Taxi Driver Online

Another story that gives some background to the permit charging system on the East Coast line. Dated september 26th from the online rag The North East.co.uk

Key stations threatened by angry cabbies

TAXI drivers could be about to bring chaos to the region's rail network with a mass strike.

Hundreds of cabbies are furious at what they claim is poor treatment at the hands of GNER and Taxibank UK, the national private hire firm which has the franchise for the East Coast Main Line.

Union chiefs say the dispute could lead to industrial action at nine stations - including Darlington, Dur-ham, Newcastle and York - along Britain's most important railway line.

The Transport and General Workers' Union (TGWU) has also been sounding out London's cabbies about the possibility of boycotting King's Cross as a show of support for colleagues.

Central London branch secretary of the TGWU, Eddie Lambert, said: "There are 24,000 taxi drivers in London and King's Cross would be the jewel in the crown as regards any action."

Station cabbies in Darlington have been withholding payments for permits because of alleged unreason- able demands over costs.

A legal dispute between the two parties broke out, with solicitors called in to resolve the row.

Mr Lambert said: "We have support from drivers all the way down the line.

"We wish to go about this in a perfectly legitimate way but, as and when necessary, we will hit King's Cross.

"Action may need to be taken because there are people out to destroy the Hackney trade."

He also claimed that drivers in Newcastle had written to GNER bosses, warning that the present hostile atmosphere could not continue.

However, a spokesman for GNER said: "There are some parties that have a bigger agenda.

"But as far as we are concerned, we are all about trying to raise service standards at our train stations and that includes taxis as well. I don't see why there should be any threat of action."

Regards

JD

Leading on to another article from Taxitalk.

Peterborough's Taxi Drivers Gear Up For Station Permit Battle.

By Eddie Lambert

The current situation at the station is, the drivers pay either £200 for six months or £360 for the year. All payments have to be made in cash as soon as due. 1st week in January and like wise July. There is a limit of 60 permits for the station to recover the fee. The drivers are from across the full range of local radio circuits. Peterborough has a purpose built cab policy which came into begin nearly ten years ago after what was British Rail put pressure on the local council to have a fully wheel chair accessible fleet. At this time there was no charge the rank was available to the entire Peterborough fleet of taxis, which at that time was about 85 vehicles.

Following the murder of two Peterborough taxi drivers in saloon cars the council decided to do as BR had been requesting mainly in order to provide the drivers with a degree of protection. In the main this has been successful as we have not had any drivers killed since but they have come under attack quite often recently. These attacks were happening before 11th September but dramatically increased after in particular following the murder of a white youth by a gang of approximately, 10 Asian youths. These attacks actual lead to no cabs working from 6pm over the weekend for two weeks.

Once the council had implemented the purpose built policy and seen off a couple of legal challengers BR then brought inn the Fee for the station initially the charge was £100pa, but inevitably it went up and up until three years ago they wanted £500. The drivers dug in and with the help of the local MP's Helen Clark (Brinton as was) and Dr Brian Mawhinney GNER agreed to the current fee of £400.

The situation not is GNER have put the station out to tender to the local taxi companies. Obviously they don't want to chase every driver if there is a complaint they just want to pass it on to the taxi company to deal with. The local drivers are up in arms about this as they feel if one company takes it over then they will be forced to join that company and pay perhaps £70 or £80 per week radio rent. Many of the present permit holders do not belong to any radio circuits as they feel they get enough work off the station and the streets.

Regards

JD

Another case of the local TOA wanting to operate a closed shop, this time in Coventry.

Now taxi drivers to strike at random

Jun 24 2004

By Sam Webb


Strike action by taxi drivers at Coventry train station looks set to bring further misery for commuters next week.

This week has seen daily strikes at the station from 9am to noon and 6pm to 9pm.

Today and tomorrow, the strikes will start an hour earlier in the morning - to be followed by random disruption next week.

The random strikes are the Taxi Association's response to rail chiefs asking British Transport Police to eject the striking drivers from the taxi ranks.

Virgin Rail, which operates the franchise for the station, said that while the taxi drivers were on strike, they were unlawfully occupying the site.

Sgt Alan Radford said: "Being the operator, under railway bylaws, Virgin can decide who they want at the station.

"While the taxi drivers are making their protest, the operators do not want them on their station."

Gurdeep Hyare, chairman of the Coventry Taxi Association, said: "We were bullied off the site. This is by no means over."

Taxi drivers called the strike on Monday, following Virgin Trains' decision to allocate permits to drivers to collect passengers from the station to anyone with a taxi licence in Coventry on a first-come, first-served basis.

Previously, the permits went to the association for distribution amongst its drivers.

Talks between Virgin and the Coventry Taxi Association have failed to settle the issue.

Meanwhile, more and more passengers are being forced to make other travel arrangements - although in the case of exams, job interviews and hospital appointments, drivers will accept the fare.

Mike Bones, Virgin regional manager for the West Midlands, said: "We have been speaking with various people from the Taxi Association and we are trying to come up with a reasonable solution for both of us, but we don't want to operate a closed shop system of permits."

