Secure Cycle Parking

We have been contacted by Alison McAuliffe after her husband was attacked and had his E bike, valued at more than £5,000, stolen. Alison and her husband are lobbying the Borough Council to open a secure cycle store in Loughborough, similar to the Cycle Hub at St Margaret's Bus Station and the Bike Park Cycle Hub in Town Hall Square, both in Leicester. Queens Park or some unoccupied retail premises might be suitable venues.

Whilst E bikes are encouraging more people to cycle into town, these vehicles are very marketable and provide a strong incentive to thieves. By contrast, high end racing bicycles are expensive, but the market for them is small and they are not usually used for utility journeys. The facilities proposed by Alison will encourage more people to get the benefit of a physically active and environmentally friendly form of transport. Such facilities might be combined with a bicycle repair/mobility scooter shop. Please consider contacting your local councillor to support this proposal.

Cycles on Trains in the East Midlands

East Midlands Railway (EMR) are introducing new trains. The new class 810 Hitachi AT300 Intercity 5 carriage train, currently in test and due to begin introduction in 2025, has only two spaces for cycles, using hooks for vertical storage.

This ignores the need:

• to develop cycle-rail integration to reduce car use, as the cycle capacity of the new trains is the same as the old ones;
• to encourage Active Travel, including by family sized groups;
• to provide for those cyclists, particularly riders of heavier E bikes, who will struggle to use the planned vertical hook storage.

EMR claim that as the trains are now being tested it is too late to change the design. This seems to be a strange claim to make as surely testing is to ascertain the suitability of any layouts before full production begins. Correcting the design at a later date would be much more expensive and once the new trains are in service, the life-span could be decades. The current '222' Meridian trains came into service in 2004!

Cycling UK advocates for at least 4 cycle spaces per 100 seats. The provision of only two spaces means that a family group cannot travel together. EMR contends that 'To make transport greener, we will be most effective by moving people from cars onto public transport which is achieved by providing more seats on board for our customers. However, they appear to ignore the fact that many trains are not filled to capacity. Surely flexible areas with folding seats and hanging straps for standing passengers which also provide capacity for large luggage and cycles would be a better option.

From the traveller's perspective, the whole journey influences the mode(s) of transport chosen. A bus element can introduce additional uncertainty, extra time and cost. In the Netherlands 42% of trips accessing the railway do so by cycle, and 11% of trips are completed by cycle at the destination. In the UK the number is around 3% having any cycling stage in the journey. Addressing this gap is part of moving people from their cars. The UK Government's Cycling and Walking Investment Strategy (2017) has stated the ambition to make cycling and walking the natural choice for shorter journeys or as part of a longer journey, doubling the number of cycling stages from 0.8 billion to 1.6 billion by 2025. Provision of high quality, managed cycle storage at stations clearly forms part of this but cycle carriage capacity on trains is also significant.

David Smith of Pedals (Nottingham Cycling Campaign) is asking cycle campaigners in the area to write in support of the campaign to increase the space for cycles on the new trains. Please email your local Member of Parliament or EMR (contact@eastmidlandsrailway.co.uk with a copy to contact@pedals.org.uk .