Sustainable Transport

I stand corrected, but I would be interested to hear what the state of Clapham Junction’s bike parking is. The authorities at Waterloo have recently started removing some of those bikes, but the poor layout is as bad as it ever has been. I am sure that many cyclists would be prepared to pay a small charge to ensure that their bikes are still where they left them when they come back. In Holland, 90 out of 387 cycle shelters are guarded. They offer secure parking and repair facilities at low cost in co-operation with bike shops and local councils. The automated and secure cycle storage area at Finsbury Park costs 50p for 24 hours, which is much cheaper than a single return tube fare and things are just as fast. Such schemes should be replicated in the central London terminals. Transport for London has even offered funding for schemes at mainline stations, but Network Rail has turned it down. I am told that the Minister could provide a structure through something called the high level output specification, which would make Network Rail treat passengers and cyclists better. If that is right, will the Minister please do it? No one would allow a dead car to sit around in a station car park for months, not least because of the lost revenue, so why are abandoned bicycles allowed to remain for so long? They should be removed regularly and recycled to local groups. First Capital Connect has agreed to do exactly that in the stations that it controls—good for them, but why do not other stations and other companies do that? Let us start with Network Rail. In Britain, many business men and women are unlikely to want to turn up at a meeting having travelled on a train, but there are some. We hope that the culture is changing, and that more business people will be able to make longer journeys, so why do not we provide a network of flexible cycle hire schemes. One scheme in operation in west London allows people to borrow a bicycle by mobile phone. Again, and perhaps inevitably, the Dutch are way ahead of us with almost 100 stations offering cycle hire facilities. The bikes are bright blue and are standardised throughout the country, and the facilities are operated by the Dutch equivalent of Network Rail. It is unimaginable that Network Rail would do that, but it should be pressed to. It costs only €3 a day to hire the bikes with a smartcard and, guess what, in Holland, half of all customers are business people, who go to meetings by bike, which they hire at stations when they have meetings out of town. A similar scheme could be trialled by Cycling England through a cycle-rail innovation fund. Will the Minister please consider that? My final category is tourists. Rail users should be able to carry their bicycles on trains for short distances outside the rush hour, just as they can carry any other large object. They should be able to turn up without reservations and be able to put their bikes on the train. Hon. Members have made suggestions about how that could be done. I will not repeat what they said, but it is not rocket science. I simply ask that, whatever is done to integrate bike and train, it should not be bolted on afterwards as an afterthought. It should be designed into all new rolling stock at an early stage and should be integral in trains so that we know where we are, and it should be standardised. Without help, I would not have had the faintest idea of what South West Trains’ class 455 rolling stock is, but I have been enlightened and have even been shown photographs. The refurbishment is a joy to behold. It was carried out in consultation with cycling organisations and meets cyclists’ needs perfectly. It is not rocket science. It can be done and it should be done. On long-distance services, the location of the cycle carriage should be displayed clearly on the platform, and someone should tell the platform staff where it is. The reservation structure should be clear and flexible because there are many stupid examples of where it breaks down. First ScotRail offers bargain berth tickets on its Caledonian sleepers, which I know the Minister is well acquainted with, but those tickets can be booked only online. If he wanted to travel with his bicycle he could book his ticket online, but the only way to put his bike on the train would be by making a reservation in any way other than online. A constituent of mine, Mr. Bankes Jones, had planned a surfing trip to Devon and did not want to drive. Two days before travelling, he booked his ticket online, but he could not book a bike space through the same medium. After being transferred from organisation to organisation by phone, he finally acquired a reference number, but not a ticket. At Paddington, ticket staff found that the reference number was wrong and that the reservation had been made out to a Mr. Bonkers. After all that fuss, no one bothered to check his reservation on the train. On his return trip, after four days’ surfing, he found waiting for him at home a reservation for the first leg of his journey in the name of Mr. Bonkoes. Cycle-rail integration in this country has failed to keep up with the increase in the number of people and the quality of service that has been achieved on the rail network. Instead of trying to force cyclists off trains at every opportunity, we should encourage them to use trains by providing better parking and flexible carriage space, or cycle hire at major stations. I have spoken today as chair of the as all-party cycling group and have tried to take an overview of the problem, so I have not addressed particular issues in my constituency, such as the inadequate planning at Farringdon to cope with Crossrail, or Kings Cross and St Pancras or Highbury Corner. I would have liked to have time to draw the House's attention to some of the outstanding examples of good practice, such as the great work at York station. Although I have taken the mickey out of Scotrail, I wish that other train operating companies were more like it. Northern Rail and Merseyrail should also be mentioned in dispatches. There are experts out there, and I hope that the Department will take the time to learn from them, and that this summer's policy publications will provide a framework whereby more than just voluntary codes and supportive gestures are offered to cyclists using the rail network. If there were only two messages I could give to the Minister they would be to beef up the franchise agreements on cycling and to force Network Rail to take cycling seriously now.