Leeds Water Taxis: I’ve ferried people 150,000 times across these Yorkshire waters but no journey is the same

The boats sail between Granary Wharf at the south end of Leeds Train station and Leeds Dock, outside the Royal Armouries.

There’s a team of skippers who run the boats employed by Leeds Dock. In the early days of running the taxis, the skippers would have fish and chips delivered by someone tossing the takeaway off Leeds bridge and into the boats.

Despite now having travelled these waters over 150,000 times, longstanding skipper Richard Green said each journey is different.

He said Leeds Water Taxis started out free to encourage people into Leeds Dock, but now they charge £2.

Richard said that the taxis have always been popular.

“After Covid with more people working from home it became more of a tourist attraction. It’s become something of an institution,” he said.

Richard explained the taxis were often used as a way for people to commute to work.

However in recent years, tourists have cottoned on to the interesting way to travel across Leeds.

He said: “It used to be a way for people to get to work, now it’s mainly tourists.

The skippers estimate that between them, they’ve done close to a million trips.

Richard said: “It gets to the point where you know every stone in the wall.”

The changing water levels mean Richard’s job is unpredictable as they can't run the boats when the river levels are too high.

“We always have to adapt”, Richard added.

“No one journey is the same because the water is always changing.”

Richard, who also lives on a barge, said that the skippers enjoy telling passengers the history of Leeds’ changing waterside as well as sharing anecdotes from his journeys.

What’s the history behind the water taxis?

Over a decade ago, a trip boat named ‘The Apollo’, an old narrowboat that cruised the waters of Leeds Dock, was the inspiration for what would become Leeds Water Taxis.

Following complaints about the distance between Leeds station and Leeds Dock, these Dutch Water Taxis were officially introduced in 2014.

Skippers share fond memories of the early days when they had their fish and chips takeaway delivered by having them thrown from Leeds Bridge into the boats.

The Water Taxis, named Twee and Drie, are run by Allied London - the company behind Leeds Dock.

Twee and Drie mean two and three in Dutch. Passengers can track the boats’ movements in real-time via their TaxiTrak website.