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Is network rail anti cyclist?

by MacWeeks
Tue, Jun 19, 2012 17:58
8

Hi all,
Forgive me for being one of those borish newbies that swans onto a forum to demand unearned favours, but....

I'm a regular commuter to/from London bridge every day, leaving my city hybrid rust bucket locked up at the station bike racks each evening; so it was very annoying to unlock yesterday to see a notice that all bike racks will be removed from July 1st until some point after the Olympics...and that all cycle owners should use either on street bike racks or the paid for facility at the London bridge cycle park.

Is my consternation valid? Should I really accept that the increased riot theft/vadalism or probably a £50.00 plus parking charge is an acceptable cost of the games?

Does anyone have any advice? I've mailed/tweeted network rail, tfl, boris, Jeremy hunt, the 2012 team etc, but I get the feeling I'm one man clapping in an empty warehouse...
Anyone else give a monkeys?

Cheers all

If you're new please join in and if you have questions pop them below and the forum regulars will answer as best we can.

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8 comments

Avatar
MacWeeks | 12 years ago
0 likes

I tend to agree with that cynicism, I particularly like the open ended statement that new facilities will be provided "after the games", so any time in the future then.

Network rail have provided a statement along the lines that after their test exercise for the jubilee it became clear that the space was needed for safe crowd control. however they have had eight years notice of the games, so could maybe have moved a bit swifter.

Looks like the racks are going to be removed next weekend, so have now tried to ask network rail and tfl to come up a goodwill arrangement for the space at the paid for facility at the rear of th station...the campaign continues

Avatar
Bob's Bikes | 12 years ago
0 likes

Excuse my cynisism here but what's the betting that after the olympics there will be a nice new bicycle facility put there only difference being that you now have to pay to use it.

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AJWatson | 12 years ago
0 likes

Seems a bit out of line. Perhaps its a security/terrorism thing?

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Mr Will | 12 years ago
0 likes

IMHO LOCOG is anti-cycling for some reason rather than National rail, so have probably asked for them to be removed. Same as there not being any bikes allowed anywhere on the Olympic park.

(They claim you could put a bomb in a bike frame but whether that's the real reason or not I don't know. Perhaps it's just to keep the Barclays branded bikes out of the Natwest(?) branded stadiums)

Avatar
Kapelmuur replied to Mr Will | 12 years ago
0 likes
Mr Will wrote:

(They claim you could put a bomb in a bike frame but whether that's the real reason or not I don't know. Perhaps it's just to keep the Barclays branded bikes out of the Natwest(?) branded stadiums)

Didn't 'The Jackal' disguise a rifle as a crutch?

Are wheelchairs and walking sticks banned?

An aside, I was amused by the blurb from the recent Great Manchester Cycle event which encouraged participants to arrive by public transport and included the info that a train could accommodate 4 bikes. About 5,000 took part, so there will have been a few disappointed cyclists left on station platforms.

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drheaton | 12 years ago
0 likes

I think it's likely that:

a) they're looking to make the place look tidier for the Olympics hence clearing out the bike racks completelyv or

b) they want to discourage you from leaving your bike in town and would rather you use a Boris bike

or both. Not sure what to suggest but I suspect that the Olympics is being used as an excuse for a lot of things like this and there's not going to be much you can do about it.

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MacWeeks | 12 years ago
0 likes

Only justification so far is for increased space....not sure how many people they want to squeeze next to a siding at the end of platform 8 but there we go....

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notfastenough | 12 years ago
0 likes

Sounds odd. They give a reason?

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