Trains and bicycles in Italy

If you're flying to Pisa you won't need to take the train as the airport is
only one mile from the city centre, believe it or not.
Generally I heard from other cyclists when I was cycling in Italy, that the
trains are very bike friendly. Tandem friendly, I don't know.

For some time I've been collecting information on user experiences taking
bikes on planes, trains, buses, boats, etc. There's lots of stuff on
rentals, folding bikes, boxing, airlines, and railroads around the world and
how to ride in/out of about 120 airports. I've added a whole section to
the site on flying with bikes since 9-11.

See it at http://www.BikeAccess.net

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

Quoted message said:

I'm planning a trip next month to the Tuscany region. I'll be touring
with a Tandem and was trying to get information from someone who's had
experience riding the trains in Italy with a bicycle.

Are they any issues or gotchas I need to know before I get there. I
want to make sure I can get the bike on the train. I'll only need to
take the train from the airport to the start and from the end of my
trip back to the airport.

Any input is greatly appreciated

Thanks
Joe

[email hidden] (JMG) wrote in message news:<[email hidden]>...

Quoted message said:

I'm planning a trip next month to the Tuscany region. I'll be touring
with a Tandem and was trying to get information from someone who's had
experience riding the trains in Italy with a bicycle.

Are they any issues or gotchas I need to know before I get there. I
want to make sure I can get the bike on the train. I'll only need to
take the train from the airport to the start and from the end of my
trip back to the airport.

Any input is greatly appreciated

If you search back just two weeks in the archives of this group there
was a thread on this topic then; here is a link to that thread:
http://tinyurl.com/5laqm.

In a nutshell, trains are allowed on many of the slower, more local
trains. Bikes are not allowed on most of the faster trains. Have not
tried with a tandem, and have never seen one on a train so not sure
how that works. Some trains have hooks to hang bikes, and I am
certain that no tandem will fit; there is only about a foot clearance
from the lower wheel to the floor when hanging my touring bike. One
potential source of agony: most stations have multiple platforms and
at-grade crossing between platforms is not permitted. You need to
take you use the 'sotto passagio', a below ground tunnel to move
between platforms, and access to the tunnel is via stairs - no
elevators. So you will be carrying your bike down then up steep
stairs most every time you need to get to a train or from train back
to the station. Painful enough with a half bike.

Enjoy the trip; Tuscany is great, esp when you get off the main roads.

- rick

Joe,

The hard part is knowing (while still in the States) if the train you
want will accept your bike. A general rule: the smaller/more local
the train, the more likely it is to have a designated place for a
bike.

You can get this info from each station's yellow departure
timetable--a bike symbol on the timetable entry indicates that the
train accepts bikes and usually has a car with a designated car. The
blue bike symbol appears on the outside of the car, and the trick is
then making sure you're standing where the bike car stops. This info
is usually shown on a platform display of the composition of each
train.

In Tuscany, trains are surprisingly scarce. For instance, you can't
tour the hill towns by train (of course, we don't want to go by
train--that's why we take our bikes), so it sounds like you'll be more
concerned with long hops between major cities. I have a very detailed
Italian timetable book at home, and I'd be happy to give you the info
therein if you send me an e-mail with departure and arrival dates (and
times, if you can narrow it down) and cities. While it's a couple
years old, most of the info is still applicable, including the
bike-specific info.

You can get timetable info at www.trenitalia.com, but I don't think
there's much bike info there. You can also check raileurope.com or
call them--they might be able to get more detailed info than what's
available online.

Cheers,

Eric
Lawrence, KS

Eric Struckhoff said:

Joe,

The hard part is knowing (while still in the States) if the train you
want will accept your bike. A general rule: the smaller/more local
the train, the more likely it is to have a designated place for a
bike.

You can get this info from each station's yellow departure
timetable--a bike symbol on the timetable entry indicates that the
train accepts bikes and usually has a car with a designated car. The
blue bike symbol appears on the outside of the car, and the trick is
then making sure you're standing where the bike car stops. This info
is usually shown on a platform display of the composition of each
train.

In Tuscany, trains are surprisingly scarce. For instance, you can't
tour the hill towns by train (of course, we don't want to go by
train--that's why we take our bikes), so it sounds like you'll be more
concerned with long hops between major cities. I have a very detailed
Italian timetable book at home, and I'd be happy to give you the info
therein if you send me an e-mail with departure and arrival dates (and
times, if you can narrow it down) and cities. While it's a couple
years old, most of the info is still applicable, including the
bike-specific info.

You can get timetable info at www.trenitalia.com, but I don't think
there's much bike info there. You can also check raileurope.com or
call them--they might be able to get more detailed info than what's
available online.

Cheers,

Eric
Lawrence, KS

I find that the German Deutsches Bahn site has always had the best info
- even for other countries.
http://reiseauskunft.bahn.de/bin/query.exe/en

--
*****************************
Chuck Anderson • Boulder, CO
http://www.CycleTourist.com
Integrity is obvious.
The lack of it is common.
*****************************

Chuck Anderson <[email hidden]> wrote in message news:<7Fn2d.203008$mD.118742@attbi_s02>...

Quoted message said:

I find that the German Deutsches Bahn site has always had the best info
- even for other countries.
http://reiseauskunft.bahn.de/bin/query.exe/en

Wow, nice site! They even have a check box for bike carriage required
on the front page of the ticket search. That narrows things down in a
hurry.

Eric

[email hidden] (Eric Struckhoff) wrote in message news:<[email hidden]>...

Quoted message said:

Chuck Anderson <[email hidden]> wrote in message news:<7Fn2d.203008$mD.118742@attbi_s02>...

Quoted message said:

I find that the German Deutsches Bahn site has always had the best info
- even for other countries.
http://reiseauskunft.bahn.de/bin/query.exe/en

Wow, nice site! They even have a check box for bike carriage required
on the front page of the ticket search. That narrows things down in a
hurry.

Eric

Thanks to everyone for the help. It looks like all I will need is this
website, it's very good. I just hope they take Tandems or I'll be left
standing at the station!!

Joe