WANT to catch a train? On your bike!

York's MP Hugh Bayley met local cyclists at the city's railway station to support calls for greater transport integration.

He is supporting the Keep Cycling On Track campaign, being run by the Cyclists Touring Club (CTC) in conjunction with the All- Party Parliamentary Cycling Group.

The group wants to see a commitment in this summer's Railways White Paper to set standards for more secure cycle parking, improved hire and storage facilities, cycle spaces on all trains, clearer booking and reservation systems and ongoing promotion of the benefits of the cycle-rail combination.

Mr Bayley said: "I use my bicycle to get around in York and London and combining cycling and rail travel is a good way to go green for longer-distance journeys.

"The train operators will get more passengers if they make it easier for cyclists to use the railways. I am pleased the CTC is raising this issue and pressing the Government for easier access to bicycle places on trains. I often take my bicycle from York to London. It is easy to book a bike on to a GNER train, but the guard's van is rough and ready and could hold more bikes if it was better designed."

Launching the campaign recently, the CTC president, journalist Jon Snow, said: "Cycling and rail travel are perfect partners. The combination provides a doorstep-to-destination' option for longer-distance journeys, which might otherwise be possible only by car."