When will Eurostar recommence carrying bikes?

[Slowroad]

ANTONISH wrote: ↑13 Jul 2023, 9:18am
There is of course the tunnel cycle shuttle service which I think drops you off in Ashford (or used to).

It's the Holiday Inn Express in Folkestone now, and only once a day in each direction.

Slightly more convenient going from France to UK rather than the other way round. Pick up from Coquelles is at 12.30, whereas the pickup from Folkestone is at 08.00, which effectively means you have to have stayed at or near the Holiday Inn the night before (unless you live locally).

I do fancy trying it one day but it's impractical for me on the outward leg. Maybe coming back.

There is a camping and caravan club site in Folkestone, admittedly at the other end of town, but I used it with no problem when I used the Eurotunnel Shuttle minibus a few years ago. I work on Saturday mornings, so an early afternoon train from the Midlands to London then Folkestone by very late afternoon. Left at 7am, time to get to the pick-up and grab a coffee before my lift arrived. I was the only one on board going out and returning. Would certainly use it again.

[MrsHJ]

Timetable for Eurostar trains between London<->Brussels which accept fully assembled bikes:

London to Brussels:
9116: 09:01 departure
9132: 13:01 departure
9142: 15:04 departure

Brussels to London:
9117: 08:52 departure
9135: 12:52 departure
9141: 14:52 departure
9153: 17:56 departure

(Source: Email correspondence with Eurostar)

How do you actually book the bike - ok, I think this link. https://help.eurostar.com/faq/uk-en/que ... rom-London

I think you can change your train up to 7 days before departure so presumably if you have to commit to a ticket first that should give flexibility to get a bike space if booked well ahead.

Has anyone had any luck booking an intact bike Brussels to London?

[pal]

Has anyone had any luck booking an intact bike Brussels to London?

I've just done this, and thought I would report back on the process. I followed the instructions on the Eurostar bikes page and emailed travelservices@eurostar.com with my request. This generated an auto-reply, which included the details of which trains carry assembled bikes (the list is currently the same as the one reported in this thread), and a (word document) booking form. (It's the same form for assembled bikes as for packaged ones.) You need to give a booking reference on the form (i.e.: this is the point at which you need to book a train). The completed form goes back to the same address. If space is available, you're emailed a link to make the payment for the booking (by credit card: all major cards accepted). You then get confirmation of the booking, along with instructions on where to drop off/pick up the bike.

I sent my initial request last Sunday, got the payment link yesterday, and the final confirmation today: i.e. 5 working days from start to finish. (I'm not travelling until next May, so I assume my request didn't get top priority. On the other hand, I guess that this isn't a particularly busy time of year in the Eurostar booking office...).

So: not as bad as that Guardian article suggested, not as speedy as it used to be pre-covid/brexit, but actually quite clear and efficient as a process. From their description, the system for actually getting the bike onto and off the train seems the same as in the Before Times at the Brussels end (drop it off at the baggage office), and slightly improved in London (collect it at the platform, rather than having to detour all the way to the EuroDespatch office).

[mattheus]

Has anyone had any luck booking an intact bike Brussels to London?

<...>

So: not as bad as that Guardian article suggested, not as speedy as it used to be pre-covid/brexit, but actually quite clear and efficient as a process. From their description, the system for actually getting the bike onto and off the train seems the same as in the Before Times at the Brussels end (drop it off at the baggage office), and slightly improved in London (collect it at the platform, rather than having to detour all the way to the EuroDespatch office).

Great, thanks!

Do you have a feel for how early you need to drop-off? (ideally with info for dropp-ing off at StPancras as well, pretty please !!!)

[Jdsk]

I've just done this, and thought I would report back on the process. I followed the instructions on the Eurostar bikes page and emailed travelservices@eurostar.com with my request. This generated an auto-reply, which included the details of which trains carry assembled bikes (the list is currently the same as the one reported in this thread), and a (word document) booking form. (It's the same form for assembled bikes as for packaged ones.) You need to give a booking reference on the form (i.e.: this is the point at which you need to book a train). The completed form goes back to the same address. If space is available, you're emailed a link to make the payment for the booking (by credit card: all major cards accepted). You then get confirmation of the booking, along with instructions on where to drop off/pick up the bike.

I sent my initial request last Sunday, got the payment link yesterday, and the final confirmation today: i.e. 5 working days from start to finish. (I'm not travelling until next May, so I assume my request didn't get top priority. On the other hand, I guess that this isn't a particularly busy time of year in the Eurostar booking office...).

So: not as bad as that Guardian article suggested, not as speedy as it used to be pre-covid/brexit, but actually quite clear and efficient as a process. From their description, the system for actually getting the bike onto and off the train seems the same as in the Before Times at the Brussels end (drop it off at the baggage office), and slightly improved in London (collect it at the platform, rather than having to detour all the way to the EuroDespatch office).

Thanks for sharing that.

Is there a stage in the process when you've paid for the seat but don't know if they'll take the bike?

Jonathan

[pal]

Is there a stage in the process when you've paid for the seat but don't know if they'll take the bike?

