Rotherhithe Tunnel to close for a week due to emergency repairs

The Rotherhithe Tunnel will close from 10am on Monday 11th January until 5am  Saturday 16th January for emergency repairs to a water main used in the event of fire.

The tunnel has previously seen restrictions introduced in September 2018 after faults with the tunnel were discovered.

Budgets across TfL have been hit hard for years and recently seen the bizarre and unique situation of public transport users subsidising road maintenance. No where else in the world operates in such a manner. In 2018 senior Tories in London called for their colleagues at Westminster to rectify this issue:

Since then some senior London Tories have attempted to alter lines of attack as an election draws closer. How will they portray this closure at Rotherhithe?

Problems with roads and infrastructure maintenance long predate issues such as Crossrail delays and the pandemic, as the letter above dated January 2018 shows. There were already severe issues with the operating budget – in part as central Government announced a cut of £700 million per year in TfL funding in 2015.