Bikes on trains – let us know your experiences, good and bad

My anecdotes from when I lived in the UK. This was all a long time ago so some details are fuzzy.

1. We had just returned from touring in the Netherlands. We came back by ferry so we must have been in Harwich? There was 3 or 4 of us, all with bikes and luggage and I had a Burley Nomad trailer. We couldn't find out where the bike carriage would be so we had to spot it as the train pulled in and run to it. The train is only supposed to be in the station for 120 seconds i think - certainly not long. The trailer has to be disconnected to get on the train so I have to run with the bike in one hand and the trailer in the other. Running down a crowded platform with a bike and trailer is awkward shall we say.

Got to the carriage. The others had just about got themselves on. The guard is shouting for us to hurry up. I shoved the trailer on and someone takes it from me. I grab my bike, haul that in, along with me. The doors closed. Missed the bike. Got my leg. I always thought train doors would be like lifts - if something is stuck they would open again. Not the case.

The train departs with my leg stuck outside the train. My companions are hauling on the door to try and open it. I am trying not to fall over (and perhaps out if they get the door open). Train stops about 10s after it has started and doors open. I retrieve my leg. Doors close and off we go again.

2. We were travelling into London for the day via South West Trains. Normally we would take the Southampton line into Waterloo but I saw when I booked it that there was track works. An alternative route suggested on the web site was Eastleigh to somewhere I forget and up the Portsmouth line. Seemed reasonable and we allowed for the extra travel time which was less than half an hour I think. Getting into London went fine. That evening we go to Waterloo to get home again. As we try to get through the barriers with our bikes we are stopped and told there is track works and a replacment bus service and so we couldn't take our bikes. I said we would go down the Portsmouth line and change and some place and go across to Eastleigh station. We were told it wasn't a permitted route. I said we came up that way. We were told we shouldn't have. I said it was suggested by the journey planner. I was told it was wrong. They wouldn't let us through.  By the time our discussion with the guard concluded we had missed the train.

We went and spent the night with a friend in London. Next day we go to Clapham Junction as it was closer than Waterloo and I thought we could get a train from there. They wouldn't let us use the ticket from the day before, despite them denying us from getting on a train, so we had to buy more tickets. I forget the details of what happened next but we end up speaking to the manager of the station. They weren't sure which train we should catch and couldn't find anyone who knew. In the end, after they had spoken to many people, they decided what it should be. I forget where it was but they said when we get there we have to change but to ask the station staff there and they could tell us the next leg. Sadly the manager of Clapham Junction couldn't work out which platform we should wait on. We went to three different paltforms at the behest of the manager before ending up on the right one (no lifts in those days so getting bikes up and down the stairs...). We get on the train and get off where we had been told. We asked the station staff. They said we shouldn't have been sent to this station but some other one and then go down the Portsmouth line before changing towards Eastleigh.

I forget why we couldn't go back to London and back out again - probably something about not doubling back on the ticket and we were about 90 minutes out of London by then - but they wouldn't let us. It was buses from that station and they wouldn't let us on with bikes. I asked what we were supposed to do but they had no ideas. Luckily we were fairly fit in those days so rather than spending another night away in some random town and being late for work the next day (and presumably buying another train ticket at the walk up rate for Monday morning) we decided to cycle. Problem was I didn't have a map for this part of the country (and this was pre smart phone (for me at least)). I asked if they had a map we could have? Maybe they could photocopy one? They gave me a train route map. I pointed out they just said we couldn't use the train network and I needed a road map. They didn't have one. I asked if they couldn't just do a Google journey planner and print that. No internet access apparently. Seems unlikely that one of the buses didn't have a road atlas...

So we cycled home following the road signs (i.e. down the A roads). It was an experience I wouldn't want to repeat. It was crossing the exits that was the worst. Luckily we didn't encounter a motorway. The rail replacement buses came past us very regularly. We had already met the drivers briefly when we were asking to be let on the buses. They would wave as they went past. I think it was about 90km home.

3. We had been touring in Finland. A great country for bike touring BTW. Flew back to the UK. Landed at Heathrow. I don't know if they still have the same rules but then you weren't allowed to board the train with a bike at Heathrow but instead had to cycle one stop down the line and get on there. We had used some lovely bike paths in Finland and within Heathrow itself they weren't bad. Normally in the UK I would have been very wary of using a bike path but all this (and the fact that I was tired and it was well after dark by then and wet) had lulled me into using them once we left the airport proper. Before long I spot a pile of gravel has been dumped on the bike path - no warning signs and it blended in well with the background so I spotted it late. I swerve off the path into the road (luckily no traffic). Sadly the trailer turned a bit slower and flipped over on the gravel pile.

