44 PRIVATE HIRE AND TAXI MONTHLY
STATION STIRRINGS
PARKING ROW AT SHEFFIELD STATION
Taxi drivers have com- plained that they are being unfairly targeted in a crackdown on driv- ers waiting illegally on yellow lines outside Sheffield train station. Hafeas Rehman, chair- man of Sheffield Taxi Trade Association, told the Sheffield Star: “Council officers have been threatening drivers waiting on yellow lines
with tickets unless they move on but we have nowhere else to go. But Les Sturch, Sheffield Council direc- tor of development services, said: “We have seen an increase in taxi drivers illegally parking around Sheffield station. We have been asking the taxi drivers to move on rather than issuing
Penalty Charge Notices for parking illegally. He said a meeting was being held with the drivers and station operator East Midlands Trains to discuss the problems and ongoing works to widen the entrance to the station taxi rank and drop off area, which will provide more places for cab- bies to wait.
QUEUE CHAOS AT STAINES STATION
Taxis are swamping Gresham Road due to the redevelopment of the station, according to a minicab manager. Up to 25 taxis queue up behind the three-car taxi rank day and night because they cannot pick up passengers from the main entrance in Station Approach. Kevin Swabey, 48, who runs Ronia Mini Cabs in
Gresham Road told the Surrey Echo: “The traffic is absolute murder. Cars are getting mobbed as people don’t want to queue and the people in the queue get upset. “The main entrance to the station in Station Approach is shut for passengers while a £400,000 refurbishment to install ticket barriers and make the station
compliant with the Dis- ability Discrimination Act is carried out. The work by South West Trains is scheduled to finish next year.” A Spelthorne Council spokeswoman said: “We have been requested by the local hackney car- riage trade to extend the rank in Gresham Road to allow more vehicles to use this area.”
STAND-OFF AT BRIGHTON STATION
Anngry taxi drivers blocked traffic outside Brighton Station during rush hour on a recent Wednesday night. Cab- bie Graham Kinsey had been ticketed by police as he waited to get on to the taxi rank. Fellow cabbies were so furious they refused to budge from the rank, causing chaos on sur- rounding roads. They eventually ended their strike after 90 minutes. A Sussex Police spokeswoman said the
row was over the £60 ticket. She said: “A driv- er was issued with a ticket because he was causing an obstruction and wouldn’t follow police instructions to move on. Certainly we understand that the taxi rank is too small and there are clear issues. Our road policing unit and taxi licensing offi- cer are looking at that.” Andy Charalambous, vice-chairman of taxi firm Streamline, said the cause of the prob-
lems was too many taxis had permission to use the area.
He told the Brighton Argus: “There are 17 spaces for taxis and the company that issues the permits for £420 a year has issued 313.” A Southern spokesman said: “Southern meets regularly with the taxi association and if this is becoming an issue, then the question of per- mit allocation may well appear on the agenda of our next meeting.”
JANUARY 2009
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