Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what requirements he places on train operating companies to provide sufficient and certain bicycle storage on trains.

The government currently contractually requires Train Operating Companies to permit folding cycles on all passenger services and non-folding cycles where reasonable. All Train Operating Companies currently allow carriage of cycles on trains, though provision varies by operator. In The Williams Shapps Plan for Rail the government committed to increasing space for cycles on existing trains wherever practically possible and that all future train fleets will need to include more cycle spaces relevant to the markets served. The government also committed to making it easier to reserve cycle spaces on trains online.

In addition, the government has provided over £42m funding since 2012 through the Cycle Rail Fund to support over 20,000 new secure cycle storage spaces at train stations, as well as access improvements, security enhancements, cycle maintenance equipment and cycling routes to stations.