Yet Another Cycling Forum

General Category => The Knowledge => Topic started by: Cupotea on 04 May, 2015, 10:03:59 pm

Title: Bikes on trains
Post by: Cupotea on 04 May, 2015, 10:03:59 pm
How do all.  Hope you've enjoyed your bank holiday.

Quick question regarding taking a bike on a train. I was hoping to get the train from Warrington to Southport this weekend and ride back along the Transpennine Trail, but I can't see anywhere on thetrainline.com to specify I want to book a bike on.  Am I being a numpty, or are there more hoops to jump through to achieve the seemingly simple task?

Cheers,

Pete
Title: Re: Bikes on trains
Post by: Deano on 04 May, 2015, 10:05:55 pm
Use a different booking engine, e.g. the TransPennine Express website.

Not all of them have the bit for bike bookings, annoyingly.
Title: Re: Bikes on trains
Post by: Tom B on 04 May, 2015, 10:10:05 pm
a) check the 'cycle policy' of the companies (TOC) whose trains you wish to use. Some TOCs require reservations, some do not. For the journey you state, it may well be Northern Rail, who do not usually require reservations.

b) if a cycle reservation is needed, you can do it at https://www.virgintrainseastcoast.com/  It doesn't matter whether you are using their trains or not.

HTH
Title: Re: Bikes on trains
Post by: fuaran on 04 May, 2015, 10:19:34 pm
thetrainline.com charges a booking fee, so you can save money buying your tickets somewhere else anyway.
Title: Re: Bikes on trains
Post by: Kim on 04 May, 2015, 10:22:26 pm
http://www.southernrailway.com/ are my current favourite, as they understand cycle reservations and will post you tickets free of charge.
Title: Re: Bikes on trains
Post by: Cupotea on 04 May, 2015, 10:34:32 pm
Thank you all. Much appreciated. That's the tickets sorted at least! 

Now its just the fun of taking my bike on the train for the first time and having to make a dash from one station to another in Wigan for the 13 minute change over.  I do hope the ride's worth it.
Title: Re: Bikes on trains
Post by: Canardly on 05 May, 2015, 07:42:35 am
http://www.southernrailway.com/ are my current favourite, as they understand cycle reservations and will post you tickets free of charge.

Ditto London Midland
Title: Re: Bikes on trains
Post by: CrinklyLion on 05 May, 2015, 08:07:10 am
http://www.southernrailway.com/ are my current favourite, as they understand cycle reservations and will post you tickets free of charge.

TPE here, for the same reasons, unless I'm booking an east coast service which tends to get a slight online discount via their own website - although I haven't used EC much since they became virgin.
Title: Re: Bikes on trains
Post by: Karla on 05 May, 2015, 08:23:20 am
http://www.southernrailway.com/ are my current favourite, as they understand cycle reservations and will post you tickets free of charge.

TPE here, for the same reasons, unless I'm booking an east coast service which tends to get a slight online discount via their own website - although I haven't used EC much since they became virgin.

Under Virgin, "slight online discount" seems to mean that I only have to mortgage 1.5 of my limbs.
Title: Re: Bikes on trains
Post by: davelodwig on 05 May, 2015, 11:00:56 am
Redspottedhanky also will do cycle reservations.

D.
Title: Re: Bikes on trains
Post by: mcshroom on 05 May, 2015, 11:05:50 am
As will chiltern. Southern are where I normally use now out of habit (and occasionally they, accidentally I think, discount non-southern tickets in their deals), but any of the sites that use that booking system do the same job.

The Trainline is a clunky system that costs more with the fees, but is advertised widely. Stick to the train operator sites or redspottedhanky (who also take clubcard vouchers)
Title: Re: Bikes on trains
Post by: fuaran on 05 May, 2015, 11:17:42 am
Redspottedhanky also will do cycle reservations.
But they now charge £1 booking fee, plus £1 for postage.
Title: Re: Bikes on trains
Post by: davelodwig on 05 May, 2015, 04:58:58 pm
Redspottedhanky also will do cycle reservations.
But they now charge £1 booking fee, plus £1 for postage.

I generally buy a months worth of tickets (£150 ish) in a go and collect at a machine so just pay a pound. I think the fees for trainline when I used my card were about £6.
Title: Re: Bikes on trains
Post by: Cudzoziemiec on 28 April, 2016, 03:45:00 pm
Photo here of the bike spaces on the new (so new they haven't yet arrived!) electric HSTs.
http://hitachirail-eu.mynewsdesk.com/images/class-800-801-interiors-bicycle-storage-space-323845
(http://resources.mynewsdesk.com/image/upload/t_next_gen_article_large_767/mv7qflshqg0kmgvw890p.jpg)

Apparently, at least on Great Western where most of these trains are headed, you'll soon be able to book a bike space on day of departure rather than at least 24 hours ahead as now. Hopefully this will stop people booking a space on every train for the day, just in case!
Title: Re: Bikes on trains
Post by: Kim on 28 April, 2016, 03:49:57 pm
Yup, that looks like the mock-up I played with with the CTC.  Works about as well as anyone else's dangly bike space.  (Well, marginally better than CrossCountry's.)

