Sheffield station: East Midlands Railway reveals reason for traffic chaos - amid calls to use 'obvious' fix

The company said gridlock at busy times was due to private hire vehicles breaching a rule which bars them from picking up passengers.

Only black cabs have the “privilege” of collecting walk-up fares, it says.

Last month, cabbies announced they were refusing to pay their £700 annual permits to operate at the station until something was done.

An East Midlands Railway spokesperson said: “Recent talks have been productive and we expect that when we have some resolution in place, the permits will be re-instated.

“We have an agreed time frame to respond to the drivers with some ideas on how we work together to reduce the congestion in the taxi rank.”

Black cab and private hire drivers say they are spending hours sitting in traffic at peak times on Friday, Saturday and Sunday evenings - and it is costing them business, causing passengers to miss trains and creating air pollution.

Currently all vehicles, including private cars, must merge on Cross Turner Street. It has three junctions with yellow hatched areas. Cars regularly halt on the hatchings adding to the “confusion and chaos.”

More than 200 readers posted about the issue on The Star’s Facebook page.

The same solution came up time and again - use the empty plot of land outside the station which has been empty for 18 years after being earmarked for HS2.

Paul Gibson said: “Not a new problem, been like it since the ‘water feature’ was built. The solution is obvious. Allow station traffic to enter from the far side, taxis to wait in the unused land opposite, all exit down the existing roads which become one way.”

Griz Wold added: “Absolutely ridiculous road layout causes so much gridlock at peak times…They need to do something with the ground that's used possibly twice a year for a fair and expand the taxi area with an independent road in.”

James Hobbs posted: “It's terrible, so often blocked up. It just needs one car to sit in the hatching and it's gridlock. It needs another exit. Couldn't they put another road at the back of the Q-Park to the main road?”

Joanne Ferguson said: “Why wasn’t the station access and pick up provision addressed when the station was upgraded several years ago? And there’s all that land in front of the station sitting empty.”

In September, Sheffield City Council said it wanted to redevelop the plot.

Councillor Ben Miskell, chair of the transport, regeneration and climate policy committee, said a new draft development framework was being produced and they were looking at funding and development partners so that the plot, a new ‘cycle and footbridge’ and other transport improvements “could be brought together comprehensively.”