Silver Top cabs nobbled by blaze

The Age

Wednesday July 29, 2009

Clay Lucas, Transport Reporter

MELBOURNE'S taxi service was disrupted yesterday after a fire at Silver Top Taxis' offices in Collingwood destroyed the cab company's call centre.The fire broke out in Rupert Street, Collingwood, yesterday morning and it took 70 firefighters and 23 trucks to bring it under control.The fire burned for 90 minutes and caused damage estimated at between $800,000 and $1 million.The building housed Silver Top Taxis' call centre and training facilities, and a collection of old taxis and taxi meters that dated back to the 1850s.Silver Top Taxis is responsible for about a third of all Melbourne's taxi trips, but the Government's Victorian Taxi Directorate said yesterday it could not estimate what impact the fire would have on services.The call centre is likely to be re-established by this afternoon.Silver Top was helped along yesterday by a Sydney taxi depot, Premier Cabs, which donated call centre hardware.Rival 13CABS increased staffing levels at its Melbourne call centre, to help cope with the additional demand.Andrew Skelton, 13CABS' chief operating officer, said bookings increased by 40 per cent yesterday."Taxi demand has softened as a result of the global financial crisis," he said, "so there is existing spare capacity within the company's 1834-strong fleet of cabs to absorb the additional bookings.��Mr Skelton said he had been ��deeply saddened for the Gange family �� the owners of Silver Top �� who are extremely proud of their taxi heritage, much of which has now been lost to the flames".The Victorian Taxi Association's policy officer, David Samuel, said Silver Top was working hard to get its call centre operating as soon as it could.Hopefully, by this afternoon, Silver Top "should be up and running again", he said.Until Silver Top's call centre is re-established, the Victorian Taxi Directorate said bookings should be made by calling 13CABS on 13 2227 or Platinum Taxis on 9090 1800.People requiring wheelchair-accessible taxis can still phone 9277 3877.