Transport for London (TfL) has announced that the Silvertown Tunnel, connecting Canary Wharf and Grove Park, will officially open on 7 April 2025 following the completion of construction and testing.
The new tunnel is expected to increase the number of buses crossing the river in the area from six to 21, enabling more Londoners to utilise the crossing.
For the first 12 months, new cross-river bus routes serving Greenwich, Newham and Tower Hamlets - including the new Superloop SL4 running from Grove Park to Canary Wharf - will be free of charge.
As part of TfL's zero-emission cycle shuttle service, new shelters and cycle racks will be installed. The service has been specifically designed to accommodate cyclists and differentiate it from the regular bus network.
The tunnel will feature two stops, one on each side of the river. The 'north' stop will be situated on Seagull Lane, close to Royal Victoria DLR station, whilst the 'south' stop will be located on Millennium Way near the junction with Old School Close.
The service will operate seven days a week from 06:30 to 21:30, with buses running every 12 minutes.
John Hagan, CEO, Riverlinx was pleased to announce the opening date for the project and said: "This represents the culmination of effort for the thousands of people that have worked on the project over the past five years.
"I would especially like to recognise our CJV partners BAM, Ferrovial, and SK ecoplant. We at Riverlinx look forward to beginning the operations and maintenance phase and our continued partnership with TfL."
Stuart Harvey, Chief Capital Officer at Transport for London said: "I'm pleased that we can now confirm that the Silvertown Tunnel will open on 7 April 2025, following years of hard work and close collaboration between ourselves and Riverlinx Limited.
"The tunnel is on track to open in the coming months and is a testament to brilliant and ground-breaking engineering."
Stagecoach London Managing Director Paul Lynch added: "We're excited to be asked to operate the innovative and important Silvertown Tunnel cycle-shuttle service as part of the enhanced cross river public transport offering, and we're busy making sure our specially converted zero emission buses will be ready in time.
"We also hope to see the new tunnel ease traffic conditions for our other bus services in the area."