Victory for cyclists as stations pledge secure bike parks
A leading rail company today unveiled "breakthrough" plans for major improvements for cyclists at two of London's busiest stations.
South West Trains, which runs the capital's most extensive commuter network, is investing hundreds of thousands of pounds in schemes at Surbiton and Richmond.
Details of the proposals were revealed after the Standard launched its Make Cycling Simpler campaign this week, demanding more and better cycle parking at London's biggest stations.
At Surbiton the rail company is to build, with Kingston council, a secure compound for its existing 300-space bike park. Cyclists will only be able to get into the free compound to park or pick up bikes using a swipe card, for which they leave a deposit.
It is one of the first schemes of its kind in the capital, where the vast majority of station cycle parks have no security. A secure cycle park for 400 bikes opened near London Bridge station last month for which users are charged £1.50 a day.
The Surbiton initiative follows research showing that one of the biggest disincentives to cycling is the fear that a bike will be vandalised or stolen.
South West Trains hopes the compound will be open by the autumn. A spokeswoman said: "Surbiton is a very well-used station in terms of bikes, and we are hopeful that the new scheme will encourage ever more users."
At Richmond SWT plans to set up a cycle hire facility by the end of the summer in partnership with the council. At least 50 fold-up Brompton bikes would be available for a £100 deposit. Under its Smarter Travel scheme Richmond has set a target of an extra 3,000 people cycling a day.
Cyclist numbers doubled in Sutton after the borough introduced 200 secure bike spaces in February.
TfL has earmarked £1.5 million for cycle parking at rail, Underground and DLR stations in this financial year.
