Leeds Disruption - 26/07/25

[anothertyke]

What's needed here is a full inquiry into the cause of the failure, ie what went wrong and why, which should be made public. As well as the technical failure of the signalling it should also include the arrangements in place to deal with an event like this for passengers. Questions should be asked as to why a major hub like Leeds is left so vulnerable. Back up systems should be in place and regularly rehearsed.

Having lived in Leeds all my adult life, I think that the lack of integration between the rail and bus systems is a problem which contributes to the lack of resilience. Apart from the buses in the Huddersfield and Shipley/Halifax directions, explaining to people where to catch a bus to most places they need to get to is not straightforward for anyone unfamiliar with the city. The never ending works on New station St and the closure of City Square have if anything made things worse in that respect.

 

[Crossover]

Where were you heading? Think close to Bramley station there are bus routes to Bradford and Leeds, I would have attempted to get to Bradford and see what was available from there - plus I expect toilets and drinks/snacks machines there too!

As an aside there's a Morrison's petrol station adjacent to the station, I hope they have public toilets, or if not allow you to use the staff ones!
Edit; 2230 was the first chance of a train from Bradford to Manchester!

My friend was heading to Kent. He did manage to get a train into Leeds in the end

The petrol station doesn’t have a public toilet I don’t think, though the main supermarket does

There were a couple of trains came through Bramley for Chester just before 9pm. Presumably they were stuck at Interchange for a while?

 

[Wyrleybart]

What I'd expect would be some formal agreement in place between rail operators and local bus companies in the event of a signalling meltdown or other serious issue, passengers would be able to use their rail ticket on the local bus service(s), to get them to their destination. Not ideal, but it does keep things moving. E.g someone stranded at Hebden Bridge would be permitted to use First Halifax services 590/591/592 to Halifax, then Arriva Yorkshire service 255 to Leeds.

Don't worry. It will all be sorted when the railways are renationalised !!!
Oh hang on. Northern TPX and LNER already are
Erm when GBR take over then !! haha.

This was a huge one off event where I believe all five screens which control signalling in the Greater Leeds / West Yorks area just shut down. Peak Summer with kids on holidays and parents needing to be with kids rather than RDW and O/T - wasnt going to happen, particularly with trains crews stranded with passengers. I know Birmingham crew were stranded in York and Newcastle for example.

With an RRB programme already on place over the Pennines that would have already taken a good number of road vehicles out of any potential last minute hire.

 

[sh24]

There is always a lot more the railway could do with comms and messaging in times of major disruption. It often feels like passenger last.

However expecting a major signalling failure to be treated as a major emergency is, frankly, naive.

 

[bluenoxid]

Is there a reason why Harrogate to Knaresborough shuttles were not instigated with the issues at both Leeds and Cattal? I appreciate that it isn’t much distance and there is a local bus service.

 

[GatwickDepress]

Anyone trying to escape Leeds after yesterday's disruption will find this morning is not the best of starts

Over running engineering works and now a power supply problem has closed Kings Cross and probably everything south of Peterborough.

Oh dear. My mum's coming up to visit tomorrow, so I'm hoping this weekend's kerfuffle doesn't bleed into tomorrow.

Having lived in Leeds all my adult life, I think that the lack of integration between the rail and bus systems is a problem which contributes to the lack of resilience. Apart from the buses in the Huddersfield and Shipley/Halifax directions, explaining to people where to catch a bus to most places they need to get to is not straightforward for anyone unfamiliar with the city. The never ending works on New station St and the closure of City Square have if anything made things worse in that respect.

Whenever I'm walking in town, I always wind up helping someone find their bus stop. It's quite confusingly laid out if you're unfamiliar with the city, not helped with each cluster having the same letters - so many people waiting for the A1 Flyer to the airport at City Square B instead of Station B.

 

[800001]

Is there a reason why Harrogate to Knaresborough shuttles were not instigated with the issues at both Leeds and Cattal? I appreciate that it isn’t much distance and there is a local bus service.

Most likely due to the severity of the issues, that would be the last thing they would think about.

1 x Northern senior route controller
1 x Northern train crew controller
1 x Northern fleet controller
1 x Northern customer information controller

And a few other staff in the control room in with them.

Priority - stranded trains, then when system restored trying to figure out how on earth to get it all running again.

 

[Crossover]

Is there a reason why Harrogate to Knaresborough shuttles were not instigated with the issues at both Leeds and Cattal? I appreciate that it isn’t much distance and there is a local bus service.

