Following comments left on MP Richard Graham’s bike at Gloucester Station, Great Western Rail has agreed a plan for additional cycle racks there.
In the new plans for an additional entrance via Platform 4 and car park at Gloucester Rail Station, approved by Gloucester City Council last week, new racks will be included. Work starts this Summer and finishes in early 2017.
Richard said ‘if the City Council’s £4.8m bid via the Local Enterprise Partnership to the government succeeds (this Autumn) then we’ll do more for cyclists at the front of the station as well.’ Funds are intended for the station forecourt, façade, road exit and cycle route.
Richard reached out to GWR after a constituent left a note on his bike parked at Gloucester Station, asking for more racks to be added to the platform. Richard tweeted that he was ‘on the case’. The MP said ‘basically this is a compromise: the first additional bike racks will be in the new car park. This will increase capacity and suit some, but not all. So the next phase matters and the overall result should be a more cycle friendly station – which in turn should mean less car traffic and traffic jams’.
Mark Hopwood, Managing Director of GWR said: ‘We, as a business and as individuals, have a responsibility to reduce the impact we have on our environment. Listening to the needs of our customers, I’ll be delighted when this improvement is completed, allowing passengers to take greater advantage of the full range of services that we offer.’
The additional bike racks will add to GWR’s latest cycle policy which introduces compulsory bicycle reservations on trains to accommodate cycling passengers. Station staff have also been briefed to allow bikes on board if there is space available on board when bookings have not been possible.
Reservations remain free and can be made online, by phone (0345 7000 125) or at a station when booking a ticket. Reservations can also be made after the ticket is purchased by phone or at a ticket office. This should be done by 18:00 the day before departure, although they can take bookings on some services up to 2 hours before departure.
You can see the tweet and picture of the note left on Richard’s bike here: https://twitter.com/RichardGrahamMP/status/726558273869090820