I see they've used the standard mountain bike that bike spaces are designed for.
Title: Re: Bikes on trains
Post by: Cudzoziemiec on 28 April, 2016, 03:52:40 pm
What I note is that one is hanging from the rear wheel.
Title: Re: Bikes on trains
Post by: Kim on 28 April, 2016, 03:58:01 pm
That's usually what you have to do to get two bikes to share a dangly bike space.  Unless they've got drop bars or are very different sizes.
Title: Re: Bikes on trains
Post by: Cudzoziemiec on 28 April, 2016, 04:00:20 pm
I've never seen it done like that in practice, but I haven't used that many danglers. Where possible, I'll take a flip-seat train to avoid them, even though it's slower.
Title: Re: Bikes on trains
Post by: nikki on 28 March, 2017, 10:44:20 am
b) if a cycle reservation is needed, you can do it at https://www.virgintrainseastcoast.com/  It doesn't matter whether you are using their trains or not.

HTH

Yes, that did help! Thank you!

I've spent the last week trying to book a ticket and a bike space for a CrossCountry service. Would previously have used the Southern Trains website, but that's gone crap, and ended up phoning CrossCountry instead ...only to be told to call back in a week because the cycle spaces hadn't been released yet. That or buy a flexible ticket for twice the price so that I could adjust the timing to suit possible bike space availability when they became available. I declined that option!

I just phone them back again on the allotted day, only to be told that their system was showing all the bike spaces as 'full' for the train I wanted and for 2 hours either side.

Came here to rant and clutch at straws, but spotted the East Coast tip and thought I'd give it a try - it seems to have worked! (Probably won't actually believe it until I have the orange cardboard in my hand though.)
Title: Re: Bikes on trains
Post by: Cudzoziemiec on 28 March, 2017, 10:54:54 am
If it's a Voyager I wish you strength and s-t-r-e-t-c-h-y arms.
Title: Re: Bikes on trains
Post by: nikki on 28 March, 2017, 11:07:35 am
It's a "Diesel multiple unit". S-t-r-e-t-c-h-y arms always required because I'm not an average bloke.
Title: Re: Bikes on trains
Post by: Cudzoziemiec on 28 March, 2017, 11:16:28 am
Diesel multiple unit should mean a space with tippy seats to lean it against, or something similar. S-t-r-e-t-c-h-y arms not required in this case.
Title: Re: Bikes on trains
Post by: Karla on 28 March, 2017, 11:36:58 am
You don't need to book bikes on an XC Voyager anyway.  Two of their spaces are reservable, one is walk-up, all of them are accessible without the guard's say-so, none of them are ever checked and all their trains take more than three bikes on a regular basis.
Title: Re: Bikes on trains
Post by: Cudzoziemiec on 28 March, 2017, 11:42:36 am
You don't have to, but it's good for peace of mind because as you say, the 3 bike spaces usually contain 4 bikes, half a dozen oversized suitcases and a bin bag full of discarded coffee cups before you even get on. However, it looks as if nikki's not going on a Voyager anyway.
Title: Re: Bikes on trains
Post by: nikki on 28 March, 2017, 12:32:44 pm
Does CrossCountry do anything other than the big Voyager style trains? I think that's the sort of thing I'm expecting (and I've been allocated a seat in coach D), although tippy seats next to a toilet may actually be preferable...

Title: Re: Bikes on trains
Post by: Karla on 28 March, 2017, 12:37:23 pm
XC have a few HSTs that they wheel out at busy periods.  Linky (http://www.125group.org.uk/current-operators/cross-country/), Extra linky (https://www.crosscountrytrains.co.uk/on-board-with-crosscountry/our-trains) 

Your website of choice should tell you which type of train you'll be using.
Title: Re: Bikes on trains
Post by: fuaran on 28 March, 2017, 12:46:58 pm
CrossCountry also have some Class 170 Turbostars.
So "Diesel multiple unit" could refer to either a Turbostar or a Voyager or a Super Voyager. Turbostars are usually 2 or 3 car sets, so probably not likely if you are in coach D. Though they could join 2 sets together.

Not sure if they use specific trains on particular routes or not?
Title: Re: Bikes on trains
Post by: Kim on 28 March, 2017, 12:47:34 pm
Does CrossCountry do anything other than the big Voyager style trains? I think that's the sort of thing I'm expecting (and I've been allocated a seat in coach D), although tippy seats next to a toilet may actually be preferable...

What's the route?

Crosscountry use Class 220 Voyager DMUs  (dangly bike space in coach D), Class 170 DMUs (lean the bike opposite the reveal-a-door toilet and be glared at by buggy owners and guide dogs) and the occasional HST pretending to be a Voyager (Bike space in the power car, needs staff to access.