Regards

JD

JD

Just to clarify I am not from York.

Yes it is greed. Or capitalism.

My relationship with the railway is based on mutual win win. They want to benefit from providing me with a worksource. As I want the worksource I am happy to pay to close it off.

They also want a good deal on rail replacement and part of our agreement is a reduced rate provision of this.

They also want their customers 'rail experience' to be pleasurable and convenient. That means having a good supply of reasonably priced taxis ready for their customers.

We do certain extras, which ensure enhanced service from us.

Sainsburys or Tesco are exactly the same scenario.

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A member of the Hire or Reward Industry

I don't think there is a difference between the likes of Medigen (haven't they changed their name?) and the station.

My issue is the one of access to the work, thus just like the Medigen work, if you join a circuit that has it, then you can work it.

And you also have to open tender for it from time to time.

Whereas in some manors, the trade just shut up shop and other drivers can't get in.

_________________
IDFIMH

Well yes. It probably should.

We used to sign a one year agreement. Then clever clogs here suggested to all the other companies plying for hire that we should offer more money for a longer deal.

Commercially it was sound for us and sound for the railway.

Then some 'nice' man who set up a company 8 months after we signed our deal demanded to come on board.

First he didn't want to pay, just pick up if people were waiting and no other taxis were around.

Then he said he would pay, but in arrears, not in advance.

Took us to the Monoplies and mergers commission. They pointed out that we were competing with 3 different bus companies going north south east and west. So it wasn't a monopoly.

Anyway the deal expires in not too distant future and he will get the chance to bid.

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A member of the Hire or Reward Industry

Would I be correct in saying that some of what you are referring to is account work?

I don't have a problem with account work, who ever ends up with the GNER contract for account work must have put in the best tender. We have a company here in Manchester that services the station account work but they wouldn't dream of trying to monopolise the station Taxi rank.

Where passengers are concerned I think we should define that they do not belong to GNER. Members of the public who are not train passengers also use the station taxi rank. In any case, just because a member of the public might wish to take a public hire Taxi which just happens to be parked on GNER property, that member of the public is not the property of GNER.

When I get off a train and want a Cab I couldn't care less what the Taxi driver looks like or what he is wearing, all I want to do is get to where I am going. I assume that is the case at almost every station and public place throughout the country. I don't think passengers change their spots just because they happen to be in York.

If there was a station Taxi dispute in York, such as there was and still is in Watford, GNER like Silverlink would no doubt be the first to say, that they do not owe the public a duty of care when it comes to supplying a Taxi rank.

If they did feel they owed the public a duty of care they would supply a Taxi rank without charge, after all they get a public subsidy of millions of pounds from the Government.

I understand there are approximately138 station permits, there will be an influx of over 100.000 visitors each day during Royal York week. The traffic jams will be horrendous and it can be expected that the 138 permit cabs will have a very hard time coping with the public on these race days. I envisage that none of the cab trade will be able to cope with the influx of passengers so it is not surprising that GNER are asking for the assistance of those cabs that are currently excluded from working the station.

What happens when the GNER public decide to walk over the Bridge to Queen street Taxi rank, are they still GNER public? At what stage do they stop becoming GNER public and become just ordinary Joe public? If I get a train to York am I GNER public before I start my journey or when I step onto the Taxi rank at York Station?

I have never subscribed to the fact that the public is owned by anyone, especially a public rail station company. GNER or any other Station company does not owe me a duty of care when it comes to Taxi provision. Silverlink in Watford and many other companies throughout the country have proved my point by excluding public hire taxis from station property. So perhaps you can see why I'm a little sceptical at the inference by some that limiting permits somehow offers the public a better service. Virgin got it right in Coventry where the TOA wanted to restrict permits, probably to members of the TOA. I suspect they also wanted to use the permits as an incentive to get more members to join the TOA.

At least you are honest enough to say that you prefer to limit permits in order to that you can have a monopoly on the Station taxi rank.

Regards

JD

A rail company is selling a total travel package. When a punter chooses between driving a car or catching the train they consider the whole journey.

Now lets look at this rail company. The one we are discussing here is an inter city service from Aberdeen to London. GNER sees its key customer base as business man travelling and they build their service levels on that. Have you ever eaten on one of their trains ? The restuarant service is amazing.

Their competition is airlines, not buses.

Now if they provide high level service and arrive on time but the customer queues for 45 minutes for a taxi and then gets in a clapped out old banger with collapsed seats and holes in the carpet, arrives late for the meeting that reflects on their train service.

And this smartness thing. Why do the railway put their guys in uniform?

Why do bus companies put drivers in uniform?

Why do Eddie Stobbart drivers wear uniform?

Why shouldn't taxi drivers wear uniform?

My experience of York includes the normal York festival. A high number of cabbies take the week off because they don't like the traffic. Don't the council give them a special tarriff for this week, with higher time charge.

Station forecourts that are owned by railways are theirs. I doubt that 1% of customers don't come off trains or buses at these terminuses.