I suppose it’d depend on if/how many units were trapped in it. Also the issue of getting it crewed as well (with a need to taxi crew around)

 

[TUC]

Having lived in Leeds all my adult life, I think that the lack of integration between the rail and bus systems is a problem which contributes to the lack of resilience. Apart from the buses in the Huddersfield and Shipley/Halifax directions, explaining to people where to catch a bus to most places they need to get to is not straightforward for anyone unfamiliar with the city. The never ending works on New station St and the closure of City Square have if anything made things worse in that respect.

Many people these days will have access to Google Maps and similar which will readily show where to catch a bus. It is quick confirmation that rail tickets will be accepted on them that is needed.

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 27 Jul 2025 ==

That's fine, but there would not have been nearly enough taxis in the Leeds area to have satisfied the sudden surge in demand.

Leeds to York or Doncaster is a 45-60min drive and a taxi can take 4 people, so the capacity is somewhere around 2 people/hr in one direction (one taxi will only be able to make the journey every 2 hours or so). An LNER train to London from Leeds on a Saturday could be carrying somewhere around 500 people. If you had a fleet of taxis just shuttling back and forth to/from Doncaster and York, you'd need 200-250 taxis to clear 1 train in 1 hour, depending on how many 7-Seat taxis also came in. Leeds normally has a half-hourly service to London so you're looking at somewhere in the region of 400-500 taxis purely shuttling between Leeds and Doncaster/York PER HOUR to satisfy the demand. 500 Taxis at Leeds station per hour is a taxi every 7 seconds. And that's just for the London traffic.

Add in trans-Pennine flows and passengers taking taxis to other destinations and then consider how many vehicles might actually be available in Leeds on a Saturday, and it's quick to see that summoning potentially 1,000 taxis or more to try and move people is just not going to happen.

Given that Delay Repay systems can quickly scan and confirm validity of a ticket, it would surely be possible to have a system which similarly quickly scanned and confirmed a ticket was applicable to a disrupted service and immediately generate a taxi voucher/code for use.

Yes, not everyone will be confident in using electronic approaches like this, but most will, leaving only a smaller number of passengers for staff to focus on.

 

[Bow Fell]

Excellent post.

Far too many posters on here sit at home behind their screens with zero empathy for the customer and the crap situation that they have been left to experience by Northern.

I have just emailed my MP calling for pressure for an inquiry because it simply can’t be right for Northern to just shut a train station (not Leeds) leaving 100+ people, some with medical conditions and young families to fend for themselves at 9.00 pm on Saturday night.

I still say their actions where utterly disgraceful.

Clueless.

There are undoubtedly as always things that could have done better. But the incident response I found was hard to fault. The railway isn’t perfect but we’re getting better at this.

A critical incident was declared, with a clear strategic command structure in place to deal with the incident. Stranded Train Managers are now regularly appointed for such incidents and this was the case yesterday. All “On Call” staff advised and called out.

The workload on the signallers and controllers would have been absolutely unprecedented and unmanageable. The solution of just get more staff is impossible, there are only a certain amount of phones, desks and computers.

 

[anothertyke]

Many people these days will have access to Google Maps and similar which will readily show where to catch a bus. It is quick confirmation that rail tickets will be accepted on them that is needed.

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 27 Jul 2025 ==


Given that Delay Repay systems can quickly scan and confirm validity of a ticket, it would surely be possible to have a system which similarly quickly scanned and confirmed a ticket was applicable to a disrupted service and immediately generate a taxi voucher/code for use.

Yes, not everyone will be confident in using electronic approaches like this, but most will, leaving only a smaller number of passengers for staff to focus on.

Maybe you are right. I guess my point is about people who are not savvy and not familiar with Leeds. Suppose their destination is within walking distance of --- name a local station in W Yorks. In the extraordinary conditions of yesterday is (a) discovering which bus you want and (b) finding say stop J on the Headrow all that straightforward?

 

[1D53]

Clueless.

There are undoubtedly as always things that could have done better. But the incident response I found was hard to fault. The railway isn’t perfect but we’re getting better at this.

A critical incident was declared, with a clear strategic command structure in place to deal with the incident. Stranded Train Managers are now regularly appointed for such incidents and this was the case yesterday. All “On Call” staff advised and called out.

