A cycle hub at Gravesend Railway Station was closed for almost two days after it was targeted by suspected vandals, who appeared to have kicked in the storage facility’s door, leaving it ajar.
A photo posted on social media by station user Joseph Stedman shows the damage inflicted to the hub’s door, including some graffiti scrawled on the bottom of it with black marker, during what rail operator Southeastern has described as an “incident of vandalism” which took place earlier this week.
It is currently unclear whether any bikes were stolen during the attack, though the British Transport Police has indicated that it doesn’t appear to have received any reports of cycle theft at Gravesend station following the incident. The force says it is currently speaking to local officers to determine whether bikes left by commuters were taken.
The cycle hub at Gravesend Railway Station, one of 29 secure bike hubs operated by Southeastern Railway, opened in 2016 and provides storage for over 280 bikes, with 222 spaces available in a gated upstairs compound. 62 other spots are available on a first come, first served basis on the ground floor.
The hub is also equipped with a DIY repair centre and tools, along with electric bike charging points, a secure fob entry, and CCTV.
The vandalism was first reported on Monday 25 May. Southeastern told road.cc that their engineer inspected the vandalism the following day, but due to the “severe” extent of the damage was unable to repair the door.
A team of specialist engineers was then called, and the hub was finally reopened at 2.30pm on Wednesday.
> Most commuters don’t trust bike storage at stations, putting them off cycling, new survey finds
“We’re sorry to customers affected by the damage to the cycle hub at Gravesend station. The issue was reported to our teams on 25 May following an incident of vandalism,” Peter Stapleton, the head of facilities at Southeastern, told road.cc.
“Specialist engineers have completed the repairs, and the cycle hub is back in use.”
A spokesperson for the British Transport Police also told road.cc that it is conducting inquiries into whether any bikes were taken by the suspected vandals, or whether they were simply intent on causing destruction.
The vandalism carried out at Gravesend station comes after another cycle hub at nearby Chatham railway station was targeted last year by vandals, who ripped both the front and back doors of the facility out.
One local commuter told KentOnline that the front door was boarded up and the back door covered in tape for almost three months, though the hub was still being used by commuters to store their bikes.
Earlier this month, we reported on a new transport survey which found that only 15 per cent of cyclists have some degree of trust in bike storage at railway stations or similar transport hubs, with only three per cent fully trusting the storage.
That data, published by Cycleplan, is the latest evidence that train station bike theft is deterring people from cycling. Last autumn, thefts became commonplace enough for the British Transport Police to stop investigating thefts unless the bikes were locked up and left for less than two hours. Following a public backlash, the policy was scrapped earlier this year.
Following this month’s survey, Cycleplan’s Sean Carney said the study showed that “bike parking at stations had become a reason to opt out of cycling”.
“It’s real failure of provision, and one that’s costing the city journeys every single day. If London is serious about getting more people on bikes, secure, trusted parking at transport hubs has to be a key part of that conversation,” he said.
Data published in January also showed that of the nearly 4,200 bike thefts reported to the British Transport Police in January, only 22 suspects had been charged, leading the Crush Crime campaign group to claim “theft is now legal in Britain”.
5 thoughts on “Train station bike parking hub shut for two days after door kicked in by vandals”
Overweight middle aged man in suit catches sight of his reflection in the door.
“Who t’ fuck are yer looking at an don’t fucking point at me you fuckin’ fucker or ahl fuckin’ kick yet int’ bollocks. Fuck off.”
“Raght yer wanna fucking make sommat o’ it.”
Man kicks his reflection in the testicles causing the door to collapse onwards.
Man’s brown toothed colleague (also in a suit, but tweed) removes his cigarette and stamps it into the pavement.
“Come on Lee, we’re late for our rally and presentation on crime and litter prevention at Chatham Town Hall.”
“Awraght Nige ahm cummin. We’re only late cos you hate flyin’ by plane ta Kent”
Inward not onwards.
The first rule of cycle hub is do not talk about cycle hub.
(The second rule is do not leave your bike there more than two hours.)
Following a public backlash, the policy was scrapped earlier this year
No they replaced a declaration that they were doing nothing about bicycle thefts at railway stations, to pretending they were investigating the thefts but still doing nothing.