Cambridge rail station’s Cycle Point bicycle parking is getting a £500,000 uplift, including CCTV and secure access compounds. The CCTV upgrade will linking the site’s CCTV to rail operator Greater Anglia’s new video surveillance system which records much higher definition images than previously, and allows for remote viewing. Phase two will see the cameras linked to the Cambridge City Council public cameras, that can be monitored by Cambridgeshire Police.
The Cycle Point’s 24-hour open access will be modified to help reduce cycle theft. Greater Anglia will look into installing access controls in consultation with Cycle Point customers. A speaker system will provide security announcements and warnings to would-be thieves or vandals; and new signage will help customers find their way around.
Simone Bailey, Greater Anglia director of asset management, said: “We’re delighted to have received this funding to improve security and accessibility at Cycle Point. We take our customers’ security very seriously and have worked closely with our partners to identify the necessary enhancements which will help to increase customer and stakeholder confidence in the facility.”
It’s part of £3m of funding from Active Travel England – the government’s new cycling and walking executive agency – aimed at improving cycling infrastructure around train stations. Also part of the £3m is a 64-space cycle hub installed this spring at Bury St Edmunds rail station; on the north side near a new accessible entrance and new car parking facilities.
Demand for cycle parking is expected to increase at the station with improvements to the local cycle network, connectivity to local schools and colleges and the West Suffolk Hospital redevelopment. A mix of covered open access cycle parking spaces and secure cycle storage in double-tier bike racks will have lighting and CCTV installed.
Revenue protection
The rail operator meanwhile reports that its revenue protection officers – ticket inspectors – issued over 54,000 penalty fares in 2021, to the value of £1.63m. Magistrates awarded a total of £1,789,337 in fines, costs and compensation in 5,980 cases brought against to fare evaders on Greater Anglia trains. The rail operator’s fraud staff uncovered £451,184.16 in fraudulent delay repay claims, where passengers had claimed delay repay compensation for journeys they hadn’t made.
Passengers were asked to pay back the money they had fraudulently claimed with no further action taken. If they didn’t, their details were passed on to the British Transport Police for investigation and prosecution, with several cases currently outstanding. The rail company’s counter-fraud staff recovered a further £287,331.86 in settlements from passengers they reported for fare evasion.
Another £8,000 was recovered from passengers claiming refunds with a third party retailer for journeys they never made.
Kim Bucknell, Greater Anglia’s head of revenue protection, said: “People not paying for their journeys or fraudulently claiming delay repay compensation or refunds for journeys they haven’t made are effectively stealing from Greater Anglia. It’s not acceptable – it’s the equivalent of going into your local supermarket and either not paying for your shopping or only paying for some of it.
“The railway is now funded by the Government – and ultimately the taxpayer – so not paying for a ticket or making a false delay repay claim is effectively stealing from other taxpayers
“Not paying fares and making fraudulent claims means there is less money available to keep the railway running and improving for everyone – which could result in fares going up higher or other implications.”