Eventually we get to the station. Again no way of known where to stand to wait for the bike carriage so a mad rush with bike and trailer and many whistles blown. I knew we had returned to the UK.

This one is only tangently related to the train but if we could get on at Heathrow like important people were allowed...

Worst experience was Hatfield station where some staff  would not let me take a bicycle northbound. Even though there was very few people on board (most of the passengers on the 17:44 got off there).

Resulting solution? Switching to a folding bike I'd already left there in the morning. Which obviously takes time and means leaving your better bike there.

A while ago I boarded an empty train on which another fellow commuter had taken his bike. As it was 1 minute before the end of the evening 'no bikes' period, the staff were telling him he had to remove his bike from the train.

I offered to buy his wheels from him for the duration of his journey, so that he wouldn't be bringing a bike aboard. But the train staff were having none of it, and called the police to have him removed.

Bear in mind that the train was empty...

 UK trains are so shite. We do more journeys on Swiss trains than we do on UK trains. On Swiss SBB CFF FFS trains there is loads of room for bikes. They have a dedicated carriage for bikes usually on each train. And as the Swiss are so efficient, they also have each platform divided into sectors, and put on the information board which sector the first class, second class, buffet carriage and bike store will stop when the train arrives. So no running up and down the platform with the bike frantically getting on the correct carriage. You simply stand in, say, sector A, and wait for the correct carriage to stop in front of you. Genius. And the trains are clean, quiet and the inter city trains are double decker too. Awesome transport service, it really puts the UK to shame. 

AND the Swiss post buses have cycle racks on the back of each bus too. And cycles are allowed without pre booking on cable cars, on small cable cars too there are external racks for those wishing to catch the gondola up and ride back down. And the cable car operators, rail staff and bus drivers  are all friendly and helpful, and will stop the cable cars so cyclists can get their bikes loaded. Hence almost all of our foreign holidays are in Switzerland. 

https://www.sbb.ch/en/station-services/auto-velo/on-the-move-by-bike.html

Jobsworths and over-crowding are my memories also:

1. Virgin train from Stoke to Macclesfield - Evans were offering £100 trade in on any bike you took to store, as my then 3 year olds bike needed an upgrade it was a prime opportunity. Arrived at Stoke station to be told they couldn't reserve a bike spot as the system had been down all day. Stood on the platform and Mr Jobsworth came up and asked for my reservation, told him of his own company's problems and that I'd just hop on. He decided otherwise. This was despite (and i have photos) someone next to me carrying a 5ft stuffed bear, I asked whether the bear had a ticket.

I had a multi tool with me (knowing the Evans mechanics could be hit and miss) so quickly took the front wheel off and asked another passenger if he'd take it on for me which he did. I got on with the frame and the other wheel, guard is physically trying to drag me off for boarding with a bike, told him i didn't have a bike, i had a bike frame and a wheel. Threats of British Transport Police and i told him to crack on!

2. Arriva Shrewsbury to Gobowen (I think):

Crowds of people going on their Easter holidays and barely able to fit through the doors let alone get at bike space (reserved). Push chairs, suitcases, pissed up Chavs everywhere. Had my son (also riding) with me and there was a toilet next to the door so managed to put a bike in the toilet and my son passed the other forward. A chav pushed past my son and the doors started to close which caused me a small heart attack. Again station staff were more bothered about abusing paying customers than the health and safety nightmare of their trains!

It's stupid that the rules, booking method and quality of provision varies so wildly from one train operator to another.  There should be a national standard.

So far, no real corkers, I don't often use the train any longer, 

when at Uni I took the Trans penine a couple times, everytime was back to sheffield from the peaks, somewhere, with a muddy bike and muddy kit, no questions not even a glance from staff. 

when taking southern into london, again never had any issues no qualms about a full size bike and thats during rush, admittedly against the flow. but still, 

then when there was a fire by the tracks and a canceled service north to coventry had to ride 15 miles from centre of london to outskirts and catch a train bout 5 hours after the one I was booked onto, no questions, just flung the bike on and got to coventry.

Had no problems when cycling lejog and getting bikes down to Penzance and back from Thurso. All pre-booked which did mean other cyclists were denied a space as typically we took 2 if 3 spaces available.

Worst thing was changing trains in Perth another cyclist had locked their bike to mine and the train… bit of stress trying to get off the train then.

TranPennine Express recently (very quietly) changed their 24hr in advance booking policy to 10 minutes in advance.

