Bicycles on trains (merged topics)

[whole diary]

[matth1j]

Apologies if this has been covered before, but...

I usually leave my bike at Reading station on route to Bath (0727), but this morning I left my bike lock keys at home so had to take my bike on the train. Unfortunately, because there were already 6 bikes in the rack on the train, the guard said it was full so I would have to wait for the next train.

6 bikes between 8 carriages (IC125) - is this reasonable? Are there any plans to increase the IC125s' bike capacity?

Cheers
matt

[Phil]

Are there any plans to increase the IC125s' bike capacity?

Not that I'm aware of, but apparently there are plans afoot to make more bicycle parking available at stations - which seems eminently sensible to me.

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/politics/article6851682.ece#cid=OTC-RSS&attr=1515793

The Government will announce today that it is creating 10,000 additional secure cycle spaces at stations as part of a commitment to ^put cycling at the heart of transport policy^.

The question however is, will they be charging cyclists for the privilege of leaving their bikes on station property? Personally, I don't see why not - but then, I'm probably in a minority of one in thinking bikes ought to be either road taxed (and the income used to build clycle lanes) or allowed to use the pavements....

[eightf48544]

I would be very surprised if thre were any plans to increase bike capacity on an HST^▸ (High Speed Train). I'm suprised to hear there are still six!

Just to make you jealous DB^» (Deutsche Bahn - German State Railway - about) IC^▸ (Inter City) DVTs^‡(resolve) have 30 plus reservable bike spaces per coach. And you can stand  behind the driver watching the line ahead. Fascinating weaving through a staion loop to overtake a freight train. Vr2 Hp2 signal sequence.

[matth1j]

but apparently there are plans afoot to make more bicycle parking available at stations

I usually park my bike at Reading (ie. when I remember to bring my bike lock keys) - it hasn't been a problem for me.

[matth1j]

Just to make you jealous DB^» (Deutsche Bahn - German State Railway - about) IC^▸ (Inter City) DVTs^‡(resolve) have 30 plus reservable bike spaces per coach.

[Mookiemoo]

As far as I can tell, the TOC^▸ (Train Operating Company)'s do not want bikes on trains full stop and seem to be making it harder and harder for us poor cyclists.

I remember, before I got the folder, being told I had to make reservations for the bike but then the person on the phone got stroppy when I wanted to reserve the 1722, 1822 and 1922 every day for five days.  Apparently I could only have one per day - but as I explained, I cant possibly know what time I'll get out of the office each day with over running meetings etc and potential delays on the way in so I could be on any one of those three trains on any day.  Sadly I could be, but my bike could not

[IndustryInsider]

As far as I can tell, the TOC^▸ (Train Operating Company)'s do not want bikes on trains full stop and seem to be making it harder and harder for us poor cyclists.

And you can't blame them. They take up space, cause delays and are carried free of charge. The TOC's will spin yarns about welcoming cycles on their trains but in reality they are nothing but a nuisance - especially on peak trains.

As Graham says, over the coming years, there will be more of a swing towards encouraging more people who commute with their bikes to have them left in secure storage at either their origin or destination station (depending where they do the cycling). The potential new facilities at Paddington discussed on here a couple of months ago are testament to that.

HST^▸ (High Speed Train)'s can actually store 12 bikes, 6 in the TGS and 3 each in the power cars (in fact the power cars can store more in exceptional circumstances, though there are racks for 3). The power cars are not used in normal situations though as they are even more cumbersome to use than the TGS - but they can come in useful when a train is stopping at a short platform and the TGS isn't on the platform (Evesham for example), or when there is some kind of event on (the London to Oxford annual cycle ride for example).

I will be interested to see what provision is made on the IEP^▸ (Intercity Express Program / Project.) trains for cycle storage...

[vacman]

6 is more than adequate, XC^▸ (Cross Country Trains (franchise)) voyagers only carry three now I believe?

[devon_metro]

6 is more than adequate, XC^▸ (Cross Country Trains (franchise)) voyagers only carry three now I believe?

And getting a normal sized bike in the rack is a task I hear!

[dog box]

6 is more than adequate, XC^▸ (Cross Country Trains (franchise)) voyagers only carry three now I believe?

And getting a normal sized bike in the rack is a task I hear!

its more than that mate, its a complete joke.....sorry but bikes on trains cause delays it as simple as that,

[JayMac]

its more than that mate, its a complete joke.....sorry but bikes on trains cause delays it as simple as that,

Yet DB^» (Deutsche Bahn - German State Railway - about) ICE carry up to 20! (But then DB or SNCF^▸ (Societe Nationale des Chemins de fer Francais - French National Railways) or Renfe are all 'so much better' than our network. Nope, hang on I don't buy that arguement!) OK they charge approx ^7.50 for a reservation on DB. Why not introduce charging and utilise the TGS space on a HST^▸ (High Speed Train). Nice extra revenue stream!

[Super Guard]

its more than that mate, its a complete joke.....sorry but bikes on trains cause delays it as simple as that,

Yet DB^» (Deutsche Bahn - German State Railway - about) ICE carry up to 20! (But then DB or SNCF^▸ (Societe Nationale des Chemins de fer Francais - French National Railways) or Renfe are all 'so much better' than our network. Nope, hang on I don't buy that arguement!) OK they charge approx ^7.50 for a reservation on DB. Why not introduce charging and utilise the TGS space on a HST^▸ (High Speed Train). Nice extra revenue stream!

Because the revenue wouldn't cover the delays they would cause.

[JayMac]

Of course I was forgetting that the once proud Inter-City 125 is nothing more now than a glorified commuter train. Sod anybody with a bike or a bit of luggage. I expect anti-cyclist sentiments from road users, however it seems as though there are just as many bike haters on our rail network.

[eightf48544]

its more than that mate, its a complete joke.....sorry but bikes on trains cause delays it as simple as that,

Interestingly enough bikes do cause delays even on DB^» (Deutsche Bahn - German State Railway - about). On said IC^▸ (Inter City) Cologne Leipzig it was running wrong way round with DVT^‡(resolve) leading from Cologne instead of loco first. When we got to Hagen there was party of cyclists waitng at the rear of the platform. the driver waceved frantically at them to move up but they didn't twig so we left around 5 down.

[bemmy]

its more than that mate, its a complete joke.....sorry but bikes on trains cause delays it as simple as that,

Interestingly enough bikes do cause delays even on DB^» (Deutsche Bahn - German State Railway - about). On said IC^▸ (Inter City) Cologne Leipzig it was running wrong way round with DVT^‡(resolve) leading from Cologne instead of loco first. When we got to Hagen there was party of cyclists waitng at the rear of the platform. the driver waceved frantically at them to move up but they didn't twig so we left around 5 down.

It seems to me that the delay was caused by the train running the wrong way round, not by the cyclists. If there's a last minute platform alteration and the train has to wait for passengers to come from the other platform, does that count as a delay caused by the passengers?

I would be interested to see what percentage of delay minutes on our rail network are actually caused by cyclists.