Chatty Cabins drew 292 June bookings for conversation above the Thames

A free cable-car ride and a hot drink were the invitation to meet someone new. Transport for London has told Gilbert that Chatty Cabins attracted 292 bookings in June.

The scheme offered a 20-minute round trip between Greenwich Peninsula and the Royal Docks during Loneliness Awareness Week, with rides advertised for 15–19 June. Passengers were encouraged to share London memories and start conversations with fellow riders.

In her 27 October reply, TfL’s Lucy Drake supplied the June booking total. It establishes interest in the offer, rather than the number of people who travelled or evidence that their loneliness reduced.

There was a place to connect on the ground, too. Camerados hosted a pop-up Public Living Room at the Greenwich Peninsula terminal. In its August zine, the organisation described a steady stream of strangers sitting together and talking about subjects from Sikhism to learning to read in their sixties. It is a small, concrete glimpse of what making room for conversation can bring.

Sources

• Transport for London — Loneliness Awareness Week programme, 8 June 2026
• Lucy Drake, Transport for London — written answer to Gilbert, 27 October 2026
• Camerados — August zine, account of the Greenwich Public Living Room