Manchester Water Taxis are set to start running on the Bridgewater Canal in after the firm won a two-year licence from Peel.
Two boats will run along a four-mile route, taking 12 passengers at a time from the Bridgewater Canal basin at Castlefield, picking up and dropping off at Ryan Giggs and Gary Neville’s Hotel Football at Old Trafford and finishing at the Trafford Centre.
The 25ft boats, dubbed ‘Waxis’, were first proposed by enterpreneur Steve Cadwell way back in 2009.
The commuter boats would have run along the River Irwell
They were originally designed to ferry commuters between Manchester city centre and Salford Quays, along the Manchester Ship Canal and River Irwell.
The boats would have picked up and dropped off passengers at five pontoons: at Chapel Wharf in Manchester, Ordsall Hall, Clippers Quay in Old Trafford, at the Imperial War Museum, and finally at MediaCityUK.
Salford Council would have paid around £24,000 in match funding to allow the landing stages to go ahead, with Trafford Council paying out over £100,000.
The project secured over £800,000 in funding from the Department for Transport-backed Local Sustainable Transport Fund.
New York already runs its own Water Taxi
But the plans seemed dead in the water by 2011.
Access to the River Irwell was made impossible due to Network Rail building the £85m Ordsall Chord to link Manchester Piccadilly and Victoria stations.
So Cadwell switched his plans to the Peel-owned Bridgewater Canal instead.
After year-long negotiations the Manchester Water Taxis will now start operating on the canal in late 2016.
Peter Parkinson (left) agrees the deal with Steve Cadwell
And with a 4mph limit for all craft on the Bridgewater Canal, the focus for the service has moved away from commuters and more towards the tourist market.
Cadwell said: “The signing of this licence is a monumental milestone in the history of Manchester Water Taxis.
“The next few months are going to going to be really exciting as we prepare for launch. I can’t wait to welcome the first passengers on board.”
The original plan put the cost of building a boat at around £100,000 but this later dropped to around £35,000.
Each ‘waxi’ will have space for two crew members and will be fitted with complimentary Wi-Fi, charge points, TVs and table seating.
Peter Parkinson, the Bridgewater Canal General Manager said “We are delighted to have agreed terms to bring this alternative form of public transport onto the Bridgewater Canal, which together with the Bridgewater Way towpath improvements will help to reduce traffic congestion and increase sustainable travel within Manchester.”
The three-year exclusive licence from Peel means the boats will operate in daylight hours 364 days a year.
