Local Conservatives say the decision to close the taxi-rank at Brighton Station for Albion games is a mistake.
Taxi drivers in Brighton and Hove have been told by Southern Rail that the taxi rank at Brighton Station will be closed every time the Albion football team have an evening game at home this season.
In a message sent by email this week the ‘Customer Experience Manager’ of Brighton Station told taxi drivers that the closure was necessary because of the widely reported problems caused by the new queuing system when implemented for the first game of the season.
Councillor Graham Cox, Conservative spokesman on Transport and Conservative parliamentary candidate for Hove 2015, has urged Southern to have a rethink.
He says: “This has all the hallmarks of a knee-jerk reaction by Southern which has not been properly thought through. It will have a detrimental effect on the travelling public, with commuters having even more of a struggle to get home.
“Taxi drivers pay £470 a year to pick up at the Station, and to treat them in this high-handed fashion is unfair.
“I am convinced there is plenty of room for a proper queue without the need to close the rank. I urge the railway authorities and British Transport Police to work with the taxi drivers and Council transport officers to sort this out before the next home game.”