Oh, I went into Oswestry the other day, saw an e-bike shop, and thought wonder how much to hire for day, as may be better than carrying me own e-bike into the town, £50 for the day, did not ask if that was 24 hours or working day, that seemed a bit steep to me, clearly it is worth carrying my own e-bike into the town.
The carrying of a 24 kg bike is not easy, yes could take battery off, but in spite of it folding can't get it into the train carriage, except for the special disabled carriage, it has to stop on the veranda
and it means I have to fold it to allow other passengers to get on/off the train. I have considered leaving my bike at the Welshpool end, not to avoid the £3.50 charge but to save putting it on/off the train.
So I can understand some one who regularly does the same route leaving there bike chained up. However with standard gauge trains I did not think there was a charge for carrying your bike? And the entrances are easier to use, as designed to only be used at a platform, unlike the 2'6" gauge where some stations have no platform. Hence the veranda style, which also helps when taking photos.