car hire v train prices

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TonyR
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Joined: 31 Aug 2008, 12:51pm

Re: car hire v train prices

Post by TonyR »

PH wrote:Sorry, the the majority of those problems seem to arise from your reluctance to book on the internet. And there was no need to have gone through London, the alternative posted in an earlier thread would have been on quieter trains. It comes as no surprise to me that the people who set out expecting problems get them.


+1. And central London is a relatively easy and definitely safe place to cycle between stations. A bit of planning and allowing a bit of time would have made a big difference to the experience.
tyreon
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Re: car hire v train prices

Post by tyreon »

Will someone defend me,or do I stand "condemned"? :D
hamster
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Re: car hire v train prices

Post by hamster »

National Express Coach from Portsmouth Ferry Terminal to Victoria Coach Station SH030, then another from Victoria to Leicester NX440. Price £32.
But your bike will need to be bagged.
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mjr
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Re: car hire v train prices

Post by mjr »

tyreon wrote:Onto train: no signage and no help from guard as to where to load the bikes...we just have to enter the train anywhere. Are we in the correct department for bikes?Make sure the train doesn't leave: GET ON THE TRAIN! On the train we try to 'park the bikes',no sign or help of storage. On the Alton Towers ride(better than Dreamlands rollercoaster)the bikes smash over x2. The on and offcoming passengers do well to clamber over/around the commando obstacles(bicycles)

That's odd. Portsmouth-London services are usually operated by white livery Desiro units. The bicycle store is marked by a bicycle symbol in orange on the dark blue panel next to the door. You can just about see it on https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File ... 444031.jpg if you zoom in. There might be a clearer picture somewhere on commons.

Sorry for forgetting to mention needing to take straps to secure the bikes. As far as I know, only Greater Anglia provide such straps and that's only for the official limit of two bikes per store when six fit in comfortably. But you need such straps when transporting the bikes by car, too, so I just assumed... oops!

It's a shame that you got an unhelpful ticket seller at the first station, but after that, it seems like you made your own problems.

Similarly, Waterloo to St Pancras is fairly simple and I think it's signposted. Yes, it's busy and chaotic, even if you stick to the cycle routes, but that's a capital city, isn't it?
MJR, mostly pedalling 3-speed roadsters. KL+West Norfolk BUG incl social easy rides http://www.klwnbug.co.uk
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ferdinand
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Re: car hire v train prices

Post by ferdinand »

tyreon wrote:I made it back! Thanks for those who gave advice and guidance.

Don't want to savage the ticket meister at my first contact station but it went something like this: Yeah. Dunks kitakat into mug o T. Turns to page 3 o Sun. How can I elp u? I explain my situation. Nuthin doin. There's no reductions anywhere today. Youll have to wait ere til tomoro if you want anything. Turns page of paper,leans head onto palmed hand,a slow blink,gazes at page 3 DDs. I query,I remonstrate,big O. Well,it wasn't quite like that,but the guy was very indifferent,almost hostile(In his defense I think he'd just had a rush of 4/5 other cyclists just off the ferry...probably all wanting trains,just missing trains,all wanting travel,cheap tickets etc) I go away, exhausted by ferry journey.


Ouch. Interesting journey. I think you had most of the learning experiences in one go. He's doing well if he was looking at a topless page 3 since they stopped publishing it in January.

I did my first cross-London station run last year, and apart from a "learning cleats" slow collapsing bicyclist disaster, and everything being dug up everywhere, it was fine but I needed the extra half hour. On the way back I managed to get locked in the secure storage airlock entrance at St Pancras, because the button is hidden to anyone over 5'6" or so under a shelf.

I don't think you will ever get reductions on the day, as they work on a Low Cost Airline type pricing model, so aiui our ticket prices are more responsive to supply and demand than elsewhere. With planning I can get to London for the cost other places might charge for the bike. I find the walk-up costs a bit eyewatering, so I always plan train travel to the nth degree.

One tip I don't think was covered was perhaps to take a mini camping stool (Aldi, about £3.00) or similar if possible for bike watching. If travelling it can be adandoned in a local charity shop for the price of a coffee. That and a bungie strap for holding it in place on the train.

I also have a habit of sitting in the wrong seat if I have a bike as I'd prefer to be within sight, especially if I leave things on the bike - I look for one which is booked by somebody on a different journey segment to mine. If you are in the togs or have a helmet people can find you.

Pre-booked bike should have a bike ticket stuck on the frame on eg East Midlands Trains, so you can tell where they are getting off and rearrange bikes in the right order.

My 2 golden rules having done a few trains now are 1 - *Always* allow extra time. 2 - Never travel at an expected busy time.

I now have less anxiety about booking since I have had no problems with walk-up trains where that is the system. But I don't know how to avoid the bike developing patina.

Ferdinand
simonhill
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Re: car hire v train prices

Post by simonhill »

Firstly congratulations on getting to Santandaner. With your apparent lack of planning you did well. Likewise, congratulations on your epic trip home. In a few days it will be a good anecdote to amuse your friends.

Maybe you now realise why many choose to fly. I checked yesterday eve for a flight Bilbao to Stanstead and it was about €70, plus £35 for bike for today, much cheaper if booked earlier. Other airports are available, but Stanstead to Leicester is a day or two cycling, shortened by local trains that you maybe more comfortable with.

My advice would be to embrace the web. Get a decent credit card that you are happy to use with online providers. You can regularly check your account to make sure you are not robbed. I fly in and around Asia and regularly use card to book flights, with absolutely no problems. Believe it or not they are not all out to get you!
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mjr
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Re: car hire v train prices

Post by mjr »

simonhill wrote:Maybe you now realise why many choose to fly.

