Taxi Driver Online

Taxi drivers’ fury as parking tickets soar outside Stoke-on-Trent railway station

Taxi drivers are lashing out about the lack of parking on Station Road in Stoke-on-Trent.

The number of parking tickets issued on the road outside the railway station has rocketed from less than 200 to a staggering 1,258 in just 12 months.

It makes the road the second most ticketed in Stoke-on-Trent, coming second to Lower Bethesda Street in Hanley, on which 1,519 tickets were issued in 2013/14.

The shocking figures, which include parking tickets and bus lane violations. were revealed in a Freedom of Information request by StaffsLive.

The FOI also revealed a drastic reduction in the number of tickets issued in Huntbach Street after a bus lane was removed.

Janjeer Pashir, 53, who drives for Magnum taxi firm, said many cab drivers are being hit with parking fines.

“There used to be space for taxis to pull up at the front,” he said.

“The council changed it, it’s easy money for them.

“They see us pulling up and they can give us a ticket.

“We need more spaces at the front for taxis.”

Although there is a taxi rank at the station, cabbies have to pay the council £242.00 for a Hackney Carriage licence and the privilege of using the rank.

Mahmood, 46, who holds a Hackney Carriage licence, said: “We have to pay the council for our licence and pay Virgin every year for our permit to use the taxi rank.

“It’s not fair because the other cabs pull up outside the front of the station and steal the customers.

“We are hidden around the corner, people don’t know to come out this way because that is the main entrance.

20 minute stay sign opposite the station
20 minute stay sign opposite the station

“No other train station is like this – it’s strange.”

For those who do not have a licence to use the rank, there are a few short-stay places opposite the station that are frequently full.

Jaz Ahmed, 30, taxi driver for Roseville, said: “Lots of people get tickets, it’s not good.

“There should be more space for taxis to drop off and pick up.

“We have pick ups every five minutes here, with trains coming in from all over.

“It’s too busy here to not have more spaces.”

Another Hackney Carriage taxi driver added: “If they don’t break the law, they won’t get a ticket, it’s simple.

“Or they can pay and use the rank, there are no problems here using the rank.

“The problem is outside the station where taxi drivers pull up on the pavement and all-sorts.”

A spokesperson for Stoke-on-Trent City Council explained the high number of tickets being issued was due to people parking dangerously on the pedestrian crossing.

“We regularly review our enforcement priorities depending on intelligence and requests from members of the public, to make sure we are targeting the areas which need it the most,” the spokesperson added.

source: http://staffslive.co.uk/2015/02/taxi-dr ... y-station/

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