Bike thefts at train stations have been a thorn in cyclists’ side for a while and latest data revealed that it’s getting worse, with thefts up by 39 per cent in 2022 over the previous year. However, at Winchester railway station’s cycle parking, dubbed as the ‘Hub’, things have got so bad that the local cycling campaign has advised people against using bikes to access the station, and in case they do, then most certainly not to use the cycle racks.
According to data published by Direct Line Home Insurance, Winchester train station was amongst the ten station with the highest number of bike thefts, suffering 135 recorded incidents in just 2022. Recently, it has acquired the label of a “hotspot” for bike thieves by the locals.
However, Cycle Winchester is advising cyclists to not use the £400,000 bike Hub, installed in 2016, due to the high risk, while other cyclists are considering giving up cycling as their main mode of transport, reports the Hampshire Chronicle.
> Bike thefts at train stations up 39% year-on-year, research reveals
A spokesperson for community action group, who wished to stay anonymous, said: “We have known for a while the covered bike racks aka the ‘Hub’ are targeted by thieves.
“South Western Railway (SWR) staff also know it is a hot spot. The police don’t, as a rule, investigate bike thefts or review CCTV recordings even when asked.
“At times it has the characteristics of an undercover bike showroom for thieves with little chance of being caught. Our advice is not to use the Hub but if you must park there – take an old bike and use a D-Lock.
“The rate of theft from Winchester station is 2.5 times higher than that at Southampton Station with 46 bikes recorded as being taken in the last 12 months. Without a bike, you can’t cycle to the station.”
> Man convicted after mother of bike theft victim holds three-day protest outside his house
Cycle Winchester had met with SWR last year to discuss some easy improvements at the station but no proposals have come out of it yet. It also said on its website that in light of the risk involved in parking bikes there, it “would not recommend using the Bike Hub”.
Latest news from our campaign to improve security of bike parking in the city.https://t.co/ksSGPn0Way pic.twitter.com/sbUagNsdiK
— Cycle Winchester (@CycleWin) August 15, 2023
Meanwhile, there’s a growing fear cyclists who have had their bikes stolen — some even more than once — will be put off from using cycling as their main mode of transport and switch to driving.
Most people regularly get the train in Winchester, for work or leisure, but they said that they were hesitant to use the bike hub or to leave their bike locked up at the station.
Ben Dornan from Fulflood has seen two of his bikes stolen, each worth around £800, and said that he’s going to cycle a “lot less” now.
His last bike was taken from the station, in front of the CCTV cameras, last month. Dornan said he was even willing to watch through the CCTV videos himself after the police said that he’d been parked there too long (around 16 and a half hours) for them to review the footage.
Dornan said: “When my bike was stolen there were multiple broken bike locks in the hub and a good friend of mine had there’s taken the same day from the same place.
“I think thieves have sheared through the bars that people lock their bikes to so when people lock up their bikes, the chain just comes off. It’s clearly unsafe and people are regularly sweeping through and taking bikes. It’s a numbers game for them and they’re winning.
“It’s incensed because my bike was in the bike shed, locked up with a strong chain and in front of the CCTV. I will never leave my bike there again. When I cycle to the leisure centre there are also cameras but that is no deterrent to these people.
He continued: “I’m going to cycle a lot less which is a real shame because it’s my principal mode of transport. The issue is absolutely out of hand and completely out of control. It’s not just bikes being stolen from public places but locked garages too.
“Winchester has a lot of people who cycle and with expensive bikes. It’s a real goldmine for these gangs. Loads of people have now turned off cycling which is so regressive.
“We need a sting operation to take all the thieves out. The only people who are recovering their bikes are cyclists who track them down themselves.”
Matt Dodds, an engineer from Eastleigh said: “There is not enough security. It’s too easy to go through any of the available bike locks. I’ve got a £45 bike lock. It will take 20 seconds to get through with the battery-powered angle binder. It’s not a priority crime (for the police) so we’re left to go and try and find our own bikes.”
