Taxi Driver Online

Taxi drivers slam Chippenham Station price rise

Taxi drivers have threatened to boycott Chippenham Rail Station after a row over a rise of nearly £200 in annual permit charges. First Great Western, which runs the station, has brought its permit prices into line at all stations, bringing the charge at Chippenham up from £425 to £600.

Drivers were further angered after discovering taxis pay just £300 a year at Bristol Temple Meads – which has 15 platforms compared to Chippenham’s two, and sees millions more passengers through its doors each year.

Michael Simpkins, 51, of 24/7 Taxis, said: “It doesn’t make sense and it certainly is not fair. We only have four trains an hour at Chippenham to get custom, from while Bristol Temple Meads is at least three times as busy yet we are being charged nearly twice as much.

“At Temple Meads the drivers only wait two minutes and they get a fare – here we can wait two hours before anyone comes along. But we have to pay the permit or we can’t work. “On top of the charge you have to pay an extra £100 for any other people who use the taxi. My son and wife help out. We’re a family business, so I have to fork out £800 for my permit. It doesn’t seem right.”

Independent driver Sukhjinder Singh said: “Sometimes I wait three hours for a job and now we are paying double what we used to pay a year or two ago. “We could maybe understand a small increase because things are getting more expensive but that is ridiculous money. “There are also a lot more taxis at the station now and there is less work to go around.”

The drivers said there are few maintenance costs involved for First Great Western. Mr Simpkins said: “They don’t even clean the rank up – we do that ourselves. We sweep it and empty the bins. There is no cost involved for them. There are about 25 cars with permits – that is £15,000 a year.”

Dan Panes, spokesman for First Great Western said: “We are in discussions at Temple Meads. The reason there is a disparity is that this is the first time there has been a charge there.”

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IDFIMH

Is this CabFind again?

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Kind regards,

Brummie Cabbie.

Type a message, post your news,
Disagree with other members' views;
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IDFIMH

Yep noticed it in PHM either last month or the month before. I noticed they wanted £600 to stand at Kendal Station, looking at it on Google Maps it looks like a 1 line station with not many trains coming through it.

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Do not argue with an idiot. He will drag you down to his level and beat you with experience.

Believe me, don't get Mercury X2

Cabfind would care about this because

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Note to self: Just because it pops into my head does NOT mean it should come out of my mouth!!

York have upped it to £1260 per car and every driver has to pay £210 for a pass to be able to drive in there.

Is it the rail people charging this or a company with a contract from them?

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http://wingsoverscotland.com/ http://www.newsnetscotland.com/

Do London Cabbies have to pay anything to pick up at london terminii ?

It seems to me that the busier the station the cheaper it is for the cabbies

At the moment there are no charges at our local station but lots of signs have gone up with rules and regulations and pay parking is about to be brought in for the car park so I suspect taxi charges are on their way these franchise holders seem determined to squeeze every last drop of cash out of their stations

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lack of modern legislation is the iceberg sinking the titanic of the transport sector

They will be on their way you can put a weeks wages on that.

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Do not argue with an idiot. He will drag you down to his level and beat you with experience.

Believe me, don't get Mercury X2

According to GBC they don't pay a thing, if they where forced to in the future there would be no cabs in any London station, because they have the brains to tell the train company's to do one
Meanwhile back at the ranch the ones who do pay bend over and take it up the rear instead of pulling out and refusing to pay

Trouble is london is a lot bigger and has more show of strength,try that in a smaller place and they move the local miniscab company in

Don't pay a penny.

The stations would look silly being blocked solid all day and night.

Do what Watford did, block the whole town off in a protest.

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Do not argue with an idiot. He will drag you down to his level and beat you with experience.

Believe me, don't get Mercury X2

What can the station do if you do not pay the permit?

Can they stop you plyng for hire?

More importantly, do they have the power, or rights, to fine a Hackney for doing its job?

I am asking because many local drivers refused to pay an extra £50 for this years permit renewal (now £250), and today many have been thrown off the rank, and have been told that if they return they "will be fined".

Any thoughts on the legality of this??
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Is the rank on public or private land??
If on public land tell them to go feck themselves or start ranking outside, if there is room
Only a grade one idiot pays to work a station