THE dream of a waterbus service linking Southend Pier with central London may be about to be revived.

Southend councillors are to take a fresh look at plans to carry commuters upriver to the City – and bring trippers back to Southend from the capital on the return trips.

John Lamb, borough councillor responsible for regeneration, has said the council was now keep to resume talks between the council the Thames Clippers company, which runs fast waterbuses within the capital.

He said: “If the company is interested in bringing a vessel up to the end of the pier, we can accomodate them.

“Part of the problem for Thames Clippers before was how viable economically it would be, but if it was viable, the facilities would be there.”

Mr Lamb believes the fact London travellers can now use their Oyster travel card on the firm’s fast hyrdofoils would make a Southend route even more attractive.

And he feels the payment system might also be developed and expanded even further.

He explained: “There could be a way of working the pier trains into that system, too. It would help us as well, as we’d get revenue to help the pier.

“There would be benefits all round. It is a great corridor for high-speed boat services, especially catamarans and hydrofoils – and the Olympics will add another dimension.”

Mr Lamb said he had asked borough officials to approach the company again to see if it might be interested.

“If they are, we certainly are,” he said.

Thames Clippers run commuter services along the river from Woolwich Pier in the east, to Waterloo Pier in the west, also linking tourist and leisure attractions such as the O2 Arena, in Greenwich.

Earlier this year Sean Collins, owner and founder of the service, which has a fleet of 12 boats and carries 7,000 passengers a day, told the Echo he wanted to make more use of the estuary.

In January, Mr Collins said: “We carry 2.8 million people a year, but there is big room for growth. On the Seine, in Paris, they carry six million people a year.”

Peggie Dowie, who runs Southend Pier Museum, supports the idea.

She said: “It would be good to have the service, as it would help the pier and the town.

“The long journey time for commuters might not suit, but for visitors it would be good. Let’s hope it happens.”

Ric Morgan, Prittlewell borough councillor and a member of the council’s Olympics working party, also wants to see the scheme come to fruition.

He said: “We need to discuss the possibility of using the Thames as a clean, clear highway to the O2 and all the other sights and sites of the 2012 games.

“If Southend misses this chance to develop our pier and the estuary, our town will go down in history alongside the record company which turned down the Beatles.”

London mayor Boris Johnson has already stressed the importance of developing river services as an integral part of the capital’s transport system.