And airline baggage systems are sooooo good if you're worried about tiny dings to your bike! :roll:
MJR, mostly pedalling 3-speed roadsters. KL+West Norfolk BUG incl social easy rides http://www.klwnbug.co.uk
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simonhill
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Re: car hire v train prices

Post by simonhill »

My advice if you are worried about minor dings to your bike is not to take it touring. In my opinion, a touring bike is a workhorse and you have to expect it to pick up some damage.

My first ding on my brand new LHT was on a train. Sad, but wouldn't have missed were I was cycling.

My limited experience of ferries is that they are just as likely to damage your bike as any other means of transport. Wheel it on, lay it against a rusting steel bulkhead and wait for other bikes to be piled on top of it.
tyreon
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Re: car hire v train prices

Post by tyreon »

Thanks to all commentators.

I think some of my ire was that I had just back thru Spain where you had national roads(as like the A1)wherein my wife and I cycled alone without seeing another motorised vehicle for hours at a time. Some of these roads stood alongside national motorways(these themselves never overcrowded). Take the back roads and you never saw a vehicle until you got to your village,hamlet,town. When arriving at any destination our bikes would taken from us and delivered to their own rooms up or downstairs in the Hostals. It just wasn't a GB experience. I think I was experiencing cultural shock once back in our crowded isle.

I think I am still suffering from JS Let the train take the Strain: sold an ideal with as many holes as a colander(remember the pipe and slippers,the relaxed smile as the eyes were closed in deep forthcoming slumber?). I don't find any train journey by bike a stress-free enjoyable experience.
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mjr
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Re: car hire v train prices

Post by mjr »

Tried riding a bike in Madrid?

Although maybe it's getting better there too, like in London. Still along way to go before it's Barcalona or Seville.
MJR, mostly pedalling 3-speed roadsters. KL+West Norfolk BUG incl social easy rides http://www.klwnbug.co.uk
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Bigdummysteve
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Location: Oxfordshire

Re: car hire v train prices

Post by Bigdummysteve »

Guards vans, remember them? I spent many happy childhood days exploring the Kent countryside, turn up wheel the bike in and sit on the floor( unless grumpy guard threw you out) so easy and alas no chance of them returning.....unless re nationalise the railways....now there an idea.
On my recent jogle I looked at the trains but the cost and lack of certain bike space led me to the same route as mickf. I boxed the Dummy and all my gear and flew taking only my bar bag, easy and cheaper than the train, my bike arrived by courier an hour after I arrived in wick.
I do wish it was like the old days, if was easier there would be some great day rides after an hour on the train.
tyreon
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Re: car hire v train prices

Post by tyreon »

My JOGLE experience: arrive Thurso. I haven't booked the train,I don't cycle in two days of very wet weather,I shelter(not training for SAS). I think there were 5 other cyclists at the station. Oh dear,me thinks,this could be trouble. First come,first served,I thought the first two cyclists would get on,myself and my wife...? Train arrives,stops. It's not crowded,empty seats. First two cyclists gain access,myself and wife get on...following lady cyclist(from Bungle Bungles?)...'Hold it there,please 'Guard tells her no more room on the train. That's the rules. Wot am I to do? pleads the Aussie. 'Well...' The train leaves without her. It's the last train that day. I think I can still recall her bemused/disconcerted face as the train left the station!!

The guard wasn't rude. Just follwin' those rules...and watching her butt. I never want to blame the more-than-my-jobsworth men and women. They/we are the underclass. Only the Toffs are above it all.
nirakaro
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Re: car hire v train prices

Post by nirakaro »

When trains were invented, life got easier, better and richer for most people. For the holdouts who saw it as self-evident that anyone travelling faster than 20mph would die, and so insisted on still travelling by stage coach, life got a lot more difficult. Similarly, the internet has made life – and especially travel – much simpler and more flexible for most of us. We give out our bank details online, and our bank balances don’t suddenly vanish. It’s not hard or unduly complex. But if you refuse to engage with today’s world, your life is going to become increasingly difficult…
andymiller
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Re: car hire v train prices

Post by andymiller »

tyreon wrote:Thanks to all commentators.

I think some of my ire was that I had just back thru Spain where you had national roads(as like the A1)wherein my wife and I cycled alone without seeing another motorised vehicle for hours at a time. Some of these roads stood alongside national motorways(these themselves never overcrowded). Take the back roads and you never saw a vehicle until you got to your village,hamlet,town. When arriving at any destination our bikes would taken from us and delivered to their own rooms up or downstairs in the Hostals. It just wasn't a GB experience. I think I was experiencing cultural shock once back in our crowded isle.

I think I am still suffering from JS Let the train take the Strain: sold an ideal with as many holes as a colander(remember the pipe and slippers,the relaxed smile as the eyes were closed in deep forthcoming slumber?). I don't find any train journey by bike a stress-free enjoyable experience.


Erm Not being unkind but you really are a bit of an old drama queen with a tendency to lay it on with a trowel. I've cycled in Spain and my jaw dropped with amazement at this.

How many times have you actually taken the train - apart from the journey from Portsmouth which seems to have been entirely problem-free? Any stress seems to have been entirely self-inflicted.

But you might have stumbled on the perfect angle for a comic travelogue: think modern-day Don Quijote on a bike with your missus as Sancho Panza. You could be onto a winner.
Edwards
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Re: car hire v train prices

Post by Edwards »

Having read this through I think I understand the train thing.

You have to book god only knows when in advance using god only knows the best company going via god only knows where and god only knows when.
To get a bike reservation that is not even worth the pixels on a computer that may or not be honoured and a train that god only knows if the bikes space will be usable for a bike.

That is the feeling I get from this thread.
Keith Edwards
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