bikes on trains

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

Quoted message said:

how much does it cost to take a bike on the train?

You could try following this link;
http://www.pushbikes.freeserve.co.uk/Cycling/LeisureAndTouring/TOCs.htm

John

In article <[email hidden]>,

mewthree said:

how much does it cost to take a bike on the train?

It varies a lot from company to company. It's free on some; £2-3 on
others. You often have to book in advance, although some services let
you just turn up and take the bike space if it's free. Very few trains
carry more than a couple of bikes these days.

Ian
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mewthree said:

how much does it cost to take a bike on the train?

You'll have to ask the operator for that journey. A more pertinent
question might be "can I take a bike on the train at all?".

mewthree said:

how much does it cost to take a bike on the train?

Three years of your life and a course of valium.

John B

Zog The Undeniable said:

mewthree said:

how much does it cost to take a bike on the train?

You'll have to ask the operator for that journey. A more pertinent
question might be "can I take a bike on the train at all?".

Surely you can take bikes on just about every train outside of rush
hours?

Space is at a premium on some trains (2 per train on some SWT trains,
5 per train on other new SWT, Virgins take 4 except on Western Main
line where they take 8(?)).

In some instances you may need to book a slot but it is generally free
to take a bike.

On Sat, 16 Oct 2004 07:51:12 GMT someone who may be "mewthree"
<[email hidden]> wrote this:-

Quoted message said:

how much does it cost to take a bike on the train?

That depends on where and when.

http://www.atob.org.uk has a page on doing this which is a good
starting point.

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Not Responding said:

On Sat, 16 Oct 2004 08:59:10 +0100, Zog The Undeniable

Surely you can take bikes on just about every train outside of rush
hours?

Space is at a premium on some trains (2 per train on some SWT trains,
5 per train on other new SWT, Virgins take 4 except on Western Main
line where they take 8(?)).

Exactly - so you can't take a bike on a train that already has n bikes
on it, where n is generally a ridiculously small number.

regards, Ian SMith
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Ian Smith said:

Not Responding said:

On Sat, 16 Oct 2004 08:59:10 +0100, Zog The Undeniable

Surely you can take bikes on just about every train outside of rush
hours?

Space is at a premium on some trains (2 per train on some SWT trains,
5 per train on other new SWT, Virgins take 4 except on Western Main
line where they take 8(?)).

Exactly - so you can't take a bike on a train that already has n bikes
on it, where n is generally a ridiculously small number.

Or in many cases on my line where the train's 2 bike space has been
comandeered by standing passengers.
Even with a reservation you will not get on.
No bike would have got on this morning's 10.45 Salisbury train into
London from Hampshire. It was sardines only.
People were advised to change at Basingstoke and catch another train if
they wanted more comfort.

John B

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

Ian Smith said:

On Sat, 16 Oct, [Not Responding] <[email hidden]>

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

On Sat, 16 Oct 2004 08:59:10 +0100, Zog The Undeniable

Surely you can take bikes on just about every train outside of rush
hours?

Space is at a premium on some trains (2 per train on some SWT trains,
5 per train on other new SWT, Virgins take 4 except on Western Main
line where they take 8(?)).

Exactly - so you can't take a bike on a train that already has n bikes
on it, where n is generally a ridiculously small number.

on my line it is 4 bikes; 12 stops into London, there are usually 4 after 3
stops. I would leave my bike in London if it didn't get trashed and was not
a 15 min walk up and down another platform to retrieve it; might as well
walk to work.

I was in the Netherlands 20 yrs ago and they had whole coaches just for
bikes, last time I was there had to book the bike with a parcel ticket,
about e4 I thin, but no limit.

On Sat, 16 Oct 2004 23:13:57 +0100, "MartinM" <[email hidden]>

Quoted message said:

I was in the Netherlands 20 yrs ago and they had whole coaches just for
bikes, last time I was there had to book the bike with a parcel ticket,
about e4 I thin, but no limit.

They have whole coaches for bikes nowadays, in Switzerland.

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in message <[email hidden]>, Call me Bob

(') said:

On Sat, 16 Oct 2004 23:13:57 +0100, "MartinM" <[email hidden]>

Quoted message said:

I was in the Netherlands 20 yrs ago and they had whole coaches just
for
bikes, last time I was there had to book the bike with a parcel
ticket, about e4 I thin, but no limit.

They have whole coaches for bikes nowadays, in Switzerland.

Yes, but they couldn't have them in Britain. It's too hilly for cycling
here, everyone knows that.

--
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;; Women are from Venus. Men are from Mars. Lusers are from Uranus.

