Bicycles on trains - new policy from May?

[whole diary]

[grahame]

Clearly the DDA^» (Disability Discrimination Act - about) angle on the dangly spaces hasn't been followed (and due to the way DDA works, almost certainly won't be).

What is this DDA to which you refer? The Act of Parliament repealed in 2010? 

Although the Act of Parliament itself may have been repealed in 2010, the spirit lives on in other legislation and in my view and I think that of others terms such as "DDA Compilant", "DDA Compliance" and "the DDA angle" are commonly taken in discussion to mean "compliance with current disability discrimination legislation".

In a court of law, the current laws and their acts would be looked at; here in a discussion amongst friends,  terms such as "DDA angle" or "DDL angle" strike me as an appropriate shorthand which is far clearer than listing individual  sections of the Equalities Act of 2010 which has replaced the Equal Pay Act 1970, Sex Discrimination Act 1975, Race Relations Act 1976, Disability Discrimination Act 1995, Employment Equality (Religion or Belief) Regulations 2003, Employment Equality (Sexual Orientation) Regulations 2003 and the Employment Equality (Age) Regulations 2006.

At times in discussions like the current one, to refer to the Equalities Act without further qualification could suggest that the poster is questioning whether people of a certain religious following would feel unequal because they had to hang there cycles vertically.

I agree, Bmblbzzz - the Disability Discrimination law consideration for these spaces is an interesting question.

[ChrisB]

Well said Graham.

[Bmblbzzz]

Exactly as Grahame has said. If I'd put "EA" I'm not sure people would have known what I meant. An occasion when being inaccurate conveys the more meaning better and is arguable more precise than being accurate! 

[JayMac]

My apologies for merely striving for accuracy. Casual readers may have no idea what DDA^» (Disability Discrimination Act - about) stands for, let alone that it is no longer on the statute book. It may be appropriate shorthand for those in the know. For others, a short explanation of the correct legislation may be more helpful.

Then there's the fact that rail vehicles have their own separate regulations for accessibility.

[ChrisB]

Strive then - by explaining the current legislation, rather than just posing a question that you know the answer to?

[lordgoata]

Exactly as Grahame has said. If I'd put "EA" I'm not sure people would have known what I meant. An occasion when being inaccurate conveys the more meaning better and is arguable more precise than being accurate! 

Electronic Arts ? or the Environmental Agency ? 

[TonyK]

Evangelical Alliance!

This is not the only case of the former abbreviation / acronym / name being so widely known that it stays in use after supercession. Landlords who advertise their flats with the qualification "No DSS!" can be told that they are correct - there is no DSS, and hasn't been for almost 15 years, since the Department for Work and something beginning with P replaced it. How many people take their car for a MoT test, or look for a CORGI registered plumber to sort their gas piping out? In my (soon to be former) job, I see mothers aged in their 20s who tell me they get Family Allowance. As it was abolished on 6 December 1971, their mothers didn't get it for them.

We must move with the times, but remember that evolution is a slow business.

[TaplowGreen]

.....there's no business like slow business....

(I'll get my coat)

[John R]

My apologies for merely striving for accuracy. Casual readers may have no idea what DDA^» (Disability Discrimination Act - about) stands for,

Although they could have checked that ever helpful list of abbreviations and acronyms, where it is listed.

[Bmblbzzz]

A friend (actually a colleague of a friend) who commutes from Cardiff to Bristol (Parkway I presume as office is in Aztec) has been told the principal reason for the new policy is not lack of capacity but to reduce delays. With the HST^▸ (High Speed Train) guards vans, not only do passengers with bikes have to get from carriage to guards vans but ^ obviously ^ only one at a time can get through the door and it takes longer to get a bike through the door, in either direction, than a person (though maybe not than a person with large suitcase or push chair). But the main problem seems to be a reluctance on the part of passengers to enter the guards van while there's someone else already in there.

This is something I don't understand and haven't really observed myself. There is definitely room in there for more than one person at a time to stow/remove a bike, though not more than two or three. It does get tight though if more than one wants to manoeuvre their bike at the same time (it needs to be turned through 90 degrees between door and racks).

Anyway, said c of f has booked a space in each direction for a couple of months ahead (he has a season ticket) and wants to book a second space on a later train every day for occasions when he has to work late.

[The Tall Controller]

The pricipal reason has never been to reduce delays. It is simply to warm customers up for when the new electric / bimode trains come into service.

There's nothing stopping someone from getting reservations on 2 services if they have a season ticket. Just expect a lot of wasted tickets!

[ChrisB]

Except that it stops others from carrying their bike. You will get complaints when they can't reserve, leave their bike, then find empty spaces!

[ellendune]

I really think anyone commuting daily should consider either a folding bike or a bike at both ends (as they do in Netherlands).  That is assuming that secure storage facilities are available at both ends - and if they are not they should be!

[Richard Fairhurst]

There's nothing stopping someone from getting reservations on 2 services if they have a season ticket.

Please, please do not encourage that. It's downright selfish and disrespectful to others trying to travel.

[Bmblbzzz]

I'd agree^. And my friend has pointed out that the result is artificially reduced bike capacity; not only from booking two services but because some of the days he's booked he will end up not working.

I think the point about delays was made to friend's colleague specifically about the services he uses, which apparently are't that busy with bikes. Where in the GWR^▸ (Great Western Railway) decision chain it originates I'm not sure; could be just from whoever he was speaking to, so probably station or train staff.