Foot tunnels

The Royal Borough's two foot tunnels at Greenwich and Woolwich are used by 1.5 million people a year.

The Greenwich foot tunnel provides a pedestrian link between Cutty Sark Gardens and Island Gardens, Tower Hamlets.

Status updates

To check the current status of a foot tunnel, please check this page regularly. We aim to give at least 72 hours' notice of any further temporary closures. If there are any unexpected changes to the status, we will also update the Royal Borough of Greenwich Twitter feed.

Current status

The stairs at both sides of Woolwich Foot Tunnel are available 24 hours daily. The Greenwich Foot Tunnel is now accessible on both sides by stairs and lift 24 hours a day. The stairs in the Greenwich tunnel may need to be closed on a short-term basis during parts of the works, but the lifts, and emergency access, will remain open.

Work will continue on the Woolwich lifts, and other works are also still taking place in both tunnels before the project is fully complete. Please check back here for further updates on full reopening.

Foot tunnel works information

The Greenwich and Woolwich foot tunnels have been undergoing works since April 2009, in an £11.5 million renewal programme. The Royal Borough is working closely with the private contractors and surveyors to try to achieve as early a completion as possible.

The process of completely refurbishing both of these aged structures is extremely complex. They are Edwardian structures running under the River Thames and this is the first time that works of this extent have taken place since they were originally built - so this has been a challenging project from the outset.

When complete, this extensive refurbishment will provide the borough with improved and reliable travel facilities.

Overall, the renewal project involves four sites, replacing all lifts, stairs, lighting, installing CCTV networks and a complete refurbishment running the length of both tunnels.

Further information

The work to renew the two foot tunnels was planned in consultation with cyclists, traders and tunnel users. For further enquiries, please contact customer services.