Sustrans Scotland contributes to rapid growth of ‘cycle-rail’

Sustrans Scotland has been recognised for our outstanding contribution to the growing number of people choosing to combine rail and cycle travel for both work and leisure at this year’s National Cycle Rail Awards.

The number of people choosing to travel by ‘cycle-rail’ has increased dramatically in recent years. Last year alone saw around 50 million ‘cycle-rail’ trips across the UK, representing an increase of 40% since 2010.

Presented by UK Transport Minister, Paul Maynard MP, Sustrans Scotland won the ‘Partnership Working’ award in acknowledgement of the contribution and genuine benefit our organisation has brought to people who want to travel to the station by bike.

The award was presented in recognition of two projects delivered by Sustrans Scotland and our partners:

• The links to Borders Rail, completed in 2015 in partnership with Network Rail, Midlothian Council and Scottish Borders Council
• The Haymarket Station cycle facilities, completed earlier this year in partnership with Network Rail, City of Edinburgh Council and ScotRail

Sustrans contributed £301,500 to the links to Boarders Rail, and £143,000 to the Haymarket Station cycle facilities.

Run by the Rail Delivery Group (RDG) on behalf of the Cycle Rail Working Group, the awards recognise the progress made by the rail industry and associated organisations in encouraging integrated cycle-rail travel and the implementation and best practice development of cycle-rail integration policy.

Andy Keba, Partnerships Manager at Sustrans Scotland in Edinburgh said “Findings show the number of people who are choosing to travel using a combination of cycling and rail has increased significantly over the last few years. We’re hopeful that as we deliver more and more projects that help facilitate this mode of combined transport, the number of people choosing sustainable travel options will continue to rise.

“The health and wellbeing of the nation is one of, if not the, primary article on policy-makers agenda. We hope by supporting the Scottish Government’s objective of ensuring one in 10 journeys in Scotland is conducted by bike by 2020, the link between active-travel and health will become increasingly obvious and the health of the nation will gradually begin to improve. Other important areas of policy such as the environment will also considerably benefit.”

Daisy Narayanan, Acting Director of Sustrans Scotland, added “Giving people an option out of their cars is a collective effort and this award demonstrates what effective partnerships can achieve in this respect. The links to Borders Rail and the Haymarket Station cycle facilities showcase the excellent partnership work we do with local authorities and other statutory bodies. The partnership award is a great endorsement of our work as a team here at Sustrans, as well as the various organisations we work with to deliver projects like these.”

Referring to the links to Borders Rail, Councillor David Parker, Scottish Borders Council’s Leader, said “It is fantastic that the partnership working which has taken place to improve cycle links to the Borders Railway has been recognised on a national level.

“In the Scottish Borders, we've seen a number of significant projects undertaken by the Council, Sustrans Scotland and other partners, such as work which has taken place surrounding Galashiels and Tweedbank stations, the realignment of the Black Path which runs through Galashiels and Tweedbank and better cycle links from the railway to Melrose, Borders General Hospital and Clovenfords.

Find out more about our work in Scotland.