Yes, that silly Cable Car thingy in London that has made it on to the tube map and now rips your Oyster off to the tune of £4.30 is now going public.
It had been on the radar for some while for quite a few of us off here but for various reasons stayed unclimbed by all but Kevin, I believe. A week came at the end of May where the tides would be favourable and both OliverGT and myself had emailed to say we were going to do it that week. I was away with work when Oli went and he kindly gave me a bit of a heads up on what to expect, so major thanks for that. Having been on the piss with work for 4 days, I arrived back in London and thought I'd leave it until the next tides suited as I was shattered. To this day, I don't know how I didn't just fall asleep on the sofa but somehow I found myself awake still at midnight. Nothing for it then, saddle up and head to Greenwich...
Bit of info first courtesy of the wikimonster
Emirates Air Line (also known as the Thames Cable Car) is a Transport for London (TfL) gondola lift cable car link across the River Thames in London built with sponsorship from the air carrier Emirates. The service opened on the 28 June 2012.
The scheme, announced in July 2010 and estimated to cost £60 million, comprises a 1-kilometre (0.62 mi) cable car line that crosses the river from the Greenwich Peninsula to the Royal Docks. Construction began in August 2011. The cable car is based on Monocable Detachable Gondola (MDG) technology, a system which uses a single cable for both propulsion and support, such as that used on the Caracas Aerial Tramway. The MDG system is reportedly cheaper and quicker to install than a more complex three-cable system which would allow for larger-capacity cars.
It is the first urban cable car in the United Kingdom. Designed by Wilkinson Eyre Architects, it crosses the river at a height up to 90 metres (300 ft), higher than that of the Millennium Dome. The cable car provides a crossing every 15 seconds carrying up to 2,500 passengers per hour in each direction, equivalent to the capacity of 50 buses. The cable car can also convey bicycles and passengers are able to use Oyster Cards to pay for their journeys.
A planning application was submitted to the London Borough of Newham in October 2010 for the "erection of a cable car for the length of 1,100 metres [3,600 ft] over the River Thames from North Woolwich Peninsula to Royal Victoria Dock at a minimum clearance of 54.1 metres [177 ft] above mean high water springs". The application listed the structures planned for the service on the north side of the Thames as an 87-metre (285 ft) north main tower at Clyde Wharf, a 66-metre (217 ft) north intermediate tower south of the Docklands Light Railway tracks roughly mid-way between Canning Town and West Silvertown stations, a two-storey gondola station and "boat impact protection" in Royal Victoria Dock. South of the river there is a 60-metre (200 ft) main support tower and a boarding station within the O2 Arena car park.
Branding
The Emirates Air Line route was introduced onto the London Tube map in June 2012. It is the first sponsor to feature a company logo on the London Underground Tube Map. Similarly to the presentation of the DLR, the cable car is represented on the map as a triple red stripe rather than a solid line, to distinguish it from Underground lines. The official logo is a red cartouche shape containing the Emirates logo and the TfL roundel, to reflect the corporate sponsorship by the airline. As with the marketing of the British Airways London Eye, the transit of the cable car is referred to as a "flight" and marketing literature borrows language from the airline industry, such as referring to tickets as "boarding passes".
And on to the Photos. Not many, unfortunately, as my camera threw a Canon low light strop.
I arrived a bit too early for a low enough tide, so I sat on a bench here, took in the view and timed the secca.
Getting close.. (forgive the focus on this one)
Finally there
The very end
Me, covered in Thames mud
Obligatory pano
Thank you for looking, I loved this climb and hope some people I don't know about made it up before it was all locked and the bridge dismantled.
It had been on the radar for some while for quite a few of us off here but for various reasons stayed unclimbed by all but Kevin, I believe. A week came at the end of May where the tides would be favourable and both OliverGT and myself had emailed to say we were going to do it that week. I was away with work when Oli went and he kindly gave me a bit of a heads up on what to expect, so major thanks for that. Having been on the piss with work for 4 days, I arrived back in London and thought I'd leave it until the next tides suited as I was shattered. To this day, I don't know how I didn't just fall asleep on the sofa but somehow I found myself awake still at midnight. Nothing for it then, saddle up and head to Greenwich...
Bit of info first courtesy of the wikimonster
Emirates Air Line (also known as the Thames Cable Car) is a Transport for London (TfL) gondola lift cable car link across the River Thames in London built with sponsorship from the air carrier Emirates. The service opened on the 28 June 2012.
The scheme, announced in July 2010 and estimated to cost £60 million, comprises a 1-kilometre (0.62 mi) cable car line that crosses the river from the Greenwich Peninsula to the Royal Docks. Construction began in August 2011. The cable car is based on Monocable Detachable Gondola (MDG) technology, a system which uses a single cable for both propulsion and support, such as that used on the Caracas Aerial Tramway. The MDG system is reportedly cheaper and quicker to install than a more complex three-cable system which would allow for larger-capacity cars.
It is the first urban cable car in the United Kingdom. Designed by Wilkinson Eyre Architects, it crosses the river at a height up to 90 metres (300 ft), higher than that of the Millennium Dome. The cable car provides a crossing every 15 seconds carrying up to 2,500 passengers per hour in each direction, equivalent to the capacity of 50 buses. The cable car can also convey bicycles and passengers are able to use Oyster Cards to pay for their journeys.
A planning application was submitted to the London Borough of Newham in October 2010 for the "erection of a cable car for the length of 1,100 metres [3,600 ft] over the River Thames from North Woolwich Peninsula to Royal Victoria Dock at a minimum clearance of 54.1 metres [177 ft] above mean high water springs". The application listed the structures planned for the service on the north side of the Thames as an 87-metre (285 ft) north main tower at Clyde Wharf, a 66-metre (217 ft) north intermediate tower south of the Docklands Light Railway tracks roughly mid-way between Canning Town and West Silvertown stations, a two-storey gondola station and "boat impact protection" in Royal Victoria Dock. South of the river there is a 60-metre (200 ft) main support tower and a boarding station within the O2 Arena car park.
Branding
The Emirates Air Line route was introduced onto the London Tube map in June 2012. It is the first sponsor to feature a company logo on the London Underground Tube Map. Similarly to the presentation of the DLR, the cable car is represented on the map as a triple red stripe rather than a solid line, to distinguish it from Underground lines. The official logo is a red cartouche shape containing the Emirates logo and the TfL roundel, to reflect the corporate sponsorship by the airline. As with the marketing of the British Airways London Eye, the transit of the cable car is referred to as a "flight" and marketing literature borrows language from the airline industry, such as referring to tickets as "boarding passes".
And on to the Photos. Not many, unfortunately, as my camera threw a Canon low light strop.
I arrived a bit too early for a low enough tide, so I sat on a bench here, took in the view and timed the secca.
Getting close.. (forgive the focus on this one)
Finally there
The very end
Me, covered in Thames mud
Obligatory pano
Thank you for looking, I loved this climb and hope some people I don't know about made it up before it was all locked and the bridge dismantled.
