Transport for London: Funding

Lord West of Spithead Excerpts

Thursday 23rd June 2022 Lords Chamber

[The Lord Speaker (Lord McFall of Alcluith)]

My Lords, we will now move on—oh, I am sorry, the noble Lord, Lord West, wants to ask a question.

[Lord West of Spithead (Lab)]

My Lords, one of the areas that has not received sufficient investment is transport on the river, which I used during the Tube strike the other day. It worked brilliantly, but there are not enough boats—

[Noble Lords]

Ships!

[Lord West of Spithead (Lab)]

Those are boats; ships are rather different. I will have to give a seminar on that. But will there be any more investment in river transport? In particular, will the Government not pass legislation, given that rules implemented by the MCA are making it impossible for some older and most marvellous heritage craft to use the river?

[Viscount Younger of Leckie (Con)]

I also wish the river were used more; I am the beneficiary of it, in that I use what I would call a ferry from Battersea Power Station up to the London Eye. My understanding is that this service is privately owned and not funded by the Government. The noble Lord makes an extremely good point; it is a valuable service, particularly during the strikes, when more people have needed to use it. I hope that more people will look at the river as a permanent means of transport.