Bike, park and ride on Sydney Metro

It is easy to transport a heavy e-cargo bike by Metro (Image: BIKEast)

However, the trains are busy at peak hour, and many commuters prefer to lock up bikes at stations.

Sydney Metro has provided a set of secure bike sheds of variable quality and usability, as well as hundreds of outdoor hoops. These add to the inconsistent and patchy network of bike parking at train stations and bus stops across the state.

As part of the project, a review of the bike parking facilities is due to start in August 2025, 12 months after the trains started rolling. Bicycle NSW has explored the existing stations to learn what works and what doesn’t and made recommendations for the review.

A summary of the issues

• Every facility is different and passenger don’t know what to expect. There is no consistency in door function, rack design, security, location or wayfinding. This is because every station had a different contractor who was free to work within poorly defined guidelines.
• There has been a focus on quantity over quality. Although it is necessary to future proof the sheds, it would be better to start with fewer of the accessible and popular floor-mounted racks. Once patronage has grown, more space efficient options can be considered – in consultation with the users.
• Designers have assumed that all bike commuters will be using lightweight road bikes. The bike sheds are largely planned for the existing confident and physically-able riders, not the future or desired cohort - for example, families using cargo bikes.
• There was no proper engagement during design and construction with bicycle user advocacy organisations like Bike North and Bicycle NSW. By the time we learnt what was planned, it was too late to influence the outcomes.
• The facilities do not comply with the Transport for NSW standard for bicycle parking. This has recently been updated, and the new facilities do not all meet the earlier version of the standard.
• It is essential to ensure that the mistakes made to date are not repeated. The next batch of Sydney Metro stations must have excellent bike parking that suits all bicycle riders using all types of bikes.
• Unfortunately, only 3 out of 10 stations on the Stage 3 Sydenham to Bankstown section of the Metro will have secure bike sheds. This is not adequate to meet current or future passenger needs.

This blog post has four sections:

1. A look at the bike parking delivered by Stage 2 of Sydney Metro City and Southwest between Crows Nest and Sydenham.
2. The new Transport for NSW standard for bicycle parking – and how the Metro facilities comply.
3. The 12-month Metro bike parking review and our suggestions for the audit
4. Next steps for bike parking at Metro stations and how the bicycle community can help get great outcomes.

Sydney has some impressive new bike sheds

The 8 new stations on the M1 line have bike parking for 1074 bikes - 704 inside secure bike sheds and 370 on outdoor racks in the immediate precinct.

The official map clarifies the distribution of internal and external hoops at the 8 new stations that opened in August 2024 (Image: Sydney Metro)

Anyone can access Transport for NSW secure bike parking by creating an account and linking their Opal card at the Bike and Ride website.

Bicycle NSW has used all the new Metro bike sheds. We have received a lot of feedback from Members about the usability of the facilities. Importantly, we have heard from riders who are not the fit, physically able male of average height that Metro contractors seem to design for!

This is a rundown of the new facilities, each with a Bicycle NSW rating out of 10.

Starting from the north

CROWS NEST

Crows Nest was least functional of the bike sheds we reviewed.

There is space for 146 bikes in the Crows Nest bike shed, 60 on a double stacker rack and 86 on vertical wall rails (Image: Harrison Lo)

• The bike shed is in a secondary building on the Pacific Highway. It is 140m, a busy road crossing and a steep hill away from the entrance to the metro at the corner of Hume and Clarke Street.
• That’s if you can find the bike room! Wayfinding is poor.
• The door is very heavy and manual. It is difficult to manoeuvre a bike into the shed particularly an e-bike with panniers or a child onboard.
• The racks are all double stacker or vertical hangers. The verticals and the top level of the stackers only suit fit riders with light bikes.
• Heavy bikes can go in the bottom level of the double stackers. If there are any spots free – these are of course the most popular spots. But these don’t accommodate thick tires, and there are limited options for securing the bike to the rack.
• There is no shared path on the Pacific Highway between the Hume St bicycle path and the bike room, so riders officially need to dismount and walk 50m up the hill with a gradient >5%.
• There is no kerb ramp near the door for riders approaching on the Pacific Highway kerb lane.

Score: 2/10

VICTORIA CROSS

Victoria Cross is much better but there are still some accessibility issues.

Inside the Victoria Cross bike shed. As always, the floor-mounted hoops are most popular (Image: Sydney Metro)

• The bike room is integrated into the northern station building just a few meters from the station entrance. However, it is down a very steel hill, a barrier for some riders.
• The interior of the bike shed is very visible and open with a glazed wall to McLaren St.
• The door opens and closes automatically, making it easy to manoeuvre bikes in and out.
• There is a mix of vertical hanging racks (111 or 69%) and floor-mounted asymmetrical hoops (49 or 31%) which suit most bikes. Of course, these are the first to fill up each morning.
• There is no official shared path on McLaren St, and no kerb ramps to allow access from the road. Riders have to dismount and walk down the steep hill, difficult for less able riders or those with heavy bikes.

