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Train cycle reservation system could hit commuters hardest

Great Western Railway's new bike reservation system means cyclists must book at least two hours in advance by phone, or via the ticket office...

Great Western Railway plans to introduce mandatory cycle reservations for its new high speed routes a year before the new trains arrive, leaving a question mark over how – or even if – commuters will be able to travel as normal with non-folded bikes.

From May 16 2016 cyclists travelling on GWR's high speed lines will need to book a bike reservation at least two hours in advance by phone, or at a station ticket office. Road.cc understands online reservation will not be possible.

CTC the national cycling charity, says they weren’t consulted on the changes, which they fear could worst impact commuters, who don’t always know what time they will return from work.

Selfish cyclist blasted for taking up THREE seats on busy train for his bike

CTC’s Campaigns Coordinator, Sam Jones, says: “The high speed trains are being introduced in 2017, so it seems a bit premature introducing [the new ticket reservation system] now.

He said: “We don’t have a problem booking a place as long as the infrastructure is there, i.e. if you can pick up a ticket from a guard or a ticket office. However, often the offices are closed at late hours, in which case how do you get your bike on the train? It needs to be easy and convenient for everyone.”

As part of £360m improvements to its rolling stock First Great Western's new privately funded High Speed trains, serving the South West, will have 24% greater seating capacity, or 1000 extra seats at peak times.

However, while the question of how to get a ticket after hours without a charged and working phone available don’t seem to have been addressed, GWR tells road.cc it isn’t currently planning on offering online booking, either. 

“We would like to think in this day and age it should be as easy booking your bike as it is booking your seat,” said Jones.

He says commuters may be worst hit by the changes, and thinks the assumption has been made commuters will use folding bikes, which don’t require a ticket, but this isn’t always the case.

“We have one member who has a 12 mile round trip; it is a bit too far to use a fold up bike, and a bit much to expect someone to buy one just to get on the train,” he said.

Last year CTC’s Eurostar campaign received 10,000 responses and an outcry which resulted in a policy u-turn from the international train operator on a proposed system where cyclists would need to box up their bikes to travel.

Jones says CTC wasn’t consulted prior to the changes, but has contacted GWR and urges them to get in touch.

“It would be nice if they reached out to cycling organisations like ourselves. We have only heard about it through our members,” he said

“We know from the Eurostar campaign cycle carriage is something that’s dear to us in this country. Imagine how many people use Great Western trains. We would rather not go to the nuclear option by creating an action [similar to the Eurostar campaign]”.

GWR were contacted for comment but have not yet responded.

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29 comments

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Al__S | 8 years ago
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In my experience with various TOCs, there tends to be leeway when trains get cancelled as long as there's space

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LucyF | 8 years ago
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How can we mobilise to challenge this?  Can CTC or someone start a petition?

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Canyon48 | 8 years ago
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Oh an trying to book your bike on a train over the phone is ridiculous. You get through to a call centre clearly not in the UK, the staff don't seem to understand what you are asking them and they have such strong accents they are difficult to understand over a crackly phone line. The phone line also costs a ridiculous amount to call from a mobile phone.

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Canyon48 | 8 years ago
1 like

This is £$%^&*( ridiculous, there's not even any way to know if the train you want to catch is a high speed or not (one of the ones I regularly catch can be either a high speed or a normal), also I usually get open returns, so how the hell am I meant to make a reservation in advance when I don't know what train I'm getting back.

I've got said train several times in the past few weeks and there hasn't been a single other bicycle in that HST, so this just seems a bit overkill...

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Al__S replied to Canyon48 | 8 years ago
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wellsprop wrote:

This is £$%^&*( ridiculous, there's not even any way to know if the train you want to catch is a high speed or not (one of the ones I regularly catch can be either a high speed or a normal),

 

All of the GWR timetables clearly show if an individual service is booked to be an HST or not

 

You're welcome

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hawkinspeter replied to Al__S | 8 years ago
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Al__S wrote:

wellsprop wrote:

This is £$%^&*( ridiculous, there's not even any way to know if the train you want to catch is a high speed or not (one of the ones I regularly catch can be either a high speed or a normal),

 

All of the GWR timetables clearly show if an individual service is booked to be an HST or not

 

You're welcome

Yeah, that's all well and good, but what happens if you plan on taking a normal train that gets cancelled and the next/replacement one is a high speed one?

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Edgeley | 8 years ago
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It is also worth saying that lots of stations don't have a booking office at which you can do your reservation.  Much of the Cotswold line between Oxford and Worcester, for instance.  

 

 

 

 

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Dnnnnnn replied to Edgeley | 8 years ago
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Edgeley wrote:

It is also worth saying that lots of stations don't have a booking office at which you can do your reservation.  Much of the Cotswold line between Oxford and Worcester, for instance.  

