Taxi drivers react to new railway station rank plan

Taxi drivers have been giving their reaction to a new taxi rank for passengers at Nottingham railway station.

Carrington Street is being trialled as a location for eight wheelchair accessible taxis, adding additional capacity close to the front of the station.

Some taxi drivers said although it was better than a rank further away, they raised concerns over safety, unnecessary competition and lack of spaces.

Nottingham City Council has urged people to provide feedback on the 18-month scheme, which began on Monday.

During the trial, another eight spaces will also be available in nearby Arkwright Street, the Local Democracy Reporting Service said.

Also, the existing taxi rank on Trent Street will be reduced and a new pick-up and drop-off bay will be added.

Mohammed Akram, who has been a taxi driver for more than 35 years, said: "It is a little bit better but it is still a safety hazard because customers have to come from the station main entrance and then they have to cross the road to get access to the taxis.

"It is a lot better than coming to Trent Street, which is a very far walk, but the problem we have got is we are going to lose spaces.

"Where we were parked in Trent Street before we had a rank for about 35 cabs, in Carrington Street the new rank only has 16 spaces."

The trial comes as East Midlands Railway (EMR) says it will close access to platforms via the railway station footbridge again from 22 February.

Customers accessing platforms one to six will again need to use the main entrance.

However, pedestrians will still be able to use the bridge to get from Station Street to Queen's Road as it is a public right of way, but access to platforms will be gated off.

Chander Sood, of the Nottingham City Hackney Carriage Owners and Drivers Association, said it lost about 70% of customers during the EMR footbridge closure trial last year.

"This Trent Street rank will be totally deserted, no customers will come out from this side," he said.

"The council should think about if they can provide us with more spaces on Carrington Street."

Taxi drivers were originally based at a drop-off point inside the railway station, off Carrington Street, before a £50m revamp about a decade ago.

The taxi rank was then moved to Station Street for a short period before it was pedestrianised.

Arfan Chaudhry, a taxi driver of 23 years, hopes to see the rank reintroduced in Station Street and said drivers were in discussions with the council.

"Anybody can tell there is a safety hazard for passengers [on Carrington Street], so we will take the feedback from passengers and drivers and will work with the council to sort this out if there is any issue there," he added.

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