Taxi drivers covering last minute rail cancellations

[johntea]

I was wondering when we got shoved in a taxi from Newcastle to Leeds the other evening due to a train cancellation...what does the taxi driver do after he drops everyone off?

I'm sure 2-3 hours of straight driving is a bit of a killer especially after potentially been driving around for a few local jobs before the railway job emerged. By this point it is also 2-3am.

So would a driver head straight back or would they rest somewhere in Leeds (As per the example above) then head back mid morning / afternoon...and would their company or even the rail company cover a hotel stay for them?

 

[me123]

They should rest.

However, knowing what taxi drivers put themselves through on a regular basis, I would not be in the least bit surprised if they would drive straight back to Newcastle and perhaps even continue taking passengers with minimal rest (perhaps stopping to refuel their car at some point). I suspect that their fare would be expected to cover all their operating costs, including lodging, and they won't get any expenses.

 

[theironroad]

As they are probably not licensed to pick up passengers in the rail replacement destination, they would have to head back alone to their home city. What they do after that probably depends on when they started. If the rail job was their first job, they'd probably have a we hours to go, if it was mid to end they might call it an early day, though it wil depend on if they share the car or are a sole operator.

Some taxi drivers work scary hours to make a living.

 

[DarloRich]

rest? they will be straight back up the road to home base to pick u pa fare with a diversion to a coffee shop for some refreshment! They are tacos after all and have to make a living!

I don't think they are subject to any defined rest regulations They certainly wont be paid for any lodging. I guess if they take a very long fare they might have a kip in a lay-by somewhere

 

[ItsGrimUpNorth]

This very subject is a 'hot topic' amongst the Cabbies in Carlisle after incidents last weekend when the WCML went to pot...

http://www.newsandstar.co.uk/news/anger-as-scots-cabbies-swarm-into-carlisle-1.1223038

http://www.newsandstar.co.uk/news/c...-picked-up-people-at-scottish-ranks-1.1223238

I know a cabbie from Glasgow who picked a return fare, he was telling me he's entitled to due to the terms of his licence?

Had this once happen to me from Glasgow when high winds shut the WCML and they couldn't scramble Buses immediately. Myself and a colleague hailed a Cabbie, his eyes light up when we said 'Carlisle please'! He informed us it would be £180 and we were fine as work were paying. He dropped us at Carlisle Station and promptly picked a return fare up, and beeped to wave bye with a huge smile on his face!

 

[Carntyne]

Always an issue with taxi drivers not getting enough sleep/doing massive 12 hour shifts with no break. Have had one who claimed he'd been on the road 24 hours before which i swiftly got out of.

 

[CatfordCat]

Unless taxi licensing law is significantly different in Scotland (and even if it is, not sure it would give rights to do things in England)...

A 'hackney carriage' can only ply for hire (i.e. wait on a taxi rank or be flagged down on the street) in the authority where it's licensed, so I'd be inclined to say that a Glasgow taxi shouldn't be picking up passengers at the roadside in anywhere outside Glasgow City boundaries.

A 'private hire vehicle' can not ply for hire anywhere any time - any hire has to be booked either through personal call / phone call to the operating base - the operating base has to be in the area of the council where the vehicle's licensed, but the hire can start and finish anywhere.

It's a bit of a grey area whether a hackney carriage can behave like a private hire vehicle - generally, it's accepted.

I think there are one or two websites out there that try and match up empty taxis returning home after a long distance run (particularly to airports) with passengers wanting to go in the same general direction.

Of course, it's fairly easy for a private hire driver, if approached by a member of the public, to say "i can't pick you up, you need to ring my office to book me, do you want to borrow my phone?"

The law is a bit fuzzy about the concept of booking online or with a smart phone - see the current arguments about Uber

(the bulk of current English 'taxi' licensing law dates from 1976, although there are chunks of 1847 law still in there - while the 'bale of hay' is an urban myth, some bits of taxi law are related to the welfare of horses, e.g. technically it is illegal to leave a hackney carriage unattended on the highway - even if it's parked legally with the handbrake on and the engine off. Because the horse might bolt. Although relatively recent case law resulted in the council that tried to prosecute this being more or less told to stop being silly...)

 

[me123]

Agreed. When I worked in a petrol station as a student, I often worked 4pm-10pm Sat and 8am-2pm Sun. It wasn't uncommon for the taxi drivers to come in multiple times on both shifts and claim to have been up all night too, ferrying people back from the clubs at 3am. I'm actually very wary of getting into taxis after that job. I can't imagine any other professional drivers being allowed to convey passengers for that length of time. The lure of money is far too much for some of them.
--- old post above --- --- new post below ---

Unless taxi licensing law is significantly different in Scotland (and even if it is, not sure it would give rights to do things in England)...

A 'hackney carriage' can only ply for hire (i.e. wait on a taxi rank or be flagged down on the street) in the authority where it's licensed, so I'd be inclined to say that a Glasgow taxi shouldn't be picking up passengers at the roadside in anywhere outside Glasgow City boundaries.

Glasgow taxis can only pick up in Glasgow IIRC. I once heard some taxi drivers complaining that they saw a Glasgow cabbie picking up in North Lanarkshire. However, I don't really see an issue in a Glaswegian taxi driver arriving in Carlisle and taking a passenger back up to Glasgow (and, of course, for Carlisle's cabbies to take people back down from Glasgow). I don't think Glaswegian taxi drivers should be taking people around Carlisle, though. Was there any evidence of this happening? This article just seems like one of the increasingly common "bloody Scots ruining English people's lives" rants that's becoming increasingly common in England. I'm beginning to understand how Eastern Europeans feel...

On a greater scale, in general the tribal nature of taxi companies is hilarious to outsiders. Different taxi companies within the same area seem to fight (perhaps not literally, although I can't say for certain) for control of a single rank.

