Thames Speed Restrictions

On Thu, 2008-01-03 at 03:34 -0800, Rob wrote:
> If this story in the Evening Standard is true it looks like a the Port
> of London Authority are going to ruin all the improvements Thames

I wasn't aware that there was a speed limit on the lower part of the
Thames - remember the recent Top Gear challenge to get to London City.
As far as I knew there was a wash limit - to prevent damage to banks
etc. I used to take the Clipper to work and it is a great way to
travel.

However, the picture there is of a RIB, and the article also mentions
RIB trips. The tourist trip RIB boat often turns just beside where I
live, and they tear around at high speed doing carving turns in the
middle of the river. I've often thought it is an accident waiting to
happen. Pity that the Clipper service seems to have been caught up in
the rules aimed at restricting the RIB (that's my reading of this).

In message <4ikqn3h4g8is1ar9741u3m56t9bdmp97tq@>, Richard
<surbitonian@> writes

>Perhaps there are other examples but I'm always amazed about the
>services on Lake Zurich. Both problems you mention are solved there,
>although is a lake less affected by weather than a tidal river? Or
>are they mooring in a way that some other countries wouldn't allow in
>passenger service? (Not suggesting that they are.)

The big difference on the Thames is the tide: both the rise and fall,
and the strength of the tidal flow.

In somewhere like Venice, where there is normally very little difference
between high and low tide, and only very gentle tidal flows, water buses
can dock in seconds and are held by a single rope in a double
figure-of-eight. The total time at most landing stages, including
docking, is often no more than one minute (i.e. comparable to tube
stops).

--
Paul Terry

On 4 Jan, 12:32, "Paul Scott" <notvalidpmsc...@> wrote:
> "Paul Terry" <nos...@musonix.> wrote in message
>
> news:QW4ZcBEQ5dfHFAc0@main.machine...
>
>
>
>
>
> > In message <4ikqn3h4g8is1ar9741u3m56t9bdmp9...@>, Richard
> > <surbiton...@> writes
>
> >>Perhaps there are other examples but I'm always amazed about the
> >>services on Lake Zurich.  Both problems you mention are solved there,
> >>although is a lake less affected by weather than a tidal river?  Or
> >>are they mooring in a way that some other countries wouldn't allow in
> >>passenger service?  (Not suggesting that they are.)
>
> > The big difference on the Thames is the tide: both the rise and fall, and
> > the strength of the tidal flow.
>
> > In somewhere like Venice, where there is normally very little difference
> > between high and low tide, and only very gentle tidal flows, water buses
> > can dock in seconds and are held by a single rope in a double
> > figure-of-eight. The total time at most landing stages, including docking,
> > is often no more than one minute (i.e. comparable to tube stops).
>
> It'll be all right by 2012 though, Ken is going to re-arrange the tides so
> that high water slack always occurs in the morning & evening peaks, so that
> berthing is much easier...
>
> If that is succesful, one man operated bendy-ferries will be introduced,
> these will stretch right across the river, from bank to bank, but won't have
> any effect at all on other traffic...
>
> Paul S- Hide quoted text -
>
> - Show quoted text -

Of course there will be cycle lanes too.