Folding Bicycles on Commuter Trains

Since the atrocities of 7/7 here in London just over a year ago, there seem to be more and more cyclists on the road going into work. Further, the amount of folding bikes that you see crusing around London’s busy streets has gone through the roof.

BTW – this is my Dahon Speed Pro.

I’ve been riding from the mainline station to the office, which is just about 2 miles since I started, but I’m really pleased to see that some of the cycling initiatives that have been put in place have taken off, particularly the Boost offering which they ran at my office.

Even some of my less-than-fit friends/colleagues have gotten themselves a bike and are now riding into work, getting fitter and easing the strain on the trains/tube/buses.

Personally, I live too far outside London to ride all the way in, but just by riding a few miles each day, I feel like I’m doing my bit to ease the congestion on London’s terrible transportation system, the only problem is that I get made to feel like a lepper for taking a bike onto the train into London at rush hour.

Frankly the new Siemens Desiro trains weren’t designed with transporting cycles in mind. To this end, as there is only standing room only, unless you get on mega early, people get upset about a bike being there.

Why wasn’t this thought about, why don’t the new trains have space for transporting cycles at peak times? Why isn’t the transportation system integrated?

When Tony Blair and Mayor of London Ken Livingstone want people to ride to work, why didn’t they think about how to make it easy for people to bring cycles in or store them safely somewhere near the station?

This is dumb design.

And with an increasing amount of people making the switch – someone needs to be thinking about a solution.

So – if you get onto a crowded commuter and there is someone with a folding bike, don’t huff, puff and tut. Just think of that extra space on the tube, and while you are at it, think about buying one yourself.