Prizes and plaudits for the champions of cycle-rail

A host of high-flying innovators and operators received prizes and plaudits at the 2016 National Cycle-Rail Awards hosted by the Rail Delivery Group last week.

The Best Customer Service award was won by East Midlands Trains, which now provides seven large, secure, free-to-use hubs on its network. East Midlands Trains was also named Operator of the Year in recognition of improved signage  on trains, staff training, and heightened engagement with cyclists and cycle user groups. 

The operator was also praised for its train ‘triathlon’ promotion, which encouraged people to cycle to the station, take a train, and then walk to their final destination.

The judges said: “East Midlands Trains are taking a lot of care over getting the details right. We loved the triathlon idea, and the way they are working hard to engage with their own staff. They offer a good mixture of the practical (bike health checks) and the creative.” 

Great Western Railway and Bainton Bikes took the hotly contested innovation award. Bainton Bikes’ app allows cycles to be booked day and night and collected from cycle racks. The bike is unlocked using a bluetooth code sent to a mobile phone. 

The Cycle Champion prize went to Sarah Deakin at the Kent Community Rail Partnership recognising her work helping children to plan their own journeys to school. A survey revealed that 100% of children who took part in the Smarter Journey programme said they were now more confident using the railway and catching a train. 

Charity Sustrans Scotland took the Partnership Working and Local Government Schemes prize for its work with Midlothian Council, Scottish Borders Council and Network Rail. The judging panel said Sustrans’ efforts to make cycling to stations along a new rail line as easy as possible as “an impressive piece of coordination”. 

“There is now safe and easy access to all the communities along the line, and this ties in with excellent cycle storage facilities at every station.”

There were two awards for the London Borough of Waltham Forest. It received the Door to Door Journeys including Station Travel Plans award for its success in providing a network of commuter cycle hubs.

The judges said: “We’re really impressed with the look and design of the hubs: bright, clean, modern, high quality, and, most importantly, appealing. They are the kind of infrastructure that makes you want to cycle to the station.” 

Waltham Forest also came up trumps in the London Cycle Parking category. The council’s Cycle, Park and Go network provides secure cycle parking and Brompton cycle hire at all underground and mainline rail stations in the borough. 

Winner of The Cycle Security award was Transport for West Midlands Safer Travel Partnership. This partnership is made up of Transport for West Midlands, West Midlands Police and British Transport Police. They have implemented a range of initiatives to reduce cycle crime as well as the perception of crime, including secure smartcard access cycle hubs, intelligence led patrols at cycle crime hotspots and subsidised gold standard D-locks for £10 at their stations.

The Station of the Year award went to Abellio Greater Anglia’s Cambridge CyclePoint is the largest, purpose-built cycle park at a UK rail station offering parking for 2,850 cycles, which is expected to be sufficient capacity for a 7-10 year period, based on current growth rate figures. The CyclePoint also has a bike shop offering sales, maintenance, hire facilities and advice.

There was also an Outstanding Contribution prize for the late Pat McCarthy, managing director of Cyclepods. The team at Cyclepods said his sudden death left them “shocked and devastated” but added “we are so thankful for the wisdom Pat has passed us, and all that we have learnt from such a fair, generous, caring and loyal man”. 

National Cycle-Rail Awards