East Coast holding firm over taxi rank at Newcastle

[Kryten2340]

I posted this in the Waverley thread earlier but that was from last weeks story. There's been an update today. East Coast have cancelled their contract with the Newcastle Taxi Drivers’ Association and will allow the drivers to continue to use the rank provided they come up with two £300 installments by March 21st.

I can't help but feel sorry for the drivers as from the sounds of things they've been screwed over by their boss but at the same time it's not East Coast's fault either. I suppose there is nothing stopping the drivers using the taxi rank outside of the station hotel/Destination bar.

See below:

http://www.chroniclelive.co.uk/north-east-news/evening-chronicle-news/2012/02/14/rail-bosses-pull-rank-on-central-station-cabbies-72703-30328650/

TRAIN bosses have moved to a halt a taxi crisis which threatened to disrupt Newcastle’s busiest rank.

East Coast Train bosses have ripped up a contract which had allowed Newcastle Taxi Drivers’ Association the rights to manage the Central Station rank.

With the firm failing to pay more than £126,000 in contact fees the nationalised train company has kicked it out.

Instead the rank’s 220 staff will now be offered the chance to be managed by East Coast, with drivers now having to find two installments of £300 each.

Drivers had been told they need to find the full £600, plus VAT, a move which had seen drivers warn of boycotts and blockades as many would struggle to find the full amount.

A letter sent to drivers reads: “East Coast has no issue with the individual drivers who use the rank and continue to provide a great service for our customers.

“We have listened carefully to your views in the past week and understand your frustration and anger that you have already paid substantial sums to the association.

“We do, however, require some form of payment for use of the rank, as any company would do to use one of its key assets. And, as a company that is publicly-owned, we have a duty to deliver a return for the taxpayer.”

The firm are at a the centre of a police investigation after bosses there brought in officers to investigate missing cash, though the association has continued to take money off drivers since the theft claims, dating back to last September.

Police have made one arrest, with a 40-year-old man arrested and bailed on suspicion of theft.

Drivers now have until March 21 to make payments. East Coast said: “Should you choose not to take up the offer of a temporary permit up to April 30, 2012, you would not be able to operate on the rank from February 22, 2012 – and would be contravening Railway Byelaws should you do so.

“It would also be highly unlikely East Coast would offer you the opportunity to purchase a permit from May 1, 2012.”

Drivers will meet to form a committee tasked with agreeing the new arrangements.

Pervez Khan, on behalf of the association, said drivers were seeking reassurances on the long-term costs. “What we want is to know for definite is what they will ask us to pay. We would hate to see a situation where drivers pay off their money by the March deadline and find the new two-year contract offered to them is higher than they budgeted for, and we will be pushing for firm assurances.”

Read More http://www.chroniclelive.co.uk/nort...station-cabbies-72703-30328650/#ixzz1mOf4Qy1Y

 

[markydh]

It'll all be irrelevant when the Portico is fully pedestrianised later this year anyway...

 

[34D]

http://www.chroniclelive.co.uk/north-east-news/evening-chronicle-news/2012/02/14/rail-bosses-pull-rank-on-central-station-cabbies-72703-30328650/

“We do, however, require some form of payment for use of the rank, as any company would do to use one of its key assets. And, as a company that is publicly-owned, we have a duty to deliver a return for the taxpayer.”

This seems bizarre to me. Is this situation common at other stations? I guess the land there is railway land and not highway?

"Drivers now have until March 21 to make payments. East Coast said: “Should you choose not to take up the offer of a temporary permit up to April 30, 2012, you would not be able to operate on the rank from February 22, 2012 – and would be contravening Railway Byelaws should you do so.""

Can someone kindly link to the relevant byelaw?

 

[Kryten2340]

“We do, however, require some form of payment for use of the rank, as any company would do to use one of its key assets. And, as a company that is publicly-owned, we have a duty to deliver a return for the taxpayer.”

This seems bizarre to me. Is this situation common at other stations? I guess the land there is railway land and not highway?

"Drivers now have until March 21 to make payments. East Coast said: “Should you choose not to take up the offer of a temporary permit up to April 30, 2012, you would not be able to operate on the rank from February 22, 2012 – and would be contravening Railway Byelaws should you do so.""

Can someone kindly link to the relevant byelaw?

