London’s cable car hours may be slashed as so few people are using it in the early morning.
There were just four contactless and Oyster journeys on the cable car in each direction during its first hour of operation each day between August 2023 and 2024.
On average 20 customers used the service between 7am and 8am when paper tickets were factored in - a drop in the ocean compared to the 2,500 passengers it can hold each hour.
The latest Transport for London data shows that 49570 people travelled on the cable car in the first two weeks of June.
City Hall had initially predicted that the cable car would carry around “two million passengers per year” in 2011.
Transport for London has said operating the service when it is almost empty is “neither environmentally nor financially sustainable” and it is hoping to revise its opening hours.
TfL added: "These changes are part of our work to deliver better value for money and ensure customer safety by both matching services to current demand and enabling an additional maintenance window which will further improve the reliability of the service."
Under the plans would open at 8am on Monday to Friday and 9am on Friday and Saturdays. Sunday services would continue to open at 9am.
A one-way trip currently costs £6 for adults or £3 from children aged 5 to 15.
Since the 2012 London Olympics, the cable cars have adorned the sky between North Greenwich and the Royal Docks.
The £60 million gondola line, the only one of its kind in the capital, crosses the River Thames over a length of almost 1,100 metres.
IFS began sponsoring the cable car in October 2022 under a two-year deal with TfL.