 

[Tetchytyke]

The law is a bit fuzzy about the concept of booking online or with a smart phone - see the current arguments about Uber

That's not the main issue with Uber, at least not in London. The issue with Uber is that only hackney carriages may operate with a meter- Private Hire taxis may not- but the Uber app acts as a meter when agreeing charges.

I am led to believe that plying for hire outside the local authority area is also a bit of a grey area. I know it remains a bone of contention in the north east that most of the big taxi companies in Newcastle- the likes of BlueLine- operate on North Tyneside or Northumberland licences because they are cheaper than City of Newcastle ones.

 

[Bletchleyite]

Agreed. When I worked in a petrol station as a student, I often worked 4pm-10pm Sat and 8am-2pm Sun. It wasn't uncommon for the taxi drivers to come in multiple times on both shifts and claim to have been up all night too, ferrying people back from the clubs at 3am. I'm actually very wary of getting into taxis after that job. I can't imagine any other professional drivers being allowed to convey passengers for that length of time. The lure of money is far too much for some of them.

I started driving myself for early morning airport runs after one too many taxi drivers who had clearly done that and who were clearly just about falling asleep at the wheel.

Being controversial, as they are professional drivers one could argue that tacho rules (or equivalent, like UK domestic bus hours) should apply to them, and for that matter to couriers, private hire drivers etc? That'd put the cat among the pigeons...

 

[DarloRich]

That's not the main issue with Uber, at least not in London. The issue with Uber is that only hackney carriages may operate with a meter- Private Hire taxis may not- but the Uber app acts as a meter when agreeing charges.

I am led to believe that plying for hire outside the local authority area is also a bit of a grey area. I know it remains a bone of contention in the north east that most of the big taxi companies in Newcastle- the likes of BlueLine- operate on North Tyneside or Northumberland licences because they are cheaper than City of Newcastle ones.

When i lived in Darlington there was a minor rumble about local taxis operating under licences issued via Berwick upon Tweed council as they were cheaper. I seem to recall it was deemed to be leagal

 

[Tetchytyke]

When i lived in Darlington there was a minor rumble about local taxis operating under licences issued via Berwick upon Tweed council as they were cheaper. I seem to recall it was deemed to be leagal

Yeah, Berwick Borough Council had quite the money-spinner going before they were abolished, at one point pretty much all the Blueline, Noda and Metro City cabs in the north east were all running on Berwick plates. I think most of them are now on North Tyneside plates as they're still cheaper than Gateshead or Newcastle ones.

 

[trentside]

Awhile back I picked up a job off spare that necessitated a taxi ride in each direction due to some engineering work. A firm local to me took me on the outward trip, and told me he was actually pre-booked to go on to a town about 15 miles north of my destination anyway - as it was a last minute arrangement his firm had managed to save on some dead mileage.

On the return, the taxi wasn't local to the station I was picked up from but had been working in the area on private hires. He was annoyed as he'd asked for long distance at the start of his shift, but the only thing he'd got was me as he'd decided to call it a night (I'm guessing he'd been at work most of the day and it was about 2100). As it was, I was keen to get back and told him so - cue a drive with an average speed of about 90mph and me more than making last orders

 

[Blindtraveler]

I can understand the Carlisle cabbies frustration but I guess if they are all out on jobs and a Scottish Taxi turns up who has got to go home anyway and theres paying punters wating at an empty station forcourt then why not? Perhaps if the driver wants to notify his boss or controll room that hes coming home with pax that might be wise? Iv found that many a taxi driver will, if doing a loog job ask if I mind him stopping for a break and indeed this very thing happened on a rail replacement once and the driver admitted hed been out most of the day and was bushed. As id been planning to eat on the cansled train, wasnt in a hurry and was starving I had no objection to his pulling off at a transport caf and, bless him he even offered to go a bit further to a Mcdonalds or similar but TBH I quite like Transport Caf's!

 

[Dieseldriver]

My Dad was killed when I was nine by an arrogant car driver who fell asleep at the wheel. It angers me how driver fatigue isn't taken seriously by many drivers.

 

[DelayRepay]

I once had a taxi ordered by station staff during disruption (shared with 1 passenger). After we set off, the driver told us he would have to charge us £5 each as the amount the TOC paid was £10 less than the fare. As we were both heading to an airport with flights to catch, we paid it.

A complaint to the TOC did result in an apology and a refund. I do hope they have also told the taxi firm that particular driver is no longer welcome to undertake rail replacement work.
--- old post above --- --- new post below ---
Re the Carlisle situation, my reading of the situation is that Virgin's contractor had arranged the taxis. Given that Virgin had contracted the taxis, and Virgin own the station, and Virgin were paying the bill, I'm not sure what the problem is. It makes no sense at all for Virgin to hire twice as many taxis as they need and have half of them running empty.

 

[Tom B]

I sometimes take taxis on work account when starting/finishing particularly early or late. I find hackney carriages far preferable. PHCs do not know their way anywhere, even instructing them to go via a major road will be met by a blank look, they simply follow the satnav. Many have poor adherence to the Highway Code and are tired. At least hackney carriage drivers are properly qualified. For my journey home they are actually about 50p cheaper anyway!

 

[Crossover]

Late last year I ended up with a taxi from Edinburgh to West Yorkshire (there is a thread around about it) after a train failure caused me to miss the last train south on the the ECML, and we left Edinburgh Waverley at about 20:00

I arrived home just after midnight but he then had another passenger to drop off in Hull before returning to home base. I did ask what he'd do after 6 hours of driving, his response being either drop in at a friends in Manchester for a few hours or drive straight back to Edinburgh. Not sure which he did, but would hope he took the Manchester option!