I wouldn't know which bylaw they are referring to but if it helps the below is the original story from last week

http://www.chroniclelive.co.uk/north-east-news/evening-chronicle-news/2012/02/07/taxi-driver-chaos-at-newcastle-s-central-station-72703-30281734/

TAXI drivers could be forced out of Newcastle’s Central Station after police were called in to investigate a £126,000 missing cash riddle.

Officers were brought in after Newcastle Taxi Drivers’ Association fell behind on the money paid to rail operator East Coast in order to have exclusive rights to the city’s most profitable taxi rank.

Police have arrested the association’s former business manager Anil Murwaha.

But as their investigation continues, hundreds of drivers face being barred from the rank if they don’t meet a timetable set by the Government-owned East Coast.

Some 220 drivers have received letters from the nationalised firm telling them that their association has failed to pay the two instalments of £68,000 and as a result, unless the association pays up, those drivers will have days to find more than £700 each in order to continue to use the station rank.

Drivers have hit out, saying they have receipts proving they paid the association and arguing it would be wrong to make them pay twice.

But East Coast bosses said the publicly owned train firm has a duty to protect taxpayers’ investments.

Pervez Khan, on behalf of the association, said it simply did not have the money to pay.

He said: “We have told East Coast that we fear we are the victims of a crime but they do not want to listen.

“There are drivers here now who are worried for their job. They don’t have this money, they have been paying their money and they are being forced to pay again.” Mr Khan said the drivers were worried about what has happened to their money.

He added: “Now hard working taxi drivers who are struggling to get by suddenly have this extra bill forced onto them. East Coast need to step back and see they are being unreasonable.”

East Coast said the association has another week to pay.

If this does not happen, the train company said, the contract would be terminated and drivers will have to pay for a new permit for which they must pay by February 21.

An East Coast spokesman said: “Our issue is not with the individual drivers, who continue to do an excellent job for our customers, but with their association.

“The association has failed to pay East Coast more than £126,000 owed to it, failed to honour its contract with us and really let down the drivers who it charges to use the rank.

“We empathise with the drivers and, should the association fail to meet a further deadline for payment next week, we’ll support the drivers by giving them the opportunity to continue to use the rank for the remainder of the association's contract, up until April 30. This would be through purchasing a permit directly from East Coast, which works out at less than £8 per day.

“But we cannot allow the drivers to continue to use the rank without any payment at all.

“There can be no free rides. Like any commercially-run organisation, we need to continue to deliver an excellent service for our customers and ensure we get value for money, which in our case, as a publicly-owned company, means for the taxpayer.”

Northumbria Police today said a 40-year-old man had been arrested on suspicion of theft and bailed pending further inquiries.

Read More http://www.chroniclelive.co.uk/nort...central-station-72703-30281734/#ixzz1mOokEM4c

 

[transmanche]

Can someone kindly link to the relevant byelaw?

I guess byelaw 14.2(ii) would cover it: "No person in charge of any motor vehicle, bicycle or other conveyance shall leave or place it on any part of the railway otherwise than in accordance with any instructions issued by or on behalf of an Operator or an authorised person."

 

[Jonny]

It'll all be irrelevant when the Portico is fully pedestrianised later this year anyway...

Source???
Sorry to be pedantic, but what about the short-stay parking?

 

[markydh]

Unfortunately there aren't any coherant plans in the public realm at present so I can't provide a source. However, Newcastle Central is having an internal refurb later this year. At the same time, the council are to transform the exterior and road system around the station to make it more pedestrian-friendly and to provide a nicer welcome to the City. It has long been the ultimate aim of the local authority to close the portico to traffic. The plans also include moving the Coach station from it's present location on St James' Boulevard to outside Central Station providing a better public transport interchange. As for the short stay carpark, my guess is that the Coach Station may move there but until the plans are made public, it's hard to say. It's well-known, for instance, that the council would quite like to make Neville Street a no car street which would make the short-stay car park redundant anyway.

 

[91101]

Pedestrianising the Portico would be a retrograde step, it would create a nightmare for rail replacement buses!

 

[markydh]

I'm sure on the odd day rail replacement buses are in operation, there will be appropriate ways to handle them. But pedestrianising the Portico is a key part of the plans to reduce conflict between pedestrians and vehicles and, if nothing else changes, it can be practically be guaranteed that it will be closed to traffic.

 

[transmanche]

It'll all be irrelevant when the Portico is fully pedestrianised later this year anyway...