> Almost 90% of bike thefts reported to police closed without suspect identified
In August, Cycling UK had warned that the “scourge” of bike theft will continue until criminals “believe there is a genuine risk of getting caught”, after figures published by Sussex Police revealed that only one in a hundred reported thefts over the past year resulted in a prosecution or court summons.
And earlier this year, Liberal Democrats published a staggering statistic that showed that almost 90 per cent of bicycle thefts reported to the police were closed without a suspect even being identified.
A spokesperson for British Transport Police said: “Bike theft is an issue we take very seriously and we are always working and adapting strategies to tackle it.
“We regularly patrol Winchester station and also hold bike marking drop-in sessions where we offer free security marking and give crime prevention tips and advice.”
An SWR spokesperson said: “We are very sorry to any customers who have experienced cycle theft at the station. We are working closely with the British Transport Police who continue to carry out operations at the station, and host cycle surgeries, in which they provide crime prevention advice and cycle marking.
“The British Transport Police also have information on its website about how to protect cycles. We will work together to look at other possible measures to prevent cycle theft and to help customers keep their cycles safe.”
Winchester MP Steve Brine said he had been approached by several people who had bikes stolen from the city.
He said: “A number of constituents have contacted me about bike thefts in the city and I share their concern as one of them, especially around the station bike hub which I campaigned for and opened myself a number of years ago.
“We want Winchester to be even more a cycling city than it is today and confidence is key to that. I am pressing our excellent new chief inspector to bring her new community policing resources to bear here and to SWR who has a clear responsibility on behalf of their customers to nip this in the bud.”
10 thoughts on ““Our advice is not to use the Hub”: Bike theft “hotspot” at train station forces cycling campaign to warn people against using £400,000 cycle racks”
It really wouldn’t take that
It really wouldn’t take that long to look through the video. Start halfway and if the bike is still there, then it was stolen later, if it’s gone it was stolen before. Then look halfway through the before or after section, repeating the process of looking for the bike. Repeat until you have a five minute section when it was stolen.
I can’t help wondering what the £400,000 was spent on if it wasn’t security.
Yeah, one would think people
Yeah, one would think people whose JOB (as in: professional occupation) it is to assure security, solve crimes and such like would know this kind of technique…
Is this cycle hub accessible
Is this cycle hub accessible to anyone? The “secure” cycle hubs at Southeastern stations require a keyfob, for which there is a charge for 3/6/12 months access, so that only registered users can access the bike spaces.
Or at least just have access
Or at least just have access via the platform. Assuming it is barriered and and manned.
It seems to me that this is
It seems to me that this is one situation where lobbying the PCC may be the way to go. The problem here is one of setting priorities for the police force and that is exactly the job of the PCC if I have understood it correctly.
The problem here is that my
The problem here is that my PCC in Nottinghamshire is unlikely to give a flying f*ck.
Caroline Henry (wife of a Conservative MP) received 3 speeding tickets in the weeks whilst campaigning, and did not even have enough self-respect to own up publicly, and 2 more in the weeks after winning the vote, and got herself a totting-up 6 months ban.
Claimed that it was all because she was late with childrens’ paperwork for schools, rather than say leaving home 5 minutes earlier.
Now she pretends that people pointing this out are ‘posting hate’.
Tories need at least a decade in opposition to find some principles.
I recently rode my bicycle in
I recently rode my bicycle in Holland and the cycle parks in cities were underground and manned with CCTV and your bike had a code and you were given token so you could collect you cycle. The stairs down had a wheel lift in it as well. It was locked overnight, so no thefts. England is so rubbish.
It angers me that if somebody
It angers me that if somebody stole £1000 in cash from, say, a bank under a CCTV camera, the police would be all over it, calling for witnesses etc. But steal £1000 of bike from under a CCTV camera in a busy space, ‘ah sorry gov, way too much effort to do our job’.
16 hours is too long to go
16 hours is too long to go through? Sheesh. Binary chop. It would take 5 minutes tops. As for police priorities, you now see what happens when standards drop and all they’re qualified to do is police people’s opinions, like them or not, on social media.
The PCC is the one to go to –
The PCC is the one to go to – but for Hampshire she celebrates getting force renamed. Then probably spend most time getting friends off speeding tickets.