Score: 6/10

There is no new bike infrastructure connecting to the station. However, it is only one block down Miller Street from the Ridge St cycleway. Fixing up this gap must be a key priority for the new North Sydney Bike Plan, on exhibition until 26^th May 2025.

Into the city

None of the four CBD Metro stations have secure bike parking.  There is a good supply of standard hoops in visible and convenient locations. However, many riders will not be comfortable leaving bikes for longer periods and most are not undercover.

Score: 3/10

The over station developments at Martin Place and Gadigal do have large bike hubs with end-of-trip facilities but these are only for buidling residents and the tenants of the commercial spaces.

It is particularly disappointing that Central Station has gone through many rounds of refurbishment, expansion and modernisation – and still there is no secure bike parking for train and metro passengers. This is despite years of requests and advocacy from the bike community.

In fact, there was never any intent to provide secure parking at the CBD stations.

In 2020, the Sydney Metro Interchange Access Plan explained that the strategy ‘to consolidate customer bike parking provision at select station locations situated on approaches to the Sydney CBD. These four nominated bike parking hubs … are well connected to the bike network, avoid areas with high activity levels and conflict, have the spatial availability to accommodate an enclosed bike parking hub, and offer opportunities for activation and community support.’

And heading south

WATERLOO

Waterloo has a very impressive bike room under the station.

It is all double stackers at Waterloo – and nobody is keen to go up top! (Image: Sydney Metro)

• Access is easy is via a lift or a short stair track. The lift also gives access straight to the concourse. There is no need to return to street level to enter the station.
• The door stays open long enough to manoeuvre a heavy bike before eclosing automatically.
• However, there is only one kind of rack. The double stack type, which as at Crows Nest, is difficult to use and not suitable for heavy or non-standard bikes.
• The underground space feels isolated and hidden, with no passive surveillance. This will be less of a problem as usage increases.

Score: 5/10

There is a great BIKEast review of the Waterloo facility with more photos and a how-to-use video.

Waterloo is a clear case of quantity over quantity. The brief to fit in as many bikes as possible (320!) has trumped the useability and flexibility of the space – and wasted precious budget on complicated equipment that people find difficult to use.

SYDENHAM

We have saved the best till last. Sydenham is everyone’s favourite facility.

Horizontal hoops at Sydenham, both inside the secure shed…

….and outside, where they are well-spaced and undercover (Images: Bicycle NSW)

• There are two sheds at street-level, one on each side of the station. Access is easy coming from both directions.
• The station entrances are just a few level meters from the bike sheds
• The mesh walls of the sheds offer great visibility, airflow and passive surveillance.
• All the racks are classic floor mounted hoops. Some are outside, but these are undercover, well overlooked and popular with riders who have less valuable bikes.
• The doors are not too heavy and stay open. If anything, better weighting is needed to ensure the doors the close behind riders.
• There is a convenient tap and a bubbler for filling up water bottles just outside.
• There are dedicated share bike areas marked with clear decals. As a result, few shared bikes are left on the public racks or obstructing the footpaths.

Score: 9/10

And bike riders are using the sheds, racks and shared bike in large numbers. Sydenham Station has seen a dramatic rise in arrivals by bike, with private bike usage up by 508% and share bike usage surging by 580%.

This is partly due to some successful cycling activations, as part of the Southwest Link project, which have encouraged locals to combine a short bike ride with catching a Metro at Sydenham.

Transport for NSW installed clear parking areas for share bikes at Sydenham Station. It is easier to use the bikes and very few are now parked informally in busy pedestrian areas (Image: Transport for NSW)

The Southwest Link is providing transport options for residents west of Sydenham who are impacted by the closure of the rail line to Bankstown during its conversion to Metro. The pink buses are the focus, but Transport for NSW, Sydney Metro, bicycle user groups including Bicycle NSW, Inner West Council and share bike operators have collaborated to spread the word about the bike storage and the safest routes to get there. The community is now asking for more hoops in the sheds!

What should great bike parking look like?

Recognising the growing need for accessible bike parking, Transport for NSW has published a new standard for Bicycle Parking at Stations, Mass Transit Stops and Ferry Wharves

This December 2024 document updates the 2018 standard for Bicycle Parking Facilities.

It introduces three classifications – Class A (lockers), B (sheds) and C (racks) and sets a minimum provision of Class C racks. The key requirement is that at least 50% of bike racks in any new bike shed are static horizontal hoops, with a preference for 100% where possible.

This table summarises the new standard and highlights which of the new Metro facilities comply: