Was on the very final sailing last night. James Newman left North Woolwich at 20:00 precisely to the sound of Vera Lynn singing “We’ll meet again” over the tannoy - a bittersweet moment as many of the ferry staff were also retiring/redundant yesterday (3 ferries being replaced by 2, both of which will be ‘lean’ crewed). James Newman’s engineer was one who was retiring after 21 years service in his case. For the final crossing, we had the run of the ship including the engine room and car deck. The crossing was very leisurely, with the boat doing repeated circles in mid-river and sounding the horn non-stop, as well as sirens and whistles coming from both terminals.
I popped down to have a final ride on Tuesday. It'll be interesting what the replacements look like, the massive underfloor area for pedestrians isn't needed now, especially with the DLR extension
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These old ones were just in service as new ones when I rode the ferry for the first time.
Face bovvered ?
;0)
https://853london.com/2018/05/17/new-woolwich-ferry-vessels-take-to-the-water-for-the-first-time/
The new date is “early January” though TfL also state “there were some teething problems we encountered during testing but services will resume operation before mid-January at the very latest (by 15/1/19).” The website still states late December.
http://www.fromthemurkydepths.co.uk/2018/12/30/woolwich-ferry-reopening-delayed-possibly-to-mid-january/
(I know I might have a few in this as well ;-) ).
When the ferry stopped operating last October the intention was to have new boats and terminal equipment up and running by the end of December.
http://www.fromthemurkydepths.co.uk/2019/01/15/woolwich-ferry-misses-another-opening-deadline/
Will crossrail open before the ferry?