taxi from Leicester square to wembley, how much?

tonys_3

Your best bet is the tube-with a choice of 3 stations nearby.
1 tottenham court road last train 20 past midnight- one change
2 piccadilly circus last train 12.31 one change
3 leicester square last train 12.24 one change

You can check them out on journeyplanner which has been listed on an earlier post.

Avoid black cabs; and mini cabs that try and blag you for a fare. This is one
of the most expensive times to get a black cab-and they invariably pick up
women only this time of night and if you get one who does not know the shortest route or to Wembley it will cost a fortune [Black cabs are ideal for short journeys within central London.The further out they go,the more expensive they become, and not only because they charge you both the distance travelled, and the time it takes but also a part of the return fare until they get back to that area of London where they are allowed to pick people up.] . Illegal minicabs should be avoided at all costs-they are expensive and they are not insured to carry you.
{Although I do appreciate that they are often the only cabs that are empty at that time on a Saturday night].

I don't think you will have a chance of getting Addison Lee or Express at that time on a Saturday as that is their busiest time and doubtful they will pick you up on the street anyway [they reckon you won't wait for them but take the first cab you see]. Out of touch with their prices but around £22. If you decide to try them, call from inside a club or restaurant and use that as the pickup point. Ask the telephonist for a quote just in case the driver is unfamiliar with the Wembley area-though both those companies tend to have the best
drivers.

Failing that there are buses that travel to Wembley throughout the night-from
Trafalgar square I think. If interested check it out on the journey planner.

paultw5

Message 10 from Lily is spot on, by the side of Leicester Sq tube stn is a Rank marshalled by the police in Cranbourne st. At the end of the night the drivers rank there and give their home destinations to the marshall, who then matches them up to the destination you are going.

I would guess Wembley to be about £35-£40 tops.

I believe the tube now runs to about 1 am at weekends (not 100% sure).

lily_the_pink

tonys wrote:

Your best bet is the tube-with a choice of 3 stations nearby.
1 tottenham court road last train 20 past midnight- one change
2 piccadilly circus last train 12.31 one change
3 leicester square last train 12.24 one change

You can check them out on journeyplanner which has been listed on an earlier post.

Avoid black cabs; and mini cabs that try and blag you for a fare. This is one
of the most expensive times to get a black cab-and they invariably pick up
women only this time of night and if you get one who does not know the shortest route or to Wembley it will cost a fortune [Black cabs are ideal for short journeys within central London.The further out they go,the more expensive they become, and not only because they charge you both the distance travelled, and the time it takes but also a part of the return fare until they get back to that area of London where they are allowed to pick people up.] . Illegal minicabs should be avoided at all costs-they are expensive and they are not insured to carry you.
{Although I do appreciate that they are often the only cabs that are empty at that time on a Saturday night].

QUOTE]

Saterday night is what is termed Tariff 3 - however, on longish journeys, the difference between Tariff 1 and Tariff 3 pretty much evens out. All the cab drivers I know would deny taking long routes - their training during the knowledge drums in the importance of being professional which includes taking the most economical route for the customer (that is not always the shortest - road closures, known traffic blackspots, road works, lots of traffic lights could make a particular route more expensive even if it is seemingly more direct - there was an experiment on a TV news programme where black cab drivers were pitted against a sat nav system - the human brain won every time). However there are, as in every trade/profession bad apples who try and rip people off. See this link for Tariff information http://www.tfl.gov.uk/pco/taxi_fares.shtml

They are not allowed (within Greater London area) to charge more than that allowed through the tariff system - Wembley is certainly within this area. All Black cab drivers would know the shortest route to Wembley - this is why they do the knowledge.

I agree wholeheartedly with avoiding illegal minicabs - not only do they threaten black cab drivers (and legal minicabs) drivers livelihood, not only are you uninsured in the case of an accident, not only have there been countless incidents of attacks on customers, but it is not necessarily going to save you any money. Plus you will more than likely get someone who has no idea where they are going - and the car is likely to be unsafe as well. I would probably prefer to get the nightbus even if I were on my own.

pin

I've used both Addison Lee and Express Cabs on Friday and Saturday nights on many occasions to pick up from central London and do drop offs all the way out to South Croydon (about 15 miles away). The longest I've had to wait has been 30 minutes, and they are fine about picking up from the street. What I suggest, if you know the time you want to the pick up and where from, call in advance and say where to pick up from. They will normally text you which cab will be coming and the cab's licence number and the rough ETA. They are both very good operations.

iluvmylexus

A licensed london taxi should cost around £35 - £40 from Leicester Square - Wembley (taking into account congestion around Leicester Square late at night). You will get a cab from Cranbourn Street which is run by TFL and marshalled.

