GREENWICH: Pros and cons of cable car river crossing plans

BORIS Johnson says the planned cable car wire would provide "serene and joyful" journeys with "truly spectacular" views of London.

But is it worth the estimated £25m? And what do residents and tourists think of the idea?

We have been out chatting to people about the cable car proposals, and calculating the time which could be saved by gliding over the Thames rather than crawling under it.

THE PLANS

The cable car wire would lie 50m above the water and carry 2,500 passengers per hour - in each direction.

The journey time from the O2 to the ExCeL centre would be five minutes.

Cars would cross the river every 30 seconds meaning passenger capacity would be equal to 50 buses per hour.

THE CURRENT JOURNEY

We timed how long it takes to travel from the O2 to the ExCeL using current public transport links.

- North Greenwich station to Canning Town DLR station - 8 minutes

- Walk between platforms - 2 minutes

- Canning Town DLR station to Custom House - 4 minutes

- Walk from station to ExCeL exhibition centre - 2 minutes

TOTAL JOURNEY TIME - 16 minutes

This is 11 minutes longer than the proposed cable car journey. But this does not account for any cable car queues at the riverside!

CABLE CAR DISASTERS

All of the people we spoke to said safety is not a concern of theirs. But the history books suggest they should maybe think again:

- In 1983 an oil rig passing underneath the Singapore Cable Car system struck the wire. Two cabins plunged 55 metres into the sea, killing seven people.

- In 1998 an American military aircraft sliced through a cable car line in Cavalese, Italy, killing 20 people. The plane's pilot and navigator were kicked out of the marines.

- Twenty people were killed in the French Alps in 1999 when a cable car taking staff, cleaners and maintenance workers to an observatory fell 80 metres to the valley below.

- Four tourists were killed and 11 injured when three cabins of the Darjeeling Ropeway in West Bengal, India, slipped off the cables in 2003.

Alan Smith, aged 26, from Charlton Park, Charlton

"I would pay good money to cross the river on something like that - not just as a means of crossing the river - but for a bit of fun.

"I think I would be happy to pay up to £15. It would certainly beat travelling on the horrible, hot, stuffy underground."

Annette Ojomo, 29, from Greenwich

"I would be happy to pay £5.50 to go across the river. I hear you would be able to use your Oyster card which is a great idea.

"I would use it - without a doubt."

Alex Gladwell, a 28-year-old copywriter from Hackney

“I would be willing to pay £2 or £3 to cross the river.

"However, I would be put off if the cable car became too much of an eyesore and a tourist attraction which attracts huge crowds of people."