Taxi Driver Online

The nearest station to St Andrews is five miles away in Leuchars village, and its an important source of work for the local trade. At the Open the rank is used for GolfLink buses that provide a through service to the Golf from the buses. The taxis are shunted on to a temporary rank which is too small for all the cars, and this year the station was completely closed to taxis for long periods.

A lot of us drivers were a bit unhappy at this.

I sent this letter to the local paper, and it was in Fridays edition......

Dear Sir

Fife Council's liberal approach to the issuing of taxi vehicle and driver licenses means that it's quite feasible to join the trade for the week of the Open Golf Championship, and also means that some drivers don't know where the Links Clubhouse is (no prizes for guessing) or think that one car length is an adequate separation distance at 60 mph (try at least a dozen).

Moreover, for reasons of administrative convenience (presumably) taxis can work anywhere within the old East Fife District Council area, meaning an influx of several dozen taxis during the Open.

While there are regularly a dozen or more taxis plying for hire at the Leuchars station rank, for the 2000 Open (and in spite of the above) the taxis were shifted onto a temporary rank around the bus turning circle, while the rank was commandeered for the GolfLink buses.

The lack of space meant that taxis were regularly turned away from the rank, and had to sit in either Guardbridge or Leuchars village in the hope that a space would become available. But with no way of knowing if there was space, they could return after wasting half an hour only to be turned away again, and in the meantime another taxi may have turned up at the right time and gained instant access to the rank.

Thus taxis from Auchtermuchty (say) could be sitting on the rank, while drivers who regularly spend all their waking hours at the station were often sitting half a mile away in blissful ignorance.

With the rear of the rank being nearest to the station exit, customers would often jump into the taxi at the back of the rank; thus not much fun for the driver at the front, who could easily have waited an hour on the rank, even in Open week.

Later in the evening, police and stewards would disappear, and taxis dropping passengers would use the normal taxi rank, occasionally securing a waiting customer immediately, with waiting taxis hidden behind the vegetation shielding the temporary rank.

Meanwhile, while commuters were provided with a temporary car park and shuttle bus from Leuchars Primary School, no obvious provision was made for private cars, mini-buses and coaches picking up from the station, meaning all crammed into the turning circle with the taxis.

In 2005, despite the above and a significant increase in taxi numbers, the system outlined above was largely unchanged.

However, the 2000 system was trumped insofar as that for several hours at a time the station was completely closed to any vehicle other than the GolfLink buses.

Consequently, I understand that some rail passengers missed trains or had to continue by taxi to Dundee to catch a train there.

I took a passenger to the station on Saturday evening and police deigned to let me drop him there, but would not let me stay despite the fact that an inter-city train was just pulling into the station.

All this was supposedly for safety reasons, but at this time, apart from rail passengers on the station platform and stewards and police elsewhere, the station was deserted.

In any case, in 2000 when the station was crowed police and stewards managed to adequately marshal the taxis and queuing GolfLink passengers, but this time it looked more like officialdom preferring an easy life by making it more difficult for others.

In 2000 Fife Council sent taxi operators a three page letter informing them of what could have been communicated in three sentences - that the taxis would be shifted from the normal rank to a temporary one around the bus turning circle.

Earlier this year the word through the grapevine (the main source of official information for rank and file taxi drivers) was that the taxi trade would be afforded significantly more space this year. Thus this year's tome from the council was eagerly anticipated, but by the time it was realised that there would be no letter and that the 2000 system would remain in place, the Open had effectively arrived.

Perhaps the council took the view that if the taxi trade had been informed about what would happen this year then they might have tried to do something about it beforehand, which would clearly have never done.

If British Transport Police had wanted to see danger to pedestrians, perhaps they should have visited St Andrews in the early hours, when the town centre effectively became a pedestrian precinct for (so-called) revellers. Meanwhile, pettifogging police were nowhere, as compared to everywhere at Leuchars Station.

