WAXIS – water taxis – will soon be a common sight in Trafford.

The Bridgewater Canal Company Limited (BCCL) has awarded Manchester Water Taxis a licence to operate two boats on the canal, linking key locations in Trafford to Manchester city centre.

Launching in June or July, Manchester Water Taxis will run a service from intu Trafford Centre via Old Trafford and Hotel Football as well as a service from Sale, both terminating at Dukes 92, Castlefield.

Steve Cadwell, founder of Manchester Water Taxis, 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 Sale route is considered to be the waxi ‘executive route’ and will be aimed at commuters. Passengers will board at the Waterside Arts Centre and it will take about one hour to make the five mile journey to Castlefield.

There will be a morning service, getting into the city for around 8.15am, and a return journey, getting back into Sale for around 6.30pm, making it an ideal choice for commuters.

The 25ft 12-passenger waxis will be yellow in colour, similar to the famous New York cabs, and will offer free wifi, a TV service and even breakfast. 

The fare is £5 each way but the company is looking at introducing season tickets so regular users can save money.

“Many friends say that they can be stuck on Washway Road for up to an hour in rush hour traffic,” said Steve.

“If we can make that journey more pleasurable, they can connect to work, have some food before they get in and arrive in a much better mood.”

The plan is to offer the boat as a floating convention centre in Old Trafford in the mornings until the Trafford Centre opens. From that point, there will be hourly services from the Trafford Centre to Castlefield, with the boats making around 20 journeys a day.

The route will also take around one hour to complete and will also cost around £5 per passenger.

“We want to be able to keep it as cheap as we can,” said Steve. “But if you were to get a taxi to the Trafford Centre you could be looking at £17. We want to offer that service but make the journey more pleasurable.”

Manchester Water Taxis was founded in February 2009 by entrepreneur Steven, who initially planned to launch on the Manchester Ship Canal, providing public transport services between the city centre and MediaCityUK.

Despite securing funding these plans were put on hold once HS2 was given the green light and the Ordsall Chord began construction which isn’t due to finish until 2017.

Rather than mothball the project Manchester Water Taxis searched for alternative routes to market, which were realised with the last week’s signing of the BCCL licence.

Cadwell’s vision is to quickly build a fleet of waxis (the trademarked name for his boats) that will offer an alternative form of transport to roads.