Bike space availability on weekday Portsmouth > Brighton trains?

[JStone]

tl;dr - what is the likelihood of my getting my bike on a weekday mid-morning train from Portsmouth to Brighton?

I'm planning another cycling tour in France in June and want to use the Newhaven - Dieppe ferry crossing. I *could* cycle from home (Bristol) to Newhaven but, as time is limited and I'd rather spend it in France, I'd prefer to save a day and use the train.

I've used the Bristol > Portsmouth service several times in recent years with a reserved bike space and never had a problem, so my preferred option is Bristol > Portsmouth then Portsmouth > Brighton (then a short ride to Newhaven). But I don't fancy arriving in Portsmouth to find a huge queue of people trying to get bikes into the first-come, first-served spaces on the Brighton train. The same problem applies to alternative routes via London or Gatwick - first leg ok with GWR, but no bike reservations possible for the 2nd leg.

So - has anybody taken a bike on the Portsmouth > Brighton mid-week? Did you have any difficulty finding a bike space, given that Southern Railways don't do bike reservations?

[Ashaman42]

I don't know about that leg in particular but Southern are normally quite good with respect to bikes, unless the train is packed and standing room only the guards on-train-supervisors seem to be happy with bikes in the vestibules as well as the designated bike area.

But how well that meshes with their actual policy and how likely you are to get a sticlker for the rules I don't know.

[JStone]

I don't know about that leg in particular but Southern are normally quite good with respect to bikes, unless the train is packed and standing room only the guards on-train-supervisors seem to be happy with bikes in the vestibules as well as the designated bike area.

But how well that meshes with their actual policy and how likely you are to get a sticlker for the rules I don't know.

Thanks - that's useful to know. I appreciate that the outcome on the day is uncertain & accept the risk as part of the challenge, but I'm grateful for any such feedback from users of Southern trains.

[Wombat]

And of course don't forget the ongoing uncertainty as to whether Southern are actually running any trains on the day in question.  Basically if travelling by train for work, we cannot commit to go to anything which means we have to go on any Southern service, as the unreliability is so bad.

[Ashaman42]

That's a point. Although (touch wood) they've not been anywhere near as bad lately (on our route at least) as they were a couple months ago.

Of course. Now I've said that. Given I need six trains tomorrow. I expect a complete shitshow.

[Tim Hall]

I don't know about that leg in particular but Southern are normally quite good with respect to bikes, unless the train is packed and standing room only the guards on-train-supervisors seem to be happy with bikes in the vestibules as well as the designated bike area.

But how well that meshes with their actual policy and how likely you are to get a sticlker for the rules I don't know.

Thanks - that's useful to know. I appreciate that the outcome on the day is uncertain & accept the risk as part of the challenge, but I'm grateful for any such feedback from users of Southern trains.

I use Southern trains, sometimes with my bike, but not that route.  >99% of interactions have been very good and positive, on one occasion I couldn't get a bike onto a rammed weekend southbound train at Clapham Junction, so I caught an empty northbound to Victoria and got into the bike space first of the next south bound one.  As you're getting on the train at its origin, I reckon you'll be fine.

Useful skills if it does get crowded are the MkI winning smile and being good at bicycle Tetris.

[JStone]

...
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Useful skills if it does get crowded are the MkI winning smile and being good at bicycle Tetris.

Agreed - useful transferable skills 

[Vernon]

If you're travelling outside rush hour you're unlikely to have any problems.  There are restrictions on bikes for trains arriving in  Brighton before 10:00, but after that the trains aren't that busy (assuming they are running). If you're changing at Portsmouth Harbour or Portsmouth and Southwest you'll be getting on at the start of the journey, so are likely to have spaces available.

[Clare]

If you're travelling outside rush hour you're unlikely to have any problems.  There are restrictions on bikes for trains arriving in  Brighton before 10:00, but after that the trains aren't that busy (assuming they are running). If you're changing at Portsmouth Harbour or Portsmouth and Southwest you'll be getting on at the start of the journey, so are likely to have spaces available.

That's Portsmouth and Southsea.