Bicycles on trains - new policy from May?

[whole diary]

[brompton rail]

http://www.bikeandgo.co.uk
This scheme was set up on Merseyrail and Northern by Abellio (formerly NedRail as The UK^▸ (United Kingdom) arm of NS) and since has been expanded to Scotland and Eastern England.

Interestingly it continues in Northern England and is advertised in Arriva North's rail timetables.

^10 annual fee, ^3.80 per day hire. Key for bike collected from station booking office and returned to there or a collection box. Bikes are German Raleigh roadster types maintained by local contractors. Slight drawback is that bikes have to be returned to original station.

Nothing to stop GWR^▸ (Great Western Railway) contracting Abellio to set up a scheme in their area of course.

[grahame]

A question that's cropped up ... writing things up ahead of time.

If someone's taking their cycle from a local station somewhere on the West Fleet area to London and have correctly reserved for the connecting high speed train ... what happens if the connection misses?   Is it down to the "next available train OK" like with advance tickets - but what if that train is already fully cycle reserved?

[ChrisB]

Ask @GWRhelp I think & get definitive answer

[grahame]

Ask @GWRhelp I think & get definitive answer

ok ...

@GWRHelp New cycle policy. What happens if a connection is late and you miss the ongoing HST^▸ (High Speed Train)?

Hi, staff would do everything they could to assist you in boarding the next available train.

[Bmblbzzz]

I took my bike on two trains over the weekend. Up to Ashchurch on Friday morning using the Malvern train, for which I had the only bike on what looked like a busy train. And on Sunday back from Cheltenham to Temple Meads on a XC^▸ (Cross Country Trains (franchise)) service (having missed the Malvern train ^ too much time sitting around in the sun, not enough pedalling!). On that train I became the fourth bike in the three spaces.  In fact, it wasn't really a problem, as my bike fitted underneath the empty luggage rack ^ but that was just lucky). At Parkway, there were five bikes. Luckily, at least two of us got off at TM^‡(resolve).

I think the point is, some trains are very busy with bikes, others not. I've used that Malvern train several times with a bike and almost always been the only one. The XCs are a bit hit and miss but again IME^▸ (in my experience) Sunday evenings seem to be busy for the with bikes, at least heading southwards. So it's not just commuter times. Second point, it's relatively easy to enforce a compulsory reservation policy with HSTs^▸ (High Speed Train) and Pendolinos, because there's a separate compartment which staff can lock.* Once the HSTs are replaced by 800s with dangly in-carriage spaces, it's not going to be practical.

*A friend once got a cab ride in a Pendolino because the driver was intrigued by her unusual bike.

[Richard Fairhurst]

In an email from Mark Hopwood to stakeholders today:

We would like to encourage pre-booking as much as possible, but we understand that there will be times when booking has not been possible and there is space is available on board. 

Station staff have been briefed to allow bikes on board if this is the case. Customers should not therefore have any issues travelling without booking a space for their cycle if there is space on board.

Very sensible and welcome.

[Bmblbzzz]

Will station staff know and have time to check if bikes are booked on to the same train later on its journey? If not, you could reserve a space and find it already taken ^ just as can happen under the present policy. Also, why station staff not train staff? What if it's a station without round the clock staffing?

[IndustryInsider]

Will station staff know and have time to check if bikes are booked...

No, they won't.  They probably won't even be in attendance to check in many cases.  It's an unworkable policy.

[Bmblbzzz]

It sounds like an un-policy. It's either meaningless guff in that staff won't be letting bikes into spaces (because they can't) or if they do, it's a negation of the official policy to require reservations. Pointless.

[TaplowGreen]

It sounds like an un-policy. It's either meaningless guff in that staff won't be letting bikes into spaces (because they can't) or if they do, it's a negation of the official policy to require reservations. Pointless.

Agreed.....This "fudge" will be seized upon by cyclists & is a recipe for endless circular arguments with train staff.....either you have a rule that says you need a reservation for a bike, or you don't.

[Richard Fairhurst]

Will station staff know and have time to check if bikes are booked on to the same train later on its journey?

I would hope that reservation tickets will be put above each bike space on HSTs^▸ (High Speed Train), as has certainly been done in the past. (I don't recall seeing pockets for reservation tickets on 180s, but then have never looked out for them.)

[Bmblbzzz]

Yes, I've seen those tickets on HSTs^▸ (High Speed Train) but not on other trains, though, like you, I've not really looked for them. Not that I'm quite sure what a "180" is but local services seem not to have reservable bike spaces anyway, at least when I've tried. Probably more to the point, the new policy is supposed to allow booking spaces on the day of travel, and even under the present system I know once or twice I've had a booked space on an HST and there's been no ticket in the bike compartment/guard's van, so it seems an unreliable method.

[IndustryInsider]

Definitely no space for a label on a 180, though I suppose holders could be fitted.  Is the booking engine clever enough to work out what end of the train the reservation needs to be allocated to?  I very much doubt it and stations with short platforms such as Hanborough and Honeybourne need bikes to be placed at the front.  Also, on 180s, the driver often helps out the TM^‡(resolve) by loading/unloading bikes, so I wonder how they will be informed about reservations?  If the TM has to deal with both ends then that's a recipe for more delays.

[grahame]

I saw the follow up email to Stakeholders too ... but I have not let that put me (TransWilts hat) advise as per the official line:

Bicycles are carried free of charge, and without pre-booking, on local and regional trains in the South West, such as the Swindon to Westbury line and connecting services on to Salisbury, but numbers are limited.

On long distance expresses, such as those calling at Westbury on their way from London to Plymouth and Penzance, and at Swindon and Chippenham on their way from London to Bath Spa, Bristol and South Wales, you're required to hold a cycle reservation if you're travelling with a non-folding bicycle as from 15th May 2016. These reservations are available free of charge.

Note that folding bicycles with a wheel size of 20" or less (that's most of them) are carried as luggage, and there's no limit on the numbers or need for reservation. As with all luggage, you need to ensure they're properly stored on the train and aren't a risk to others.

From my observation / not a cyclist, I see the new rules as an attempt to firm up on a structure for in what has become an increasingly difficult and sometimes fraught ("unruly"?) situation. I'm relieved to see what looks like a degree of discression being planned for but I share misgivings about the even application of discression - made than much harder, I suspect, by uneven cycle space demand.

[ChrisB]

It's being done because the IEP^▸ (Intercity Express Program / Project.) trains can only take x number of bikes and they *won't* be allowed in any vestibule. So best to get cyclists aware & used to the change sooner than later.

It will cause problems amongst those cyclists who assume it is their right to carry their bike on trains.