RANK RUMBLINGS
CALL FOR RANK OUTSIDE NEW NOTTINGHAM BUS STATION OVER FEARS PASSENGERS ARE LEFT STRANDED
Taxi drivers are calling for a rank to be built outside the new Broad Marsh bus station over fears people are being left stranded when they arrive by coach. According to NottinghamshireLive, National Express coaches moved into the new £50m bus station and car park in June. More than 400 coaches are expected a week, but some cabbies are furious there’s no rank. Drivers used to have a taxi rank as part of the former bus station, which has been replaced with pedestrianised space. Cabbies said some coach passengers have been left strand- ed with luggage, pushchairs, and wheelchairs, unable to find the rank outside Loxley House in Trent Street. Nottingham City Council says it is also considering building another rank close to the station. Chander Sood, 61, a taxi driver for more than 25 years, said: “Nottingham must be the only city in the country without a taxi rank outside a bus station. There is no facility for passengers carrying excessive luggage or for the elderly and
TAXI DRIVERS ANGRY OVER PLANS TO SHORTEN HARROGATE RANK
Cabbies have reacted angrily to plans to shorten the length of the main taxi rank in Harrogate as part of the £11.2m Station Gateway scheme. The Stray Ferret reports that the rank on Station Parade, opposite the train and bus stations, currently accommodates about a dozen taxis. Councillors want to reduce this by two vehicles and intro- duce a new bay over the road under plans to introduce single-lane traffic and new cycle paths. North Yorkshire County Council, which is leading on the gateway scheme, included the taxi rank proposals in new design plans that went out to consultation on 20 July. Tania Weston, the council’s programme manager for the gateway scheme, told a media briefing about the new designs that cabbies were satisfied with the new arrange- ments, which also include creating extra bays outside Mainline Taxis further along Station Parade. Paul McMahon, who owns PM Taxis, said cabbies were told in talks with the council that the Station Parade rank would stay in its entirety. He said: “They have completely back- tracked on what we were told. How can you service a busy railway station, especially when conferences are in town, when you shorten the rank?” Kevin O’Boyle, who owns Central Taxis, said: “This would be an unfair, derogatory step. Problems were pointed out at council liaison meetings a good six months back but it appears to have changed nothing.”
AUGUST 2022
disabled. Where has the council’s brain gone? “The first thing people want to see when they leave the bus station is a taxi rank. At the old bus station, the rank was very visible.” He said ranks had already been taken outside Ocean night- club and the train station as well as in Traffic Street. Parmjit Purwaha, 64, a taxi driver of 20 years, said: “Trains, buses and taxis go together. We desperately need a rank outside the Broad Marsh. We are losing business. We have paid lots of money for new taxis. This is the pride of Notting- ham this new fleet and the council should give us a rank.” Cllr David Mellen, leader of Nottingham City Council, said: “We’ve been consulting with taxi drivers throughout the Broad Marsh project and continue to work collaboratively with them. Free drop-offs and pick-ups are available within the new car park and we’re currently looking at a longer- term rank at nearby Melville Street. There remains an established rank close by in Trent Street.”
CARDIFF CABBIES’ PETITION TO STOP STATION RANK REMOVAL
Unite the union has raised a petition on behalf of its Cardiff taxi drivers members against the relocation of the Cardiff Central Railway Station taxi rank. Unite states that the general public are fully supportive of its campaign as the station rank has provided an essential service for over forty years. However, Cardiff Council and Transport for Wales Rail Ltd have proposed a complete relocation of the rank and Unite claims that there has been no impact assessment on how this will affect the public or the taxi trade itself and that its members have not been consulted and are not being included in plans that directly impact the taxi trade and the way that it provides a service. The petition states: “The plans show a clear disregard to taxi drivers as part of an integrated transport system, as stated in Welsh Government Transport policy documents, and removes our rank from the convenience of easy public access, and public visibility at the front of the Cardiff Central Railway Station. This is clearly taking away public choice of transport if you require a taxi. “Many drivers are asking the question, why the taxi trade is overlooked on the proposed final stage of planning by Cardiff transport infrastructure when they know we play such a vital role? “The reasons given for the proposal have been inconsistent, and prove that taxis and those who rely on them have been an afterthought throughout this process.”
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