Drivers urge swift end to station drop-off 'chaos'

For passengers at Leeds Railway Station, negotiating long-running building work has become part of the journey in recent years. But now, rail workers and commuters caught out by parking penalties have called for a swift end to the "traffic chaos" caused by roadworks.

Train driver John - not his real name - was hit with a £100 penalty while trying to park at work, saying: "I had a fine myself for literally opening my door – it's absolutely ridiculous."

John says he is among dozens of staff and passengers caught out by restrictions introduced during the long-delayed redevelopment of the site.

He says he knows of "at least 20 or 30" other drivers who have received penalty notices.

The driver says congestion around the rear of the station has become a daily frustration, with queues often stretching back along Wellington Street.

"A seven-mile journey to work can take more than an hour because of the delays," he says.

"From the bottom of the road it can take 30 or 40 minutes just to get to the car park at the back of the station.

"The amount of people who don't see the signs because they are small - further down as well, they're sort of high up. It's a bit extreme."

"I get why they are doing it," he says - and he hopes the completion of the work at the front of the station will "solve the problem" - but adds: "We still don't know how long that's going to be."

The current drop-off and pick-up zone, in Princes Square, was introduced in 2023.

Drivers have 10 minutes' free waiting time while motorists with disabilities have 30 minutes, and the system is monitored by Automatic Number Plate Recognition (ANPR) cameras.

According to Network Rail, anyone exceeding this time will get a parking penalty and those wishing to park beyond the limit should use the multi-storey car park.

Work on the railway station revamp began in 2022.

The outside of the station has been redesigned to include two new passenger lifts, while New Station Street is being fully pedestrianised.

The old taxi rank and cycle hub have been demolished.

The project was originally due to finish in autumn last year, but complex engineering challenges, including the discovery of an old man-made mill stream, pushed the estimated completion to summer 2026.

Akram Hussain Sharif, 63, has been a taxi driver for more than 30 years - but says the work behind the station, alongside other factors such as the rising cost of fuel, have led to him thinking of quitting.

"We've lost a lot of business coming round the back of the station, a lot of people don't know we're at the back - they're confused were the taxi rank is," he says.

"It's our livelihoods - we used to park on the right-hand side, then they moved us to the left - where only six or seven taxis can park."

He says he regularly gets stuck in the drop-off and pick-up zone for more than an hour.

"At peak times it's chaos - it's chock-a-block," he says, adding that roadworks in the area have exacerbated the problem.

He says he is unhappy about how much time the work at the front of the station is taking.

"This has been going on for four years - it's too long, they promised us it would only be two years."

Matt Lazenby, 46, from Leeds, is dropping off his wife's parents at the back of the station.

He says there is not enough space for people to move around the system - which he says he uses regularly.

"The taxis are all in the way, when they go back to the front I think it will be better," he says.

On the signage explaining what drivers should do and warning of penalties, he says it is "getting more clear" - but that on other occasions he has not known what he was supposed to do, ending up in the wrong place - forcing him to do a U-turn to get out.

"It's a short-term fix," he says, but with work at the front of the station still not complete after more than four years, he adds: "Short term is not quite that short term anymore."

Regular station user Emma Powell, 47, says: "It queues right back and there's people jumping out of taxis trying to get to the station on time."

She says she has often seen traffic queueing on Wellington Street and thinks the penalties are "probably unfair".

She says the situation is not helped by a zebra crossing by the entrance to the back of the station, which she says often contributes to the congestion because vehicles are having to frequently stop for pedestrians.

Zak, 43, comes into Leeds on the train for work - he agrees the system is not working because the area "is too small".

"It's very congested around here, small roundabout, too many cars... sometimes I have to phone my Uber driver, it's quite difficult to find my driver sometimes."

He says that on some occasions he gives up on getting a taxi and walks the 25 minutes to his office instead.

A spokesperson for Network Rail, which owns the station, said: "We recognise that the drop-off and pick-up area behind Leeds Station can be very busy at peak times, and we understand the frustrations expressed by drivers and passengers.

"However, keeping traffic moving safely has to be our priority, particularly in an area that has the potential to cause knock-on effects to traffic across the city centre.

"The completion of the Transforming Cities Fund investment at the front of the station will allow hackney carriages to move to their new location from next month, easing the pressure on the drop-off area to the rear.

"Restrictions are in place to ensure that the rules are followed, and anyone who believes they have been incorrectly fined can appeal to parking contractor UKCPS."

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