Good news! From today you can take your bike on the Docklands Light Railway

As part of the Mayor's cycling vision for London, from today bicycles will now be allowed to officially travel off peak and at weekends on the Docklands Light Railway- opening up a whole new network of multi-modal journey possibilities for cyclists in south and east London.

The Docklands Light Railway in Canary Wharf, photo via RPM on Flickr

First mooted by the London Cycling Campaign when the DLR network launched in 1987, the idea was only taken seriously when the Mayor's Cycling Commissioner Andrew Gilligan pushed DLR managers to explain why bikes shouldn't be allowed.  Following a 6 month trial of bikes on trains last year, the Mayor recently announced that the move has been made permanent, stating;

"Opening up the Docklands Light Railway to cyclists will be a great boost to the cycling community and make it much more convenient for cyclists to cross the river.

“This is another important step forward in our mission to make it easier for more people to get cycling in the capital.”

Bicycles were previously banned on the DLR under concerns that they might prove an obstacle should the trains - which largely run on elevated tracks or in sub-surface tunnels - need to be evacuated in an emergency.  Emergency trials and a rolling programme of trial journeys last year finally convinced transport bosses that bicycles posed no threat to other passengers.  The London Cycling Campaign provided volunteers and advice during the trial, helping to bring thinking around.  

 The DLR network (in mint green) showing connections with the overground rail network - see here for the full network map from TfL.

Chief executive of the London Cycling Campaign Ashok Sinha said: “We're delighted... This measure will open up new areas of the city to the many Londoners who ride bicycles and provide valuable cross-river links, encouraging more daily cycle journeys.”

The move will open up two new traffic-free river crossings for cyclists; from Greenwich to Mudchute and from Woolwich to Royal Docks, effectively connecting a number of traffic-free cycling routes and providing an alternative route to the Greenwich and Woolwich pedestrian tunnels which have been beset by closures and delays in recent years due to ongoing refurbishment works.

DLR carriages; ready for bicycles! via Flickr

Cyclists will be allowed on the 34 km network off-peak and at weekends, connecting with the rest of the London transport network that allows bicycles onboard at the same times (see PDF map here).  However, bicycles will not be permitted in Bank station, where one spur of the DLR terminates.  Folding bicycles are permitted on the entire TfL network at any time.  Peak hours are 07.30 to 09.30 - 16.00 - 19.00 Monday to Friday, excluding public holidays.

 

With some 70% of all journeys undertaken in London being less than 5 miles, the ability to go "multi modal" and take a short bicycle ride either side of a train journey is a useful tool in the quest to encourage more journeys by bicycle.  If - like me -  you're afraid you'll melt in the rain, having a bike-friendly transport back up can encourage people to make more cycle journeys when the weather looks like it might go either way; which is about six months in every year in London.

We don't often get to say this on ibikelondon but well done to the Mayor and his team for making this change happen.  We look forward to more of the same!

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Cycle parking victory for ibikelondon!

Remember this post about the shocking lack of bike parking provided at the stations on the brand new billion pound East London Line? 

You'll recall that the new muliti-million pound Dalston Junction bus and train station had opened without a single cycle parking stand, despite Transport for London's own standards stating that "Secure cycle parking should be incorporated in new developments that have the potential to attract new cyclists."  New Zone 1 station Shoreditch High Street had been provided with just 6 stands, despite the rules that at Zone 1 stations there should be one bicycle parking space for every 200 people entering the station...

So far, so depressing... I was less curious to know if TfL and it's team of architects had totally over-looked their own guidelines (or chosen to ignore them), but more importantly to try to find out what could be done to improve the situation.  We are, after all, going to need considerably more than a handful of cycle stands at new stations if we are ever going to really have a 'velorution'.  Following my initial blog post, questions were asked, letters were written.  The Mayor himself, Boris Johnson, was questioned at the Assembly.  I've just had the following news, which I am thrilled to share:



Parking space for 180 bicycles will be installed at the following four new stations: 

Shoreditch High Street will have a further 19 stands installed to compliment it's existing 6, providing space for 50 bicycles.

Dalston Junction will have 15 stands installed on rail land, and be complimented by a further 25 stands provided by the London Borough of Hackney at Dalston Square, providing cycle parking for 80 bicycles.

