Lack of railway space rules out ‘cycle paths in the sky’ turned down by Mayor

 
Matthew Beard25 October 2012

Plans for a network of elevated cycle paths linking London’s mainline stations have been rejected by Mayor Boris Johnson.

Experts who met last week to discuss the Skycycle proposals said the idea was not feasible because of huge technical obstacles and the lack of spare rail capacity to build on.

Transport for London and Network Rail were concerned that costings for the scheme — estimated at tens of millions of pounds — had not been fully developed.

Details of Skycycle were released last month, with futuristic drawings showing raised glass open-top tunnels likened to New York’s High Line system of cycle and footpaths along a disused railway line.

Sam Martin, the landscape artist behind the plan, said the first phase linking Stratford and the City could be open by 2015, with users charged £1 a journey.

A spokesman for Network Rail said: “The High Line in New York was based on a redundant section of elevated railways and in London there is no such spare capacity.”

However, he added: “This idea has inspired us to think about better ways for railways and cyclists to intersect.”

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