But you can do it by 'phone: 

https://www.gwr.com/your-journey/journey-information/on-board/cycles

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Al__S | 8 years ago
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On the new trains the bike storage area will be accessed via the main (powered) passenger doors, just like on Virgin or Cross Country.

The current trains need an inordinate number of platform staff to ensure all doors are closed properly as passengers getting on and off can't be trusted to do that themselves.

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bigdanbro | 8 years ago
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I'm not so much perturbed by the demand for reservations, rather (as others have noted) the poverty of facilities to make the requesite bookings - especially if one has a last minute change of plans. As I understand the current proposals I could face a scenario like this: book a space on a train at 16.15, puncture - miss train by ten minutes, next train that heads to my destination is due to leave in just under two hours - but I can't book a space because I am required to give two hours advance notice, therefore have to wait for the train after that (another two hours) i.e. a train almost 4 hours after the one that I had hoped to catch.

 

Also current reservations require either going into the station or trying to book via the telephone both of which can be Kafka-esque exercises. 

 

And whilst I'm at it - how will this work with the new electric trains and the reduced number of platform staff?

 

Humpf.

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Christopher TR1 | 8 years ago
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How about furnishing the carriages with cycle stands (proper ones, not those crap ones that are going to fcuk up your carbon rims) so you can perch on your steed or stand astride it during your journey. If people don't have a bike there will be a half dozen seats which are bookable in advance. This system could be extended to airlines as well so that you wouldn't have to trust your favourite bike to the mercies of the baggage handlers, or be lumbered with a giant suitcase.

Brompton and other folding bike users will be allowed onboard, provided the bike remains in its unfolded configuration, as God intended.

Ahhh, if I were king....

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Al__S | 8 years ago
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I get that it's a pain, but as rgp says, GWR were unusual. Until this row blew up I'd have assumed that bike reservations on the HSTs/180s were mandatory anyway, simply because that's the case on Virgin Trains (both East and West), on Cross Country, on East Midland Trains Midland Mainline services, on Hull Trains, Caledonian Sleeper, Abellio Greater Anglia London-Norwich services and South West Trains London to Salisbury/Exeter/Bristol services. A cursory search brings up that Grand Central don't have bike reservations.

 

Of course there's a big bit that currently GWR use HSTs for short commuter services. It does seem rude to change policy right now, especially without online reservations, given that the long distance services will be getting the new Class 800/801/802 express trains whilst the commuter services will be getting a mix of new and old commuter electric trains (Class 387 and 365- it makes me curiously cheery to think that Oxford is getting some cast offs from the Cambridge line) which obviously won't have the reservation policy

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jthef | 8 years ago
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I go on long rides where I will use the train there or back. And generally I don't know which train I am getting untill it arrives. So what will I have to do if I use there system? sit in a cold station for 2 hours?

Thank god I use virgin and others who don't have such cycle unfreindly  policys.

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Dnnnnnn replied to jthef | 8 years ago
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jthef wrote:

I go on long rides where I will use the train there or back. And generally I don't know which train I am getting untill it arrives. So what will I have to do if I use there system? sit in a cold station for 2 hours?

Thank god I use virgin and others who don't have such cycle unfreindly  policys.

I use Virgin - they have very little space for bikes and are pretty keen on reservations. They will let you reserve very close to departure though.

Their East Coast trains have more space but are even more fussy about mandatory reservations in my experience.

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jthef replied to Dnnnnnn | 8 years ago
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Duncann wrote:

jthef wrote:

I go on long rides where I will use the train there or back. And generally I don't know which train I am getting untill it arrives. So what will I have to do if I use there system? sit in a cold station for 2 hours?

Thank god I use virgin and others who don't have such cycle unfreindly  policys.

I use Virgin - they have very little space for bikes and are pretty keen on reservations. They will let you reserve very close to departure though.

Their East Coast trains have more space but are even more fussy about mandatory reservations in my experience.

 

I have just arrived at the sattion and they have to get a member of staff to open the door espeshally at the station im getting off at. True not much space but not a problem yet. Always been helpfull though.

I'm west coast.

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rgp | 8 years ago
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To be fair, this only affects the intercity services, and until now GWR has been the only intercity operator not requiring reservations on all trains (at least in theory -- it's enforced rigorously on the East Coast and West Coast routes, but hardly at all on East Midlands trains), so they're just coming into line with the others. 

Which isn't to say that it isn't a pain for those commuters who have got used to the relatively liberal regime up to now.

 

 

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vorsprung replied to rgp | 8 years ago
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rgp wrote:

To be fair, this only affects the intercity services, and until now GWR has been the only intercity operator not requiring reservations on all trains (at least in theory -- it's enforced rigorously on the East Coast and West Coast routes, but hardly at all on East Midlands trains), so they're just coming into line with the others. 

