Taxi Driver Online

Taxi drivers seek talks with First Great Western over permits at Bristol Temple Meads



ANGRY cabbies hope to hold talks with train operator First Great Western over controversial taxi permits being introduced at Bristol Temple Meads railway station.

The permits will cost the cabbies £375 a year for using the rank on the station’s concourse.

But the cabbies claim the permits have been illegally brought in because the rank is part of the public highway and not private property.

Morad Tighilt, correct secretary of the Bristol Taxi Drivers’ Association, said they feared the permit would soon go up nearly seven fold.

This was because he claimed First Great Western used a formula to calculate permit costs which depended on the annual number of passengers at each station. He said the footfall was about nine million, equating to an annual permit charge of £2,500.

Mr Tighilt said: “Cabbies take about three or four months to earn that kind of money and they need it to pay for running their vehicles and all their overheads as well as looking after their families.

“This year it is £375, but next year they will double it and it will keep going up and up.”

He also criticised First Great Western for introducing the permit which was introduced at midnight on Wednesday without consultation.

A First Great Western spokesperson said: “There are 7.8 million people who go through Temple Meads every year, and the permit scheme will allow us to improve the overall station experience for all of our customers.”

source: http://www.thisisbristol.co.uk/-

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Think of how stupid the average person is, and realize half of them are stupider than that.
George Carlin

And what's a 'correct secretary' anyway?

Better than an "incorrect secretary"?

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

One who can speak English and spell !

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

I can see their point though £375 for a Major station does seem cheap and I can see the cost doubling but I don't know of any UK station where it is £2500 the trouble is these companies are under enormous pressure to keep fare increases down and are having to include hundreds of millions of pounds of improvements as part of their franchise bids so any additional revenue streams are being sought and FGW is in the middle of bidding for the renewal of their franchise now

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

I wouldn't mind seeing this formula, but the impression given is that if there's double the footfall in one station as compared to another then that means the permit will be double the price.

However, that ignores the fact that there'll be more permits given out at the busier station, so the operator could get double the income at the busier station with the same permit price if there's twice as many permits.

No doubt the station operators look at footfall to indicate what total income they're expecting from permits, but I suspect the major factor in that regard will be the number of permits rather than the individual cost.

How do they get to charge anything if it is indeed public land

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

just a guess but I would put money on station approach being owned by the railway.

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Grandad,

When most stations were built it was usually on a large plot of land with the railway company also building the approach roads which would not have existed prior so I would think that most station approach roads even though they appear to be public highways are probably owned and maintained by the railway unless the surrounding land has been sold off to developers in which case the roads might have been adopted by the council

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

Looking at the sat view it does not look like private land there are public buses picking up its a first bus and I know they wont pay

For me, the car parking is the giveaway. Buses go into bus stations that are privately owned all the time and they also pay for the privalege.

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Grandad,

FIRSTgreat western
First Bus

I wonder who their parent company is sorry skip but that is a no brainer !

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