Bikes on trains: 3 easy questions

[Cudzoziemiec]

I had a similar problem recently trying to book a space from Reading to Bristol on a Sunday. Going out on Saturday was no problem, but nothing available on Sunday. Tried Temple Meads, Parkway, from Reading, Didcot, Swindon, Chippenham, or stopping short, but nothing whatsoever. Same when I went in to the station. Recent threads in various places have made me think that there might be a trend now to book bike places on a 'just in case' basis, which is a bit... annoying.

[Ben T]

yea but you have to have bought a ticket first don't you?

[Kim]

yea but you have to have bought a ticket first don't you?

Apparently not.

[Cudzoziemiec]

If you book on the East Coast website, it won't give you a bike space unless you reserve a seat as well. It will then give you a seat and bike reservation even for services which don't have reservations, if your journey also includes eg an HST. Odd. But it seems there is a way of reserving bike space without buying a ticket - I don't know how, though, let alone why.