From flagship to farce

Stations Circular Cycle Route

The original Seven Stations cycle route was a proposal for a cycle route of a quality never before seen in central London linking the mainline rail stations north of the river from Paddington to Liverpool Street.

The Stations Circular in Islington does not follow the route it is supposed to and ends in a no entry sign (circled) on the Hackney border. The sign points straight on in the direction of Bethnal Green to "the City": see map.

What's gone wrong

Unfortunately in 2000 the London Cycle Network (LCN) steering group modified the route without giving enough thought or doing enough consultation. While the concept of a circular route to be designated route 0 of the LCN was a sensible one, the route chosen was not.

The route is square not circular and so it is not realistic to follow it
The section leading to Liverpool St east of Bunhill Row has been chopped off (though Islington Council still don't seem to be aware of this despite us pointing it out frequently). Many important rail stations and the eastern central part of London have been missed out. In other words it's failing to live up to the "Stations" in its name. As for why some people refer to "Seven Stations" still, perhaps 7 is their lucky number.
The planners seem unfamiliar with the local terrain. For example the section south of Southwark Bridge where the route joins NCN route 4 looks as it if involves a simple right turn when in fact you must carry your cycle down narrow steps! Also the section in the west of Islington seems to do a detour just to take you up and down the only hill in central London.
The section from Waterloo to Hyde Park includes a section that is two sides of a triangle. As a result the route is three times longer than going straight along other roads.
While the original concept was to have a high degree of segregation from motor traffic, be it using segregated facilities or streets with almost all motor traffic removed, many parts of the SCR are similar to the worst of the LCN. Certain boroughs have far lower standards than others.

Concrete blocks across the Southwark Bridge-Guildhall section (there are now two more blockades to navigate).

Why bother with a circular route anyway?

The concept of a world-class Stations Circular Route is worth pursuing. It should be based on the same concept as the circle line or the former Stationlink bus service and link up all the mainline stations, i.e. including Liverpool St, Fenchurch St and London Bridge.

Besides the fact that this route would actually serve the place people wanted to cycle, it would help people orientate themselves to the London Cycle Network (+) as it would be roughly between/in line with the circle line and the current congestion charge boundary (though slightly inside the latter to benefit from the lower motor traffic levels).

Imagine if the new Stations Circular was signed at every mainline rail terminus as prominently as taxi ranks or the tube along with cycle parking. At the interface between the station concourse areas and the start of the cycle route (some stations would have spurs linking them to the Stations Circular rather than actually being on it) there would be a prominent information panel, just as there is for bus and train timetables elsewhere.

This would include a central London map (same as the London Cycle Guides and including cycle shop info) centred on the station, a schematic spider map showing cycle routes and including approximate times and distances to destinations, e.g. at Liverpool St it might say "Fenchurch St 3-6mins, Kings Cross 15-20 mins" (the range being more for the speed you cycle at). It could also include some of the "Why cycle" info as featured on TfL display boards and now the cycling section the TfL website. If we want cycling to be integrated with rail transport and to get advertising to normalise cycling with other modes this surely is the way to start.

On the Camden-Islington border the route is blocked by road reconstruction for five months this summer. It would not be difficult to provide for people to cycle across but given the lack of status of cycling no one has bothered to even consider this.

Most people agree that the Circle Line (and the M25, at least in the context of having roads) are good ideas in principle. You don't expect people just to go around always them but to use them as important orbital links combined with radial routes. However some tourists may prefer to simply sit on the circle line to get to another mainline terminus rather than risking changing trains and getting lost. The circle line also help people understand the underground network/map better.

In the same way, an orbital cycle route is not there to be always used as the only option to get from station A to station B, just as a cycle network isn't either the only means of cycling from A to B. It's just a great help. Many cyclists would benefit from using parts of it, i.e. a cycle-friendly Tower Bridge, on their way to wherever. They'd also benefit as there would be signed easy exits out of stations via ramps or lifts (some stations such as Fenchurch St and Liverpool St are do not have obvious cycle entrances or exits). Others, such as tourists or those Londoners cycle normally just in the suburbs, might prefer to take a larger section of the stations circular so as not to have to allow extra time getting lost by (mis)taking short cuts in an unfamiliar area.

A great advantage is that what would otherwise be a collection of backstreets would have priority across other roads or at least an equal share of green time rather than at best a 3 second green cycle signal that you have to press a button for etc. It is not necessarily bad if some of the route via the backstreets are slightly longer, as long as the journey is more convenient, i.e. no getting stuck/slowed down by queuing traffic or frequent stopping for red lights (each of which adds about 50-100m in terms of effort, even more in terms of delay to a journey).

It would be good to have another high profile high quality orbital route further out as well, perhaps as far out as Greenwich, Streatham, Finsbury Park and Willesden. Again it would help cyclists orientate themselves to the route network besides providing useful links. Stations circular, inner circular, outer circular

Alternative route proposal for a true Stations Circular Cycle Route

Alternative route proposal: existing proposed route shown in blue, City Cyclists proposal in yellow, Islington's incorrect section in red (they have not completed the link south of there making the route impassable in one direction). Note how much more direct it is and how it links in key stations such as Farringdon, Liverpool Street, Fenchurch Street, London Bridge etc.

Branch off the SCR along Cubit St to Phoenix Place
under Rosebery Avenue, following the underground river Fleet and avoiding most of the incline unlike the current route which takes you up part of a hill for the fun of it
along the LCC advisory route via Farringdon to Smithfield. Improved crossing of Farrindgon Road and TUrnmill St would be two-way for cycles
Long Lane then Beech and Chiswell Streets: CC are pushing for the removal of the Smithfield racetrack/gyratory as part of an Area Traffic Scheme and the LCN+ route along here
Moor Lane (where the existing route is supposed to go) Ropemaker St, Eldon St (to be much quieter when London Wall becomes two way in 2004/5)
Liverpool St, which is to be closed to through motor traffic and made two-way for cycles as part of a scheme starting October 2004
Temporary route via Devonshire Square/Row (close to all motor traffic, cyclists dismount during peak periods), Creechurch Place, Jewry St existing route
On removal of Aldgate gyratory programmed for 2006/7 route via Bevis Marks and Minories
Link to Fenchurch St station via Crosswall
Continue via two-way track on section of Minories south of Goodman's Yard then proper cycle lanes on Tower Bridge Approach and replace guardrails on Tower Bridge with chains and squeeze in 1.5m advisory cycle lanes.
Snowsfields, Union St, The Cut, Lower Marsh, including spur cycle/pedestrian track bridge to Cab Road (avoiding the double-back via Approach Road)
Crossing Westminster Bridge, two-way track or something in Parliament Square to avoid the gyratory, then along Birdcage Walk and up to Constituion Hill as before.