Folders on trains strategies

[Kim]

Inspired by this comment:

There is also a section near a loo with two single seats facing each other - I'm rather fond of that spot with a folded Brompton.

My Brompton hasn't done all that much in the way of train travel to date.  It's mostly been limited to the Virgin WCML services, where I've generally been able to position it in a luggage rack within arm's reach of a seat, or short trips on local trains where I've just stood in the vestibule with the bike.

But recently I travelled on several London Midland services (Class 350s for you trainspotters), and noted a distinct lack of luggage racks.  These were sufficiently quiet that I was able to occupy a pair of airline seats and position the Brommie in the foot space of the seat I wasn't using and settle in for the journey, but I wonder what regular folding bike users do when the train's more crowded, but conspicuously lacks anywhere to stow such a bulky item without obstructing the gangways.  There's the usual bike space, obviously, but what other Brommie-sized gaps are worth looking out for?

[madcow]

My trips are usually Transpennine Express  from York or Leeds through to Manchester . If there is no luggage space available , I usually grab a seat near the doors and put the folded Brommie in the clear space near the doors. I even lock it with a cable lock around the support post. I have never had a member of the  train staff  challenge me.  On the one trip when another Brommie  owner boarded my carriage, she did a similar thing.
That may not be acceptable on more crowded trains in the sarf but it works up here. I take the view that if its O.K for someone to position a  suitcase big enough to carry children  in the  door area, then a wee bike isn't going to do any harm.

"Customers with folding cycles are welcome on all our services and we encourage their use. Before boarding the train, please make sure the cycle is completely folded down. You can store it in any of the usual luggage areas. Reservations are not required for folding cycles."

[Kim]

The lightweight cable lock approach seems like a good one, if it's going to be out of reach or you're likely to fall asleep.  I don't usually carry a lock with my Brompton, because half the point in a Brompton is that you don't normally have to do that.

On a related note, I was particularly irked last year when faced with the combination of  a) a loaded tourer  b) a bicycle reservation for a Sunday evening Crosscountry Voyager service  and  c) an unreserved unfolded Brompton locked in the dangly bike space (with the other, ostensibly double, space occupied by a mountain bike with enormous handlebars).  It's not like there aren't plenty of sensible places to put a folded Brompton on those trains^[1], many of which have things you could lock to.


_{[1] Luggage spaces aside, there's a nice gap between the back of the seats and the bulkhead.}

[GothonaBrompton]

Southwest Trains seats don't have enough room behind back to back seats unfortunately.  The new Windsor trains have lots of single seats behind a 2 seater which are very handy for having the B right beside you.  The loo one I mentioned in the other thread, you need to sit with your back to the side of the loo compartment, and there is a space right beside the single seat which is the side wall of the loo.  New Windsor trains which have first class declassified, the furthest seats to the back or front have sufficient leg room if you're not very tall to put the folded B in front of your knees.

Southern have proper luggage racks but the trains are so full in rush hour that someone is usually sitting in it. If they aren't, but there are no seats, I can fit an S bag, folded B, and hop up on the rack myself - about 4ft up.

[madcow]

ISTR that I saw the cable lock idea on another thread or another place. It would be quite possible for someone of evil intent to jump off the train with said Brommie. However, I have tried sprinting between platforms at Leeds station (5 minutes between trains) and you need to be pretty fit to do carry one any distance. So perhaps the cable lock is just the result of paranoia.

[Biggsy]

I've left mine unlocked by the doors, but peace of mind it does not give.  You end up eyeing up your fellow passengers and getting ready to pounce at anyone looking remotely shifty.  Cable-locking will help you to relax at least.

(I don't use trains often enough to have worked out proper strategy).

[drossall]

On the Great Northern (Kings Cross) line, there are Bromptons by most doors in the mornings (one each side of the doorway in some cases). And my Dahon

You do worry a bit about someone taking it with them, but I strap the bike to the carriage anyway because it has fallen over occasionally (and on a fast train there's only one stop before I get off).

[Kim]

On the Great Northern (Kings Cross) line, there are Bromptons by most doors in the mornings (one each side of the doorway in some cases). And my Dahon

I wonder if we're heading for Peak Brompton.  At some point they're going to stop being the solution to the TOCs' cyclist problem.

You do worry a bit about someone taking it with them, but I strap the bike to the carriage anyway because it has fallen over occasionally (and on a fast train there's only one stop before I get off).

