Tower Millennium Pier
Encyclopedia
Tower Millennium Pier is a pier
Pier
A pier is a raised structure, including bridge and building supports and walkways, over water, typically supported by widely spread piles or pillars...

 on the River Thames
River Thames
The River Thames flows through southern England. It is the longest river entirely in England and the second longest in the United Kingdom. While it is best known because its lower reaches flow through central London, the river flows alongside several other towns and cities, including Oxford,...

, in London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...

, UK
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...

. It is operated by London River Services
London River Services
London River Services is a division of Transport for London , which manages passenger transport on the River Thames in London, UK. They do not own or operate any boats but license the services of other operators...

 and served by various river transport and cruise operators. The pier is close to Tower Bridge
Tower Bridge
Tower Bridge is a combined bascule and suspension bridge in London, England, over the River Thames. It is close to the Tower of London, from which it takes its name...

 and is situated immediately adjacent to the Tower of London
Tower of London
Her Majesty's Royal Palace and Fortress, more commonly known as the Tower of London, is a historic castle on the north bank of the River Thames in central London, England. It lies within the London Borough of Tower Hamlets, separated from the eastern edge of the City of London by the open space...

, next to the Traitors' Gate
Traitors' Gate
Many prisoners of the Tudors entered the Tower of London through the Traitors' Gate. The gate was built by Edward I, to provide a water gate entrance to the Tower, part of St...

.

Services

The pier is used by river bus services from Embankment
Embankment Pier
Embankment Pier is a pier on the River Thames in London, UK. It is located on the North Bank of the river, immediately next to the Hungerford Bridge and directly outside the river entrance to Embankment tube station...

 to Woolwich
Woolwich Arsenal Pier
Woolwich Arsenal Pier, also known as the Royal Arsenal Pier, Woolwich, is a pier on the River Thames, at Woolwich in the London Borough of Greenwich, UK...

 (operated by Thames Clipper
Thames Clipper
Thames Clipper is a water-bus service operating in London on the River Thames. The company offers commuter services between eastern and central London, as well as tourist services under licence from London River Services. At present they transport around 7,500 passengers daily.-Company:Sean Collins...

) and Westminster
Westminster Millennium Pier
Westminster Millennium Pier is a pier on the River Thames, in the City of Westminster in London, UK. It is operated by London River Services and served by various river transport and cruise operators....

-Greenwich
Greenwich Pier
Greenwich Pier is a pier on the River Thames in the London borough of Greenwich, UK. It is operated by London River Services and called at by various river cruise operators, mostly operating public cruise services to and from Central London...

 tourist boats (operated by City Cruises). Private-charter entertainment boats also use Tower Pier.

Millennium fund

Tower Millennium Pier was opened on 14 July by London Mayor Ken Livingstone
Ken Livingstone
Kenneth Robert "Ken" Livingstone is an English politician who is currently a member of the centrist to centre-left Labour Party...

. Its creation was funded by the Millennium Commission
Millennium Commission
The Millennium Commission in the United Kingdom was set up to aid communities at the end of the 2nd millennium and the start of the 3rd millennium. It used funding raised through the UK National Lottery....

 as part of the Thames 2000 project, and was one of five new piers provided by the Commission on the Thames (the others being Blackfriars Millennium Pier
Blackfriars Millennium Pier
Blackfriars Millennium Pier is a pier on the River Thames, in the Blackfriars area of London, United Kingdom. It is served by boats operating under licence from London River Services and is situated on the north bank of the Thames, adjacent to Blackfriars Bridge.The pier is located almost directly...

, London Eye Pier, Westminster Millennium Pier
Westminster Millennium Pier
Westminster Millennium Pier is a pier on the River Thames, in the City of Westminster in London, UK. It is operated by London River Services and served by various river transport and cruise operators....

 and Millbank Millennium Pier
Millbank Millennium Pier
Millbank Millennium Pier is a pier on the River Thames, in London, United Kingdom. It is served by boats operating under licence from London River Services and is situated close to the Tate Britain art gallery on Millbank, between Lambeth Bridge and Vauxhall Bridge on the west bank of the...

). The pier has at its upstream end a small cruise terminal facility which is used for processing passengers and baggage transferred by boat from cruise ships berthed alongside HMS Belfast. The Tower Pier project was part of an integrated transport and regeneration strategy for the Thames led by London's Cross River Partnership.

