A Liberal Democrat MP has launched a campaign to demand every railway station provides secure bike lockers to reduce theft and give more people the confidence to cycle to their train journeys.
Vikki Slade, the MP for Mid Dorset and North Poole, said “the scale of the problem is clear”, with many commuters and train passengers put off cycling to stations due to the very real fear of bikes being stolen.
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“Cycling to the station makes sense, but only if your bike is there when you return,” she said.
Just last month, research from a Freedom of Information request, submitted by campaign group Crush Crime, found that in Britain in 2024 only 22 suspects were formally charged for bike thefts from train stations, just 0.5 per cent of the 4,139 bikes reported stolen.
Facing political pressure, media attention and criticism from disgruntled passengers, the British Transport Police also last month U-turned on its controversial policy not to investigate bikes stolen from train stations if they were left for longer than two hours.
Slade believes every station should have secure cycle lockers, even if these require a small fee to use, to tackle station bike thefts.
“Secure cycle lockers are a practical, affordable solution,” she said. “They cost around £4,000, fit into a single car parking space, and can store six bikes. They can be accessed via a key or code for a small fee, with the option to offer free access to season ticket holders or through employers. Installing secure lockers would reduce bike theft, ease pressure on car parking, and encourage more people to travel by train.”
The Lib Dem MP has asked South Western Railway for lockers at one of her local stations, Wareham in Dorset, but the rail operator said it would not take action “without clear evidence of local demand”. Now, launching a petition and campaign for lockers at all stations, Slade concluded bike theft at stations needs to be addressed to unlock the potential of a connected transport network.
“Cycling to the station should be simple, affordable, and sustainable. Yet for too many people, the fear of bike theft puts them off entirely. That is why this petition calls for secure bike lockers to be installed at all railway stations, giving passengers confidence that their bike will still be there when they return,” she said.
> “Theft is now legal in Britain”: Only 0.5% of station bike thefts lead to charges
Last week, British Transport Police reversed its controversial policy not to investigate bike thefts in cases where the victim left their bicycle outside a station for more than two hours. Cycling UK celebrated the decision and called it “a real win for everyone who uses our transport network”.
Announcing the policy reversal, which was first implemented on 5 January, BTP Assistant Chief Constable Ian Drummond-Smith said that “rail passengers whose bikes are stolen rightly expect a thorough police investigation to trace offenders and reunite them with their property, and we are committed to bringing more bike thieves to justice in 2026 than ever before”.
He continued: “Officers will investigate more reports and explore all viable lines of enquiry if a bike is identifiable on CCTV, or if there is a witness to the crime.”
The U-turn came after a wave of criticism from cyclists and campaigners, many of whom highlighted its potential impact on those who regularly commute by bike and train.
According to British Cycling, the policy was effectively “decriminalising” bike thefts at stations, the governing body accusing the force of “letting cyclists down” and “providing further barriers to people riding a bike”.
1 thought on ““Fear of bike theft puts too many people off”: MP campaigns for secure bicycle lockers at all railway stations”
Only if you assume that they only stole one bike each, which seems rather unlikely.