Calendar An icon of a desk calendar. Cancel An icon of a circle with a diagonal line across. Caret An icon of a block arrow pointing to the right. Email An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of the Facebook "f" mark. Google An icon of the Google "G" mark. Linked In An icon of the Linked In "in" mark. Logout An icon representing logout. Profile An icon that resembles human head and shoulders. Telephone An icon of a traditional telephone receiver. Tick An icon of a tick mark. Is Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes. Is Not Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes with a diagonal line through it. Pause Icon A two-lined pause icon for stopping interactions. Quote Mark A opening quote mark. Quote Mark A closing quote mark. Arrow An icon of an arrow. Folder An icon of a paper folder. Breaking An icon of an exclamation mark on a circular background. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Caret An icon of a caret arrow. Clock An icon of a clock face. Close An icon of the an X shape. Close Icon An icon used to represent where to interact to collapse or dismiss a component Comment An icon of a speech bubble. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Ellipsis An icon of 3 horizontal dots. Envelope An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Home An icon of a house. Instagram An icon of the Instagram logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. Magnifying Glass An icon of a magnifying glass. Search Icon A magnifying glass icon that is used to represent the function of searching. Menu An icon of 3 horizontal lines. Hamburger Menu Icon An icon used to represent a collapsed menu. Next An icon of an arrow pointing to the right. Notice An explanation mark centred inside a circle. Previous An icon of an arrow pointing to the left. Rating An icon of a star. Tag An icon of a tag. Twitter An icon of the Twitter logo. Video Camera An icon of a video camera shape. Speech Bubble Icon A icon displaying a speech bubble WhatsApp An icon of the WhatsApp logo. Information An icon of an information logo. Plus A mathematical 'plus' symbol. Duration An icon indicating Time. Success Tick An icon of a green tick. Success Tick Timeout An icon of a greyed out success tick. Loading Spinner An icon of a loading spinner. Facebook Messenger An icon of the facebook messenger app logo. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Facebook Messenger An icon of the Twitter app logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. WhatsApp Messenger An icon of the Whatsapp messenger app logo. Email An icon of an mail envelope. Copy link A decentered black square over a white square.

Taxis get go-ahead to return to Back Wynd as rank reinstated

The Taxi rank on Back Wynd before it was closed in 2020. Picture by Kenny Elrick/DCT Media.
Taxis sit at Aberdeen's Back Wynd rank. Picture by Kenny Elrick/DCT Media.

An Aberdeen taxi rank is to be reopened after two years – as police reveal hopes it could help with late-night violence in the city centre.

Councillors this afternoon agreed to reinstate the taxi rank on Back Wynd.

It comes only days after Aberdeen City Council voted to permanently allow buses and taxis to remain on the central stretch of Union Street.

The Back Wynd taxi rank has not been in use since 2020.

As the first Covid lockdown was lifted, the Granite Mile was closed off to allow more space of pedestrians and shoppers.

But a recent consultation showed the majority supported it reopening – with police hopeful a well-lit Back Wynd rank could dent the number of incidents in busy queues.

Signs are still in place explaining that the Back Wynd taxi rank is not in use.
Signs are still in place explaining that the Back Wynd taxi rank is not in use.

Public supported return of Back Wynd taxi rank

A public consultation on the reinstatement of the Back Wynd rank was held earlier this year.

A total of 148 people responded, with the majority in support of reopening the rank.

Police Scotland welcomed the plan saying it would “reduce the risk of disorder or violence associated with large queues”.

But they asked for reassurance around “adequate lighting and provision of taxi marshals at peak times”.

The council’s roads department said taxi rank spaces would need to be reduced between 6pm and 10am to allow larger servicing vehicles to travel through Back Wynd.

Taxi drivers and residents from across the city were hugely supportive of the plan.

Driver Gary Mair said the reinstatement “couldn’t come soon enough” as it was the “best known and most popular rank” in the city.

Meanwhile, Karen Elrick said the rank “needs be open”.

She added: “It is a central location, nobody knows where to go for a taxi now.”


Do you think the right decision has been made? Let us know in our comments section below.

The taxi rank in Back Wynd has been out of action since 2020.
The taxi rank in Back Wynd has been out of action since 2020.

What did councillors have to say?

The city council’s licensing committee met earlier today to discuss the city centre rank.

Officers had recommended Back Wynd be reinstated as an 11-vehicle taxi rank operating from 5am to midnight seven days a week.

Solicitor Sandy Munro told the committee: “There were a number of responses which said that the rank should be 24-hours.

“There’s another couple of people saying ‘why stop at midnight? That’s when we need taxis’.

“For clarity there are night-time ranks on Union Street, those were never disestablished.

“They obviously couldn’t be used when all vehicles couldn’t access that stretch of Union Street but they do not require any formal process to reopen.”

Mr Munro said the night-time ranks would “cater for the demand” between midnight and 5am.

Convener Gill Al-Samarai said she was “content” with the proposal and it was unanimously approved.

Conversation