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Cycle Hire scheme to expand to Olympic Park - but not until nearly 4 years after London 2012River Lea and Olympic Stadium (copyright Simon MacMichael)

Cycle Hire scheme to expand to Olympic Park - but not until nearly 4 years after London 2012

Sponsorship clash between Barclays and London 2012 partner Lloyds TSB meant site missed out in initial expansion
by Simon_MacMichael
Mon, Nov 10, 2014 22:52
10

In 2016, four years after the Barclays Cycle Hire Scheme expanded into East London, but not the Olympic Park due to a sponsorship clash ahead of the 2012 Games, Boris Bike docking stations will come to the 560-acre site in Stratford.

By then, Barclays’ backing of the hire bikes will have officially ended, and the bank’s name is noticeably missing from a press release from Transport for London (TfL) announcing the latest expansion.

Plans to introduce the Barclays Hire Scheme to some boroughs in the east of the capital were announced in November 2010, a little over three months after its launch in Central London.

It wasn’t until March 2012, five months before the Olympic Games, that docking stations went live in locations in the east of the city such as Canary Wharf in Tower Hamlets.

But with Barclays’ rival Lloyds TSB signed up as official banking partner to London 2012, Olympic sponsorship rules prevented the cycle hire scheme from expanding into the Olympic Park itself.

Now partly reopened as the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park, that barrier no longer exists.

TfL says that work on installing eight docking stations, located at key points around the Park including the ArcelorMittalOrbit, the London Aquatics Centre and the Lee Valley Velopark, will begin early in the new year and be completed around 12 months later.

Ahead of London 2012, Mayor of London Boris Johnson invited the world to try out the distinctive navy blue bikes to get to and from the Olympic Stadium in Stratford, although he neglected to add that people would find nowhere to dock them once they arrived there.

Today, he said: “Bringing our fantastic Cycle Hire scheme to Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park will be a major milestone in the continued delycrafication of cycling in our city.

“The Park is already a wonderful place to spend time and the addition of a fleet of hire bikes will make it an even more enticing place to visit for Londoners and visitors to the capital.

“Whether you're an experienced cyclist or a total novice, I can think of no better way to take in all the sights of the Park than by hopping aboard one of our sturdy two-wheelers."

TfL says it will add three new docking stations around Hackney Wick station, providing a link to the current boundary of the scheme.

It also says that the expansion will make it easier for people to use the bikes top visit the ‘Mini Holland’ pilot borough of Waltham Forest, and to access a proposed ‘Quietway’ from Aldgate to Hainault.

It adds that some 35 million journeys have been made on the bikes, a million apiece in each of the last four months, and that this year has seen a new 24-hour hire record made of nearly 50,000 trips. Overall casual user satisfaction with the scheme stands at 85 per cent, it says.

David Goldstone, chief executive of the London Legacy Development Corporation which is responsible for developing and managing the Olympic site, said: “It’s great news that the Cycle Hire scheme is coming to the Park.

“What better way to explore all 560 acres of Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park than on two wheels?

“Londoners and visitors are flocking to the area and this will be another new way to explore the Park. We welcome cyclists of all ages and abilities to come and enjoy the beautiful parklands.”

The tender process to find a replacement sponsor for Barclays, whose backing of the scheme has provoked criticism including due the bank it clawing back money after performance targets were missed, opened in July and TfL said at the time that a number of major brands had expressed an interest.

It invited bids of at least £5.5 million a year over the seven-year contract period, amounting to a total minimum sponsorship of £37.5 million, and said any new sponsor would be expected to play a hands-on role with TfL in developing the scheme further.

Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park
Boris Bikes
Barclays Cycle Hire Scheme
Simon MacMichael

Simon joined road.cc as news editor in 2009 and is now the site’s community editor, acting as a link between the team producing the content and our readers. A law and languages graduate, published translator and former retail analyst, he has reported on issues as diverse as cycling-related court cases, anti-doping investigations, the latest developments in the bike industry and the sport’s biggest races. Now back in London full-time after 15 years living in Oxford and Cambridge, he loves cycling along the Thames but misses having his former riding buddy, Elodie the miniature schnauzer, in the basket in front of him.

