Bikes on French local trains

It's difficult and unpredicable. On some trains you can take your bike but on others it will follow
on maybe days later.

"Ems" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
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Quoted message said:

Can anyone tell me the situation regarding travelling with bikes on local trains (as opposed to
TGV) in France.

Is it walk-on, or subject to booking etc.

I am thinking of travelling by train (with bike) in Brittanny.

Thanks

Emyr

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If the train is designated as a bike carrying train on the schedule, it will be walk-on, no charge.
At any rate, this was the case during the summer of 2001. The SNCF website has a trip planner which
allows you to specify (among other things) bicycle carrying trains when planning a journey.
Otherwise, just look for the bicycle icon when reading the timetable.
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mark

mark said:

"Ems" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
"]news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

Can anyone tell me the situation regarding travelling with bikes on local trains (as opposed to
TGV) in France.

Is it walk-on, or subject to booking etc.

I am thinking of travelling by train (with bike) in Brittanny.

Thanks

Emyr

remove the mode of transport to reply

If the train is designated as a bike carrying train on the schedule, it will be walk-on, no
charge. At any rate, this was the case during the summer of 2001.

This is France (well it is where I am), if you are thick necked enough you can take your bike onto
ANY train - last week a VTT was parked in the doorway of a TGV that I was on. No it is not allowed
but it is extremely rare for a controller to do anything, certainly your fellow passengers will not
say a word. There are even TGVs equipped with bike parking, but there is a charge.

For local trains there are restrictions on taking your bike onto them during peak times, but again
no-one ever seems to pay attention to these restrictions.

David

David Off said:

This is France (well it is where I am), if you are thick necked enough you can take your bike onto
ANY train - last week a VTT was parked in the doorway of a TGV that I was on. No it is not allowed
but it is extremely rare for a controller to do anything, certainly your fellow passengers will not
say a word. There are even TGVs equipped with bike parking, but there is a charge.

Last year I booked a train from Paris to Bayonne and Perpignan to Paris, cycling the Pyrenees
between. We specifically books bikes for the trip. The TGV controller would not let us on the train.

We complained. The clerk was very apologetic - but the train had already gone. Instead we had to
travel by corail to Bayonne and our non-refundable TGV tickets were refunded. We had no such
problems on the return trip but that wasn't on a TGV anyway.

The secret to TGV travel with bikes in France is a lightweight bike bag. You have to remove the
pedals, wheels and turn the handlebars 90 degrees. It's not very convenient when travelling with
panniers, but you can disassemble and reassemble on the platform in about 10 minutes so it's not a
real problem. However, it's a bit of a pain to have to tour lumbering a bike bag about the place!

Quoted message said:

For local trains there are restrictions on taking your bike onto them during peak times, but again
no-one ever seems to pay attention to these restrictions.

David

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