BikeBiz Bicycle and cycling retail news
From 10am today, visitors to Waterloo will be able to pick up Barclays Cycle Hire bikes from a ‘super’ docking station outside the station. The 126 space docking station is unveiled on the day that TfL announced that over two million journeys have now been made using the iconic blue bikes.
The new docking station is the first to be opened at a mainline railway station.
Kulveer Ranger, the Mayor of London’s transport advisor, said:
“There is an incredible demand for Barclays Cycle Hire bikes at Waterloo and we have responded to this by ensuring that people using this landmark railway station can now pick up or drop off a bike at our first super-size docking station. With over two million journeys made in just under five months we are confident this expanded docking station will be of great benefit to the thousands of Londoners and visitors using the bikes.”
Around 110,000 people are now members of Barclays Cycle Hire and since the introduction of casual use just 10 days ago casual customers have already made over 9,500 journeys.
Mike Goggin, Network Rail’s director of stations and customer service, said: “The new docking stations at Waterloo will make it much easier and more convenient for passengers who use Britain’s busiest station to make cycling part of their daily journeys.
“Network Rail and the train operators are improving cycling facilities at stations all over the country so passengers can take advantage of the many benefits combining rail and cycling offers. We continue to work with TfL to explore options for Barclays Cycle Hire docking stations at other mainline stations in London to meet increasing demand.”
Last month Transport for London announced that the hire scheme will expand to the east of the city in time for the Olympic Games. When complete the expanded scheme will cover 65km² of the Capital and around 8,000 hire bikes will be available from 14,400 docking points at hundreds of locations across central and eastern London.
