Work begins on Boris Bike docking station in Fulham Palace Road

THE first signs of the borough’s new Boris Bike stations could be seen near Craven Cottage this week.

Construction has started on installing Fulham’s docking station near the football club at the junction of Finlay Street and Fulham Palace Road.

The popular Barclays Cycle Hire Scheme is being further expanded into the borough with the arrival of 14 sites by spring 2014. This initial construction work involves installing electrical cables to bring power to the future docking points and terminals.

There will be 316 docking points installed across the borough in Hammersmith, Fulham Palace Road and towards Putney Bridge, as well as in Fulham Broadway and Parsons Green.

Hammersmith and Fulham Council negotiated a deal with developers who agreed to contribute £2million towards the cycles – more affectionately known as Boris Bikes – so that residents will not have to foot the bill.

Member for transport and technical services, councillor Victoria Brocklebank-Fowler, said: “We are pleased that things are finally taking shape and are looking forward to the bikes coming to the borough. Council taxpayers will not pay a penny for the scheme’s installation and residents will benefit from being able to travel quickly across the borough on one of these bikes.”

The scheme has 160,000 registered users – 3,900 of whom are Hammersmith and Fulham residents – with 8,333 bicycles at 587 docking stations across London.

There is already one at Olympia train station, on the Kensington and Chelsea side of the border, and in spring last year four stations were installed at Westfield shopping mall in Shepherds Bush as part of Phase 2 of the scheme.

Mayor of London, Boris Johnson, said: “The cycle hire scheme is going to be fantastic for south-west London. It will be a real benefit to local people, it helps the economy and is key to my aim of making cycling an integral part of the capital’s transport network.”

The expansion of the scheme will be completed by December and incorporate other areas including Wandsworth, Lambeth and Kensington and Chelsea.