Bike thefts gear calls for more cages at railway stations in the west

Bike thefts across Melbourne’s west are escalating to grave heights, with cyclists calling for an extra security measure at train stations.

Footscray Police are running 'Operation Refurbish' to reduce to target recidivist offending, anti-social behaviour and a recent rise in bicycle thefts. Picture: Rob Leeson.

BICYCLE cages must be rolled out across all train stations in Melbourne’s inner-west as bike thefts continue to escalate, cyclists say.

The calls come as Footscray police hit the streets on bikes in a blitz to curb the thefts.

Maribyrnong cyclists told the Leader thieves were slashing tyres and dashing off with their bikes, in what has been dubbed as a quick “slash or dash” move.

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There are bike cages at Footscray, West Footscray and Yarraville stations but cyclists who travel to Tottenham and Seddonstations have to leave their bikes unsecured.

Cyclist Patrick Laverick had his bike stolen from Tottenham Station, as well as his tyres slashed twice in the past month,despite using a lock.

“We really need a bike cage at the station — some secure place that we can use to lock our bikes up,” he said. “There’s nopoint buying a new bike or a valuable one, if there is a risk of getting it stolen again.”

Police plan to crackdown on thieves stealing bikes across Maribyrnong. Picture: Rob Leeson.

The Parkiteer bike cages at Metro railway stations are managed by Bicycle Victoria.

They provide free 24-hour, undercover and secure bike parking at 40 stations through the use of a smart access card.

According to the Crime Statistics Agency, there were 163 bicycle thefts in Maribyrnong in the year to June 2018.

Footscray police are cracking down on bike thefts through multi-tier operation Refurbish, which will see police jumping onbikes themselves to patrol.

“It’s no secret that we are having issues around bicycle thefts in Maribyrnong,” Sergeant Travis Costelow said.

“You can expect that if you are riding around on a stolen bicycle that you will be spoken to and will be arrested.”

Sgt Costelow said railway stations were a hot spot for bicycle thefts.

He advised cyclists to lock their bike and engravecontact details or a driver’s licence number on them.

Bicycle Victoria spokeswoman Leyla Asadi said bike cages would go theextra mile and ensure greater security against lock-busting thieves.

“It’s clear that stations such as Tottenham need secure bike parking, while existing cages such as the nearby West Footscray,as well as Williams Landing and Laverton are at capacity,” she said.

“More cages would result in more people riding bikes and reduced traffic around stations in peak times.”

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