Railway stations in £5 million 'cycling hub' plan

Mr Sock wrote:

I take it the picture used at the top of this piece is of a British staion - there seem to be plenty of 'pioneers' in them parts - London stations too.

Could be that I've got my local goggles on, I suppose. I live in a fairly rural area, and there isn't good a good transit option once I get into the city (plus, if I'm honest, I'd miss my ride).

I could ride the whole way, but tbh, it's on rural roads with unenforced speed limits and British drivers. I wouldn't think twice about a ride like that in France, over here it's seems like the dice are loaded against me.

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There is already friction on trains going in to London between non-cyclists and folding bike commuters (of whom there are large numbers) over space

Ah yes, Mr. D. Pyle and his crusade, as I recall.

I wonder if they're up in arms about wheely suitcases, or students with enormous rucksacks? Probably not, because they aren't bikes, is my impression. The problem is the rail companies packing people in like sardines in a can, not the fact that some of the passengers have the temerity to bring a type of luggage others object to (imo).

In the US they've managed to provide bike spaces on trains (in some districts by removing half the seats in the coaches) - Paul Dorn talks about this on his bike commuting blog as I recall.

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and every time more bike parking is provided at staions it fills up straight away - which would suggest that there are plenty of people who want to leave a bike at the station or even both stations.
Yes all that you say about enforcing the rules of the road etc is true, but that doesn't make big capital projects wrong if they meet a need and these bike hubs will do just that.

I guess if they're targeted where the bike parking is full, and if it doesn't prejudice existing arrangements regarding bike carriage, there's no harm. My worry about this though is that train companies are already only carrying bikes grudgingly as things are now (with the government unwilling to enforce any requirement for them to provide even a few spaces).

In a larger sense, I can't help feeling that legislators are tip toeing 'round the actual barriers to increasing the level of cycling in the UK, and avoiding dealing with them by spending lots of money on stuff like this instead.

John_the_Monkey wrote:

Let us take them on the bloody trains ffs.

How requiring everyone to have *two* bikes (one at the start of the journey, one at the end) will help matters is beyond me. Nonsense like this will assist the train operators in wriggling out of any requirement to carry bicycles on board.

repeat after me; "WE ARE NOT HOLLAND"

Apart from attitude and some topographical variation what is so different? I agree for long distances I want to be able to take my bike on the train more easily, but for commuting two bikes works fine. Infinitely preferable to lugging a folder on to the train and in the long run more practical too. If we really want to boost rail/bike commuting where are we going to put all those extra bikes on the train?

Mr Sock wrote:

Apart from attitude and some topographical variation what is so different?

For me personally, two *long* walks each end of the journey, if I'm not going by bike. (And, as the third commenter points out, the quality of routes to & from stations).

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I agree for long distances I want to be able to take my bike on the train more easily, but for commuting two bikes works fine. Infinitely preferable to lugging a folder on to the train and in the long run more practical too. If we really want to boost rail/bike commuting where are we going to put all those extra bikes on the train?

You're looking at the end point of this process though. That's what I find so frustrating about the "Amsterdamize" idea of advocacy. We're supposed to make this leap to where there'd just be too many bikes on the train with no intermediate stage. It isn't going to happen overnight, so things need to be done in a way that makes sense, with the projects following each other in a logical way. (I.e. you don't make the stations these fantastic bike transport hubs until people are confident that they can cycle there in relative safety, f'rexample).

In the meantime, you assist the "pioneers" for want of a better word, in getting out there and doing their own utility cycling under current conditions in the UK.

"Amsterdamization" is a gift to people who don't want to tackle the properly difficult barriers to cycling in the UK, imo, because it's quite infrastructurally biased - the money thing will always be in the way, and where it isn't, the boosters can trumpet big capital projects. IMO what would *actually* help in the UK is cracking down on dangerous and intimidating driving, reinforcing the right to ride on the road &c &c Difficult, multi-agency stuff that no one seems to want to do.