Jonathan

Yes, unfortunately: you can't request the bike booking until you've paid for the ticket. The (partial) safeguard is that all eurostar bookings are flexible (for date/time, but not for route), so if the service you want is full then it would be easy enough to swap the booking to a different train and try again -- as long as that worked with any connections, etc, of course. (I would hope that the booking people would be able to give some indication of availability, if you got to that stage, so you didn't have to start again completely from scratch, but I don't know for sure. But the emails are definitely coming from a Real Human once you get to the later stages of the process, so there's some cause for optimism...)

[Jdsk]

Thankyou

Jonathan

[pal]

Do you have a feel for how early you need to drop-off? (ideally with info for dropp-ing off at StPancras as well, pretty please !!!)

They say to drop the bike off at least 90 minutes before departure. Given how slow things are with passport control &c these days, that's actually not much longer than the check-in time for travelling without a bike (a brexit bonus!).

Here's the map they sent of the St Pancras drop-off and pick-up points (I think the drop-off is where it always used to be?)

[Jdsk]

Evolyn: a competitor service from 2025:
viewtopic.php?p=1801447#p1801447

And now Heuro:
https://www.heurotrain.com/learn-more?g ... gLVGPD_BwE

Lots of flowery language but I can't see anything about bikes. I've written to ask.

Jonathan

[ophspeed]

Just had a very frustrating experience trying to book a fully assembled bike onto a London - Brussels service. There is no mention of maximum dimensions for fully assembled bikes at https://www.eurostar.com/uk-en/travel-i ... gage/bikes or https://help.eurostar.com/faq/uk-en/que ... n-Eurostar.

I booked my passenger ticket and then e-mailed Eurostar, as per their website, to book the bike spaces. I got an automatic reply that said

We can accept:
• items up to 30kg
• items not exceeding the following dimensions: H:165cm x D:57cm x W:135cm
• Musical instruments which don’t fit on a seat (between 85cm and 136cm)
• Sports equipment including bikes


No mention of maximum dimensions for fully assembled bikes here either.

I've now had a reply to my booking request, and they say they can only take fully assembled bikes on the London-Brussels route if they fall within the following dimensions:

Length: 118cm (minimum) – 165cm (maximum)
Height: 73cm (min) – 90cm (max)
Width: 18cm (min) – 36cm (max)


They also attached their bicycle booking Ts & Cs document, which makes no reference to maximum dimensions of fully assembled bikes.

It's very annoying that they don't communicate these restrictions until the bitter end. A separate issue is that the restriction seems unduly tight: I've checked all six bikes in our garage (belonging to various members of the family) and only a 1990s racer falls under the 90cm height (from floor to highest point of handlebars or saddle, whichever is higher) restriction. All the others are taller.

[nirakaro]

Not many bikes would comply with the 36cm maximum width!! Does it still count as ‘fully assembled’ if you’ve had to turn the handlebars? (Which not everyone would know to do.)

[ANTONISH]

Most assembled bikes with 700c wheels are going to have an overall length of roughly 70cm + wheelbase - I think that would be over 165 cm.
As for width the handlebars would have to be turned - height would be a problem as well.
I wonder how the allowed dimensions were obtained?

[Galactic]

Leaving aside the discrepancies in Eurostar's communications for the moment, the last time I took my bike on ES it was loaded onto a cage trolley - one of those tall sided, small wheeled things that retailers use to put the goods on the lorries and into the back of their shops. There were two bikes on there, both obviously overhanging the footprint of the trolley front and back. If they're still using that system then there's no obvious restrictions on length, width and, particularly, height.

If I were you I'd print out the most generous description (ie the first reply plus the T&Cs) and if challenged on the size of the bike, show them the printouts and start talking about trading standards.

[CJ]

Not many bikes would comply with the 36cm maximum width!! Does it still count as ‘fully assembled’ if you’ve had to turn the handlebars? (Which not everyone would know to do.)

The 165cm length also falls short, for anyone who likes to tour on a bike designed for the job! But I'm content with what I call Mostly Assembled, which is no less than anyone would willingly do for example, to fit their bike in the back of a Good Samaritan's car. That typically entails removal of the front wheel and pedals, lowering (or removing) the seatpost and turning the handlebars parallel with the frame. IMHO being ready and able to do that, is part of a competent touring cyclist's essential skillset. And it's no big deal. The removed wheel can easily be strapped to the side of the frame, likewise the seatpost with saddle attached, while pedals pop into a plastic bag in one pannier. (Personally, I also remove the front mudguard and strap it together with the wheel, so I don't need to loosen the handlebar stem, but can simply rotate the fork to align handlebars with frame.)

[nirakaro]

Not many bikes would comply with the 36cm maximum width!! Does it still count as ‘fully assembled’ if you’ve had to turn the handlebars? (Which not everyone would know to do.)

... part of a competent touring cyclist's essential skillset. And it's no big deal ...

Certainly. But I'd be mightily annoyed if I was expected to do any of that after paying for the carriage of a 'fully assembled bicycle'.