It's Voyagers/HSTs on the Penzance-Edinburgh diagonal route of expensiveness, Voyagers on the ones down to Oxford, Southampton and such places.  170s on the Cardiff-Nottingham and you-can-forget-about-room-for-luggage Mordor-Stansted routes.
Title: Re: Bikes on trains
Post by: Cudzoziemiec on 28 March, 2017, 01:37:50 pm
Sounds like I might have been misinterpreting DMU. I was thinking of it as a Class 170/Turbostar, ie a couple of carriages with a small cab at each end, whereas in fact it seems to equally, and in this case actually, apply to a Voyager. Coach D is normally the dangly bike space coach on XC Voyagers. You'd best hope for a tall, helpful passenger; I find them difficult enough.  :-\
Title: Re: Bikes on trains
Post by: Kim on 28 March, 2017, 01:40:53 pm
Indeed.  DMU (and its counterpart EMU) simply means the engines are integrated with the carriages, rather than there being a locomotive at the end(s) of the train doing all the work, as per the HST.
Title: Re: Bikes on trains
Post by: nikki on 28 March, 2017, 04:16:29 pm
The booking website just says the service is operated by CrossCountry. "Class 220 Voyager" matches the mental image of what I was expecting (Brum to Southampton).
Title: Re: Bikes on trains
Post by: Kim on 28 March, 2017, 06:01:53 pm
The booking website just says the service is operated by CrossCountry. "Class 220 Voyager" matches the mental image of what I was expecting (Brum to Southampton).

Yeah, that's the one.  Dangly bike space in Coach D.  That's the end with the black plate on the Dellner coupler.

Goes through Oxford, so if it's anything like peak time, be prepared to fight for the bike space.
Title: Re: Bikes on trains
Post by: mcshroom on 26 November, 2017, 10:05:12 pm
I see that Chiltern Railways have now "upgraded" their website so now you can't book bike spaces with your tickets any more. Southern, London Midland and East Coast have already done the same.

I think that only leaves ScotRail, TPE and Redspottedhankey using the useful system that allows you to book bikes.

Why do the TOCs seem to think it's a perfectly acceptable position to expect customers to pay for train tickets on spec, and then find out that those tickets are useless when they phone up to find there's no bike spaces? Also how does making people phone up to reserve bike spaces square with making their services accessible to those who have disabilities that make using phones difficult? >:(
Title: Re: Bikes on trains
Post by: Kim on 26 November, 2017, 10:35:26 pm
Haven't you read the Guardian?  TOCs 'know' that disabled people don't ride bikes...
Title: Re: Bikes on trains
Post by: Cudzoziemiec on 27 November, 2017, 10:25:00 am
GWR allow you to reserve bike spaces when you buy a ticket.
https://tickets.gwr.com/gw/en/journeyplanning/mixingdeck
Title: Re: Bikes on trains
Post by: Ben T on 05 April, 2018, 10:55:04 am
Have found out today and yesterday that you can actually book bike reservations without buying tickets.

Which isn't that much use, but it is of limited use as you can book the bike reservation first and then book the ticket online, rather than having to pay first.

The train booking systems are completely dumb however. For instance GWR's website although it does seemingly have the bike option (it's obviously East Coast's old software with different style sheets) doesn't seem to cater for the situation where a bike reservation is necessary but seat reservation isn't possible. e.g. inverness to edinburgh.

It's also pretty dumb how asking for a bike res for a through journey inside a station produces a journey with a different changing point, to if you request that same journey online! And there's no way to force it to change at a specific station. e.g. if you want to go from INV to NNG, it wants me to change at York. If I want to change at Edinburgh, I put 'via edinburgh', yet it still gives me the one that changes at york!  :facepalm:  ::-) yep, it goes via edinburgh... but doesn't change there. FFS.
Title: Re: Bikes on trains
Post by: De Sisti on 05 April, 2018, 12:01:48 pm
INV to NNG?
Title: Re: Bikes on trains
Post by: Ben T on 05 April, 2018, 01:00:39 pm
INV = inverness
NNG = newark north gate
Title: Re: Bikes on trains
Post by: phantasmagoriana on 23 October, 2019, 11:57:57 am
Scotrail are introducing extra bike spaces on the West Highland line: https://twitter.com/ScotRail/status/1186952483941298176

 :thumbsup:

(https://pbs.twimg.com/media/EHjm_NQWoAEejpx.jpg)
Title: Re: Bikes on trains
Post by: Kim on 23 October, 2019, 11:59:48 am
Can we extend the West Highland line down to That London?  Via everywhere else?
Title: Re: Bikes on trains
Post by: FifeingEejit on 23 October, 2019, 12:30:34 pm
Scotrail are introducing extra bike spaces on the West Highland line: https://twitter.com/ScotRail/status/1186952483941298176

 :thumbsup:

(https://pbs.twimg.com/media/EHjm_NQWoAEejpx.jpg)

Oh progress on that project at last!