Barclays injects more money into cycle scheme

Date: 1/8/2011

Barclays has made a further investment in its cycle hire service in London and agreed to extend its sponsorship to 2018.

Transport for London (TfL) reports that the one-year anniversary of the scheme's launch was marked by the financial services provider pledging an additional £25 million to the project.

This money will be used to fund the extension of the network throughout the south and south-west of the UK capital by 2013.

A western expansion will see the scheme established through Wandsworth, Hammersmith and Fulham, Lambeth, and Kensington and Chelsea, with Mayor of London Boris Johnson asking TfL to begin preparing plans for this.

To date, Barclays has invested £50 million in the project, while the Westfield London shopping centre is also set to help fund an expansion of the network to its premises by next spring.

"[It is a] testament to the huge impact of Barclays Cycle Hire and to the rapidly increasing popularity of pedal power in London that I can announce we are now planning to swathe a huge chunk of the west of our city with our beautiful blue bikes," Mayor Johnson said.

In July, two new Barclays-sponsored Cycle Superhighways opened in the city, running from Bow to Aldgate and from Wandsworth to Westminster.

Posted by Nick Anderson