New Eurostar Bike Policy

[craggie]

http://road.cc/content/news/167680-euro ... omplicated

Not sure if this has been posted already, it will certainly make the train less convenient.

[robgul]

I have it from the horse's mouth that the reason for the change is the introduction of new Eurostar rolling stock that does not have the "freight" compartments [Eurostar despatch also handles lots of parcels and even pallets of stuff. (Amazingly they transport a pallet, yes a pallet, of contact lenses to France every Sunday ... so I'm told!!)]

A friend of mine has a business refurbishing trains* and he will be taking the existing Eurostar rolling stock on a steady basis from about the Spring of next year - refurbishing/modifying and then they are going to another train operator - the new Eurostar stuff will be phased in over, I think, about 8 or 9 months)

* he's currently rebuilding ex London tube carriages to be re-used by one of the rail companies in the N of England.

A sad day for Eurostar as the complete bike carriage service was fantastic - we've used to/from Paris & Brussels with no problems. The box dimensions rule out almost anything in the way of a normal bike (my 25" frame Galaxy would be waaay oversize) ... and even folders other than Bromptons would be an issue (my 20" Dahon is about 8mm inside the limit, and that's with a "nylon shower cap" type of cover on it.

Upside is the Eurotunnel's service from Folkestone to Calais is excellent and painless - wheel the bike up, they load it on a bespoke trailer, you sit in a mini-bus that tows the trailer to le Shuttle and through you go ... simples - and TGV trains from Calais, or the locals to Lille, work well with bikes nowadays.

Rob

[Nigelrojo]

This is absolutely dismal. A large proportion of people taking their bikes to the continent will be taking touring bikes with luggage, which are not going to fit in these boxes. If whole bikes are taking up too much space, why don't they just increase the cost a bit? A classic case of Eurostar going backwards while most government agencies, companies etc are at least trying to go forwards when it comes to provision for bicycles. I'll check out Lufthansa's whole bike carriage policy, otherwise it's back to good old ferries!

[mjr]

A classic case of Eurostar going backwards while most government agencies, companies etc are at least trying to go forwards when it comes to provision for bicycles.

That's Eurostar, now owned by government agencies of France, Quebec and Belgium, plus the manager's of BT's pension fun. Why would foreign governments want us to have nice things?

[jamesgilbert]

A classic case of Eurostar going backwards while most government agencies, companies etc are at least trying to go forwards when it comes to provision for bicycles.

That's Eurostar, now owned by government agencies of France, Quebec and Belgium, plus the manager's of BT's pension fun. Why would foreign governments want us to have nice things?

On the plus side, those of us who travel on Eurostar without bikes will benefit from improved travelling conditions - a lot of the existing trains are _badly_ in need of refurbishment or remplacement and starting to be a bit of an embarrassment: http://www.seat61.com/London-to-Paris-b ... tar_trains

[craggie]

http://road.cc/content/news/167946-euro ... strictions

They have now backtracked...slightly.

[iandriver]

Eurostars photo of what a bike is just about sums it up. No racks, no mudguards etc.

http://www.eurostar.com/uk-en/travel-in ... -your-bike

[mercalia]

The cross-Channel service said it would be storing bikes from 1 November in what is known as a "bike box" - meaning the bike has to be dismantled.


http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-34518236

[jamesgilbert]

A nice and confusing article on the BBC website: http://www.bbc.com/news/uk-34518236

Cycling charity CTC made the accusation after the cross-Channel service said it would be storing bikes from 1 November in what is known as a "bike box"

[Psamathe]

I don't know about bikes in general, but if I took the wheels off my bike and put it in a box then the back of the bike would be resting on the rear mech. And if you start having to take that off (to avoid damage) then when you arrive you have a somewhat harder reassembly/adjustments/etc.

(I've never taken off the rear mech so may be wrong, but I've never have much success even just adjusting the cable as things have "settled" or worn - so not something I would relish at the start of a longer trip).

A very retrograde step when there such companies should be making things easier for e.g. bikes (good for health, good for environment, etc.). A case of £££££ over doing the right thing.

I'm surprised their operating license allows them to do things like this. Regulator ?

Ian

[robgul]

I don't know about bikes in general, but if I took the wheels off my bike and put it in a box then the back of the bike would be resting on the rear mech. And if you start having to take that off (to avoid damage) then when you arrive you have a somewhat harder reassembly/adjustments/etc.

> snip
Ian

The rear mech issue is normally dealt with by putting the bike in the box (assuming a large cardboard carton) "saddle downwards" and wrapping the mech chain up with bubble wrap and cable-ties - along with pipe lagging to sop scratching of the frame tubes ... but that of course pre-supposes that the box will be loaded the right way up! ... the bigger issue is that if the bike has mudguards (most tourers?) then they would have to be removed too.

Rob

[Psamathe]

I don't know about bikes in general, but if I took the wheels off my bike and put it in a box then the back of the bike would be resting on the rear mech. And if you start having to take that off (to avoid damage) then when you arrive you have a somewhat harder reassembly/adjustments/etc.

> snip
Ian

The rear mech issue is normally dealt with by putting the bike in the box (assuming a large cardboard carton) "saddle downwards" and wrapping the mech chain up with bubble wrap and cable-ties - along with pipe lagging to sop scratching of the frame tubes ... but that of course pre-supposes that the box will be loaded the right way up! ... the bigger issue is that if the bike has mudguards (most tourers?) then they would have to be removed too.

Rob

When I last put my bike upside down on the ground I ended-up having to buy a new cycle computer as it broke the mounting on the handle bars.

Whilst I'm disappointed by the new Eurostar policy it would in practice not affect me as I would personally prefer using the ferry. But it is disappointing that when we should be encouraging cycling, the £££ drive is creating hindrances. A move in the wrong direction for society.

Ian

[iviehoff]

I'm surprised their operating licence allows them to do things like this. Regulator ?

You clearly have a rather over-optimistic view of the regulation of such things.

[mjr]

I'm surprised their operating licence allows them to do things like this. Regulator ?

You clearly have a rather over-optimistic view of the regulation of such things.

I looked at www.ORR.gov.uk and I can't figure out what even requires them to take luggage at all! Is there a kindly railway expert here?

[greyingbeard]

the bike bus will no doubt seize the opportunity to advertise itself