Taxi home

Three British men have set a world record for the longest taxi journey ever, raising around €25,000 for charity in the process. The three recently returned to the UK capital following a journey of around 69,000km in their 20 year old London black cab, which they nicknamed Hannah. Had the men paid a taxi fare for the trip, it would have cost around €100,000. During the 15 month journey, the men drove across four continents and passed through 50 countries. They also set a record for the world’s highest taxi j
June 26, 2012 Read time: 2 mins
Three British men have set a world record for the longest taxi journey ever, raising around €25,000 for charity in the process. The three recently returned to the UK capital following a journey of around 69,000km in their 20 year old London black cab, which they nicknamed Hannah. Had the men paid a taxi fare for the trip, it would have cost around €100,000. During the 15 month journey, the men drove across four continents and passed through 50 countries. They also set a record for the world’s highest taxi journey, having driven the vehicle to the base camp area of Mount Everest. The trip was not without its difficulties however as the men were arrested in Moscow and were also detained by the Iranian Secret police. The latter were suspicious that the trio might be on a spying mission and one of the men was later deported from Iran on these grounds. But quite why the Iranians thought that spies travelling incognito would choose such a highly distinctive vehicle is not immediately apparent. A brush with the authorities in Moldova however was solved more amicably. Although the men were initially stuck at the border of the country because they had the wrong visas, they were allowed to enter Moldova as the mother of one of the trio knows the nation’s president.

Related Content

  • Latin America invests in infrastructure growth
    February 15, 2012
    Travelling in one of the world's most diverse regions is not always easy, but spectacular engineering feats will make life easier as Patrick Smith reports. Five years ago a report from the World Bank noted that infrastructure in most of Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC) had improved over the previous ten years.
    Read More
  • China is considering a massive tunnelling project
    August 22, 2013
    The Chinese authorities have announced plans to construct the world’s longest undersea tunnel. Measuring a colossal 123km long, the tunnel route runs under the Bohai Sea and is intended to connect Dalian in Liaoning Province with Yantai in Shandong Province. The tunnel was first proposed in the mid-1990s when it was expected to cost in the region of US$10.3 billion to build but the project was shelved due to the enormous construction challenges it posed. However tunnelling technology has moved on and the Ch
    Read More
  • New international trade crossing linking Canada and US
    June 9, 2015
    The Detroit River is short, only 45km, and narrow in places, less than 1km. Around a quarter of the annual $658 billion Canada-US trade crosses over the river. That’s $160 billion worth of goods trucked each year between Detroit in the US state of Michigan and the Canadian city of Windsor in the province of Ontario - the Windsor-Detroit Corridor. There are several types of crossings, but the vast majority of commercial traffic must use the 2.3km Ambassador Bridge (see box). A new bridge was initially prop
    Read More
  • Pan-European enforcement of driving laws due
    September 30, 2013
    Pan-European enforcement of driving regulations should catch offenders and help improve Europe’s road safety - Mike Woof reports. Agreements are being reached that will see Pan-European enforcement of driving regulations. Drivers will now face being penalised for any offences committed in other European countries. The change is due on 7th November 2013. After this date EU Member States will commence the cross border exchange of data relating to road traffic offences. For this scheme to work, eight offences
    Read More

Highlighted Content