The future of the Gravesend to Tilbury Ferry Service

Image of a river with a pier and buildings along the side of the river

Update: 11 March 2024

Thank you for participating in the recent public consultation exercise relating to the future of the Gravesend to Tilbury Ferry.

The feedback that we have received has provided a great deal of understanding about how and why the ferry is used. The findings have been captured in a consultation report which is available in the Document section. This report was shared at the Environment and Transport Cabinet Committee on 7 March 2024.

The consultation was required as, at the time, Thurrock Council had advised us that they were unable to continue to provide funding towards the service. KCC would not likely be able to afford the full subsidy on its own but we needed to ensure that we understood how the service is used and all of the possible impacts of it ceasing to inform our final decisions.

More recently Thurrock Council has indicated that it does have funding which, together with KCC’s contribution could support the ferry for the next year. KCC has therefore been working to secure a new contract that would cover the operation of the service until March 2025, while also looking into longer-term solutions.

However, despite our efforts to get a new contract in place, a ferry operator cannot be found to deliver this contract from April 2024. KCC continues to work with prospective operators and possible funding partners towards a longer-term solution for the service but the current position is the Gravesend to Tilbury Ferry will stop after the existing contract expires on 31 March 2024.

We remain committed to ensuring we explore options for a longer-term operator of the ferry but it is not possible to achieve this to coincide with the end of the current contract.

We are consulting on proposals over the future of the passenger boat service operating on the River Thames between Gravesend in Kent and Tilbury in Thurrock.

Over 100,000 passenger journeys per year are made in total by users of the ferry service i.e. a service user travelling from Kent to Thurrock and back again counts as two journeys (five service users would be ten journeys etc). Passengers travel from Kent, Thurrock and further afield and the service enables a convenient way to travel to work, school or to access Gravesend and Tilbury towns and onward destinations.

Since 2000, the service has operated with financial support from Kent County Council and Thurrock Council who became involved when the operator at the time cancelled the service. In October 2023, Thurrock Council advised us that they could not afford an increase to the contract cost and may struggle to commit to funding for the service in the longer term. We have supported the continuation of the service in the immediate term and are currently meeting the cost of the subsidy in full, without a contribution from Thurrock.

However, we are not sure that we can cover all the costs in the longer term and the funding that we can make available would not be enough to support the service without Thurrock’s contribution. This means there is a doubt about the future of the service beyond the current contract which expires at the end of March 2024.

Before any decisions are taken, we are running this consultation to understand how the service is used, when and for what purpose and what the impacts for users and the area would be if it were to stop. Full details of the proposals are in the consultation document.

Have your say!

We want to hear your views. Please complete the questionnaire below to provide your feedback on the future of the ferry service and what the loss of the service could mean for you.

The consultation closes on 4 February 2024.

Update: 11 March 2024

Thank you for participating in the recent public consultation exercise relating to the future of the Gravesend to Tilbury Ferry.

The feedback that we have received has provided a great deal of understanding about how and why the ferry is used. The findings have been captured in a consultation report which is available in the Document section. This report was shared at the Environment and Transport Cabinet Committee on 7 March 2024.

The consultation was required as, at the time, Thurrock Council had advised us that they were unable to continue to provide funding towards the service. KCC would not likely be able to afford the full subsidy on its own but we needed to ensure that we understood how the service is used and all of the possible impacts of it ceasing to inform our final decisions.

More recently Thurrock Council has indicated that it does have funding which, together with KCC’s contribution could support the ferry for the next year. KCC has therefore been working to secure a new contract that would cover the operation of the service until March 2025, while also looking into longer-term solutions.

However, despite our efforts to get a new contract in place, a ferry operator cannot be found to deliver this contract from April 2024. KCC continues to work with prospective operators and possible funding partners towards a longer-term solution for the service but the current position is the Gravesend to Tilbury Ferry will stop after the existing contract expires on 31 March 2024.

We remain committed to ensuring we explore options for a longer-term operator of the ferry but it is not possible to achieve this to coincide with the end of the current contract.

We are consulting on proposals over the future of the passenger boat service operating on the River Thames between Gravesend in Kent and Tilbury in Thurrock.

Over 100,000 passenger journeys per year are made in total by users of the ferry service i.e. a service user travelling from Kent to Thurrock and back again counts as two journeys (five service users would be ten journeys etc). Passengers travel from Kent, Thurrock and further afield and the service enables a convenient way to travel to work, school or to access Gravesend and Tilbury towns and onward destinations.

Since 2000, the service has operated with financial support from Kent County Council and Thurrock Council who became involved when the operator at the time cancelled the service. In October 2023, Thurrock Council advised us that they could not afford an increase to the contract cost and may struggle to commit to funding for the service in the longer term. We have supported the continuation of the service in the immediate term and are currently meeting the cost of the subsidy in full, without a contribution from Thurrock.

However, we are not sure that we can cover all the costs in the longer term and the funding that we can make available would not be enough to support the service without Thurrock’s contribution. This means there is a doubt about the future of the service beyond the current contract which expires at the end of March 2024.

Before any decisions are taken, we are running this consultation to understand how the service is used, when and for what purpose and what the impacts for users and the area would be if it were to stop. Full details of the proposals are in the consultation document.

Have your say!

We want to hear your views. Please complete the questionnaire below to provide your feedback on the future of the ferry service and what the loss of the service could mean for you.

The consultation closes on 4 February 2024.

  • CLOSED: This survey has concluded.

    Have your say!

    We would like to hear your views on our the proposal being put forward on the future of the Gravesend to Tilbury ferry service and have provided this questionnaire for you to provide your feedback. 

    You can answer all or as many of the questions as you like. If you would rather not provide feedback on a section or question, just move on to the next one.

    We recommend you read the consultation document before responding to this questionnaire.