Great Western Coffee Shop

http://www.cambridge-news.co.uk/Bike-ban-axed-following-crowding-earlier-train/story-23349295-detail/story.html

Every day for I don't know I how long I see signs advising cyclists of when they can/can't take their (full size) bikes on trains, and every day I see cyclists completely ignoring them (mostly on Turbos) - I honestly cannot remember a time I saw platform or on train staff stop this happening or attempt to enforce the rules on non HST services.

Fellow customers are generally treated with self righteous contempt at best or outright hostility at worst for reminding cyclists of the rules.

I was on a rail replacement bus from Pangbourne to Tilehurst yesterday, and a lady got on with her (full size) bicycle and put it in the buggy space.  The driver didn^t object.

We aren't treated much better when we do have a chance to politely advise them!

Its not just on the trains, the idiots that carry them on their shoulders when getting off the train and walking up/down stairs are just as bad and as arrogant - I've now moved carriage on the trains I usually board just to avoid being whacked on the head by rear wheels!

As an avid cyclist I still think bikes should be banned completely - and that goes for folding bikes, they are just as bad being left in vestibules and aisles.

I shudder to think what will happen to all that loose metal in an accident, or if people need to get off quickly due to an emergency  :(

I too am an avid cyclist but like lordgoata despair at the behaviour of some of these.......and don't get me started on them running red lights on the roads......I worked at Highbury corner a few years back and it was like watching people trying to commit suicide.......ignoring lights and the highway code, riding up the inside of HGVs etc...........maybe there should be a SPAD rule for cyclists?

I often remember the "gentleman" at Maidenhead who used to position himself to be first aboard the Bourne End to Paddington service so that he could dump his Brompton in the vestibule and mooch off to find himself a seat, leaving everyone else trying to get on board clambering around it (although, to be fair, it wouldn't be in the way at Slough).

His behaviour didn't change much when he changed his Brompton for one that just folded in the middle.

So glad that I commute away from London nowadays.

From the Guardian: http://www.theguardian.com/business/2015/nov/13/plan-forcing-cyclists-to-dismantle-bikes-before-using-channel-service-ditched?

Perhaps we should adopt another couple of nasty European Habits from the Dutch and have two bikes one for home to station and one from destination to work. Although how you ever find your bike in the huge multi story bike park at Amsterdam Central I don't know.

Or 30 bike spaces in DB DVTs on ICs. Although that did cause a problem on a Koln Leipzig IC at one station as the train was the wrong way round and the DVT was at the front with of course us standing behind the driver. A group of cyclists was waitng at the rear end  of the platform where the DVT was booked to stop. Mad rush up the platform.

Already happens a lot what with peak bans on carrying cycles....

I think that there ought to be a nominal charge for a bike (say ^2 to ^5).  It would encourage the every day commuter to adopt the solution of having a bike at both ends, not be prohibitively expensive for the occasional user (who would find more bike space), reduce resentment among non-cyclists and provide a level of income to the TOCs that might motivate them to improve bike facilities on and off trains.  If having a bike ticket becomes an issue of "revenue protection" the rules might be enforced better too. 

Of course to make any sense the change would have to be nationwide rather then left to individual Tocs

This morning there where 8 bikes in the corridor between the two carriages for the 0657 BPW->BTM train.

No chance for anyone to move between carriages. 

Is that potentially an evacuation route?

The general operating policy is no more than two non-folding cycles per vestibule on GWR DMU services, though, as we've said before that is very difficult to enforce on DOO services, or non-DOO services if formed with more than one set and no corridor connections.

Interesting case on the train I was on yesterday ... Cross Country HST ... people are alloweed to load cycles into the "luggage van" section, and to take folded cycles on to the train, right?   And that's what happened.

Chap in "G" - that's the quiet zone / last carriage / door only at one end proceeded to unfold his cycle - set it up so that it was ready to go when he got to destination; caused a bit of a jam for the rest of us, but what is there to prevent this, and is it against the rules?

I'd imagine your chap in G was breaking the rules, but more than that, I think he was breaking common sense! Not only cos it's obvious that if you've brought a folding bike into the carriage, the whole point of it is that it goes in the luggage rack, but also I can't see how he gained from it. Unless he was planning to ride it down the platform at his destination.  :o

As to charging for bikes, it sounds good in theory but I'm not sure how it would work in practice. Yes, it should encourage commuters to either use a folder or get a station bike, but it's the effect on occasional bike+train users I'm not sure about. I'm one of them and I find provision varies from really quite good (HSTs have room for 6, which is usually enough) to rather bad (Voyagers have too few spaces and moreover they are too small and totally unusable for anyone who is short, lacking in upper-body strength or has a "non-standard" cycle, such as a recumbent or a trike; worth noting that these are often effectively mobility aids for people with problems walking). The little Pacers or whatever they're called, such as on the Portsmouth to Cardiff and Bristol to Malvern services, with their corridor spaces and flip-up seats respectively, are easy to use but demand on the former does outstrip supply at times.

The problems with a bike ticket system are:
Would you have to book on to a specified service? If not, it obviously can't guarantee a space, which means the problem is not solved. If you do, then what happens to someone turning up and wanting to travel? There are reasons you might not be able to book in advance: eg irreparable breakdown mid-ride or simply end-of-tour fatigue. And of course, there are unbookable services (I once asked about booking a bike space on the Malvern service mentioned and was told it's not possible). And there would need to be some way of ensuring people don't book spaces on the off-chance: at present, you can, I understand, book a bike space without a ticket (on some services/operators at least) and some people do book several consecutive trains, knowing they'll be on either this, that or the next, but not which one. Very annoying. I don't think a fare of ^2 would necessarily deter this.

How would it be enforced? Is a member of staff going to check tickets at the guard's door of an HST? Could be a big delay. What about other trains? Once a train is on board, it's really not possible to ascertain for sure whose it is.

If you have booked a place and there is no space on your booked train (because of the situations above) how do you claim your space? Of course, this happens at present, but if you've had to pay for it, even a small amount, it makes things more "precious".

Finally, a flat fare would be fine on longer services, but paying an extra ^2 on, say, the Severn Beach line? It's going to seem... silly or extortionate, depending on your PoV.

In short, it's an idea I'd like to work, but I don't see how it would.

Depends on the circumstances. I was on an HST the other day with my folder, and unfolded it on the train just before arrival - because it was a lightly loaded train from Charlbury, pulling into Oxford, and I figured it would cause less disruption that way (not least because I'm nimbler moving through the station pushing a little bike than carrying one). I'd deliberately chosen carriage C, the one with the disabled toilet, which has more room. Would I do the same in carriage A in a morning peak arrival at Paddington? Of course not. :)