Manchester Water Taxis have released the first pictures of the ‘water taxis’ which will cruise along the Bridgewater Canal later this year.
The company took to Twitter to show readers the 25ft, 12-passenger craft under construction.
Each boat costs around £35,000 to build and is painted a distinctive bright yellow.
The firm won a three-year exclusive licence from landowners Peel to run its two boats daily down the famous canal.
A four-mile route has been mapped out Manchester city centre to Old Trafford and the Trafford Centre.
They’ll start at the Bridgewater Canal basin at Castlefield, picking up and dropping off at Ryan Giggs and Gary Neville’s Hotel Football at Old Trafford and turning round at the shopping mecca at the end of the line.
A top speed of 4mph is hardly quick, and will be of limited use to rush-hour commuters.
But enterpreneur and Waxis boss Steve Cadwell reckons there’s a big market for tourists or daytrippers.
Each ‘waxi’ promises 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 idea for ‘Waxis’ was first floated way back in 2009.
Steve, riffing on a New York-style idea, wanted to use the boats 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.
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.