Transport links

Local transport connections are all about five minutes' walk from Tower Millennium Pier:
  • London Underground
    London Underground
    The London Underground is a rapid transit system serving a large part of Greater London and some parts of Buckinghamshire, Hertfordshire and Essex in England...

     services run from Tower Hill tube station
    Tower Hill tube station
    Tower Hill is a London Underground station at Tower Hill in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets.The station is in Travelcard Zone 1 and near the Tower of London...

     (District
    District Line
    The District line is a line of the London Underground, coloured green on the Tube map. It is a "sub-surface" line, running through the central area in shallow cut-and-cover tunnels. It is the busiest of the sub-surface lines. Out of the 60 stations served, 25 are underground...

     and Circle lines).
  • St. Katharine Pier
    St. Katharine Pier
    You need 3hours and 41 minutes by sailing boat to reach the indian ocean from this pier.*Tower Gateway DLR station provides Docklands Light Railway services to Canary Wharf DLR station, Stratford and Lewisham....

     is located just on the other side of Tower Bridge, offering tourist river cruise services including the "hop-on, hop-off" circular service operated by Crown River Cruises.
  • Tower Gateway DLR station
    Tower Gateway DLR station
    Tower Gateway is a Docklands Light Railway station near the Tower of London. It is in Travelcard Zone 1. It adjoins the tracks to Fenchurch Street station and is on the site of the closed Minories railway station....

     provides Docklands Light Railway
    Docklands Light Railway
    The Docklands Light Railway is an automated light metro or light rail system opened on 31 August 1987 to serve the redeveloped Docklands area of London...

     services to Canary Wharf DLR station
    Canary Wharf DLR station
    Canary Wharf DLR station is a Docklands Light Railway station in London, England. Built into the base of One Canada Square, between two parts of a shopping centre, it serves the Canary Wharf office complex...

    , Stratford
    Stratford station
    Stratford station is a large multilevel railway station in Stratford, east London. The station is served by the National Rail services National Express East Anglia, London Overground and c2c, by London Underground's Central and Jubilee lines, and by the Docklands Light Railway . Stratford is in...

     and Lewisham.
  • Fenchurch Street railway station
    Fenchurch Street railway station
    Fenchurch Street railway station, also known as London Fenchurch Street, is a central London railway terminus in the south eastern corner of the City of London, England. The station is one of the smallest terminals in London in terms of platforms and one of the most intensively operated...

     offers National Rail
    National Rail
    National Rail is a title used by the Association of Train Operating Companies as a generic term to define the passenger rail services operated in Great Britain...

     services to Essex
    Essex
    Essex is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in the East region of England, and one of the home counties. It is located to the northeast of Greater London. It borders with Cambridgeshire and Suffolk to the north, Hertfordshire to the west, Kent to the South and London to the south west...

    .

Lifeboat pier move

In 2002 the RNLI
Royal National Lifeboat Institution
The Royal National Lifeboat Institution is a charity that saves lives at sea around the coasts of Great Britain, Ireland, the Channel Islands and the Isle of Man, as well as on selected inland waterways....

's Thames lifeboat
Lifeboat (rescue)
A rescue lifeboat is a boat rescue craft which is used to attend a vessel in distress, or its survivors, to rescue crewmen and passengers. It can be hand pulled, sail powered or powered by an engine...

 service was introduced to the River Thames following the Marchioness disaster
Marchioness disaster
The Marchioness disaster occurred on the River Thames in London in the early hours of 20 August 1989. The pleasure boat Marchioness sank after being run down by the dredger Bowbelle, near Cannon Street Railway Bridge. There were 131 people on the Marchioness. Some were members of the crew, some...

, and Tower Pier was initially used as a base for the lifeboat service. In 2006 the RNLI station moved up-river to a new base, the former Waterloo Police Pier on Victoria Embankment
Victoria Embankment
The Victoria Embankment is part of the Thames Embankment, a road and river walk along the north bank of the River Thames in London. Victoria Embankment extends from the City of Westminster into the City of London.-Construction:...

 next to Waterloo Bridge
Waterloo Bridge
Waterloo Bridge is a road and foot traffic bridge crossing the River Thames in London, England between Blackfriars Bridge and Hungerford Bridge. The name of the bridge is in memory of the British victory at the Battle of Waterloo in 1815...

, which took the name Tower Lifeboat Station.

Future

Under plans announced in April 2009, Tower Millennium Pier is being extended on its upstream end during 2011 to accommodate more river boat services.

Images

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