The workload on the signallers and controllers would have been absolutely unprecedented and unmanageable. The solution of just get more staff is impossible, there are only a certain amount of phones, desks and computers.

100%

 

[TUC]

Clueless.

There are undoubtedly as always things that could have done better. But the incident response I found was hard to fault. The railway isn’t perfect but we’re getting better at this.

A critical incident was declared, with a clear strategic command structure in place to deal with the incident. Stranded Train Managers are now regularly appointed for such incidents and this was the case yesterday. All “On Call” staff advised and called out.

The workload on the signallers and controllers would have been absolutely unprecedented and unmanageable. The solution of just get more staff is impossible, there are only a certain amount of phones, desks and computers.

What it seems was missing is what is always missing in such situations, and that is communication, both for passengers and for staff assisting them.

 

[Howardh]

Maybe you are right. I guess my point is about people who are not savvy and not familiar with Leeds. Suppose their destination is within walking distance of --- name a local station in W Yorks. In the extraordinary conditions of yesterday is (a) discovering which bus you want and (b) finding say stop J on the Headrow all that straightforward?

I second that, strangers to Leeds would have great difficulty finding the right bus to their destination, especially if in a hurry and/or stressed. What doesn't help is the bus station is some distance from the rail station, there's no connecting "free bus" as in Manchester, and I don't think there's a walking route signposted either. Some buses pass nearby (and some if you cross the river) but which, and where do they go? Doesn't help when stops are lettered rather than have the bus number on.

 

[TUC]

I second that, strangers to Leeds would have great difficulty finding the right bus to their destination, especially if in a hurry and/or stressed. What doesn't help is the bus station is some distance from the rail station, there's no connecting "free bus" as in Manchester, and I don't think there's a walking route signposted either. Some buses pass nearby (and some if you cross the river) but which, and where do they go? Doesn't help when stops are lettered rather than have the bus number on.

As a random example, I searched on Google Maps for Leeds Rail Station to Hebden Bridge with bus only options. I completed the search within 30 seconds. It's not difficult

 

[Randomer]

Clueless.

There are undoubtedly as always things that could have done better. But the incident response I found was hard to fault. The railway isn’t perfect but we’re getting better at this.

A critical incident was declared, with a clear strategic command structure in place to deal with the incident. Stranded Train Managers are now regularly appointed for such incidents and this was the case yesterday. All “On Call” staff advised and called out.

The workload on the signallers and controllers would have been absolutely unprecedented and unmanageable. The solution of just get more staff is impossible, there are only a certain amount of phones, desks and computers.

To potentially narrow the criticism of the post you quoted down a bit (with my comments in italics.)

• Do you think Northern, any other TOC involved or Network Rail who run Leeds station should have closed the station? Personally I believe that it was probably a sensible decision for the reasons stated above.
• If the decision was taken to close the station should does the decision maker have a responsibility to care for vulnerable or potentially vulnerable passengers?
• Does the health and safety reasons for closing the station outweigh the potential issues encountered by vulnerable passengers once the station was closed? From a strictly legal perspective I would think it does reduce the decision maker's liability but is it morally the right decision.
• Do decision makers clearly communicate alternative transport options to passengers effectively stranded after the station was closed? From accounts seen here and elsewhere online possibly not done well.
• Would criticism be less strident if the decision logs (which must exist if a strategic command structure was indeed in place) were published? Or alternatively a clear communication made as to why decisions were taken.

More widely every time an incident like this occurs complaints centre around poor or non existent communication by "the railway". If responses are to be called hard to fault then such criticisms shouldn't be being raised.

 

[noddingdonkey]

I second that, strangers to Leeds would have great difficulty finding the right bus to their destination, especially if in a hurry and/or stressed. What doesn't help is the bus station is some distance from the rail station, there's no connecting "free bus" as in Manchester, and I don't think there's a walking route signposted either. Some buses pass nearby (and some if you cross the river) but which, and where do they go? Doesn't help when stops are lettered rather than have the bus number on.

There is a bus - the former Leeds Free City Bus is now part of the number 5 route but with a flat £1 fare. Arguably ticket acceptance on that during disruption would be a useful step, along with better promotion of it.

• If the decision was taken to close the station should does the decision maker have a responsibility to care for vulnerable or potentially vulnerable passengers?
• Does the health and safety reasons for closing the station outweigh the potential issues encountered by vulnerable passengers once the station was closed? From a strictly legal perspective I would think it does reduce the decision maker's liability but is it morally the right decision.