Incidentally, the influx of taxis and the extra traffic in St Andrews meant that the unofficial taxi rank in St Mary's Place was even more chaotic than usual. Life has also been made more difficult for taxi drivers with the reduction in rank space at the bus station, and the rather Heath Robinson system ('Rising Bollard Access Cards' etc) now in place will undoubtedly cause all sorts of problems in time.

I really think you should get someone (why not you? ) to represent your local trade properly.

Well before any major event get involved in any preparations that your council are conducting. And insist on being given exactly the same treatment as the bus companies.

All that aside, I bet you didn't end the week pot-less.

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IDFIMH

Bloody germans get everywhere.

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IDFIMH

No mention of the Hacks that were quoting £140 for Edinburgh city centre, from St Andrews (meters about £30 less, depending on the route and congestion., and can be had for £50 - £60 when there is no Open)

As for Taxi ranks in St. Andrews, (I never got near one), Dropping off at the club house I couldn't travel 100 yards before hacking a fare to Dundee, Edinburgh, The Bay, etc. you most certainly didn't need ranks In St. Andrews last weekend (as on Saturday night there were no East plated cabs in St Andrews at all, the punters were trawling the phone books calling cabs from all over to come get 'em)


Lack of rank space is alas all too common in our area, 9 miles along the road in Cupar there are 2 rank spaces, in a town with 4700 adresses, NE Fife licensing just buries its head, and until recently the TOA were by all accounts, not much better. There is entirely too much bickering between firms in our area to get a cohesive TOA together to get the LA to act on anything.


*I feel a rant coming on, must stop*

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I don't work on a barter system, (or no I don't want your watch, mobile, etc. instead of the fare)

I really think you should get someone (why not you? ) to represent your local trade properly.

We have an association, but it doesnt' seem to do much good a lot of the time. But theres apparently been a bit of a clean out and the new lot are a bit more militant, compared to the last lot who were accused of being yes men.

However, they certainly don't represent me, and the reason I don't get involved with it is because whatever they think I tend to think the opposite.

Well before any major event get involved in any preparations that your council are conducting. And insist on being given exactly the same treatment as the bus companies.

As in the letter, the word through the grapevine was that we were to be given more space this year. Once the letter had been sent out my intention was to get something done if the arrangements were as per last year, but by the time I realised there would be no letter the Open was almost here, so I just couldn't be bothered trying to get involved.

I'm not sure what the association's involvement in all this was, but they certainly didn't get any improvement on the last Open.

As for getting the same treatment as the buses, forget it, they rule during the Open, and the GolfLink service couldn't operate without taking over the taxi rank, but this year the taxis were even more sidelined than the last time.

All that aside, I bet you didn't end the week pot-less.

It was a good week, I can't deny that, but back to normality now - Saturday evening sat over two hours at the station for nothing

No mention of the Hacks that were quoting £140 for Edinburgh city centre, from St Andrews (meters about £30 less, depending on the route and congestion., and can be had for £50 - £60 when there is no Open)

I certainly wouldn't be surprised - some of them are a law unto themselves at the best of times, so if they can pick and choose their customers and prices then they will.


As for Taxi ranks in St. Andrews, (I never got near one), Dropping off at the club house I couldn't travel 100 yards before hacking a fare to Dundee, Edinburgh, The Bay, etc. you most certainly didn't need ranks In St. Andrews last weekend (as on Saturday night there were no East plated cabs in St Andrews at all, the punters were trawling the phone books calling cabs from all over to come get 'em)

There was certainly no problem with rank space at rate 2 times, but at other times it wasn't so good, especially at Leuchars early in the day - some of the drivers who regularly work there either went home in disgust or had to go into St Andrews to the bus station


Lack of rank space is alas all too common in our area, 9 miles along the road in Cupar there are 2 rank spaces, in a town with 4700 adresses, NE Fife licensing just buries its head, and until recently the TOA were by all accounts, not much better. There is entirely too much bickering between firms in our area to get a cohesive TOA together to get the LA to act on anything.

Bickering? I thought Archie and B&M etc were the best of buddies in Cupar