GWR bike reservation changes?

[whole diary]

[ellendune]

If they had bike reservations, why didn't the TM^▸ (Train Manager, or Ticket Machine, or Temple Meads (Bristol), depending on context) turf out the unreserved bikes that were taking up their spaces?

This will only work if there is some means of allocating and clearly marking reserved bike spaces, or issuing some kind of stick-on ticket to identify a reserved bike.

I genuinely thought that a sensible, logical, customer oriented system along these lines must have existed - I should of course have known better given it's the railway.

OK so what would that look like? How would it be operated?

[Red Squirrel]

I didn’t use the system in Germany, but as a casual observer I think their system works something like this: The bike spaces are numbered, and the passenger has a reservation ticket with that number on it.

Seemed to work better than the seat reservation system, which often had a really useful sign at every seat showing words to the effect of ‘This seat might be reserved’.

[IndustryInsider]

I didn’t use the system in Germany, but as a casual observer I think their system works something like this: The bike spaces are numbered, and the passenger has a reservation ticket with that number on it.

All bike spaces on IETs^▸ (Intercity Express Train - replacement for HSTs (manufactured by Hitachi in Kobe, Japan)) are numbered and have a reservation/available display. 

The passenger needs the carriage letter on a reservation confirmation to know which carriage to head for. 

The storage areas on each train that are the designated cycle spaces need to be more clearly marked as such to lessen that chances of prams and luggage being put in there. 

TM^▸ (Train Manager, or Ticket Machine, or Temple Meads (Bristol), depending on context)'s should have a quick and easy method of checking at which station(s) booked cycles will be boarding and alighting.