London Cycle Hire Bikes Revealed at Earls Court Cycle Show

Londoners got their first glimpse of the 6,000 hire bicycles the Mayor will bring to the streets of the Capital next summer. Visitors to last weekend's Cycle Show were able to take four prototype bikes for a spin around a test track and take a simulator ride along one of the Mayor's Cycle Superhighways.

The London Cycle Hire scheme and Cycle Superhighways are two of the key programmes being introduced by Transport for London (TfL) as part of the Mayor's cycling revolution. Both are due to launch next summer with the aim of achieving a 400 per cent increase in the number of cycle journeys made in London by 2025. Cycle journeys in London have more than doubled in the past decade, with a nine per cent increase in cycle journeys on the city's major roads in the past year alone.

The Mayor of London, Boris Johnson, said: "I am thrilled that Londoners can finally clap their eyes on these cracking machines. With its funky design and sturdy handling this is a bike that will encourage thousands more Londoners to use two wheels to get from A to B."

From summer next year, people will be able to pick up and drop off 6,000 hire bikes at around 400 locations across the nine London boroughs and several Royal Parks that make up London's zone one travel area.

Kulveer Ranger, the Mayor's transport advisor, said: "The Mayor and TfL want to make cycling a safer and more attractive option for everyone in London. The 6,000 bikes in our hire scheme will make cycling more accessible and the Cycle Superhighways will provide cyclists with the reassurance of cycling in numbers. TfL is working hard to deliver the Mayor's Cycling Revolution, which will help make the Capital one of the world's great cycling cities."

Cycle Superhighways will be a set of highly visible radial routes that will provide a safe, fast and efficient way into central London from the outer boroughs. By summer 2010, the first two pilot routes, Merton to the City (A24 and A3) and Barking to Tower Gateway (A13) will be completed.

David Brown, Managing Director of Surface Transport at TfL, said: "The London Cycle Hire scheme will effectively be a brand new, 24-hour public transport system for central London. Combined with the two pilot Cycle Superhighways, easy to follow routes that are designed to help people start cycle commuting, or to cycle to work or college more often, the two programmes are expected to deliver an additional 62,000 cycle journeys a day."