Taxi Driver Online

MPs support Sheffield taxi drivers who say trade is "on its knees" since Covid-19

Sheffield MPs have asked railway bosses to stop charging taxis to wait at the station after drivers said the trade was "on its knees" following coronavirus.

Drivers need a permit to enable them to work from the station taxi rank and they pay East Midlands Railway an annual fee of £618 to ply for hire.

The renewal is due this month and drivers asked if their permits could be extended until December without charge but EMR has refused.

MPs Clive Betts, Olivia Blake, Gill Furniss, Paul Blomfield and Louise Haigh have written a joint letter to EMR saying: "You will recognise that Covid-19 has meant that the business of taxi drivers has suffered substantially with the reduced footfall from Sheffield station a significant contributory factor.

"In recognition of this we understand that taxi drivers requested to EMR that their permits be extended without charge until the end of December 2020.

"We were disappointed to be told that EMR have refused this request. As train operators have been in receipt of government support during this crisis, surely it would be right to extend your support to taxi drivers. We hope you will reconsider your decision and grant and extension."

Driver Ibrar Hussain, who is also GMB taxi branch secretary, said people couldn't afford the renewal.

"Work is dead at the station, the trade is on its knees. The GMB is asking for fees to be deferred until we get back to normality as drivers are struggling financially. We are in unprecedented circumstances and I hope EMR understands our request."

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IDFIMH

quite right too I doubt there is a third of the work coming out as before

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If work is “dead at the station” as Mr Hussain claims, why are drivers plying for hire there? I would wager that there are some drivers who are willing to pay, and may have already paid the £618 fee. If drivers can’t afford the charge, don’t pay it, ply for hire elsewhere. To claim there is no work from the station, yet to want to ply for hire from there, for free, is a contradiction in terms.

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Former taxi driver

Can I politely ask you what is quite right?

That EMR want to charge £618, or that the drivers want access to the station for free? Skippy will no doubt come bouncing in saying don’t pay, what can they do about it, so I’ll tell him what they will do about. If a taxi goes onto the station rank without a permit, the cctv will log them, and issue a fixed penalty charge of £100 EACH TIME they join the rank.

The same rules apply at Lincoln station, no pay, no play. Some drivers here hope some others won’t pay, so there are less cabs plying on the station, and some even hoped the fee would increase to deter some from paying.
Until central government outlaws charging taxi drivers for access to railway stations and airports, this situation will continue. And they have other fish to fry.
It is what it is.
And one more thing, I wonder how many passengers have been given a free ride in Sheffield in the last six months, with the tough times around?

A bit harsh? Maybe. Welcome to the new normal. It’s all about the survival o the fittest from here on.

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Former taxi driver

They rank there cos,that is the only rank that moves,or rather did.its actually been crap for years.the city centre has been poor for years now.the only way to make money in Sheffield now is to rent a £100 per week radio or,build up your own clientele which I have done over the last 10 years.poober is coming in from West Yorkshire (their plates,the drivers are local),so the station is over run with them. I should also mention that the rank layout is now pathetic as it's a long line.there maybe a queue of people waiting but you may not get to the front for 10 minutes .And the council will want you to buy a £60K cab when they are only earning £70 a shift!.

I believe that all station permit charges should be lowered to reflect the reduced work resulting from working the railway station at least for 1 year

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I believe that is not going to happen. At least not at any EMR station. It would be nice if EMR had barriers like I am told are at Birmingham new street, where you pay 20p to exit the station concourse, and that would be fair. But...

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Former taxi driver

our local station is run by EMR and the charges are zero but if they did the public highway is only 20 feet from the entrance so drivers would just stay off the railway forecourt

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