FURIOUS taxi drivers who make their living at Glasgow Airport claim they are being driven round the bend because a decision to close an automatic entry barrier is causing traffic chaos.
Cabbies have to queue up at a holding area and then pass through remotely-operated barriers in order to reach the rank at the front of the terminal building.
There are normally two barriers in operation to let taxis flow to the rank but one of them has now been closed while airport bosses carry out improvements to the forecourt area.
Drivers of Renfrewshire Council-licensed private hire taxis have complained that this has led to a huge bottleneck of traffic at the barriers at the junction of Bute Road and St Andrews Drive.
They also claim that priority is being given to other vehicles, such as delivery vans and hotel buses.
And the bad news for the cabbies is that the disruption is set to continue until the end of June.
One taxi driver who contacted the Paisley Daily Express yesterday claimed there was a traffic jam of more than 100 cabs in the holding area during the morning rush hour.
The man, who asked not to be named, said: “There has been chaos, with a huge queue of cars backed up all the way from the barrier.
“It almost came to physical blows between some taxi drivers and other drivers.
“There are normally just two barriers, which isn’t enough anyway, and when just one is working, things get really bad.
“For some reason, other cars and vans have been getting priority.
“Passengers have been irate when they get into a taxi because they’ve waited up to half an hour at the rank.
“They’re used to getting into a taxi straight away.”
Another cabbie, who also wanted to remain anonymous, added: “We pay to use Glasgow Airport as our base but the service isn’t up to scratch and the people at the airport don’t care about us at all.
“We provide a service to people and we should be allowed to do that.”
A spokesman for Glasgow Airport said the problem is being caused by ongoing building work and added that they are making “every effort” to manage the disruption.
He added: “We are currently investing to improve security and access to the forecourt area.
“While we implement this solution, there will be some disruption during peak times for taxis, buses and other service vehicles.”
http://www.paisleydailyexpress.co.uk/re ... -26391578/
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