Water Transport

British Waterways London manages 100 miles of canals and navigable rivers stretching from Rickmansworth down to Brentford in the west, from Hayes to Limehouse through central London, and from Limehouse to Bishop's Stortford and Hertford in the Lee and Stort Valleys.

This network provides a valuable and unique resource for alternatives to road and rail transport. Opportunities exist not just for freight but also for public transport in addition to the already vibrant leisure use.

Public Transport

The Regent's Canal in central London is already used for public transport with the long established London Waterbus Company providing an hourly service between Camden, London Zoo and Little Venice and the new summer service of canoe taxis from Little Venice. There are also trip and restaurant boats running from Paddington and Camden.

The lock free section of the Lee Navigation between Limehouse Basin and Old Ford Lock provides great potential for the introduction of water taxis and water buses to service the Olympic Park and Stratford City with connections to the DLR and tube network. Whilst there are no services provided at the moment, the opportunity is there for operators to establish a service in this area.

Freight

Modern environmental concerns, added to the growing pressure on London's transport infrastructure, have led many to look at how the waterways can be brought back into use for freight.

Water transport is intrinsically 'greener' than road haulage, but recent studies have shown that it can also be cheaper. We are focusing our efforts on areas of particular opportunity, such as the west London canal network, River Lee Navigation, West India Docks and Lower Lea Valley. Working closely with Tfl and other partners we have identified a number of niche markets, such as construction materials and recyclates, where non-time sensitive cargoes can be taken off the capital's already congested roads.

The development of Canary Wharf has already shown how construction materials can be moved by barge, and our regeneration of the adjacent Wood Wharf site will be an exemplar of best practice in terms of sustainable transport. Water transport is also an attractive solution for moving spoil away from the planned Crossrail project, via West India Docks and even, perhaps, the Grand Union Canal at Paddington.

West London's canal network offers some particularly exciting opportunities, combining canalside light industry, lock-free waterway, a new working wharf at Denham and Powerday's new recycling centre at Old Oak Sidings. Working with Tfl we have begun a series of infrastructure improvements and believe that this waterway could feasibly carry over 500,000 tonnes of recyclates per year.

However, perhaps the biggest opportunity is around the planned Olympic Park where we are working with the Olympic Development Authority, Port of London Authority and other stakeholders to bring construction traffic into the heart of the planned Olympic Zone. If successful we believe this could kick-start a water freight revival across the region.

Contact

For information about the canals and navigable rivers under British Waterway's control in London and how you might start a public transport or freight operation, please contact British Waterways London on 020 7985 7200 or email enquiries.london@britishwaterways.co.uk

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