Haggerston will provide space for 38 bicycles, whereas previously there were just 5 cycle stands.  Again, Hackney will also install further complimentary stands nearby in addition.

When complete, Hoxton station will have space for 62 bicycles.

There are ongoing land use issues at the older re-styled stations at Wapping, Whitechapel and Rotherhithe.  Cycle parking at Shadwell is now under review.  The 6 stands at Surrey Quays are all that the space constraints at the station allow, according to TfL so there will be no change there.

Whilst we're not talking about Dutch standards here (remember Assen, the town with a population of 65,000 and 2,300 bike parking spaces at it's local station?!), it's certainly an improvement on the previous situation. 

What concerns me most is that it took complaints by cyclists just to get the facilities we need provided in the first place.  The Mayor and Transport for London (of which he is Chair) have policies telling them all they need to know when it comes to designing in the needs of cyclists.  Indeed, the Mayor's own 10 point plan for creating a 'cycling revolution' in the capital states that there must be "an increase in secure cycle-parking on streets, in workplaces, and at stations and schools".  So what is happening here?  Do actions really speak louder than words?  As work begins across the city on London's new Crossrail stations, London's cyclists are watching...

Actions speak louder than words, and why the new East London Line is failing London's cyclists

To much fanfare and as part of a £1billion upgrade, the new East London Overground Line opened fully yesterday.  The new line, which incorporates some of the old East London Underground Line and includes a handful of new stations such as Dalston Junction and Shoreditch High Street, is expected to see 40million passengers a year by 2016.

Last week Transport for London and the Mayor, Boris Johnson, launched their 10-point 'Cycling Revolution' plan, an extensive document full of pretty pictures and points about how we should expect a "400% increase in cycling levels by 2026 compared with 2001".  (As I've said before, in real terms this equates to a pitiful target of just 5% modal share of journeys by bike by 2026, which is less like a velorution and more like a wet Wednesday matinee of Les Miserables.  Copenhagen, for example, is currently working towards 50%)  I digress... one of the key points in the 10 point plan to help bring about this 'Cycling Revolution' is this:

"An increase in secure cycle-parking on streets, in workplaces, and at stations and schools"

So I thought I'd check out the new East London Line stations and see how the reality matches up to the hyperbole...

First stop, the shining new Dalston Junction station.  Lots of room here, and a brand new major bus interchange. Remember that Dalston resides in the Borough of Hackney, the borough that has the highest modal share of trips by bike in the whole of London, at a reasonably healthy 8%.  Besides the shiny-floored lobby and lovely new platforms what I was really interested in was how many cycle parking spaces had been provided at this brand new London station?  The answer; none. 

There is a space at the end of the station that looks like a large broom cupboard.  A station attendent told me it was going to be used as secure cycle parking, but that there was a possibility it might be turned into a little shop and of course that commercial interests win out...  Outside, in the sweeping new bus interchange there isn't a single cycle hoop to behold.

Further down the line in riverside Wapping they've done much better, installing a grand total of 2 Sheffield stands for all us cyclists to park our bikes, whilst south of the river Surrey Quays is blessed with a total of 5 uncovered stands not covered by CCTV and almost impossible to reach from the road without either pulling up in the gutter against railings or cycling across the pedestrian crossing... 

Surrey Quays station

Hoxton (above) and Haggerston

Back in cycle-friendly Hackney the newly created Haggerston station rustles up five stands too, under the cover of a bridge this time, despite there being space for many more.  Hoxton - another new station - lucks out with a total of 8.  Further south in Zone 1 and on the edge of the City of London (where they have a cycle parking shortage of their own) is enormous new station Shoreditch High Street.  Despite being one of the largest and potentially most important station on the line and situated firmly in the centre of hipster cycling heaven there are just 6 stands, even though there is enough room around the station itself to park a fleet of bendy buses.

How is it that a brand new, multimillion pound raft of train stations in the centre of London provide so poorly for cyclists?  Could it be that cycling was overlooked and forgotten at the planning stage? Maybe the designers never read - or chose to overlook - Transport for London's own Cycle Planning Standards document which states clearly "Secure cycle parking should be incorporated in new developments that have the potential to attract new cyclists."  Zone 1 stations, such as Shoreditch High Street, come under 'Category F' which means in non-geek speak that there should be one bicycle parking space for every 200 people entering the station...  I'm no transport consultant but I'd hazard a guess that 6 measly Sheffield stands falls far short of this.

