Go straight to our poll: Update on Leighton Buzzard Railway Station Cycle Security
Hello BuzzCycles members, we’ve got an update on the state of Leighton Buzzard’s railway station regarding cycling security.
We’ve been chasing this issue since January, so far the the progress has been slow, frustratingly. We’ve been trying to get an updateout of their representitive for several months. Here is the most recent email we had from WMR.
Response from West Midlands Railway
Sincere apologies in the delay in coming back to you, there has been quite a lot of activity at Leighton Buzzard station with regard to cycle theft and storage, which we have been working with British Transport Police on. Between the beginning of April and July, there have been 6 bike thefts and two incidents of damage. In addition to this, there has been a huge amount of vandalism and crime at Leighton Buzzard Station including a break in at the small newsagents. So we have been working with the BTP on ways in which we can increase the security at the station and we had security officers on patrol for two weeks during the Spring. The BTP conducted a report on the station with some recommendations which we have been working on, these have included;
- Notices put on any abandoned bikes or bike parts and removed after a certain period of time. . Once removed they will be kept in a private space with a view to them being reclaimed, donated to a relevant charity or organization for refurbishment, reuse or scrapping.
- We held a bike marking session at the station yesterday (31 July) with a view to hold more of these events throughout the year
- All current signage is being removed, and new signage will be erected in the area warning thieves that CCTV is operating and that bikes are marked. Additionally, signage instructing cyclists how to lock their bikes correctly will be installed.
- Station staff will be regularly briefed on the current crime trends affecting the station and the descriptions of the suspects involved. The station staff will also visit the cycle racks when time and their other duties permit to provide a presence (acting as a capable guardian) and report any suspicious activity they may witness.
- We are also still speaking to Network Rail about improving the CCTV in that area so that it specifically covers the cycle area.
For now, our customer and communities improvement fund is still on hold, pending sign off from the Department for Transport. This mean that we don’t currently have any funding for community projects, so unfortunately your suggestion for re-introducing the lockable cycle hub will have to remain on hold until some funding comes available.
West Midlands Trains Community Strategy Manager, 01/08/23
Suffice to say we’re disappointed with this response. It is our view that none of these measures are likely to discourage would-be thieves from stealing bicycles – certainly not as much as a locked gate would. We were told in January that if we found matched funding from Central Bedfordshire Council we would be able to get our cycle store upgraded. We did this, and informed WMR of this, and nothing happened. We were then told, after the fact, that it would require funding from central government. This funding is still not available. Seemingly plenty of other rail stations across the country have this facility, why shouldn’t Leighton Buzzard and Linslade? Especially given its congestion problems and the fact that the town is small enough that cycling to the train station is feasible for most people.
What next?
We’ve been wondering how best to proceed, and decided the best option was to set up another poll, so here it is. Also, if you have any suggestions on how we can proceed please let us know.
Thanks,
Tom Littlehales,
Leighton BuzzCycles Secretary
Go straight to our poll: Update on Leighton Buzzard Railway Station Cycle Security