Taxis hit by Waverley ban over terror attack fears
Taxis will disappear from Waverley Station
TAXIS and cars are to be banned permanently from driving into Waverley Station amid terrorist fears ahead of the London Olympics, it emerged today.
The move, described as a “nightmare” and “out of proportion”, will mean no private vehicles will be allowed into the newly-refurbished station from July – meaning passengers will have to haul their luggage up the ramp and outside on to Waverley Bridge.
Rail bosses insist the ban is essential to comply with anti-terror guidelines in time for the Games and point out that Waverley is the last major station to still allow cars underneath the station roof.
There were fears today that the changes would cause “chaos”. To make matters worse, Haymarket Station’s taxi rank is set to close for the forseeable future as part of the tram works.
Les McVay, chairman of the Edinburgh Licensed Taxi Partnership said: “This couldn’t have happened at a worse time.
“Network Rail has always seen the taxi rank as a bit of a thorn in its side, but this is a nightmare.
“The council will have to come up with an alternative plan. There are only around five taxi spaces on Waverley Bridge and there are 14 million people travelling through the station every year.”
Network Rail, which runs Waverley, told taxi firms last week it would not renew hundreds of £800-a-year permits that allow taxis to operate in the station ahead of the move.
Mr McVay said: “With the closure of Waverley, Haymarket and the extensive tram works, it’s becoming a vicious circle.
“We can’t sit around [undesignated areas] as we get moved away, and we can’t just drive around the city centre, that would be an environmental issue. It could cause chaos.
“They have seen an opportunity on the back of the Olympics to play the terrorism card.”
A spokesman for Network Rail insisted the ban was necessary and alternative arrangements were being explored. He said: “To comply with security legislation, Network Rail has agreed to remove taxis and private vehicles from Edinburgh Waverley Station by the end of July 2012.
“Waverley is the last major station operated by Network Rail to allow private vehicles under the station roof and this has been designated as a security risk.
“Network Rail is required to comply with legislation to remove vehicles prior to the London Olympic Games. The order applies to major transport hubs across Britain.
“Network Rail has been working with Edinburgh City Council to examine options for an alternative location for a station taxi rank and drop off area.”
Councillor Eric Barry, who represented the Unite union at talks over the move, said the decision to ban traffic was “disappointing”. He said: “This decision makes it difficult for the elderly lugging their baggage. What about disabled access? I don’t think they’ve thought this through.
“They’ve brought up the usual issue of security, but if a terrorist wants to blow us up they’d find a way. Some of the measures are totally out of proportion to the security risk.”
He suggested that airport and tour buses could move from Waverley Bridge to St Andrew Square to create additional taxi rank space.
Councillor Rob Munn, convener of the council’s licensing sub committee, said various options were under consideration. Meanwhile, discussions are also under way to relocate the taxi rank at Haymarket, which is managed by ScotRail.
Not fare play
Jim Taylor, 59, who has been in the taxi trade for 20 years, said: “Have they thought how it will affect wheelchair users and disabled passengers? This proposal is discriminating against them and leaving them at a real disadvantage.
“Every taxi driver is vetted before a licence is granted so the security is already there. The whole thing is breath-taking. Banning cars is maybe fair enough but taxis have been security checked.”
Another taxi driver, Stuart Smith, 47, said: “I don’t pick up in Waverley so it won’t affect me like it will others.
“But if you are trying to provide a service you want to drop [passengers] off into the station. It doesn’t create a good impression to the general public.”
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Comments
There are 103 comments to this article
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sabs-ok
Monday, March 5, 2012 at 07:57 PMwait till the visitors start arriving and departing by train to and from our city and are met with this shambles of having to drag their luggage,buggies etc up and down onto princess st or market st,,hardly the welcome they would be expecting from scotlands capital city ! ! ,,!huge own goal in my opinion
B K
Tuesday, February 21, 2012 at 09:41 PM81 "The ghost of Sir William Arrol Tuesday, February 14, 2012 at 08:41 PM I'm sure the carriage drives will be around for another 5 years until they have to be demolished to make way for more platforms. The station has little or no spare capacity and will need more platforms if growth continues." The problem is not platforms, it is lines through the tunnels. You could treble the number of platforms, but this would not increase the capacity, the tunnel bottleneck would see to that.
