ONE thing that has left me puzzled recently was the Association of Training Operating Companies’ judgement.

The association, known as ATOC, decided to award Northern Rail for helping its customers cycle.

While judges explained that it was due to how the firm handled the hugely challenging task of getting thousands of cycling fans to and from the Tour de France in Yorkshire in the summer, what about the bread and butter roles Northern is supposed to play?

For a start, anyone who has ever stood on a Bolton station platform around rush hour will have seen a cyclist being told they cannot board a train because there is not enough room for their bikes.

I feel sorry for these travellers, wondering if they will get the same response from the next train and the one after that, especially when some of the trains only have two carriages.

Then there is the ongoing farce surrounding the Bolton station cycle cages.

October marked the first anniversary of the construction of the two cages, which cost a total of £350,000 of public money.

They are yet to open.

The reason? Despite announcing the plan almost three years ago, Northern and its project partner Transport for Greater Manchester have not, it seems, have time to sort out the computer system for entry cards.

After covering this issue previously, we have heard from readers who told of how their bicycles have been stolen from the station.

Some have given up on the idea of using their bikes on the railway altogether because, to quote one: "You never know what problem you're going to be confronted with from day to day. It just isn't worth it."

I am not saying Northern does not deserve a pat on the back for its Tour de France efforts, but it had plenty of time to plan for this and, let us not forget, it earned a handsome profit from increased ticket sales.

What passengers want is a consistently good service and, where cyclists are concerned, they are being let down.

One easy fix would be to open the Bolton station cycle hubs today and let people use it for free until the computer system works.

And another way of helping cyclists would be to put on more carriages where possible.