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Much-critcised 'bicycle gutters' at Cambridge railway station to be replacedCambridge railway station.jpg

Much-critcised 'bicycle gutters' at Cambridge railway station to be replaced

Feature helps cyclists push bikes up stairs easily... unless they're too close to handrail or too slippery, that is...
by Simon_MacMichael
Thu, Jun 07, 2012 12:21
4

‘Bicycle gutters’ installed on a staircase leading to a bridge between platforms at Cambridge railway station as part of its £16.7 million revamp are to be replaced following complaints from cyclists.

Cambridge News reports that the channels, which accommodate the width of a tyre enabling cyclists to push their bikes up the staircase without having to bump them up the steps themselves, have attracted particular criticism since bicycles kept sliding off them.

It adds that they have already been moved once because they were installed too close to the handrail, rendering them useless.

Local MP Dr Julian Huppert, co-chair of the All-Party Parliamentary Cycling Group, approached station operator Greater Anglia to ask it to take action after he had received complaints on the issue from some of his constituents.

A Greater Anglia spokesman said: “We are working with Network Rail looking at another practical modification to the cycle channels to reflect some of the further feedback we have had from users.”

Dr Huppert commented: “I am delighted that Greater Anglia has recognised this problem and plans to take action to remedy it.”

In March this year, it was revealed that Cambridge station is to get a £2.5 million cycle point including parking for up to 3,000 bicycles, with the adequacy of provision of adequate parking facilities at the station the subject of a long-running campaign by local cyclists.

 

Cambridge railway station
Cambridge
bicycle gutters
Simon MacMichael

Simon joined road.cc as news editor in 2009 and is now the site’s community editor, acting as a link between the team producing the content and our readers. A law and languages graduate, published translator and former retail analyst, he has reported on issues as diverse as cycling-related court cases, anti-doping investigations, the latest developments in the bike industry and the sport’s biggest races. Now back in London full-time after 15 years living in Oxford and Cambridge, he loves cycling along the Thames but misses having his former riding buddy, Elodie the miniature schnauzer, in the basket in front of him.

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4 comments

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rootes | 12 years ago
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those gutters (gutters in general) are rubbish.. using them is harder than just carting you bike...

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WolfieSmith | 12 years ago
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.... I mean really? 39 It's hardly life or death stuff - like so many real stories are on this site.

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WolfieSmith | 12 years ago
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- or everyone could just carry their sodding bikes up the stairs as they would in lots of other countries and the time and cash micro-managing a perfect bicycle wheel runnel could be spent on essentials like the NHS instead? 37

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A V Lowe | 12 years ago
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The wheeling ramps also stop at the top of the first step so bikes have to be lifted up and on to them rather defeating the purpose - the ends should extend down to platform level with a flared out end, as the design fine tuned over 20 or more years by York Council does - no need to reinvent this.

The handrail problem arises because the designers decided to fit a second handrail about 40cm below the one at standard height. This also renders the normal position of a wheeling ramp unworkable, because the pedals foul the lower handrail.

There is no requirement for a lower handrail on a staircase, especially here, where the staircase is enclosed.

I prepared the sketches use in Sustrans and other information sheets showing how the channels should be configured, and noted other detail such as the best side to place the U channel or L section - and recommended dimensions. The Cambridge bridge designers did not ask about best design and delivered the original with 2 fundamental flaws - the ramp does not extend down to the platform level and they fitted a lower handrail. The other detail, which accommodates the ramp extended to platform level, is that the external cladding or end of the handrail should extend beyond the riser of the first step to make the flow of users come round the end and be facing the stairs square-on when they start to climb

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