To my mind, this is the worst of all worlds. You still need to get there 10 mins in advance and book the bike on (so no using the automated ticket machines, you have to queue up to see a person at the desk which isn't always possible) and I'm not sure the bike booking updates "live" - in other words it's possible for someone to get on at a station one or two before yours with a bike, you turn up, reserve your spot and the system says "yes, crack on" and then you get on and there's already bikes in the space.

I hate doing "ride out, train back" options now. Too much pressure constantly watch checking to see if you'll make the pre-booked train, problems if that gets cancelled or is already full of bikes (booked or not)

Train out, ride back is more reliable, especially if you can start from an origin station rather than trying to board half way along the train's journey when it may already be rammed.

I've not taken my bike on the train for years, but, back in the late 80s and early 90s, I used to catch the train from Preston to Kirkconnell in Dumfries & Galloway, with the tent on the rack and full panniers  and ride back to home through Glentrool forest and back through the Lakes over a few days. In those halcyon days you didn't need to book the bike on.  You simply put it in the carriage at the rear, usually full of mail bags. We just locked them to the side of the carriage. Sometimes we even stayed in the carriage with the bikes, the rail guards were great then. No jobsworths. No cost to take the bikes either. Happy days.

The bike advert on Stratford station (Olympic stop) said bikes must be put on the train 5 minutes before departure.
Not sure I can cycle that fast but willing to try

We mostly choose to ride our bikes, I wonder how hard it must be for people who have to use wheelchairs and pushchairs. 

Actually, one bad experience on Scotrail was a train jammed full of drunk Celtic fans heading to Inverness. They should lay on a special teain for them, old cattle trucks would do....

Most of my bike/train journeys are trans trans pennine, either with Northern Rail or Transpennine Express from Manchester to either Sheffield or Leeds.

+1 for Northern, their rolling stock may be old and the services are all stoppers (slow) but never had an issue getting on with a bike.

TPX to Sheffield was generally okay, usually got a reservation booking in advance, and got away with chancing it at other times.

Given up trying to take my bike to Leeds on TPX rush hour ,even with a reservation you will find the fold up seats in the bike area occupied with surly commuters. Even worse on the return trip, it's packed to the rafters until Huddersfield. No hope of getting a bike on.

I haven't done such yet couldn't see such being a problem.
Overnight Ukrainian train from Kiev to Odessa. Long haul sleeper cabins. 4 berth. 15 quid.
Like my mate said, get a good sleep skipping cities during night and it's cheaper than the hotels/ apartments.
Hence almost. Apartments clean, clear, poshy. Start around 20 quid (10 each). But if wanting to travel with bike and do big leaps quick I can't see why they wouldn't let you book whole room. 60quid. 30 each if traveling a pair of pairs. Plenty of room. Too cramped if 4 up though.
Another friend doesn't bring his bike on train because it's expensive yet our payment of earnings is different and there's way cheaper than London. Huh? 60quid and it's a bus seat. Far? Nooooo, just over the bridge.

Although best luck booking tickets.. I've never met a cashier that spoke nor understood English.

Local trains here are easy. Walk bike on, stay with bike or a couple of metres away while bike rests alone. Duration.. Not long. Max near 1.5 hours. Usually around half hour or less.

If you book your bike on and then find the space is filled with someone's luggage, has anyone simply moved the luggage out of the way and put their bike in?  What reaction would that get?

Spent a few years exploring the Highlands by bike and on foot with Scotrail.

There are some phenomenal routes available to anyone with some imagination who can read a map and a train timetable.

Am absolutely delighted that Scotrail have recognised this, on the West Coast line at least and incorporated more bike spaces in carriages.

My worst experiences have been with bus replacement services has always been a battle to get the bike on a rail replacement bus...

Was a Cambridge station at the start of the week, their bridge between platforms has a ramp for pushing bikes up and down.

Northern Rail, for all their numerous faults, are pretty good with bikes. Generally no restictions, the stock is old enough to have proper metal bike storage racks and there's no booking.

In theory, its two bikes per train, in practice I've seen 6+ crammed on in the past and the guards are usually fairly amenable.

Virgin I've only used a few times and ther'es a few hoops to jump through with regards to booking and the fact that you could end up sitting at the other end of the train from your bike (which then needs careful planning for getting off if it's not at the final destination of the train) but usually they're OK.

It's the other passengers that are present the worst problems, putting their massive suitcases in bike areas or just standing in vestibules (even when seats are available)  or you get on the train and some fuckwit is sitting in the fold-down seats in the bike area and refuses to move.

I shall cut and paste what I wrote on the LiveBlog + extra.

