A protest was held outside Reading Borough Council officesTHE TOWN'S taxi drivers came out in full force on Tuesday to protest the closure of a key station rank.
Hundreds of placard waving drivers lined the entrance to the Reading Borough Council officers to deliver a petition to the strategic environment, planning and transport committee.
Their anger arose following a traffic-management sub-committee meeting in November, when councillors approved plans to remove the Horseshoe Rank at the south side of the station and the Garrard Street link that feeds into it.
Mizra Beg is one of many drivers who believes the council are not doing enough to protect Reading's taxi trade.
He said: “They have closed Garrard Street and the Horse Shoe rank. The Horse Shoe rank was the main rank for the station. They have taken away all the main ranks now.
“Reading is supposed to be an integrated transport system, but unfortunately it's not.
“We know the council owns the busses but to the Trade it seems like there is either a conflict of interest, mismanagement or an abuse of power.”
Taxi drivers want the Horseshoe Taxi rank reinstated
Mr Beg went on to say that the new main rank on the south side, round the corner from the entrance on Station Hill, was too far for some commuters.
“It should be easy for elderly and disabled people to access without any stress or trouble,” he continued.
“Now they have to get off, traipse the whole length of the station with luggage, struggling, and then either work their way down 30 steps or a slope that seems to go on forever. It's unfair.
“We are a public service as well and we should be the face of Reading.”
Despite the drivers' best efforts, councillors remained steadfast and committed to their original plans.
“I would entirely reject any notion that the council has failed to take into account the interest of the hackney carriage trade,” Cllr Tony Page, lead member for transport, later said in the meeting.
“They are an integral part of the transport system in Reading, but they are just part. Hackney carriages are an important service, busses are a critically important service. We have to as an authority balance those interests.
“I understand amongst the taxi trade they would rather retain Garrard Street and the Horsehoe rank, but that has never been possible.”
Garrard Street and the Horsehoe stopped operating as taxi ranks earlier this year as work began to pave the walkway beneath Thames Tower.
http://www.readingchronicle.co.uk/news/ ... tion_rank/
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