Source???

There is a planning application lodged with Newcastle City Council for 'minor internal and external alterations' - but there's no detail whatsoever in the application to identify what those 'minor' changes are! (Having said that, I'd have thought that an application to pedestrianise the portico wouldn't count as a 'minor' change...)

 

[Kryten2340]

I'm sure on the odd day rail replacement buses are in operation, there will be appropriate ways to handle them. But pedestrianising the Portico is a key part of the plans to reduce conflict between pedestrians and vehicles and, if nothing else changes, it can be practically be guaranteed that it will be closed to traffic.

They may close the portico but I can't see them making Neville Street a no car street. They have to cater for people picking up and dropping people off at the station.

 

[Jonny]

They may close the portico but I can't see them making Neville Street a no car street. They have to cater for people picking up and dropping people off at the station.

They're so blinkered by their own boundaries that I wouldn't put it past them. Also, given how many taxis are exempt from no-car but look like cars, they are a death trap for pedestrians and cyclists anyway.

 

[transmanche]

They may close the portico but I can't see them making Neville Street a no car street.

It almost is already. Eastbound is only 'no car lane' traffic and westbound there's only one lane for non-'no car lane' traffic.

If a new entrance was built on Forth Street, traffic could be diverted that way - with short-term parking made available there.

(For those not familiar, Newcastle city centre doesn't have bus lanes - it has 'no car' lanes and streets. These still allow all other motor vehicles (buses, lorries, vans, taxis, motorbikes), just not cars.)

 

[markydh]

They may close the portico but I can't see them making Neville Street a no car street. They have to cater for people picking up and dropping people off at the station.

Indeed, but there are other options for this, such as making part of the long stay carpark a short stay and drop off point. Plans for the road system are at an early stage at present and will be consulted on at a later date. There is a balance to be had but there are two major aims. The first is the give visitors to the city a better welcome and reduce conflicts between pedestrians and vehicles (crossing 3 separate waves of traffic as currently happens is completely undesirable). The second is to make Central Station a true public transport hub and make it the southern gateway to the city centre. Hence plans to move the Coach station. Buses will continue to be accomodated as will taxis. Through non-public transport traffic is currently seen as a likely candidate to be removed from the road system but until the plans are finalised it's impossible to say with absolute certainty.
--- old post above --- --- new post below ---

There is a planning application lodged with Newcastle City Council for 'minor internal and external alterations' - but there's no detail whatsoever in the application to identify what those 'minor' changes are! Having said that. (I'd have thought that an application to pedestrianise the portico wouldn't count as a 'minor' change...)

Indeed and I have emailed the council the try and find out why the plans (which were clearly submitted at the same time by network rail as indicated by their application form) have not been uploaded. If I don't get a response by the end of tomorrow, I'm just going to pop into the civic centre and request to see them there.

 

[jon0844]

FCC has (or had) a permit system for taxi drivers at Hatfield and St Albans station (no doubt at others too, but I don't know). Totally ignored by drivers and never enforced from what I could see - or the drivers/staff I spoke to.

I have no idea how much the permit cost, but for a while there were posters telling customers to look for the badge in the window. I rarely saw one, but who is going to refuse to get in a taxi because it hasn't got a permit for the train station? Likewise, who would threaten to report a driver if they ever wanted to be picked up again?

 

[Kryten2340]

Indeed, but there are other options for this, such as making part of the long stay carpark a short stay and drop off point. Plans for the road system are at an early stage at present and will be consulted on at a later date. There is a balance to be had but there are two major aims. The first is the give visitors to the city a better welcome and reduce conflicts between pedestrians and vehicles (crossing 3 separate waves of traffic as currently happens is completely undesirable). The second is to make Central Station a true public transport hub and make it the southern gateway to the city centre. Hence plans to move the Coach station. Buses will continue to be accomodated as will taxis. Through non-public transport traffic is currently seen as a likely candidate to be removed from the road system but until the plans are finalised it's impossible to say with absolute certainty.

I agree crossing the portico lane, Neville Street and then the bus link outside of O'Neils is a nightmare although I would usually use the metro station as a subway but a visitor wouldn't know to do that.

As transmache has suggested they could build a new exit of off Forth Banks. Looking on Google maps to me they could build a ramp opposite the centre for life and connect this to the lay by that runs alongside platforms 9-12 and put the pick up and drop off point there.