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

Quoted message said:

in message <[email hidden]>, Call me Bob

(') said:

On Sat, 16 Oct 2004 23:13:57 +0100, "MartinM" <[email hidden]>

Quoted message said:

I was in the Netherlands 20 yrs ago and they had whole coaches just
for
bikes, last time I was there had to book the bike with a parcel
ticket, about e4 I thin, but no limit.

They have whole coaches for bikes nowadays, in Switzerland.

Yes, but they couldn't have them in Britain. It's too hilly for cycling
here, everyone knows that.

we had a Dutch woman in the local paper who was doing the L2B, but would not
train on our local roads before it as she thought the roads were too
dangerous as they had no cycle lanes. I think her chances of an accident on
the L2B were probably a lot higher than on any other day.

JohnB said:

Or in many cases on my line where the train's 2 bike space has been
comandeered by standing passengers.

Here's the nub of the problem - if the train companies provided an
adequate service then everyone would be able to sit down and there would
be no issues with space for bikes.

On my line they have tried to solve the seating shortage by changing the
arrangement of seats from two sets of two abreast to three and two
abreast. The seats are now too narrow to accommodate anyone of average
size or above, and it's impossible to negotiate the aisle without
bashing the people on the aisle seats.

So now the middle seat in each group of three and one seat in each group
of two are unusable, which means that instead of having four seats
abreast there are now three /usable/ seats abreast, and fewer people
overall are able to sit down.

If they ever have the nerve to suggest it's me that's causing the
problem by taking my bike on the train and try to ban me, I'll not be
responsible for my actions.

However, two mitigating factors: for one thing, they haven't banned
bikes on my line yet, though I suspect it's only a matter of time (I
ride on the former Connex Southeast, so it probably depends who gets the
franchise).

The second mitigating factor - and this is the really weird bit - is
that depending on where I board the train, I don't have a problem with
space at all. For some daft reason, the majority of my fellow passengers
prefer to cram themselves in at the front of the train so they can save
a few precious seconds when racing for the ticket barrier at the other
end, while the rear of the train is often practically empty.

I can't imagine why anyone is so desperate to get to work that they
imagine a few seconds here or there will make much difference.

d.

Call me Bob <[email hidden]> of ntl Cablemodem News

Service said:

On Sat, 16 Oct 2004 23:13:57 +0100, "MartinM" <[email hidden]>

Quoted message said:

I was in the Netherlands 20 yrs ago and they had whole coaches just for
bikes, last time I was there had to book the bike with a parcel ticket,
about e4 I thin, but no limit.

They have whole coaches for bikes nowadays, in Switzerland.

And Austria, even on small local trains with only about 4 coaches. All the
trains seemed to have a lot of coaches for the number of passengers, so one
for bikes, with bike hooks and straps, wasn't inconveniencing any
passengers.
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Simon Brooke said:

Yes, but they couldn't have them in Britain. It's too hilly for cycling
here, everyone knows that.

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;; Women are from Venus. Men are from Mars. Lusers are from Uranus.

So many people couldn't understand why I took my bicycle to Cornwall in the summer since they thought it was too hilly for cycling. I had some magnificent rides, nice hills, and enjoyed the holiday twice as much as my non-cycling family because of my early morning rides out in the spectacular countryside.

KakenBetaal said:

So many people couldn't understand why I took my bicycle to Cornwall in
the summer since they thought it was too hilly for cycling.

That would be why Inspired Cycle Engineering are based there, then :-)

Guy
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Just zis Guy said:

KakenBetaal said:

So many people couldn't understand why I took my bicycle to Cornwall in
the summer since they thought it was too hilly for cycling.

That would be why Inspired Cycle Engineering are based there, then :-)

Of course. They build trikes with 81 gears ;-)

John B

JohnB said:

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

So many people couldn't understand why I took my bicycle to Cornwall in
the summer since they thought it was too hilly for cycling.

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

That would be why Inspired Cycle Engineering are based there, then :-)

Quoted message said:

Of course. They build trikes with 81 gears ;-)

And ones which only weigh about 20lb :-)

Guy
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On Sun, 17 Oct 2004 21:41:05 +0100, davek <[email hidden]>

Quoted message said:

JohnB said:

Or in many cases on my line where the train's 2 bike space has been
comandeered by standing passengers.

Here's the nub of the problem - if the train companies provided an
adequate service then everyone would be able to sit down and there would
be no issues with space for bikes.

Unfortunately, the issue is usually line capacity: there isn' t any.
Providing a better service often implies building more railways, which
doesn't really happen much any more.