What was actually closed? The entire station or just the platforms? If the concourses were shut I can't imagine that the tenants operating businesses there would have appreciated it. Closing platforms that are unlikely to see a service for a long time doesn't seem unreasonable.

 

[RAPC]

I was on the 16:18 from Carlisle to Leeds yesterday, due to connect at Ribblehead or Hellifield on to the Rochdale service and onwards to Preston.

We were held at Kirkby Stephen as crew had been informed of the issues in Leeds. The first update was that we may not be able to continue and would possibly be sent back to Carlisle. They said that our part of the line wasn't impacted, so there was the possibility of running down to Hellifield or Gargrave as it was clear ahead.

After about 30 minutes of waiting, we were told that a train was on the way northbound, so we weren't going to return to Carlisle and would head to Hellifield and take it from there. I had mentioned to the conductor when we had first stopped, that there was the Ribblehead to Rochdale service ahead, that could potentially clear some passengers who might find it easier to connect via Blackburn / Manchester / Rochdale to onward destinations. Through the driver, they requested to be able to proceed to do this, but didn't get a response until it was too late. It was also requested to hold a delayed Morecambe service that hadn't at that time departed Skipton, but that again was refused.

We ended up leaving Kirkby Stephen 53 minutes late, but at least were on our way. It was slow running, but we made it through to Skipton 75 minutes late. On arrival it was confirmed that the service would be terminating at Skipton.

There were staff on the platform talking to passengers on our service. The summary was that there was no assistance in place, but that you could sort your own onward travel and claim via customer services. One member of staff said it would be paid, the other said it *might* be covered. They were doing their best and genuinely trying to find ways to assist people to find an alternative.

As a few of us needed to get to Preston and Manchester, I asked about whether the 20:00 service to Lancaster would be running. At that time it was showing as starting from Shipley, but the status had then changed to delayed. One of the supervisors who I spoke to, said to give him a few minutes and he would see if he could get something sorted. Good to his word, he return 5 minutes later and said he had found a driver and conductor, who could use the 158 from the Carlisle service. We left pretty much on time and made it to Lancaster in time to connect to the last TPE service to Manchester for the group who were heading there.

It was a bit stressful not knowing how close to Leeds we would get, as well as any potential onward options. Full praise to the conductor from Carlisle, as well as the supervisor at Skipton and the driver and conductor drafted in to get a service to Lancaster and back. Sadly not every station or area had the staff or opportunity to do something like this, but full marks to them all for their efforts yesterday. I'll be popping a note over to Northern to thank the efforts of staff later today.

 

[zwk500]

Given that Delay Repay systems can quickly scan and confirm validity of a ticket, it would surely be possible to have a system which similarly quickly scanned and confirmed a ticket was applicable to a disrupted service and immediately generate a taxi voucher/code for use.

Yes, not everyone will be confident in using electronic approaches like this, but most will, leaving only a smaller number of passengers for staff to focus on.

You've evidently missed the point that the problem was not about having vouchers or authority to pay, but simply having the actual vehicle in the first place. A voucher is a fat load of good if there's no taxi to show it to.

 

[jamiearmley]

The biggest issue I saw yesterday was that once the 'Do not travel' was in place, passengers were told to make their own arrangements.

Now, that's all well and good for those who were not mid journey - however, it's inexcusable for those already in the middle of their travel.

I fully accept that if someone turned up wanting to begin travel at 5pm yesterday that no alternative transport would have been provided.

However, dumping people half way through their journey and telling them to make their own way for the next couple of hundred miles is not on.

Exceptions were made yesterday - I myself fought hard for those on my train for whom 'making their own way' was neither affordable or practical, and I managed to get the needed transport provided and paid for.
However, giving the authority to make these decisions back to local station supervisors, and empowering them to do so without fear or favour, would be the best thing for the passengers.

Not only does shelling out hundreds for a long distance Uber during a major demand led pricing surge risk impoverishing many passengers, but there's also an additional cost to the railway processing claims for costs after the event. Using the contracted taxi providers at the point of need would be cheaper, incur fewer processing costs post - incident, and ultimately be in the best interests of the fare paying passengers - and should be implemented as the correct process going forward.

Sadly, I won't hold my breath.

 

[zwk500]

As was mentioned earlier, there was a complete system failure in one of the control rooms, which suggests an IT failure of some sorts. I know none of the UK critical infrastructure will ever publicly admit to a cyber attack, but its just a possibility?

