Newham councillor Sarar Ruiz says work on the lift at the North Woolwich entrance to the Woolwich Foot Tunnel will be completed “sometime within the next year”, reports Nick Clark, Local Democracy Reporter

A round red brick block at the northern entrance to the Woolwich foot tunnel — The northern entrance to the Woolwich foot tunnel

Work to repair Woolwich Foot Tunnel’s broken lift should begin “shortly” a leading Newham councillor has said – after previous reports suggested it should have been working in January.

The lift in North Woolwich, has been out of order for almost three years making it only accessible by stairs. The Royal Borough of Greenwich, which jointly owns the tunnel with Newham Council, said last year it expected the lift to be working by January 2025.

But with the lift still out of action, Newham councillor Sarah Ruiz, responsible for sustainable transport, now says the work will be completed “sometime within the next year.”

The tunnel crossing the Thames connects Woolwich, in the borough of Greenwich, with North Woolwich in Newham.

Both councils own the tunnel and contribute to its maintenance, which the Royal Borough manages.

But the lift on the North Woolwich side of the tunnel has been out of order since August 2022, with the hefty repair cost not covered by the normal maintenance funding.

The two councils agreed to share costs, reported by the Greenwich Wire to be £180,000 each, in July 2024.

A Greenwich council spokesperson said at the time that they hoped works would be completed by January. A Newham council spokesperson said at the time that the council was “pleased to be working in collaboration with the London Borough of Greenwich” but was still “finalising a funding agreement.”

However an update to Greenwich council’s transport scrutiny panel on Thursday, 3rd July, suggested the authority was still waiting for Newham council to sign an agreement.

It said the council was “currently awaiting Newham to respond on Woolwich Foot Tunnel and sign deed of adherence to Woolwich tunnel parts replacement maintenance cost sharing.”

Neither council would comment on why the agreement had not yet been signed or why work had not yet begun – but both said they were committed to sharing the costs.

A Greenwich Council spokesperson told the LDRS: “The Grade II listed Woolwich Foot Tunnel is open 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. The structure is well over 100 years old now and requires specialist maintenance.

“We’re sorry that there have been issues with the lifts, which are challenging to resolve due to the age and complexity of the structure. We have received a commitment from Newham Council, to split costs 50/50 and get the lifts up and running. We will be sharing plans on next steps and timelines, in due course”

Newham Cllr Ruiz said: “We are pleased to say that work should be getting under way shortly to repair the northern lift shaft.

“Both Newham and Greenwich are sharing the cost of repairs, which fall outside of the routine maintenance agreement for the tunnel. We hope to have the works completed sometime within the next year.”

The update to Greenwich Council’s transport scrutiny committee also said officers had asked London City Hall’s walking and cycling commissioner Will Norman for a meeting “to move this forward.”

The LDRS understands officers from Greenwich Council and Transport for London met on Wednesday (9th).

No news is bad news

Independent news outlets like ours – reporting for the community without rich backers – are under threat of closure, turning British towns into news deserts.

The audiences they serve know less, understand less, and can do less.

If our coverage has helped you understand our community a little bit better, please consider supporting us with a monthly, yearly or one-off donation.

Choose the news. Don’t lose the news.

Monthly direct debit

Annual direct debit

£5 per month supporters get a digital copy of each month’s paper before anyone else, £10 per month supporters get a digital copy of each month’s paper before anyone else and a print copy posted to them each month. £50 annual supporters get a digital copy of each month's paper before anyone else.