The ban on bicycles begins on Monday 11 October

The company says that because of the lack of space during busy commuter times it could no longer provide areas for bikes.

The ban applies to trains arriving at Waterloo on weekdays between 7.15am -10am and leaving between 4.45pm - 7pm.

A cycling group says it understands the problem of crowded commuter trains but claims the company's policy to ban bicycles is short-sighted and flawed.

The ban will come into force on 11 October.

The cyclists I have spoken to that use the trains will be forced to drive to work when the ban takes effect Ben Wood Cyclist

Dave Holiday, a transport expert working with the National Cyclists Organisation (CTC), said: "SWT are going to control demand by using staff to police cyclists.

"This is a crude, flawed method; a much better way to approach the problem is by controlling demand by managing price and convenience."

Mr Holiday says that instead of banning cyclists from peak times operators should simply charge them for bringing their bikes on the trains at busy times.

He argues that the combination of crowded trains and this congestion charge would regulate the amount of bikes on the trains and eliminate the need for an outright ban.

Our priority has to be paying passengers over cycles stored on trains Rufus Boyd SWT commercial director

Ben Wood, a cyclist who travels on SWT everyday, told BBC News Online: "The cyclists I have spoken to that use the trains will be forced to drive to work when the ban takes effect, as they work too far away from the station to be able to walk and there is no other way to get from the station to work.

"So not only will SWT be losing these passengers' train fare revenues but they will be directly responsible for putting more cars on an already heavily congested road network."

SWT says the decision to impose a ban came after consultation with politicians and cycle groups.

Rufus Boyd, SWT commercial director, said: "The difficulty we have is that we run a very busy railway and there is just not space for cycles during the peaks on many of our trains. Our priority has to be paying passengers over cycles stored on trains."

But Mr Holiday said SWT is failing to provide cyclists with any choice by imposing the ban before there are secure places in stations for bikes to be stored or facilities to hire bikes in stations.