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Thursday 10 Sep 2015

New station taxi charges on hold to allow further talks

Region & Route:

| North West & Central

A proposed taxi rank charging system at Birmingham New Street, aimed at encouraging greener vehicles and a better customer experience, has been put on hold to allow more time to secure agreement with union representatives.

The new charges, first announced two years ago, included a sliding annual fee for taxi drivers based on how polluting their cars are - potentially from £250 for the greenest rising to £1,000 for the most fume-fouling vehicles.

This graded charging system was designed to support Birmingham City Council's clean-air targets, led by EU and national Government objectives, to provide a better, cleaner, fume-free environment for the 170,000 daily users of the station and many more people who live in, work in and visit the city centre.

While Network Rail continues with its negotiations to find an amicable solution for all parties, Birmingham New Street station will revert back to its original taxi rank charge - 40p per visit per vehicle. This fee was in place before the rebuilding of the station started.

A Network Rail spokesman said: "We are eager to talk constructively with all interested parties' representatives in order to reach an amicable solution.

"To allow time for talks to take place we have postponed the implementation of new taxi rank charges that were intended to encourage to user of newer, less polluting vehicles.”

Birmingham New Street station opens to the public on Sunday September 20 following a five-year, £750m transformation. The Grand Central shopping complex, above the new station, is set to open on Thursday September 24.