Which isn't to say that it isn't a pain for those commuters who have got used to the relatively liberal regime up to now.

 

Oh is it relatively liberal?  I hadn't noticed yes

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bikeandy61 | 8 years ago
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Even if you get around the booking process filibustering you can still end up being prevented by train managers/platform staff from taking your bike on board for no good reason. The reports of this are endless.

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Rod Marton | 8 years ago
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As a GWR cycle commuter, I was advised of this change by some friendly and helpful GW staff. I promptly reserved some spaces, but received the following reply from customer support:

"I have only made reservations for one week because the system that is available to me only allows me to make reservations one train at a time. I would advise that you ask at the relevant stations if you wish to book for bigger blocks of time in one go."

I don't wish to criticise GW staff in any way, because they do the best they can and often take a lot of flak for it, but the consequences of this change haven't been thought through. Have anyone actually considered how much additional hassle this is going to cause for everyone, staff and passengers alike? And it isn't as if they are addressing a real problem: there's almost always space for the bike if you just turn up.

I wonder what GWR's comment will be.

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bigdanbro | 8 years ago
2 likes

Must confess to being rather brassed off about this given that: a) I pay quite a lot of money to GWR for a season ticket, but will soon loose any of the flexibility that affords and will have to reserve a space for my bike separately, and b) I'm just in the process of moving house, in part to get closer to a station that has more regular services in the direction of work, but now find out that I will be constrained to the option of a single pre-booked service.

One crumb of comfort is that you can block book reservations, but you will still need to specify a particular train in advance.

 

 

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willythepimp | 8 years ago
4 likes

a little advertised fact is that on GWR HST services, the power cars also have space for four cycles in the boot (both ends). 

I was trying to get from Plymouth to Liskeard on a service where all of the usual spaces were taken by a team doing LEJOG, and was told that I would have to wait for the next service. This was an hour and a half wait! I said to the train manager about the power car bike racks, and he said "we don't usually use them". My response was this situation is not usual, and I'm not waiting over an hour because you can't be arsed to open the power car door for me. Reluctantly, I was allowed to board but it shows the general attitude that some traincrew can have towards cyclists, or indeed anone that doesn't just hop on and grab a seat.

I say some because I work for GWR, and most emplyees are great.

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multifrag | 8 years ago
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GWR is doing full Australian. Stop cyclist from boarding the train and you have no space problem

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Edgeley | 8 years ago
5 likes

The current HIgh Speed trains have 6 bike spaces.  In theory you can book, but in practice people turn up and it works just fine.   It is rare for all the spaces to be used.

GWR hate cyclists, because we have to walk to the end of the train to get our bikes.   We don't do what other passengers do.

Their franchise says they can't reduce the number of spaces on trains, so they are trying to make it difficult for us. 

 

And they know full well that people commuting home from London don't know which train they are going to get. 

 

So either they will enforce the new rules, and there will be lots of empty bike spaces, or they will ignore them.  Either way, this development is a nonsense.

 

 

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Mark By | 8 years ago
3 likes

Zut alors. I think the Eurostar approach might be needed.

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Windydog | 8 years ago
1 like

Sadly won't change the (vastly over reported and photographed) fact that the actions of the selfish few, will now adversely impact the majority of responsible and considerate cycling train commuters.  Gutted.

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a1white | 8 years ago
4 likes

Online resevervation will not be possible? Why ever not? You can currently, you have to use the Virgin East-coast website, but you can reserve on any line. The only reason, I can see, for Great western not having the functionality on their site is because they are discouraging people from using the service. After all you can reserve a seat online, why not space for your bike?

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rgp replied to a1white | 8 years ago
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a1white wrote:

Online resevervation will not be possible? Why ever not? You can currently, you have to use the Virgin East-coast website, but you can reserve on any line. The only reason, I can see, for Great western not having the functionality on their site is because they are discouraging people from using the service. After all you can reserve a seat online, why not space for your bike?

For occasional journeys, you certainly can reserve online -- GWR use exactly the same online booking engine as Virgin East Coast. You can only do so while buying a ticket for a specific train, however, so no use for commuters with a season ticket ...
 

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nowasps | 8 years ago
6 likes

Come the Glorious Day comrades, we'll get our trains nationalised once more. Then we'll have a train service fit for everyone.

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Dnnnnnn replied to nowasps | 8 years ago
0 likes

nowasps wrote:

Come the Glorious Day comrades, we'll get our trains nationalised once more. Then we'll have a train service fit for everyone.

I'm not sure if you're being serious or not....

BR did a decent job on a shoestring but the service was so attractive than half as many journeys were made on it back then. Despite the greater bike space.

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