Taxis available at the Shenzhen Railway Station at night are regularly refusing passengers whose destinations are too close, yesterday's Shenzhen Special Zone Daily reported.

The report said that the drivers of the taxis do not consider short trips profitable enough, and hence refuse passengers wanting to go to nearby places.

The report added some taxi drivers even refuse to charge according to the meter, and instead ask for an amount that is roughly twice the meter fare.

The railway station has recently been busy with many holidaymakers returning to the city after the Spring Festival holiday. The taxi lane outside the station becomes chaotic after midnight when traffic police are off duty, according to the Daily report, quoting many returning residents.

A woman, identified only by her last name Zhou, arrived at the station at about 4 a.m. Sunday and saw many taxis parked just outside the arrival hall instead of the designated underground area, while many taxi drivers walked around soliciting clients.

Zhou was refused by all taxi drivers she approached as she needed to go to the Tianxin residential community in Luohu District, a short distance away. "They asked passengers' destinations, and if your trip is around or even within Luohu District, they won't take you," she said.

"They thought such a short trip as a few kilometers won't bring them much profit," said Zhou, adding that the only taxi which agreed to take her asked for 50 yuan (US$6.45) for the trip which normally costs 25 yuan.

Even for long distances, some taxis asked for unreasonably high fares. A man who declined to be named was quoted a fare of 200 yuan for a trip to Baishizhou in Nanshan District. "The driver wouldn't let me bargain, and if I traveled alone, I would have had to pay 200 yuan," he said.

As it was early in the morning, taxis were the only form of transport available. The man had to accept the driver's demand of 80 yuan and waited for three other passengers to travel together.

A two-day investigation by the newspaper found that few passengers were able to take a taxi late at night or early in the morning outside the station as they wanted to travel short distances. A reporter posing as a passenger wanting to go to the Sungang residential community in Luohu was turned down by more than 20 taxis in half an hour.

Editor: Donald