I cycle/rail commuted for several years on the Reading-Guildford line.  The 3 carriage 166s were excellent, with space for 2 normal size bikes in their own area and large seperate luggage spaces, handy as this line ran on to Gatwick.  Unfortunately most of them went to the South West area (Bristol, grr, carpeted and warmer in the proper cold too) leaving many 3 carriage 165s, with no provision, but with a bit of niceness to the generally friendly staff many bicycle could be place in the vestibule area. (unless outrageously busy, when I would wait for the next service)  The 2 carriage 165s fairly recently had a weird bicycle area added with space for 4 bicycles and luggage above, down one side, but you have to get past passengers on seats and through a narrow gap to get into and out of the vestibule area.  Better than nothing mind.

Occasionally I used the trains on the Farnbourgh Main line, big fast electric South West Train jobs.  The 3 wheel wrecker racks by the toilet are alright, like the ones Alan Sherman linked to (in the liveblog), but I preferred the 3 fold up seat bit, next to the old style toilet, which sometimes needed a bit of cooperation with fellow passengers.  Used similar trains on Southern too.

I have gotten on alright with the hooks on the Virgin Voyagers, with 2 inch mtb tyres.  Bike swings a lot mind.

I loved the old HST guards van on GWR, space for maybe 6 bicycles.  And a bit of peace of mind.  I think I used the Virgin ones before the stinky voyagers.

I have booked onto GWR and Back in the day Virgin, but I'm much more of a turn up and go traveller.  See if there is a space and always prepared to wait.

My favorite was once using an East Anglian service, their version of the HST, I think, where the opposite end to the driven unit had maybe 10 proper "bike rack" sheffield stands that I could even lock my bike to.  No booking requirement either.

There is also something very strange about taking ones full size bicycle on the not-deep sections of the London Underground, only when it's very quiet though.

I do find that being polite, generally nice and smiling to the guard, often helps.  Asking permission if you are not meant to be using the service often works, it is their train.

My biggest tip would be to always have a good book (small paperback for lightness) or something interesting to do.  If you don't the trains will be messed up and the time you spend waiting will drag on for an eternity.

And now it is winter, a little extra warmth is never a bad thing to have in the bag, train stations are very cold and desolate places.  And never sit on those metal benches, they will suck all the warmth from you.

I commute all the time on GWR trains and nowadays the staff seem to be friendly and helpful towards cyclists. The actual provision for bikes can let them down, depending on which stock they're using but the crucial factor is how many other bikes need to get on the trains as it can get quite crowded.

I’ll get on a train to do a longer station to home, sometimes home to a station ride (depends which way the wind is blowing) or sometimes a loop from a station.

Northern rail, had no trouble getting bike on, I travel after 9am but the old trains are a shed and the new trains have no bike storage that’s progress. The other problem is they cancel quite a few trains from the Lake District. Also quite a lot of the service where you used to just have one train no longer run so you need 2 or 3 changes now.

Tans Pennine express, use to love their trains but the last time I tried to use one I had just given up on a ride as I was cold and wet and just suffered a puncture which didn’t help my commitment to finish. The forecast failed as well from a light shower to heavy drizzle for over 2 hours. So when I asked for the next train which was a Trans Pennine I would not be able to get on as I had not given them 24 hours’ notice. How I do that when I didn’t know I was getting the train 30 mins earlier I don’t know.

Virgin West coast, I generally like them BUT and it is a big BUT

1. You have to book your bike on every time! In advance!
2. Planning ahead I decided which train I want then ring up to get the bike on then and only then buy my ticket, and this will take me 20 long minutes!
3. New system I tried a few weeks ago didn’t work, didn’t print bike ticket
4. Can’t book return in advance so can’t get cheap tickets as I don’t know what time I will get to the station.
5. ONLY 4 spots or 2 tandems (I have seen 5 or 6 on but that will be down to the staff).
6. You can’t get on by yourself a member of staff have to let you on and off. I get on at Preston mostly and the driver’s changes there so it is good for going north.
7. But If they forget you are getting off at a stop, tuff, your stopping on till the next stop where ever that is and then you have all that rigmarole of getting back or a new route home.
8. If the next train is full of bikes you can’t book on so you may have an hours wait till the next one, that has happened several times on return journeys, not pleasant wait round in cold station in the evening all cold and damp!
9. Printing of the bike ticket seems to work only 50% of the time, so you have to go to the ticket office to get it sorted, and some time ring up India again (I hate that!!!)
10. Coming back from London no member of staff to let 4 cyclist on took a while to get the driver to open the door.  (Usually they are very helpful even though it’s not there job)

On the plus side, nice trains fast and smooth. Nice staff, and the first 2 seat by the bike area are permanently reserved for cyclist. And you can get a second breakfast and brew on the way to the ride or refill your reserves on the way home.