Or it could just be a random electrical fault and the UPS system failed, as they seem to always do when you need them in anger!

Failure is much, much more likely than attack as the system is designed so that it can only signal trains. However I agree with the other poster that there should be an arms-length inquiry into the failure and that a summary report should be published to hold the rail industry accountable for the failure. I'd suggest the incident response to passengers would be a separate inquriy, if it got to that level.

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 27 Jul 2025 ==

Exceptions were made yesterday - I myself fought hard for those on my train for whom 'making their own way' was neither affordable or practical, and I managed to get the needed transport provided and paid for.
However, giving the authority to make these decisions back to local station supervisors, and empowering them to do so without fear or favour, would be the best thing for the passengers.

On this point I 100% agree, in incident response mode frontline staff should have the confidence to make those decisions quickly and clearly.

Not only does shelling out hundreds for a long distance Uber during a major demand led pricing surge risk impoverishing many passengers, but there's also an additional cost to the railway processing claims for costs after the event. Using the contracted taxi providers at the point of need would be cheaper, incur fewer processing costs post - incident, and ultimately be in the best interests of the fare paying passengers - and should be implemented as the correct process going forward.

This does happen but again, it was a Saturday evening. How many taxis or Ubers of any kind were actually available? For that matter, how many taxis and ubers are licensed/registered in Leeds total?

 

[norbitonflyer]

I second that, strangers to Leeds would have great difficulty finding the right bus to their destination,

This had repercussions far wider than Leeds. As I discovered when researching how to do the Hellifield-Clitheroe link, the last connections to London from either tyhe bentham line (eg Hellifield) or the Colne/Burnley/Blackburn/Accrington line are via the West Coast Main line from Lancaster and Preston respectively - you can't get to Manchester in time (even when the trams are running between Victoria and Picaddilly, which they are currently not doing).

But the connections to both Lancaster and Preston come from Leeds, so they were affected too.

 

[Andyh82]

I second that, strangers to Leeds would have great difficulty finding the right bus to their destination, especially if in a hurry and/or stressed. What doesn't help is the bus station is some distance from the rail station, there's no connecting "free bus" as in Manchester, and I don't think there's a walking route signposted either. Some buses pass nearby (and some if you cross the river) but which, and where do they go? Doesn't help when stops are lettered rather than have the bus number on.

The stops in Leeds city centre DO have the service numbers on, although I agree that the combined authority’s decision to change the stop names from unique codes to ‘nice’ names was a daft decision

So previously you’d have H2, T3, F7 etc with no name duplicates you now have ‘Cultural B’, ‘Station B’ etc

 

[jamiearmley]

This does happen but again, it was a Saturday evening. How many taxis or Ubers of any kind were actually available? For that matter, how many taxis and ubers are licensed/registered in Leeds total?

According to taxi drivers I've spoken to over the years, several thousand taxis are registered at Leeds.

There are over 1500 taxis operating within the city on Friday and Saturday evenings.

Given as well that taxis can obtain their taxi plates at low cost in places like Rotherham and Bradford and then work in other cities such as Leeds, a large number of taxis come in at weekends from outlying areas in order to benefit from the lucrative city traffic.

Although Uber was surging quite remarkably yesterday, each time I was involved in sourcing a taxi, I noted that the wait didn't exceed 20 minutes.

You should note as well that on a normal Saturday night just after midnight, the wait at Leeds station for a taxi can be in excess of 70 minutes If one is trying to avoid using the black and whites and is sticking to app-based providers.

The final point to make is that the taxi services which are contracted to the railway are obliged to prioritise Railway bookings. As such, sourcing taxis for passengers is neither difficult nor unachievable, although in exceptional situations like yesterday, there may have been delays.

The issue is that as soon as the do not travel went out, no effort was made and passengers were left to fend for themselves.

Whilst there are a lot of good people working on the railway, not everyone has the energy or the confidence to challenge diktats from above in order to source assistance for those passengers entitled to such assistance.

 

[YorksLad12]

What it seems was missing is what is always missing in such situations, and that is communication, both for passengers and for staff assisting them.

It always it. People always want answers, or information, which is why you never see anyone else wearing a yellow or orange jacket in the area. I had to deal with an incident once from a press perspective; as soon as I put the tabard on I was surrounded.