Let us consider the small Dutch town of Assen... With a population of some 65,000 it has 2,300 cycle parking spaces at it's local train station, of which 754 are guarded indoor spaces. That's one space for ever 28 residents at the train station alone, according to David Hembrow's excellent cycling blog 'A view from the cycle path'.  And of course they are currently in the process of building more to keep up with the demand... By comparison, the Borough of Hackney has a population of 212,000 and a handful of new stations with nothing more than a tokenistic cluster of Sheffield stands to cater for it's cycling citizens.

If we are to truly to believe that the 'Cycling Revolution' is really going to happen in London we need to start seeing some infrastructure on the ground.  We can talk all we like about how wonderful riding a bike is, but in order to promote mass cycling we actually need to start providing for said cyclists in order to make it as easy, safe and convenient as, say, driving a car.  Someone working on the East London Line dropped the ball when they overlooked cycle parking; annoying for cyclists, and embarrassing for the Mayor and Tfl.  It's not too late to build plenty more cycle parking at all of the new stations and demonstrate a commitment to a real cycling revolution.  Till then words are just words and there's not nearly enough room to lock my bike, or yours.  Build it... and they will come!

P.S  It's not all doom and gloom on the new old East London Line - folding bicycles are, apparently welcome onboard the roomy air conditioned new trains at all times, and full-size bikes can travel onboard outside of peak hours Monday to Friday.  It's just as well, there's nowhere to park outside..(!)  I'm sure those good people at Brompton are thrilled.

Cycle parking in central London stations (and what you can do about it)

Network Rail recently announced they've doubled the capacity of cycle parking in Liverpool Street station, from 116 spaces to 233, using a double-decker racking system.

They're to be commended for increasing capacity to attempt to catch up with demand, and as Robin Gisby (director of operations and customer services at Network Rail) explains they are addressing cyclist's concerns about safety and capacity head on:

"The new double-decker racks are safe, secure and simple to use giving more people the cleaner, greener option of cycling to and from Liverpool Street."  The spaces are covered, easily visible and monitored with CCTV and, more encouragingly still, it seems Network Rail are not stopping there either:

"...[we] will continue to explore ways to increase the provision of cycle racks at stations across the Capital and beyond.”

This is all great, but I can't help but think this is a drop in the ocean when you consider the potential here.  Liverpool Street is London's third largest rail terminus, with some 123 million visitors a year according to Wikipedia.  Network Rail should not be stopping at just 223 spaces if they really want to help to encourage London's so-called cycling revolution.

Consider the small Dutch town of Assen (population 65 000) which has 2,300 cycle parking spaces at it's local train station, of which 754 are guarded indoor spaces.  That's one space for ever 28 residents at the train station alone, according to David Hembrow's excellent cycling blog 'A view from the cycle path'  Oh, and they're about to increase capacity there to keep up with demand...

London's major stations, by comparison, have just 2860 cycle parking spots between them so says London's Evening Standard newspaper.  And a city-wide population of 8 million people.  Some fairly substantial stations, such as the Vauxhall hub, City Thameslink, Blackfriars, Cannon Street, Fenchurch Street and Charing Cross provide no on-site cycle parking whatsoever.

The Mayor of London's efforts to push cycling as a viable means of transport are, of course, a good thing.  But I'm afraid if we are really going to have a cycling revolution in our city (as oppose to just a small increase in cycling levels) the money needs to spent, and the space put aside, to build the infrastructure that will make cycling in London everyday and ordinary.

Still, we are all able to do our bit.  Network Rail is to invest some £3.25 billion into their stations over the next few years, £2 bilion of which will be on stations here in our capital. And guess what?  They'd like to know what you would like them to spend the money on.  And you could win £2000 in doing so.  Hmmm, where to start?  Showers or cycle repair stations?  How about some of those wheel troughs for getting bikes up and down station underpasses?  Or maybe even just secure mass cycle parking at every station?Decisions decisions... Add your voice here.