You could ride London’s cable car for free on Monday

There won’t be a queue because no one uses it


The Emirates Air Line is one of Boris Johnson’s greatest follies.

In 2013, the Evening Standard reported that only four commuters were using the cable car service between Greenwich Peninsula and Royal Victoria regularly. It is barely a tourist destination, and certainly not somewhere to take Mum and Dad when they come and visit – mainly because it involves travelling all the way to Greenwich to pay £4.30 (fine, £3.30 on Oyster) to swing over the Thames. You can put a price on thrill-seeking.

On Monday though, it’s fare-free – if you have a MasterCard and an Apple Pay device. So if you’ve bought into one fad (Apple Pay), you can buy into another (the cable car).

What a view

The free fare period starts at 4:30am on Monday 29 February and lasts until 1am the following morning, though the Air Line is only open from 7am-9pm.

Free Fare Mondays will also take place the following two weeks. Incidentally, it also applies to travel on the rest of the London underground network. Which is used by 1.3 billion people.