BikeBiz Bicycle and cycling retail news
The Mayor of London’s office and the CTC are set to meet with Eurostar over its much criticised new bike policy, but unfortunately not until after the new rules come into effect.
Eurostar’s controversial new ruling forces cyclists to dismantle and box up their bikes to travel and will be effective as of Sunday November 1st (with the same £30 price tag).
David Murray, CTC’s Head of Communications and Campaigns, said: “While we are pleased Eurostar have agreed to a meeting, no date has been set, so clearly they have no intention of delaying the introduction of this backward policy – despite the outcry from the public and leading politicians on both sides of the Channel.
“With all due respect, we are also disappointed that Eurostar say they will be represented at any meeting by their Head of Public Affairs, Pierre Delalande, rather than the company’s CEO Nicolas Petrovic.”
Politicians on both sides of the channel, including London Mayor Boris Johnson have slammed the new policy. Johnson wrote to Eurostar: “asking them not to end their simple, effective bike carriage service used by thousands a year. It is a backward step which undermines Eurostar’s green pretensions.”
Echoing the comments of numerous politicians, the European Cycling Federation has written an open letter to Eurostar’s CEO, which has now been sent on by over 9,000 people.
The CTC is urging members of the public who are concerned about the planned changes to write to Eurostar expressing their concern, which they can do through an easy to use online tool here: http://e-activist.com/ea-action/action?ea.client.id=1689&ea.campaign.id=43067
Discover Ferries has seen the Eurostar policy chnage as a PR opportunity and welcomed cyclists to use its ferries instead.