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10 comments

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forzagaribaldi | 9 years ago
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Thanks for the heads-up on the trains, I'll give them a go!

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Nzlucas | 9 years ago
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I think they have purposefully let sections of the undergrowth go. It promotes biodversity and allows the plants to get a good foothold. It also helps successional growth in areas where they want that happen.

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forzagaribaldi | 9 years ago
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Odd to hear the comment about the park being run down. I've just moved reasonably nearby (Forest Gate) and we've been frequently and through the summer particularly it was consistenly busy and a fair amount of stuff going on. Some parts are still being redeveloped but I am very happy to have it available. My daughter is 18 months old and just starting to be able to scooter/trike/balance bike and the park is a good place for it. She'll soon be able to use the various cycling tracks there too.

Regarding getting there, I ride through it every day and then through Hackney to Covent Garden and back. There were definitely lots of missed opportunities for decent infrastructure but it certainly isn't hard to reach from central London. During daylight hours, Victoria Park is a great place to cycle and Goldsmiths Row and Columbia Road are pleasant enough and traffic free. Worst bit for me is Old Street.

Unless I've been really stupid, there is no longer a high-speed train from St Pancras across to Stratford. I play football in Somers Town and my best route on public transport is round to Liverpool Street and then national rail from there.

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OldRidgeback replied to forzagaribaldi | 9 years ago
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forzagaribaldi wrote:

Unless I've been really stupid, there is no longer a high-speed train from St Pancras across to Stratford. I play football in Somers Town and my best route on public transport is round to Liverpool Street and then national rail from there.

Well there was a high speed train from St Pancras to Stratford a couple of months ago - I'll check and see if it still runs. I just did check and it's a 6 minute journey costing £5.90. As I recall off peak is from 7pm onwards during week days.

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Al__S replied to forzagaribaldi | 9 years ago
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forzagaribaldi wrote:

Unless I've been really stupid, there is no longer a high-speed train from St Pancras across to Stratford. I play football in Somers Town and my best route on public transport is round to Liverpool Street and then national rail from there.

I'm not wanting to call you "really stupid", but pretty much every Southeastern High Speed service between St Pancras and Kent stops at St Pancras International (there may be a select few services that skip it). Appears to be four trains per hour off peak each way.

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TeamExtreme | 9 years ago
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This is all very well and good, but access to the Olympic Park from Central London is dire to say the least.

Basically the two main options are to takes your chances on the Bow Roundabout with its ridiculous and dangerous traffic light system, or to hack your way through the suburbs of Dalston and Hackney and try to find your way into the park along the unlit canal and bike paths, which in itself doesn't feel particularly safe given the dark evenings.

I visited the park recently and although I appreciate it's going through a period of transition, I was extremely disappointed to find it in such a sorry state already. The majority of it feels like a ghost town, the little signage that is there to find your way around is basically useless, and all the landscaping is already overgrown and dishevelled. A depressing experience indeed.

Avatar
jollygoodvelo replied to TeamExtreme | 9 years ago
0 likes
TeamExtreme wrote:

This is all very well and good, but access to the Olympic Park from Central London is dire to say the least.

Basically the two main options are to takes your chances on the Bow Roundabout with its ridiculous and dangerous traffic light system, or to hack your way through the suburbs of Dalston and Hackney and try to find your way into the park along the unlit canal and bike paths, which in itself doesn't feel particularly safe given the dark evenings.

I visited the park recently and although I appreciate it's going through a period of transition, I was extremely disappointed to find it in such a sorry state already. The majority of it feels like a ghost town, the little signage that is there to find your way around is basically useless, and all the landscaping is already overgrown and dishevelled. A depressing experience indeed.

