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captain cab
PostPosted: Mon Aug 18, 2014 8:21 am 
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Dorking cab firms warn change to taxi permits is damaging drivers' livelihoods



A CONTROVERSIAL policy that will restrict the number of parking passes for taxis at Dorking's main railway station will damage livelihoods, the town's taxi firms have said.

Bosses are angry about the changes, which mean parking permits for pick-ups at the Station Approach car park are being allocated to individual drivers instead of companies – who have been told they can only have one permit per fleet.

Owners claim the car park's managers, Watford-based Meteor Parking, have essentially told them they are not allowed to own a taxi business with more than one car operating out of the station.

John Baker, director at cab firm Westcott Cars, has worked at the station for 26 years.

He said: "They've said you can only have one because they're saying the Hackney carriage has to be in the driver's name.

"Those plates can cost £10,000 each so they're saying I have to transfer £10,000 to someone else and hope I get it back eventually, which obviously isn't going to happen.

"I'm not going to do that but they're saying that's what I've got to do to for that taxi rank.

"I can't understand how they can do it and how they can stipulate it has to be in the driver's name and not a company."

He added: "What they're saying is that those four or five other drivers I employ will be out of work, which isn't right. I just can't understand where it's all come from. We need to get it sorted out."

Drivers are also angry about the reallocation of spaces which has seen the taxi rank moved down towards the junction with London Road near the Lincoln Arms Hotel and Bar.

Alan Plaw, boss of Silver Cars, said: "It's been an absolute nightmare from the time that station was redeveloped and when notices went up.

"I got the forms and sent them off and I was told I wouldn't be issued with permits because I registered it as a company and the permits had to be issued to the drivers instead.

"It said on the form 'individual or company'. I put company and they phoned me and said 'that's not how it's working now'.

"They've also moved us down the road near the A24 so customers now have to walk 100 yards down the road for the first taxi and no-one knows where we are anymore."

The Advertiser attempted to contact Meteor Parking, but we were told no-one would comment.


Read more: http://www.dorkingandleatherheadadverti ... z3Aj4N2vAK


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ace of spades
PostPosted: Mon Aug 18, 2014 8:31 am 
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The parking firm should be sacked. They were probably wheel clampers before it got banned. The drivers and bosses should complain directly to the company that owns the station.

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roythebus
PostPosted: Mon Aug 18, 2014 10:45 am 
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ISTR Meteor Parking is a wholly-owned subsidiary of the Go-Ahead Group, one of the companies that owns Southern.

Report it to the Competition Commission. Is the taxi rank on a public highway or railway land?
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skippy41
PostPosted: Mon Aug 18, 2014 11:07 am 
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Just had a look on street view, the rank is now on public land, the station owns the drop off point only, where the taxis are on street view move them nearer the junction due to the view not being updated, then it matches the photo
So as its now on public land any licenced taxi from that area can use it, for free
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Sussex
PostPosted: Mon Aug 18, 2014 7:49 pm 
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roythebus wrote:
Report it to the Competition Commission.

Done that, law is incredibly complex, but in short they can't help.

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Sussex
PostPosted: Mon Aug 18, 2014 7:50 pm 
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captain cab wrote:
Bosses are angry about the changes, which mean parking permits for pick-ups at the Station Approach car park are being allocated to individual drivers instead of companies – who have been told they can only have one permit per fleet.

Quite like the idea of drivers being in control.

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toots
PostPosted: Tue Aug 19, 2014 12:11 am 
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Sussex wrote:
captain cab wrote:
Bosses are angry about the changes, which mean parking permits for pick-ups at the Station Approach car park are being allocated to individual drivers instead of companies – who have been told they can only have one permit per fleet.

Quite like the idea of drivers being in control.


That's great if the drivers own the vehicles, not much control if they don't :wink:

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bloodnock
PostPosted: Tue Aug 19, 2014 12:25 am 
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The modern British way...Deterioration brought about in the name of Improvement through incompetence.

And railways have more than their fair share of the above. #-o
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Sussex
PostPosted: Tue Aug 19, 2014 6:30 am 
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toots wrote:
That's great if the drivers own the vehicles, not much control if they don't :wink:

Well there is, they can now get their own cabs and work out of the station.

It appears previously it was a closed shop.

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skippy41
PostPosted: Tue Aug 19, 2014 1:23 pm 
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Sussex wrote:
toots wrote:
That's great if the drivers own the vehicles, not much control if they don't :wink:

Well there is, they can now get their own cabs and work out of the station.

It appears previously it was a closed shop.


And free from permit fees, due to it being a public road
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toots
PostPosted: Tue Aug 19, 2014 11:00 pm 
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Sussex wrote:
toots wrote:
That's great if the drivers own the vehicles, not much control if they don't :wink:

Well there is, they can now get their own cabs and work out of the station.

It appears previously it was a closed shop.


I guess that depends on whether or not the vehicle licenses are restricted

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Sussex
PostPosted: Wed Aug 20, 2014 6:42 am 
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toots wrote:
I guess that depends on whether or not the vehicle licenses are restricted

To a degree yes, but even if restricted it makes it easier for drivers to leave firms and work the ranks only.

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toots
PostPosted: Wed Aug 20, 2014 11:13 pm 
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Sussex wrote:
toots wrote:
I guess that depends on whether or not the vehicle licenses are restricted

To a degree yes, but even if restricted it makes it easier for drivers to leave firms and work the ranks only.


Not if the firms own the taxis it doesn't

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Nidge2
PostPosted: Thu Aug 21, 2014 4:31 am 
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skippy41 wrote:
Sussex wrote:
toots wrote:
That's great if the drivers own the vehicles, not much control if they don't :wink:

Well there is, they can now get their own cabs and work out of the station.

It appears previously it was a closed shop.


And free from permit fees, due to it being a public road



Watford Station isn't on a public Road Skip, the rank is on Railway property.
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skippy41
PostPosted: Thu Aug 21, 2014 8:57 pm 
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Not where it is now Nidge
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