Taking a bike on a train

Commuting, Day rides, Audax, Incidents, etc.
Merry_Wanderer
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Re: Taking a bike on a train

Post by Merry_Wanderer »

I beat my ' 7 bikes in the space for 2 bikes' record last week. On a Lincoln bound train from East Mids Parkway to Nottingham, my Brompton was the 11th bike!
blackbike
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Re: Taking a bike on a train

Post by blackbike »

If you plan your trip outside of peak times the chances are you will have no traffic problems whatsoever on the Snake Pass, the M60 or any other Manchester area motorway.

Since the disappearance of guards vans on trains in the late 80s taking a bike on a train is a hit and miss affair, and even reservations and other permission can be overridden by the whim of a railway employee.

For a one-off trip just take the car.
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RickH
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Re: Taking a bike on a train

Post by RickH »

blackbike wrote:If you plan your trip outside of peak times the chances are you will have no traffic problems whatsoever on the Snake Pass, the M60 or any other Manchester area motorway.

Since the disappearance of guards vans on trains in the late 80s taking a bike on a train is a hit and miss affair, and even reservations and other permission can be overridden by the whim of a railway employee.

For a one-off trip just take the car.

And any car journey car be disrupted by the "whim" of a crash, breakdown or roadworks. I regularly (roughly once a week) go to Chester. By car (which I only do rarely) it takes about 1¼ hours door-to-door on a good day, but has taken up to 2½ hours even outside peak hours. By bike and train (8½ miles by bike plus 2 trains) it takes about 2 to 2½ hours (3 sometimes if I miss a connection & it is slower coming home as I have over 600ft net height gain on the home leg from the station). Apart from the cycling time I can do other things - email, read forums, read a book, plan a ride, etc. - so it isn't "dead" time. Fuel cost & train fare are similar - the train is possibly slightly cheaper if it is just me (it usually is).

Staff on the trains and platforms, at least around here, are almost universally helpful and friendly (plus quite a few are cyclist themselves). The only real problem I've had is one guard on a Pendelino told me tandems weren't allowed (ironic since the Virgin Pendelinos are the one type of train that I know of that specifically allows tandems), but he was persuaded to let me on. That is the worst, and only specifically bike related, incident - that I nearly didn't get on my train - in at least 100 individual train journeys (2 trains each way on a return trip) in the last 9 months plus other trouble-free train journeys elsewhere. I've missed a few connections (although not directly bike related) but I've also got stuck in traffic (& Mrs H regularly has problems with traffic not just at peak times - she needs to use the car for work).

It is easy to over-hype the problems. I'm not denying they happen but, from my experience, taking a bike on train is rarely a problem & certainly no worse than the problems I encounter when in the car. YMMV, as they say. :)

Rick.
Former member of the Cult of the Polystyrene Head Carbuncle.
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mjr
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Re: Taking a bike on a train

Post by mjr »

Yes. I'm on the train now. No problems. Four bikes on a Greater Anglia with space for two earlier. This Great Northern peak commuter service is awash with folders. I feel a big part of the problem is the rolling stock not being flexible enough to take more rigid bikes off peak.
MJR, mostly pedalling 3-speed roadsters. KL+West Norfolk BUG incl social easy rides http://www.klwnbug.co.uk
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sjs
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Re: Taking a bike on a train

Post by sjs »

karlt wrote:I've had no problems either - Northern trains, Virgin, East Midlands. The latter has the bikes in a compartment marked "private" but apart from that logical fail I have no problems on peak time trains between Chesterfield and Sheffield.


No problems for me either. I generally find the process quite stressful, but never had a problem, including travelling to the start and from the end of a LEJoG. I often use the Stevenage/Peterborough/Kings Lynn bit of the network for Sunday jaunts, and find it very user friendly.
RogerThat
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Re: Taking a bike on a train

Post by RogerThat »

They're a bit grim on trains round my way, any more than six bikes and I'm afraid you're riding home :(
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[XAP]Bob
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Re: Taking a bike on a train

Post by [XAP]Bob »

To be fair if you're carrying six bikes....



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MikeF
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Re: Taking a bike on a train

Post by MikeF »

Does anyone have any experience of taking cycles on South Eastern Trains? Unlike Southern they don't seem to have doors marked for wheelchair and cycle users.
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