The stops in Leeds city centre DO have the service numbers on, although I agree that the combined authority’s decision to change the stop names from unique codes to ‘nice’ names was a daft decision

So previously you’d have H2, T3, F7 etc with no name duplicates you now have ‘Cultural B’, ‘Station B’ etc

Don't. Get. Me. Started

Out of interest, did the display boards at Leeds all clear to only show services that were actually running? I hate it when NR do that (though it makes more sense at unstaffed two-platform stations, clear the display and put up an informative notice).

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 27 Jul 2025 ==

According to taxi drivers I've spoken to over the years, several thousand taxis are registered at Leeds.

There are over 1500 taxis operating within the city on Friday and Saturday evenings.

Do you mean "taxis", or are you including "Private Hire Vehicles"? I've never seen a taxi with a number higher than the 500s. There are more taxis in Leeds centre than there need to be after they were turfed out of the airport.

 

[jamiearmley]

Do you mean "taxis", or are you including "Private Hire Vehicles

I meant all vehicles for hire.

I know that theres a difference - but to ordinary people they are all just 'taxis' - whether they are a traditional black (or in the case of Leeds black and white) taxi - or an Uber, a Veezu, an Oakwood Rex, etc.

I should have been clearer.

 

[zwk500]

According to taxi drivers I've spoken to over the years, several thousand taxis are registered at Leeds.

There are over 1500 taxis operating within the city on Friday and Saturday evenings.

Given as well that taxis can obtain their taxi plates at low cost in places like Rotherham and Bradford and then work in other cities such as Leeds, a large number of taxis come in at weekends from outlying areas in order to benefit from the lucrative city traffic.

Although Uber was surging quite remarkably yesterday, each time I was involved in sourcing a taxi, I noted that the wait didn't exceed 20 minutes.

You should note as well that on a normal Saturday night just after midnight, the wait at Leeds station for a taxi can be in excess of 70 minutes If one is trying to avoid using the black and whites and is sticking to app-based providers.

The final point to make is that the taxi services which are contracted to the railway are obliged to prioritise Railway bookings. As such, sourcing taxis for passengers is neither difficult nor unachievable, although in exceptional situations like yesterday, there may have been delays.

Thank you for this information. If we take your estimate of 1500 taxis/minicabs working on a Saturday night, and my estimate of 500 Taxis an hour for the London traffic alone, it is quite easy to see how within a few minutes the available taxis whether booked by the railway or on passengers' own initiative would have been quickly overwhelmed, especially as all non-railway traffic would have had to basically been refused.

The issue is that as soon as the do not travel went out, no effort was made and passengers were left to fend for themselves.

I agree this is not acceptable.

Whilst there are a lot of good people working on the railway, not everyone has the energy or the confidence to challenge diktats from above in order to source assistance for those passengers entitled to such assistance.

I would contend that is an issue from above, not below.

 

[jamiearmley]

I would contend that is an issue from above, not below.

And I would completely agree with you.

Staff on the ground should not have to be fighting against anti-passenger policies.

 

[TUC]

You've evidently missed the point that the problem was not about having vouchers or authority to pay, but simply having the actual vehicle in the first place. A voucher is a fat load of good if there's no taxi to show it to.

No, I get that, but a voucher is still far more reassuring-and essential to those on low incomes-than having to pay and reclaim.

No one should have to pay and wait for a refund. I agree that finding a taxi can be hard, but providing vouchers should be the easy part.

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 27 Jul 2025 ==

I meant all vehicles for hire.

I know that theres a difference - but to ordinary people they are all just 'taxis' - whether they are a traditional black (or in the case of Leeds black and white) taxi - or an Uber, a Veezu, an Oakwood Rex, etc.

I should have been clearer.

I presume most people would either go on taxi/private hire apps or ring around. I don't think anyone would take a reference to 'taxi' literally.

 

[YorksLad12]

I meant all vehicles for hire.

I know that theres a difference - but to ordinary people they are all just 'taxis' - whether they are a traditional black (or in the case of Leeds black and white) taxi - or an Uber, a Veezu, an Oakwood Rex, etc.

I should have been clearer.

I presume most people would either go on taxi/private hire apps or ring around. I don't think anyone would take a reference to 'taxi' literally.

Sorry - I would, because I know the difference. I know lots of people use apps now, but a lot of us still do the old-fashioned thing of finding the taxi rank and queuing. Both should be catered for, we need to get over this idea that everyone can easily get on online (see also disruption information).