The British Transport Police’s decision not to investigate certain bike thefts at train stations “will hit the lowest income groups the hardest”, according to Sophie Gordon, campaigns manager at Cycling UK.
Last week, the British Transport Police (BTP) said it will not investigate bike thefts at train stations where the bicycle has been left for more than two hours, and CCTV footage will not be reviewed outside of this time frame. The BTP also said the theft of any bike worth less than £200 will not be investigated and that robberies on trains should only be reported if the passenger knows which carriage they were in.
“The decision not to investigate bike theft when cycles have been left for longer than two hours will hit the lowest income groups the hardest,” Cycling UK’s Sophie Gordon said.
“These are often working people who might not be able to afford a car and are relying on bikes and public transport to get to work. If you’re on shift or at work, you will inevitably be away longer than a couple of hours,” she added.
Cycling UK found that cycling for commuting made up 29 per cent of all cycle journeys in 2023.
Last year, it was revealed that 49 per cent of Brits couldn’t afford a new bike, with a quarter saying it would take them six months to save for one. The Walk Wheel Trust, formerly Sustrans, also found that almost 2 million people want to cycle but are priced out due to the initial cost of a bicycle and accessories.
More than 14,000 bikes were stolen from outside train stations between 2021 and 2023. A freedom of information request revealed bicycle thefts from outside stations increased by 39 per cent from 2022 to 2023.
An estimated 1.33 million cycle journeys were recorded by Transport for London in 2024, but critics have said bike thefts will discourage people from cycling in the capital.
“We know that people who have their bike stolen quite often don’t go back to cycling,” the London Cycling Campaign’s Simon Munk told the BBC.
“Everyone understands that more cycling, more walking, fewer people in cars is a good thing for London [and] for the planet – for everyone,” he added.
Gordon said: “Bike theft is not a petty crime but has serious social consequences and the police need to take it seriously – to have your means of getting around stolen can be devastating.
“By partnering with cycle trade, planners and other groups, the police could find ways to prevent cycle theft, seeing as that’s more effective than enforcement, but it’s not acceptable for the police to say they will be doing less to investigate theft, when they should be doing more.”
BTP said that these crimes are unlikely ever to be solved. “The more time our officers spend reviewing CCTV footage for these offences, the less time they have available for patrolling railway stations and trains, investigating crimes which cause the most harm and providing a visible presence across the network,” a BTP spokesperson told the BBC.
“We will continue to apply a test of proportionality when determining investigation – looking at factors such as timeframes, witnesses, the availability of CCTV, the impact on the victim or whether there is a realistic prospect of a successful outcome.
“Any offence which is not investigated will still provide us with valuable intelligence, used to direct our patrols and operations.”
