WATER TAXIS

Evening Post, Volume CXVI, Issue 147, 19 December 1933, Page 3

WATER TAXIS

ON FATHER THAMES

Ages ago the ferry over the Thames was put out of action by bridges, but now the Thames is to have a "taxi" service of fast launches, which, unlike tho Sydney harbour ferries, will not fear any bridge. For they will be cheaper than any land service save certain tramcars.

Early in the- New Year, a> fleet of fast and luxurious laundhes will be plying to a regular time-table on tho river 'in swift emulation of the • lost tribe of watermen, who, in the centuries of old, rowed passengers hither and thither. One could think of several less attractive ways of reaching a riverside destination, especially on a Igolden summer day when Father Thames looks his best, and the." muddy banks seem almbst clean.

The proposed route is from Hammersmith to Greenwich, taking in Putney (so go to Putney), Chelsea, Lambeth, Westminster, and Tower Pier, and there will be an eight-ininute service by launches C 5 feet long, with armchair accommodation for 100 passengers. Additional "eomfoTts" on board will in» elude a fully ©quipped saloon, in which stimulating refreshments will sftways be on tap. , What bus or tram or train could hold out such-an inducement as this? Moreover, when it is considered that the promoters intend to fix a rate of fanes cheaper per mile than any other form of London transport, except the twopenny midday trams, tho picture would seem to bq complete. The launches, which are to bo "almost silent," are designed for a speed of at least eighteen knots) and should perform each single journey in no more than 24, minutes —a great saying of timo to feverish business men.

And that is not all. Each unit of the fleet has been so planned that should a' state of emergency arise (such as war or revolution or' anything disagreeable of that kind) it could be quickly equipped with Very powerful engines, and guns..for river and coastal patrol purposes. The service, which will commence directly the Board of Trade has granted the necessary certificates, is to be quit« distinct from the system of water i buses projected by the London ■Passenger Transport Board. ; It is to be entirely a private enterprise operated by Thanes Taxis (1933), Ltd.