MP writes to chancellor over closed ferry crossing

Jen Craft said reinstating the Tilbury-Gravesend crossing would bring "significant benefits"

A Labour MP has written to Chancellor Rachel Reeves urging her to revive a community ferry using toll money from the new Lower Thames Crossing.

Jen Craft, who represents Thurrock, said the service between Tilbury in Essex and Gravesend, Kent, provided a "vital" connection.

The ferry was cancelled in March 2024 when the operator Jetstream announced it would not renew its contract.

A Department for Transport spokesman previously said: "No decisions have been made on how the revenue from the Lower Thames Crossing will be spent."

The 14.5-mile (23km) road is due to link Essex and Kent by two tunnels running underneath the River Thames.

It will be the largest road tunnel in the UK when constructed and is expected to cost up to £10bn, after plans were approved in March.

Earlier this year, Craft and Gravesham Labour MP Lauren Sullivan both called for toll money from the new Lower Thames Crossing to be used to reinstate the ferry.

In her letter to Reeves, Craft said there should be "clear benefits" for people living locally who were impacted by construction work.

"When this service closed in March 2024, it ended a cross-river transport link that had existed in some form for centuries," Craft wrote.

"By restoring an efficient and reliable cross-river transport route, the ferry would also bring significant benefits during the crossing's construction.

"It will be instrumental in ensuring that workers on both sides of the river can access the employment and training opportunities generated by the delivery of the crossing."

Craft said local stakeholders were ready to fund initial investment for the ferry, but wanted assurances of long-term backing.

"Restoring it would not only bring back a vital cross-river connection, and support local economic growth, but stand as a lasting example of the difference a Labour government can make to people in the Thames Estuary," she added.

The Tilbury to Gravesend ferry stopped operating in March 2024

On Wednesday, Reeves said the Lower Thames Crossing project would be given an extra £891m and that work would begin next year.

Responding to calls to reinstate the Tilbury-Gravesend ferry, Reeves has said: "We want this project to work for the people who are hosting this infrastructure."

She told Sullivan the government would "work through the details" with her, local councils and the community.