26th May, to West Wiltshire Rail User Group and worth a share in answer to a request to do somewhat better for cycles on Cross Country Trains
We will not be able to make any material difference to the way cycles can be stored on our Voyagers. Although the work taking place is extensive, to make changes to the provision for cycles would have required structural modifications to the train interiors, which would have significantly increased the scope and cost of the refurbishment. I do recognise that some people can find the existing arrangement difficult. I am certain that if asked our onboard teams would be happy to help, or [customer name] could request support through the Travel Assistance service and a link is available on our website.
While we won’t be able to change things for our cycling passengers, I can confirm that the work will include the replacement of all current passenger seating. These will be replaced with new seats to hopefully provide a more comfortable experience for our long distance users.
Kind regards
Richard Gibson
I am far from as certain as Richard in that colleagues on board are always as helpful as he suggests. The correspondence which generated this more general reply related to experiences with less than helpful staff and that's not a unique experience/perception.
I am minded of how different it could be. Waiting in Klaipeda (as one does) for th Vilnius train, the single carriage commuter train from Silute pulled in and there must have been a dozen bicycles coming off that in addition to a flow of passengers that seemed astonishingly endless. Crew and others on the train cheerfully handing cycles down from the relatively high train to the low outer platform - with the cycles then wheeled across the barrow crossing to exit the station.
Click on the map to explore geographics
