EXCLUSIVE: City Water Taxi Service In 8 Months

Confidentials 4 November 2012

EXCELLENT NEWS for Salford, Manchester and Trafford.

Confidential understands we will have an operating water taxi service between the city centre and MediaCityUK by June 2013.

This adds an extra dimension to making a tourist experience in Manchester easier, it slings a lasso around Manchester United, the IWMN and The Lowry and pulls them closer to the city centre.

Salford City Council and MediaCityUK are looking for an operator for the service on the Manchester Ship Canal and River Irwell between MediaCityUK and Chapel Wharf.

The Quays

£500k funding has been secured from the Local Sustainable Transport Fund. This is part of the Irwell River Park programme. There will be five landing points - pontoons - installed by May 2013. The infrastructure required to reach these will be completed by the same date.

The result is that a new water taxi service should be operational from June 2013. Journey time from Chapel Wharf to MediaCityUK would be under twenty minutes.

The landing pontoons will be built at Chapel Wharf (in front of the Lowry Hotel) and then Ordsall, Clippers Quay, the Imperial War Museum North and MediaCityUK.

Chapel Wharf - terminus for the water taxis

Confidential Comment

This is good news for the city region and plugs an obvious gap in transport infrastructure. It plugs this without the vast expense usually associated with, for instance, rail transport.

The Local Sustainable Transport Fund money delivers a win-win service down the river, one that ticks all sorts of sustainability, tourism and employment boxes.

Commuters waiting for a taxiFares on the new water taxis must be reasonable. Perhaps they should be matched to that of the city centre link delivered by Metrolink. The water taxis have to be given a chance to prove themselves as a viable, regular, service - a desire for a quick cash return might harm this.

The commitment from Salford City Council is particularly welcome, as is that of Peel Group.

In terms of local authorities this is Salford's scheme and continues their excellent work in the city centre. The city was clearly inspired by these ideas from our previous exclusive on this back in June 2009 - click here. But it still took political will to fight for the funding and then undertake to deliver the project in such a short time frame.

Peel Group is the child of Manchester Ship Canal and this clearly makes commercial sense for them and adds value to their estate.

Pomona is on the right bankThe news of the water taxi service opens up all sorts of investment opportunities down the river particularly in the cleared 'island' between the Ship Canal and the Bridgewater Canal at Pomona.

Not so long ago there was an idea for a theme park sited here. Time to revitalise those ideas perhaps. The city region could easily support many more popular culture attractions - people want them, as the success of the National Football Museum proves, click here.

Finally, as a tour guide, I'm frequently asked about river services to IWMN, the Lowry and MediaCityUK.

The present boats operating on the route are for private hire, they are not scheduled services. Scheduled services, if marketed correctly and announced properly to locals and tourists, will completely change this situation, making the use of the river an attractive option for travellers. Meanwhile the idea of normalising a river commute in Manchester is enticing.

IWMN from the waterThe water taxis effectively sling a lasso around Manchester United, the IWMN and The Lowry and pulls them closer to the city centre.