By Kiro Evans, Local Democracy Reporter
The Emirates Air Line has closed for a week while the cable car undergoes maintenance.
Londoners will be unable to commute in style across the River Thames while the tourist attraction is serviced.
The cable car closed from 8pm on March 6 (Sunday) and will reopen on March 14 (Monday). It usually closes for a week in March to undergo maintenance.
A Transport for London spokesperson said: “The cable car is currently closed for the planned annual maintenance. This ensures that we can continue to run a safe and reliable service for all of our customers.”
When fully functioning, the Emirates Air Line runs from 7am-9pm on Monday to Thursday, 7am-11pm on Friday, 8am-11pm on Saturday and 9am-9pm on Sundays.
Local resident Philomena Hale was passing by and expressed her surprise at its closure. She said: “I didn’t even realise it’s not working at the moment. I’ve been on it loads of times.
“You get a beautiful view and it’s easier to get to the other side.
“People do use it. Obviously for the last couple of years with everything that’s gone on, we haven’t got tourists using it.” She added that locals still “loved it”.
While it is closed, the nearest alternative public transport is North Greenwich Tube station for the Jubilee line on the south side of the river and the Royal Victoria’s DLR station on the north side.
The Emirates Air Line opened in 2012 in time for the London Olympics and links the Greenwich peninsula to the Royal Victoria Dock.
It cost £60 million to build and was backed by sponsorship from the Dubai-based Emirates company.
But last month reports emerged that TfL was struggling to find a new sponsor to replace Emirates as its deal runs down.
The Emirates Air Line provides a birds-eye view of London in the 10 minutes it takes to cross the Thames.
The cable car created headlines only a few weeks after its launch in 2012 when it suffered a breakdown, leaving passengers suspended in the air.
The incident lasted for about half an hour before they were returned to the terminals. The service was fixed and up and running again an hour later.