Taxi Driver Online

Cabbies boycott New Street station over barrier row


FURIOUS cabbies boycotted Birmingham’s New Street station on Wednesday claiming they had been left out of pocket because of faulty barriers.

They said the barrier system, which came into force last Wednesday, had been dogged by problems.

They can enter the rank but said they faced long delays due to exit barrier failures.

One said: “There is a lot of frustration.

“I’ve waited 20 minutes for the barrier to work.

“This morning I had to tell a customer to use another taxi outside the station.

“You press the intercom for help and it takes a long time for them to answer, sometimes they don’t answer at all.

“We’re angry and the customers are angry.

“Today, a number of us have decided to boycott the station and park-up at the TK Maxx rank.

“The best solution would be removing the exit barrier.

“We’ve complained, but no one seems bothered.”

Student Maddie Ward was caught-up in Wednesday’s snarl-up.

The 20-year-old, from London, said: “I’ve been stuck in a cab for ten minutes and there’s a long line of vehicles in front and behind me.

“I’ve never encountered this before and it is very frustrating.”

Drivers have also complained of congestion caused by taxi drivers waiting to use the barriers.

Jason Greenwood tweeted earlier this month: “This new barrier system at New Street, had to wait 30 mins for a taxi to move 50 yards due to barrier #rubbish.”

It’s not the first time cab drivers have seen red over the new-look New Street.

Just last week, they claimed victory after charges of up to £1,000-a-year to serve the station were axed .

In 2013, they protested that a temporary rank in Navigation Street, set-up while work was being carried out, was unsuitable .

It had only 11 spaces and taxi drivers launched a petition after being forced to pay 60p a time to park in a Hill Street “holding pen”.

At the time, Ivan Boon, liaison officer at TOA Taxis, said: “They have spent £600 million on this station, but I doubt £10 has been spent thinking about where the taxis are going to go.”

No comment was immediately available from Network Rail .

source: http://www.birminghammail.co.uk/news/ca ... n-10905289

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