Crackdown on Guildford taxi drivers
TAXI drivers who pick up passengers from outside Guildford Railway Station say they are being penalised because of a lack of rank space, following a crackdown on parking by transport police and train staff this week.
According to Mark Rostron, secretary of the Guildford Hackney Association, several police officers and other uniformed staff ‘descended’ on the station on Tuesday and handed out penalties to waiting drivers.
“They issued parking tickets to the taxi drivers waiting to serve the travelling public – other drivers were moved on,” said Mr Rostron.
“Guildford Station claims to be a flagship station, which should have 15 taxi rank spaces.
“But it only provides rank space for 10 taxis, although they have issued more than a hundred permits to taxi drivers to allow them to work at the station at around £500 per year cost.”
Mr Rostron said the problem was an ongoing issue and likely to get even worse next year when Olympic athletes come to stay at nearby Surrey Sports Park.
“South West Trains should provide proper rank space now, more urgently than ever, rather than criminalising law-abiding taxi drivers going about their business.
“We are just trying to do work and take passengers home – if we don’t, we can’t feed our families.
“We have discussed this endlessly with a succession of station managers and Guildford council, but nothing is done.
“Perhaps those in authority will have a rethink.”
A British Transport Police (BTP) spokesman said only two of its police officers had dealt with the drivers and confirmed the organisation had not issued any penalty tickets itself.
He added that the problems at the railway station had only arisen recently, which is why the officers had made an effort to tackle it early.
“Two BTP officers and South West Trains staff spoke with taxi drivers at Guildford rail station on Tuesday August 2, as part of an hour-long education initiative,” he said.
“There had been reports that some drivers were not using the designated queuing system at the station properly, which had caused added congestion and in some cases obstructed access to the station for other motorists.
“The education initiative, the first at the station, was well-received by taxi drivers, who were made aware of and accepted the importance of using the queue system properly.”
A spokesman for South West Trains said the company was open to ideas about increasing the space.
She said: “Space constraints and the layout of Guildford station mean that only a limited number of taxi spaces are available at any one time.
“We are currently engaging with local taxi firms and the local authority to find ways to increase the space available and will be happy to consider any viable proposals.”
In addition, a spokesman for Guildford Borough Council said the organisation was trying to work in partnership with other agencies to address the problems at the railway station.
She explained: “Although the taxi rank at the station is not under our control, we are attempting to address the issue of the number of taxi ranks in the borough through the Taxi Advisory Group – the taxi trade, councillors, council officers and the police.
“We will be working with Surrey County Council to find potential sites and our aim is to find a long-term solution.
“We will also be looking at whether we will need extra, temporary ranks during the Olympics.”
source:
http://www.getsurrey.co.uk/
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