TfL Silvertown Tunnel cycle bus consultation a ‘box-ticking exercise’ say campaigners

Plans for a cyclists-only bus service to shuttle passengers through the Blackwall and Silvertown Tunnels have been described as “a box-ticking exercise” by campaigners, as Transport for London (TfL) is accused of using it to conceal the lack of “real provision for cyclists in this project”.

TfL announced it was launching a consultation into the proposed scheme yesterday (July 17), with the mayor and the transport authority having committed to delivering an alternative cross-river option for cyclists when approving the Silvertown Tunnel’s construction in 2016.

The two options proposed for the service, which would take cyclists through the Silvertown Tunnel between the Royal Docks and Greenwich and Blackwall Tunnel towards Canary Wharf, are to have a vehicle which allows cyclists and bikes on board or which has a bike trailer fitted to the back.

London’s walking and cycling commissioner, Will Norman, said: “Making cycling easier and more attractive to Londoners is a top priority for the mayor. These plans will mean that cyclists will benefit from easier travel between the Greenwich Peninsula and Silvertown, enabling more people to make the switch to active travel and helping to build a better, greener London for everyone.”

Campaigners have raised doubts about the effectiveness of either option, and questioned whether they are being used to mask the lack of cycling provision included in the Silvertown Tunnel project.

Simon Munk, head of campaigns at London Cycling Campaign, said: “We know what happens when you ask people cycling to ‘wait for a bus and then get on it to get across a river’.

“London tried it with the Dartford crossing in the 1960s, and again with the cable car more recently. People cycling don’t tend to want to wait, pay for, then have to board some other mode of transport.

“We’re desperately short of cycle - and walking and wheeling - crossings in east London, and we’d urge everyone to reply to this consultation telling TfL about how they might best design this shuttle bus service, but also to highlight the need for other, better, proper river crossings in east London – at Tower Bridge and in other locations.

“This is a climate crisis, and we need to start putting walking, cycling and public transport first and work out ways to reduce demand for motor vehicles in London – not enable more of them.”

Neil Robertson, group coordinator at Greenwich Cyclists, described the consultation as “a box-ticking exercise by TfL with a substandard proposal which, if it goes ahead, will be scrapped as a cost saving within a year or so of launch.”

Mr Robertson added there is a need for “suitable infrastructure” to support cycling needs, including reallocating a bore of the tunnel for a clean solution, as called for by both Newham and Greenwich councils.

Dominic Leggett, from Stop the Silvertown Tunnel Coalition, accused the proposal of being used “to create the illusion of provision for cyclists in this project, in order to conceal the omission of any real provision for cyclists in this project”.

“An occasional bike bus - a solution we already know to have failed at the Dartford Tunnel - will not future-proof Silvertown. Further, opening the Silvertown Tunnel to general traffic, and banning bikes, as planned, will certainly, according to TfL’s own figures, lead to higher CO2 emissions and more dangerous air pollution,” he said.

Mr Leggett said the group is calling on TfL to repurpose the Silvertown Tunnel for public transport and active travel only, and to invest in bike tracks and public transport priority along the approaches to the tunnel.

The scheme has previously come under-fire from councils, campaigners and academics due its potential impact on air pollution and carbon emissions.

Mr Khan and TfL say it will help ease congestion around the Blackwall Tunnel, with a higher frequency of zero-emission buses and a toll intended to ensure there is no overall increase in traffic levels.