Cabbies welcome new Nottingham Station taxi rank but fear it could prove a ‘safety hazard’

Taxi drivers Arfan Chaudhry, Mohammed Akram and Chander Sood pictured in Trent Street (LDRS)
By Joe Locker, Local Democracy Reporter
Cabbies have welcomed a new taxi rank closer to the entrance of Nottingham Station – but some of them are worried it could end up being hazardous for passengers and create unnecessary competition.
Carrington Street is being trialled as a location for a rank of eight wheelchair accessible taxis beginning Monday (February 3).
Another eight spaces will also be available in nearby Arkwright Street.
Hackney Carriage drivers currently have a rank in Trent Street, near Nottingham City Council’s Loxley House headquarters, and this has been reduced to create a new pick-up and drop-off bay.
The trial will run for 18 months.
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 for the customer, 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 be closing access to platforms via the railway station footbridge again from February 22.
EMR said its heavily-criticised three-week pilot in October last year showed a significant increase in revenue, which would be equivalent to about £1.1m a year.
Customers accessing platforms one to six will again need to use the main entrance, pedestrians will still be able to use the bridge to get from Station Street to Queen’s Road, because this is a public right of way – but access to platforms will be gated off.
Mr Akram added: “There will be competition, because if you have no passengers coming from this entrance, which we have heard [EMR] are closing down, these [drivers] are going to be sitting here all day long before anyone comes here, so that’s another problem we have got.”
Chander Sood, of the Nottingham City Hackney Carriage Owners & Drivers Association, said they lost around 65 to 70 per cent 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.”
Hackney Carriage drivers were originally based at a drop-off point inside Nottingham Railway Station, off Carrington Street, before a £50m revamp around a decade ago.
The taxi rank was then moved to Station Street for a short period before it was pedestrianised.
Taxi driver of 23 years, Arfan Chaudhry, said they would like to see a rank reintroduced in Station Street.
“We are happy the council is working with us,” he added. “It is a very positive thing. We had Station Street for years and it worked really good for us.
“Station Street at the moment is pedestrianised and we are in dialogue with the council to get it back. 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.”
Cllr Neghat Khan, leader of the council and Executive Member for Strategic Regeneration, Transport and Communications, said: “Following feedback from disabled residents and residents with young children, we are trialling a new taxi rank close to the front of the station, to improve accessibility.
“I encourage residents, visitors, and transport users to share their feedback.”