​Mayor opens 100-bike parking hub at Elstree & Borehamwood station

The Mayor of Elstree & Borehamwood Town Council, Cllr Simon Rubner, has opened the local Thameslink station’s new £200,000 cycle parking hub.

With two-tier storage for up to 100 bikes, the hub is the largest of four built at Thameslink stations this year. The new LED-lit hub also has CCTV, a maintenance area and free access using Thameslink’s ‘Key’ smartcard.

At an event hosted by Thameslink’s Station Manager Marc Asamoah, local cyclist John Cartledge was the first on his bike to use the facility after its official opening.

Tom Moran, Managing Director for Thameslink and Great Northern, said: “We’re delighted to be opening these great new facilities for our passengers. We hope that offering a safe and secure place to lock up your bike will encourage even more passengers to cycle for part of their journey.

“Trains and bikes make one of the most environmentally-friendly travel combinations, and through our multimillion-pound station improvement programme we’re working with local communities to make stations across our network even more sustainable. As part of this programme, Elstree and Borehamwood will also benefit from new passenger information screens, seating and planting, and a water usage management system.”

John Cartledge, now retired, was formerly Head of Policy and Research at London TravelWatch, the official body representing public transport passengers in and around the Capital. He has used Elstree & Borehamwood station since 1956 when he first travelled to school - by steam train.

John said: “Cycling and rail travel is a match made in heaven. Both are sustainable and environmentally friendly, and secure bike parking at stations is a vital ingredient in allowing more passengers to make the first and last mile of each trip by a healthy, low-carbon means of travel. Congratulations to all involved in providing this excellent addition to our station's amenities."

The hubs at all four stations were funded by the Department for Transport’s cycle rail fund, being managed by the sustainable transport charity Sustrans, with further funding from local councils. The government fund aims to improve cycling facilities at stations, promote economic growth, improve journeys, and encourage environmentally-friendly transport to cut carbon. Encouraging bike journeys to stations is also high on the agenda, as a way to encourage people to get out and enjoy ‘active travel’ as part of their journeys.

At Elstree & Borehamwood, the government fund provided £180,000, with the remaining £20,000 coming from Hertfordshire County Council.

At Harpenden, just over £135,000 has been invested in new, more secure bike parking. The station’s London-bound side now has a new compound, with improved CCTV coverage and lighting.

Luton station has received nearly £81,000 worth of improvements to its two bike parking areas. Racks accommodating 35 bicycles were removed and replaced with a two-tier rack to accommodate 60 bikes, under shelter. The other area has been converted into a secure cycle hub, which will be fitted with a Key Smartcard access system.

Over £17,000-worth of new cycle facilities have been installed at Leagrave. The station now has a smart new bike shelter and increased storage space for 26 bikes (almost three times the previous capacity), CCTV, speed humps on the approach road, a dropped kerb, and line markings for cyclists at the junction.

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Note to editors

Govia Thameslink Railway’s station improvement programme includes over 1,000 individual projects, many suggested by local passenger and community groups, at around 270 stations. Improvements to station sustainability include cycle facilities, wildflower and bee gardens, water usage management systems and defibrillators for public use. Some projects will be undertaken as training and work experience schemes.

Progress on the improvement programme can be followed on the dedicated web page.