We have enough signatures to (theoretically) cover every birthday including February 29th!

Folks,

We have just reached our symbolic 366 signatures milestone, which means in theory we have enough signatures to cover every calendar birthday of the year (when the boats are/aren't running), in reality we would actually need several thousand signatures to cover every calendar birthday in practice.

As well as upgrades to the pier at Hampton Court Landing Stage and maintenance schedules at Teddington Lock, boat operators should invest in more vessels to cover for year-round services if one vessel breaks down for example. So this really is an issue about poor infrastructure, maintenance schedules and not enough vessels (rolling stock) because of money rather than bad weather, as the tidal section of the Thames sees vessels running year round in all weathers (unless in the extremely rare case the river Thames hypothetically freezes and becomes ice during a severe winter, like the historic "frost fairs")!

This lack of progress is exactly like how the construction and opening of the dedicated high-speed rail link for Eurostar services was delayed. The Channel Tunnel opened in May 1994 with the first Eurostar train entering service  six months later in November, yet construction of the dedicated high-speed rail link did not start until 15th October 1998 (nearly 4 years after Eurostar trains had been operational) with the first section not operational until 2003, 5 years later.

This meant that for 9 years, Eurostar trains had to use railway lines built for local stopper trains, taking a whole hour just to travel between London Waterloo and Ashford International, and for half of that 9 year period construction hadn't even started. This meant that in total, Eurostar trains took up to 80 minutes just to travel between London Waterloo and the Channel Tunnel including a pick up/set down stop at Ashford International, and up to 90 minutes if trains were diverted via Maidstone East during engineering works.

This campaign is obviously not about Eurostar trains, but I am using that example to argue that the UK lags behind other countries regarding infrastructure and development.

While we can't stop Thames River Boats from their seasonal shutdown in 2026/7, we can use the scheduled shutdown to rally supporters and reach the 400 and 500 signature milestones, and 400 signatures is now definitely within reach!