REgarding Licensed minicabs - no licensed minicabs have meters in the car (not allowed to in London). While they may be cheaper in the suburbs, in the West End they will charge West End prices - it is a myth that they are cheaper for picking up in the West End (plus they will prioritise account customers). You can ask for a quote - but there is no guarantee that the driver will stick to it (especially if you know you are from out of town).

Unlicensed touts will rip you off if you are lucky - there is one rape a week at the moment by unlicensed touts and countless robberies and muggings. I am 6ft, 18 stone and would not get into one of these unlicensed vehicles.

N18 will get you as far as Wembley Triangle - there used to be a minicab office (not sure if still there) there and there are quite a few yellow badge (suburban) taxi drivers working the wembley area (should be less than a tenner - probably closer to a fiver). You could walk from Wembley Triangle - about 10 or 15 minutes - not the most dangerous area of London (there will be loads of traffic about so not massively intimidating).

iluvmylexus

pin wrote:

Black cab at that time will be expensive. If you really want to go ahead why don't you call someone like Addison Lee (02073878888) or Express Cabs (02074033333). They are both very reputable licenced taxi companies. Give them a call and they would be able to give you a rough quote.

missed this the first time around

Neither Addison Lee or Express are are taxi companies , they are licensed private hire companies that specialise in corporate account work. No private hire company driver is required to have a topographical knowledge of London NEITHER DO THEY HAVE METERED FARES. Any private hire driver that picks you up off the street without being pre-booked (whether licensed or not ) will not be covered by insurance. Much better to be safe than sorry

tonys_3

Dooj, I imagine you will probably go for one of the tube trains to get back to Wembley.
They will be the quickest and cheaper than cabs.

For clarification, Pin seems to have stirred up a hornets nest by calling Addison Lee and
Express Cars taxi companies. In every other town and city they would be just that.
However in London through some strange regulation, only black cabs are allowed to be called taxis. All companies that use private cars to pick up passengers in London are usually referred to as minicabs and are also not allowed to exhibit any signs that they are cabs. Very confusing for visitors.

Should you want a cab, it would be way cheaper to call for a minicab than use a
black cab. Ask them for a quote over the phone and do not pay any more than the quote when you get there unless you kept him waiting for longer than ten minutes in
which case he can charge you waiting time. Once you have the quote it doesn't matter
costwise whether the driver goes a long way round or gets lost on the way and it doesn't matter that he hasn't got a meter. {I never understand that argument since if the black cab goes a long way, or gets lost, you are paying over the odds for that journey anyway.]BTW the minicab uses the mileometer and the different cab companies may have different tariff rates but as I said earlier, they will be cheaper than a black cab.

My advice would be to take the tube if you can. You will have difficulty in finding a minicab firm with cars available at that time, and empty black cabs with their lights on are a rarity too. If you are three guys for instance, you will be lucky to get one to stop and most will not want to go to Wembley at that time. [They can make more on short journeys around central London with much less empty mileage and not run the risk of not getting paid a t the end of the journey.]

lily_the_pink

I agree about taking the tube - its what I have always done (that, or taking night buses - if there is a group of you I cant see that this would be a problem).

However, the rank on Cranbourne Street is a good initiative by TFL (Ken does have a few good ideas sometimes) and does make getting a taxi in central london at night easier. (the other time there is always a shortage of black cabs is when it rains). As I said before, loads of black cab drivers live in a Northwards direction, so Wembley is either en route or very close to their normal route home so would be easier for the marshalls to match up than someone liviing in Kingston or Brixton. I'm not sure how much cheaper all the other options would be so am not going to comment - just that the going home rank is not massively known about so is still a fairly good option for getting a black cab if that is what you want to do.

Hope you have a good evening out where ever you are going.

dooj

Are the last tubes pretty busy and is it pretty safe to travel late on a saturday night?

lily_the_pink

difficult question that one - I have never had any problems over 20 years of travelling late at night (usually with other people but very occaisionally when I was younger on my own) but I know of people who have been attacked (usually people who were not very street aware - or in the case of one friend it was a homophobic attack some years ago) and know of other people that wouldn't dream of getting on public transport after 9pm (in my twenties I liked going out too much to be able to budget for a taxi every time I went out).

The last tubes are usually pretty busy in the central area and the night buses can be quite jolly. Be careful and be aware - but you need to do this if you are out in London anyway.