| Chippenham Railway Station and cycle parking Posted by Mark A at 16:41, 21st June 2026 |     |
I'm eating worms as I've no photo of it yet - outside the station, a capacious glass box with two level cycle parking, about 98% empty - but then this *was* a Sunday of a bank holiday. Is it well used at other times? And the racks look to be rather prescriptive as to the sort of cycles they'll accommodate, but perhaps they're ok for the likes of 20" by 2.15" wheel shopper bikes, or children's bikes etc.
Mark
| Re: Chippenham Railway Station and cycle parking Posted by bobm at 10:13, 22nd June 2026 | |
Doesn't add much - but this was the facility on the day of the official opening in February.
| Re: Chippenham Railway Station and cycle parking Posted by grahame at 11:01, 22nd June 2026 | |
I'm eating worms as I've no photo of it yet - outside the station, a capacious glass box with two level cycle parking, about 98% empty - but then this *was* a Sunday of a bank holiday. Is it well used at other times? And the racks look to be rather prescriptive as to the sort of cycles they'll accommodate, but perhaps they're ok for the likes of 20" by 2.15" wheel shopper bikes, or children's bikes etc.
Mark
Mark
Cycling to and from Chippenham Station hasn't been pleasant the times I've done it - maybe the routes have been improved since, and maybe I haven't discovered major provision made ... but this sort of thing doesn't exactly encourage cycling here
My picture of the town centre:
And the roads down to it (from Google):
No matter how excellent the provision is at a station, people need to feel safe and confident enough to actually get to the station. Perhaps the station improvements are just a first step in making this a station and town that's easily cyclable? Got to start somewhere and facilities will come into their own once the whoe place works for bicycles - as I'm seeing so much in some countries on my travels.
| Re: Chippenham Railway Station and cycle parking Posted by Mark A at 11:22, 22nd June 2026 | |
An easy win would be to close Monkton Hill to other vehicles, then, sign and reconfigure it, giving it segregated routes for people on cycles and on foot. Meeting people who didn't know the town the other month, it's not even signed as a route from the station (possibly because the current mix of traffic it carries is rather unhealthy).
Also, in combination with the above, at the right time of day, the riverside path makes a somewhat good walking route to the town centre. (Neither totally ok for people using wheelchairs as the gradients aren't quite in favour, so possibly better on the bus (of which there are more).) https://maps.app.goo.gl/BwmjbtXVJRPFPUdY6
Mark
| Re: Chippenham Railway Station and cycle parking Posted by Mark A at 11:24, 22nd June 2026 | |
Doesn't add much - but this was the facility on the day of the official opening in February.
***snip***
***snip***
Thanks for the image, it's useful.
Mark
| Re: Chippenham Railway Station and cycle parking Posted by JohnM at 11:33, 22nd June 2026 | |
Those traffic lights in the first pic were only installed a couple of years ago IIRC - I was living in Chippenham at the time. It was a mini-roundabout previously, and the lights just seemed to cause long queues of cars, as seen in the picture. There were a lot of complaints, and they might have adjusted the timings to improve things, but it's still a lot worse than before they were installed.
Don't know if the roundabout itself was any better in terms of the cycling route though.
| Re: Chippenham Railway Station and cycle parking Posted by Mark A at 11:41, 22nd June 2026 | |
O.T. From the riverside path, the Avon at Chippenham is capable of looking thoroughly lovely.
Mark
| Re: Chippenham Railway Station and cycle parking Posted by Chris from Nailsea at 14:57, 22nd June 2026 | |
Going even further off topic, the Kennet & Avon Canal has long stretches which are lovely to navigate, and to walk / cycle beside.