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A member of the Hire or Reward Industry

York station portico is the old A19 and is maintained by the council. No special rates for this week [Ascot] bog standard meter rates, oh a fiver start on the meter from any city rank to race course only, but with the traffic it clocks that anyway, that is if you can get a cab as most are taking the week off

Thats interesting most Cabbies taking the week off. Is that because of the road congestion?

Regards

JD

[/quote]

Thats interesting most Cabbies taking the week off. Is that because of the road congestion?
[/quote]

Apart from that the road traffic,thats the day drivers problem, we will not be dealing with normal people,[ after they have consumed large amounts of the good stuff from 10 am in the morning] these lot are far worst than your local every day drunk,
It's far cheaper to take the time off than get your cab smashed up

Well, i'll still be waiting at the other end of the line during the races! Busy trains arriving? Good.

. . . . . and theres no holes in the carpet in this Taxi, nor string vests I may add.

I can't see what a rail company selling a rail ticket has to do with Taxi drivers? Taxi drivers have nothing whatsoever to do with rail companies apart from the fact some rail stations allow taxis to rank up on their property, likewise many more do not and many don’t even have a rank facility such as Oxford Road station in Manchester.



Are you saying York caters for more businessmen than London, Manchester, Birmingham, Edinburgh, etc? Or are you saying the businessmen who get off at York station are a better class of businessman?



So we can assume that a similar if not a greater amount of business passengers use Air Travel. In that case should the Hackney drivers at Heathrow, Gatwick, Manchester, Edinburgh, Leeds Bradford Airports all wear uniforms?



Having read the York bye laws it would seem York uphold certain quality regulations so the reference to old bangers and holes in carpets might be a little ingenuous to York hackney carriage proprietors. On the other hand York have a policy of no vehicle age restriction and the vehicles are only tested once every twelve months up until the vehicle reaches five years of age at which time the test becomes twice yearly.

There are many Authorities that have twice yearly vehicle tests at any age never mind at five years of age. Another factor is that York only has a wheelchair requirement of 20 vehicles out of the 158 licensed. This means that 138 could if they wished be saloon type vehicles. I wonder how many of the WAV's actually have a station permit?

Even more to the point is that you seem to be implying that by forcing an unwanted dress code on those drivers who work York station that they are somewhat more presentable than drivers in the rest of the UK who have their own individual dress code.

The reference to clapped out bangers is the domain of the individual council and not that of a train or station operator. However, I know of many local authorities that have a higher quality vehicle standard than that of York council.

I have never seen any train operator state that the quality of the licensed Taxis reflects on their service. Likewise have I ever seen a local Authority mention that the quality of Taxis reflect on a Train service.

It must only be synonymous with York because I don't see any other Train station, Airport or public utility stating Taxis reflect on their service. Perhaps us Taxi drivers should complain that the poor quality and service of some train operators reflect on our service. The only problem with saying that is it isn't true and neither is the inference that taxis reflect on the quality of service of a train operator. I think it should also be remembered that not all stations are a combined enterprise of train operator and station operator. In many cases a separate company runs the stations. That does not apply in York because GNER operate as both train operator and a station manager.

Are your views about vehicle quality supposed to refer that hackney carriage proprietors throughout the country who don't wear uniforms such as they do in York are more likely to drive clapped out vehicles with knackered seats and holes in their carpet? Is York that high up on the list of Quality vehicle standards that it can preach to the rest of the country about quality of vehicles?



Companies put their personnel in uniform in order that they can be easily recognised by both the public and their own staff. It is debatable if these persons look smarter for wearing such uniforms but the main reason is for recognition. Taxi drivers are individuals and in the main are self employed, they wear a badge for recognition and have at least one plate or similar means of recognition attached to their vehicle. The only Authority that could force a uniform policy on hackney carriage drivers is perhaps the Government or a local licensing authority. Even then such conditions could be challenged in court.



Why single out Eddie Stobart, there are hundreds of firms who wear a type of uniform but how many Cab drivers throughout the world do you know that wear a uniform, not many I can assure you.

Eddie Stobart is a private company and he obviously wants to promote his company by providing a casual free Uniform. He is entitled along with any other company in the world to have their staff wear whatever they deem appropriate.



I put the question back to you, Why should Taxi drivers wear a uniform? And why were the York drivers forced to wear a Uniform and by whom? Can you tell us why Cab drivers at Heathrow or Manchester Airport should were a uniform or any other Station, Airport or public facility and what support do you think you would get for such an idea?

There are approximately 21 thousand Hackney drivers in London and not one wears a uniform yet they work the most prestigous Airport and most used Railway stations in the country. Perhaps the reason they don't wear a uniform is because they are all self employed and prefer not to. The fact remains, that Cabbies throughout the UK for whatever reason prefer not to wear a uniform, the only reason some York cabbies wear a type of uniform is because GNER put pressure on Station Taxis to make them do so. If it wasn't for the rank being on GNER property the cab drivers would have told GNER to go take a hike.

It is a pity there isn't space on an adjacent highway where the council could put a Taxi rank, then there would be no need for the nonsense of GNER.

Regards

JD

The problem is that you would still have a certain number of drivers paying the station folk so they can have first pickings.

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IDFIMH