Belgian horrors

Nice collection! The bottom-right one looks like fun: a good reason to
shell-out for a full-sus bike...

I was in Brussels last weekend and was impressed with the fact that you
could take bikes onto the Metro. Each train seemed to have a carriage
that would allow 2 bikes. An area had been created for extra standing
with bikes buy removing a few seats and puting in a few poles for
holding onto.

Simple really. It was very easy to put bikes onto the escalators as
well in order to get them up and down.

Nice to be able to run to a Metro train whilst carrying a large
backpack without getting shot in the head seven times.

Rob said:

Nice to be able to run to a Metro train whilst carrying a large
backpack without getting shot in the head seven times.

No no no. He wasn't carrying a backpack, he was only wearing a denim
jacket.
--
Phil Cook looking north over the park to the "Westminster Gasworks"

Rob said:

I was in Brussels last weekend and was impressed with the fact that you
could take bikes onto the Metro. Each train seemed to have a carriage
that would allow 2 bikes. An area had been created for extra standing
with bikes buy removing a few seats and puting in a few poles for
holding onto.

Interesting. I didn't notice that when I was last visiting Brussels a couple
of years ago (using Line 1 between St Catherine and Beaulieu). Nor did I see
anyone with bikes in the stations.

How much was the facility being used when you were there?

The combination of an unaware tourist, a heavily laden bike and the
ferocious acceleration that the Brussels metro is capable of could get
interesting!

Regards,

-david

David Nutter said:

Interesting. I didn't notice that when I was last visiting Brussels a couple
of years ago (using Line 1 between St Catherine and Beaulieu). Nor did I see
anyone with bikes in the stations.

I haven't noticed it in Brussels, but I have seen people taking bikes
on trains regularly in the Berlin U-Bahn.

I think the "proof-of payment" system used in both these cities is
probably the reason why - it's much easier to get a bike in and out,
compared with the London/Paris turnstile entrance gates.

Quoted message said:

How much was the facility being used when you were there?

The combination of an unaware tourist, a heavily laden bike and the
ferocious acceleration that the Brussels metro is capable of could get
interesting!

It is indeed ferocious - I've never seen anything quite like it,
anywhere else.