Skip to main content

London's new Silvertown Tunnel set to open

TfL says average peak journey times expected to be 20 minutes quicker
By Adam Hill January 13, 2025 Read time: 2 mins
Tunnel vision (© Hupeng | Dreamstime.com)

The new Silvertown Tunnel beneath the River Thames in the east of London, UK, is set to open on 7 April 2025.

The 1.4km-long twin-bore tunnel has two lanes per tunnel with dedicated lanes for heavy goods vehicles and buses. 

Indra has equipped the new structure with its In-Mova Traffic platform and intelligent transport systems including communication systems, radio communications network and traffic signals. 

Citilog has integrated its automatic incident detection system, which includes 59 CCTV cameras, to help reduce congestion in and around the tunnel. It provides real-time incident detection and response to enhance safety and incident management, and is designed to minimise false alarms while maintaining high detection accuracy.

Using thousands of video clips will help train an advanced network to reduce false positives, allowing operators to focus on genuine emergencies.

The new tunnel runs between the London borough of Greenwich, the peninsula area, and West Silvertown on the northern bank of the Thames.

Transport for London (TfL) says modelling shows it will help reduce congestion at the existing Blackwall Tunnel, with average journey times expected to be up to 20 minutes quicker at peak times.

It will also help manage overall air quality and allow for better cross-river public transport, TfL says, with new bus routes - free for the first year - meaning that bus crossings increase from six to 21 per hour.

While you will not be able to walk or cycle through the tunnel, a new zero-emission cycle-shuttle service is due to operate every 12 minutes, seven days a week.

Related Content

  • August 14, 2012
    Tunnel network to relieve Istanbul's traffic congestion
    A series of road tunnels is taking shape to help relieve Istanbul from crippling road congestion, with an extensive array of safety and management systems operating from a single ITS platform. Nino Sehagic reports. Traffic in Istanbul has historically been described simply as jammed. Severe congestion and chaotic use of available road space are characteristics of a city of more than one and a half million cars. Istanbul’s existing road network could not cope and was in urgent need of expansion, leading the
  • September 3, 2019
    Indra supervises 9km tunnel in Columbia
    Indra and engineering firm Eléctricas de Medellín Ingeniería y Servicios has commissioned a control centre and a back-up centre to supervise a 9km tunnel in Columbia. Both centres will monitor the safety and revenue collection systems of the Túnel de Oriente, which serves as a transport link between the city of Medellín and José María Córdoba airport. It is part of Concesión Túnel Aburrá Oriente, a 24km road corridor that Indra is now managing via its Mova solutions. Indra says its toll solution Mova C
  • September 17, 2014
    Indra to modernise London’s Tunnels Control Centre
    Transport for London (TfL) has appointed Indra to modernise the technology for the control and operation of the 12 road tunnels in London and 90 kilometres of approach roads.
  • September 17, 2014
    Indra to modernise London’s Tunnels Control Centre
    Transport for London (TfL) has appointed Indra to modernise the technology for the control and operation of the 12 road tunnels in London and 90 kilometres of approach roads.