Silvertown Tunnel: thousands already benefitting from faster crossings

Transport for London (TfL) has shared its first initial insights into how the Silvertown Tunnel is operating, as part of the Commissioner’s latest report to the TfL Board.

Early data from Transport for London shows the Silvertown Tunnel is easing congestion near the Blackwall Tunnel, reducing peak-time delays and boosting cross-river bus services, helping to make journeys more reliable and accessible for the capital.

Early analysis indicates that combined, the Silvertown and Blackwall Tunnels are seeing on average around 88,000 vehicles across both directions on a typical weekday. Of these, around 20,000 are using the new Silvertown Tunnel.

The Silvertown Tunnel is the first new Thames road crossing east of Tower Bridge in over 30 years. Designed to ease chronic congestion around the Blackwall Tunnel, it also supports 21 buses an hour, unlocking more frequent, accessible, and sustainable transport links to jobs, homes and leisure.

Key findings from early analysis of data shows:

• Across the three zero-emission bus services (108, 129 and the Superloop 4) that go through the Blackwall and Silvertown tunnels, an average of more than 20,000 customers are making use of these services every day, of which typically around 7,000 are crossing the river using one of the tunnels.
• Since the opening of the Silvertown Tunnel, encouraging early data shows overall traffic levels on the Blackwall / Silvertown corridor down 12 per cent compared to before the Silvertown tunnel was opened.
• Insights also show 160 per cent increase in Londoners using new cross-river bus routes since the Silvertown Tunnel opened.
• This is alongside improved reliability of the Route 108 which has seen a 23 per cent drop in average wait time compared to same period last year
• More than three million vehicles are now signed up for TfL Auto Pay, up from around 2.65 million in January 2025.

Seb Dance, Deputy Mayor for Transport, said: “Easing congestion and keeping London moving is vital for our city to thrive, so it’s encouraging that initial data from TfL shows that the new Silvertown Tunnel is helping to reduce the build-up of traffic around the Blackwall Tunnel. This means more reliable and faster journey times for thousands of Londoners during peak hours. There is a significant increase in cross-river bus use and improved bus reliability is helping us to build a better and more accessible London for all.”

Read the full Commissioner’s Report here.

For more information about the Silvertown Tunnel – please visit www.tfl.gov.uk/silvertown-tunnel