In my mind, I thought that all connections to the Jubilee were closed, so I worked out what was my only way to get to my destination: Went to Tower Hill, then DLR to Royal Victoria and lastly..... the cable car.
I explained my situation, they looked at me oddly, and they let me on the cable car for free 😂
Been living here for 9 years and never used the service again. But I will never forget that day!
I expect nobody uses it because it costs too much to go from nowhere to some other nowhere.
My first trip was on a foggy December night - with an aircraft banking hard and close around lit up tower blocks then passing at cabin height on its way to London City - very much Klingon Bird-of-Prey vibes. Brilliant!
I took my son on it once as a tourist, and it was OK for what it was. It's a lot cheaper than the London Eye if for some reason you really want to spend a few minutes sitting in a moving pod that's very high up. I thought we'd be able to get to some of the other tourist stuff in Greenwich from it, but aside from the O2, pretty much everything else is right on the other end of the peninsula. I didn't know which bus to get, so ended up walking it. It took ages and we nearly got run over. Plus a pigeon shat on me while we were queuing up. Can't say it was the greatest experience of my life.
Imagine if pigeons had their own video hosting platform. You could have been seem by 100m feathered friends on Pootube.
FFS Clown Car station. LOL Jago you really took the mickey on that one and I'm all here for it.
1:24 Naughty Jago! It’s not called FFS is it!!
Or clown car for that matter.
I remember my first joke too
A quite rare use case but one I took advantage of on a cycle beer trip, I did a circuitous ride from the ferry house pub, Island Gardens under the foot tunnel, down the thames underneath the cable car down to the thames barrier then swift pint in hope and anchor charlton, over on the woolwich ferry, bike ride along the thames path then pop to Trinity Bouy Wharf for a craft ale, back over on the cable car with bike, then another pint down at the greenwich naval college old brewery. Also free with a bike before 09:30 on weekdays (not that I was boozing before 9:30 on a weekday) - it was really useful as you can't take your bike on the JL or navigate the out of order lifts on the foot tunnels, DLR is ok with bikes but with the cable car you are just you and bike, not having to navigate prams and the disgruntled commuters
oooh, can see the Silvertown tunnel entrance.
I like the cable car. Granted, I'm not from London, but it's handy for getting to the 02 Arena for events, as there are lots of Hotels at the docks. Apart from using it to hop from the docks to the 02 arena, however, I'm not sure what other purpose it serves. Still, that was the purpose, I guess, as both the 02 Arena and the Excel Centre were Olympic venues and needed a direct connection between the two sites for people attending the games.
Now there is very little reason unless you are attending a show at the Arena to travel between the two. If you were going to a convention you would likely have already been staying on the Dock's side anyway, unless you wanted to break the bank staying at the Intercontinental, and there aren't many other Hotel around the arena itself. So yeah it's a nice relic of the London 2012 games but maybe a bit unessary now.
As London visitor earlier in the year, I would have loved to ride the cable car for the view. IF I knew it existed. Calling it Cloud instead of simply Cable Car is idiocy. I would have loved to ride it for the view. IF it wasn't in the middle of nowhere, from one place tourists don't want to go to, to another place tourists don't want to go to. This is idiocy because a cable car is inherently a tourist thing.
Seems to suffer from bad marketing, and stupid location.
But the craziest thing to me is that only four passengers can make it profitable.
I think cloud refers to the service provided by the sponsor (as in cloud computing) rather than the cable car itself.
The "four passengers" thing refers to the average number of commuters using it in the hour after it opens at 7.00. Many more people, perhaps a few hundred tourists, use it later in the day. That, along with the sponsorship, makes it (just) profitable.
One of the most successful of these, perhaps not surprisingly, is at Walt Disney World. The monorail that was the original backbone of their internal transport network turns out to be absurdly expensive to build, and while they built an extension to Epcot, they didn't bother with any of the parks or resorts beyond that, relying instead on buses and ferryboats. But several years ago, they put up a ropeway network with similar vehicles to the London Cable Car, connecting Hollywood Studios, the south end of Epcot, and several of the hotel resorts in that area. It's free and it sounds like it gets a lot of traffic. Extending it further (particularly to the Disney Springs shopping area and the water parks, which are not too far from that area) seems like an obvious proposition but I haven't heard of plans to do so.
Right. I've avoided trying the "dangleway" out for years now. I'm going to go on it this week. Thanks, Jago.
Then you’d better hurry. There’s only 9 hours and 52 minutes remaining of this week!