Curious Yellow
Wednesday, February 15, 2012 at 01:43 PMNOTHING AT ALL TO DO WITH TERRORISTS - THIS IS A LOCAL DECISION WHICH THEY'VE BEEN PLANNING FOR A LONG TIME!
andyglasgow
Wednesday, February 15, 2012 at 11:53 AM#93. You are right of course. If we had just used her jet pack to get her over the bridge to the escalators we would have been fine. As it happens they weren't actually working, making them even bigger strains in effect. Can I ask you, have you considered writing a travel blog? With insights like that you should. Duh?
Pending Consternation
Wednesday, February 15, 2012 at 10:07 AMCorrection to #93: There are now faulty escalators, which are not running a lot of the time, from the station up to Princes Street
Pending Consternation
Wednesday, February 15, 2012 at 10:04 AMMeantime,, Abdelbaset al-Megrahi probably drives his car right into Tripoli station whenever he's off on his holidays. Yeah, we certainly are showing them terrorists.
paulr
Wednesday, February 15, 2012 at 08:28 AMYet another benefit of the trams, making travel by rail more and more difficult, good on you councillors!!
paulr
Wednesday, February 15, 2012 at 08:25 AMAs usual all the fantasists and total idiots are ranting. Black cab companies in edinburgh owned by gangsters, very funny. Private hire firms owned by gangsters, much more of a possibility. As for one other comment, screening of potential cab drivers is a recent innovation, derek byrd was already driving cabs before that was brought in.
paulr
Wednesday, February 15, 2012 at 08:18 AMThe only people who are winning these days are the terrorists and they do not even have to try anymore..
Why Bother
Wednesday, February 15, 2012 at 12:56 AM#86 - What Black Cab company are owned by gangsters then? There are only 3 black cab companies in edinburgh, City are owned by the drivers, Central are owned by the drivers and Comcabs are the only actual business in edinburgh, they are owned by ComfortDelGro, who are a listed stock exchange company with (according to their website) 46,300 vehicles worldwide, are they the gangsters? :O
Jools in Edinburgh
Tuesday, February 14, 2012 at 10:56 PM#92 There are now escalators running from the station up to Princes Street
andyglasgow
Tuesday, February 14, 2012 at 10:46 PMAnother blow for Edinburgh. Edinburgh is an utter shambles, the fathers of this great city apear to be doing everything they can to ruin it. My disabled Mum arrived in Waverley and the ONLY way out for her was a taxi from inside the building. The stairs were out of the question and the climb up the hill was far too steep. What about tourists arriving with luggage and kids? Why is it that due to terror legislation it's us the people who bear the burden. Surely Network rail should take the costs of escalators up to the bridges and and a lift or escalators out to a properly run taxi rank. What are the chances of that happening though? They might as well just close the centre of Edinburgh to cars and people they way things are going. It seems to be exactly what these people want. We are letting terrorism win every time we let these petty minded bureaucrats impose these restrictions on lives.
Jools in Edinburgh
Tuesday, February 14, 2012 at 10:45 PMGhost of sir William Arrol, and you forgot to mention that the reason the station will continue growing is that we have reached peak oil output, supplies are running out and the death of the motor car is imminent.
Jools in Edinburgh
Tuesday, February 14, 2012 at 10:40 PMJim Taylor said "every taxi driver is vetted before being given a license"........Jim, can you just remind me, wasn't Derrick Byrd, one of the biggest mass murderers in British history, a licensed taxi driver?
flyinngscott
Tuesday, February 14, 2012 at 10:32 PM#86. Really? Didnt know that. The private hires with the stickers on the sides ( i'm not going to name) are.
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