The best way in IMO is from Vicky Park and then dip under the A12 on Wick Lane, along the Greenway and there you are. You have to find that though, I agree.

Not sure about it being a ghost town - I haven't been through since the weather changed but all summer long it was full of the young people of Stratford and Hackney enjoying the outside space. In fact, it would have been nice if it was quieter and not just an extension of Westfield...

Avatar
Bikebikebike replied to jollygoodvelo | 9 years ago
0 likes
Gizmo_ wrote:
TeamExtreme wrote:

This is all very well and good, but access to the Olympic Park from Central London is dire to say the least.

Basically the two main options are to takes your chances on the Bow Roundabout with its ridiculous and dangerous traffic light system, or to hack your way through the suburbs of Dalston and Hackney and try to find your way into the park along the unlit canal and bike paths, which in itself doesn't feel particularly safe given the dark evenings.

I visited the park recently and although I appreciate it's going through a period of transition, I was extremely disappointed to find it in such a sorry state already. The majority of it feels like a ghost town, the little signage that is there to find your way around is basically useless, and all the landscaping is already overgrown and dishevelled. A depressing experience indeed.

The best way in IMO is from Vicky Park and then dip under the A12 on Wick Lane, along the Greenway and there you are. You have to find that though, I agree.

Not sure about it being a ghost town - I haven't been through since the weather changed but all summer long it was full of the young people of Stratford and Hackney enjoying the outside space. In fact, it would have been nice if it was quieter and not just an extension of Westfield...

There are quite a few routes, none of them well signposted and none of them particularly nice. There have been quite a few blogs about the poor infrastructure around the Olympic park, and I am just staggered how poor it is, when there was a completely blank slate to work on, and that there was meant to be some sort of legacy from the development.

Avatar
OldRidgeback replied to Bikebikebike | 9 years ago
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Bikebikebike wrote:
Gizmo_ wrote:
TeamExtreme wrote:

This is all very well and good, but access to the Olympic Park from Central London is dire to say the least.

Basically the two main options are to takes your chances on the Bow Roundabout with its ridiculous and dangerous traffic light system, or to hack your way through the suburbs of Dalston and Hackney and try to find your way into the park along the unlit canal and bike paths, which in itself doesn't feel particularly safe given the dark evenings.

I visited the park recently and although I appreciate it's going through a period of transition, I was extremely disappointed to find it in such a sorry state already. The majority of it feels like a ghost town, the little signage that is there to find your way around is basically useless, and all the landscaping is already overgrown and dishevelled. A depressing experience indeed.

The best way in IMO is from Vicky Park and then dip under the A12 on Wick Lane, along the Greenway and there you are. You have to find that though, I agree.

Not sure about it being a ghost town - I haven't been through since the weather changed but all summer long it was full of the young people of Stratford and Hackney enjoying the outside space. In fact, it would have been nice if it was quieter and not just an extension of Westfield...

There are quite a few routes, none of them well signposted and none of them particularly nice. There have been quite a few blogs about the poor infrastructure around the Olympic park, and I am just staggered how poor it is, when there was a completely blank slate to work on, and that there was meant to be some sort of legacy from the development.

If you're competing there and want to drive in the car with a load of riders and bicycles, getting to the parking area is not easy the first time. This summer I ended up in a group of four vehicles (including one driven by a guy from my club) as we drove round trying to find where to park and unload. The signs are confusing and seem to contradict each other at times. It was comical at first but became somewhat less so the nearer it got to the registration deadline. Luckily my son and I had been training at the track just a few days before as we both missed our slots before the first heats.

Poor signage apart, it's a great facility.

Going on the high speed train from St Pancras is a good option, though you can only take the bike on it at off-peak times. Getting to St Pancras on the train is easy from much of London.

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Nzlucas | 9 years ago
0 likes

Thats awesome, now if they could only sort out the step free access to the park....

http://road.cc/content/news/109100-london-cycling-campaign-slams-cycling...

Luckily they went to the expense of installing an elevator, good forward planning that.

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