Despite having lived around the Tower Hamlets area for more than 2 years, I never realised there were commuter boat services on the Thames. I’d always thought all the boats that regularly ply the River Thames were catered for tourists.

I didn’t discover it until a paranoid friend who wasn’t keen on Tubing post-July 7th told me about it. Since the weather was great two weekends ago, I decided to try it out.

The journey from Tower of London (Tower Gateway on the DLR) to Masthouse Terrace Pier (Mudchute on the DLR) took only slightly more than 15 minutes, which is much faster and more convenient than the DLR.

The main commuter boat services run from Savoy Pier (for Embankment) in the west, all the way to Greenwich Pier in the east, on weekdays (first boats c.6.20am) as well as weekends and bank holidays (first boat at c.9.30am). They even have Carnet-type discounted set of 10 tickets.

The downsides are the more limited hours of operation, the more expensive fares, and the less frequent service. But the friendly Pier master at St Katharine’s Pier told me that some people commute into Central London from Greenwich save c.300 pounds on annual travel fares, and get into work much quicker via boat than tube. So it might be worthwhile checking out the boat service if you live further out along the river.

For the casual traveller, if you want to play on the transportational safe side, enjoy some sunshine, have a scenic journey, or just try something different, you could try hopping on a boat the next time you need to get around town.

Check out London River Services Timetable for more information.

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