Yes, even my R-type with easy wheels will occasionally fall over under firm braking, unless you align it with the direction of travel (and make sure the saddle's all the way down, so it doesn't go trundling down the carraige), which isn't usually practical.

[drossall]

Sometimes it seems that every second London commuter is carrying a Brompton. The Brompton must be lighter than the Dahon - I never want to carry mine far. And every second cyclist in central London is on a Brompton too.

The Dahon falls over more often than it should, because of the various bar extensions I have put on to try to get a decent position.

[Kim]

It's worse than that, it's getting to the point where they're no longer a rare sight in Birmingham.  Still okay to wave at fellow Brommie riders, though.

[drossall]

Terrible, isn't it. Loads of people buying bikes that they actually ride (as well as carry), and another British success story

[Richard Fairhurst]

Inspired by this comment:

There is also a section near a loo with two single seats facing each other - I'm rather fond of that spot with a folded Brompton.

The space by the disabled toilet is often a good place to stash a folding bike. It's carriage C on the Great Western HSTs and I regularly see folders left there.

On a related note, I was particularly irked last year when faced with the combination of  a) a loaded tourer  b) a bicycle reservation for a Sunday evening Crosscountry Voyager service  and  c) an unreserved unfolded Brompton locked in the dangly bike space (with the other, ostensibly double, space occupied by a mountain bike with enormous handlebars)

I once saw a unicycle locked in the bike space on a Voyager. A unicycle FFS. They could have just put it in an overhead rack...

[The Retiree]

I carry mine daily on the Greater Angrier line into L'poo street. Normally the Brommie tucks nicely into the space between the back to back seats (if there isn't a bin) failing that I pop it beside me when sitting on the two seats which works fine unless some fool decides to sit opposite and plonk their rucksack/wheelie case/etc next to them instead of the luggage rack  whereby we understandable encounter some irate commuters who can't squeeze through..... 

On the newer class of trains that run to Ipswich and Clacton there is more space and popping the bike next to me is never a problem 

[GavinC]

I also travel daily on Greater Anglia with my Brommie - on the Liverpool St-Cambridge line. Always leave it folded in the door vestibule locked to a handrail, while I doze off for an hour 

[yoav]

On a really crowded train with no empty seats, I find a folded Brompton makes an excellent substitute seat.

[Kim]

On a really crowded train with no empty seats, I find a folded Brompton makes an excellent substitute seat.

What flavour Brompton?  On a R-type, I'd be worried about the rack stays...

[yoav]

Mine doesn't have a rack.

[Kim]

Mine doesn't have a rack.

Does it have a mudguard?  How does that cope (the little roller wheel on mudguard arrangement has always struck me as rather fragile).

[Silent Bill]

Kim, you might be wary of sitting where that person you quoted like's on London Midland trains...which serve Worcestershire where i live...being next to the toilet...... that area can become rather smelly sometimes...if you get my drift?!!

[Kim]

As a regular user of Pendolinos (and from time to time Class 170s with a full-sized bike), I'm sadly used to the smell of poo   

It's the wheelchair users I really feel sorry for.  They're stuck with it.

[hellymedic]

As a regular user of Pendolinos (and from time to time Class 170s with a full-sized bike), I'm sadly used to the smell of poo   

It's the wheelchair users I really feel sorry for.  They're stuck with it.

Too fucking true!!!

[Kim]

The enormous unfolded buggy users, OTOH, bring their own poo...   

[Fab Foodie]

I put the Brompton on the seat and then I get into the overhead rack where I can keep my beady eye on it ....

[Jurek]

I put the Brompton on the seat and then I get into the overhead rack where I can keep my beady eye on it ....

[ian]

The older trains on my route are fine (don't ask me which, I'm not a spotter), a Brommie fits perfectly into the rarely used luggage slot between the sets of backwards and forward facing seats (must be the same trains as the East Anglia line mentioned above), so a busy train isn't a problem (more so since I start and finish my journeys at the ends of the line). On the newer trains, it's bit more of a pain, there's a single seat where you squeeze one in by its side (only one though, there's another single seat which looks the same but doesn't quite have the space), otherwise it's under the table (you will lose some paint), on a luggage rack, or by the doors. Some trains have fold-down seats in the vestibule. I wouldn't lock a bike anywhere where it might impede exit on emergency.

The plus side on the new trains is that they have often have a pointless first class which few people realise doesn't apply on metro routes, so even on busy trains there's usually a near empty half carriage. You can't guarantee that the train will have one though, so it's a bit of a lottery.