A change of circumstances may mean I need to ditch my roadie and rural commute for a folder and an East Coast (ex GNER/National Express) journey. Bad times! I'm actually strangely excited by the prospect of a Brompton though..
I'd appreciate any comments on whether this is advisable vs. using the roadie to get to the station and storing my old hybrid at the other end. It seems less of a faff to use a folder (not having to find spaces to lock up etc.) but I'm worried I'll not find anywhere to put it on the train at peak times and end up standing with it for an hour. Is there space to have the Brompton by your feet, or does it have to go on the luggage rack (where I'd be concerned about security)?
I use my Brom about twice a month to go over to Manchester, on TransPennine Express. I think legroom is more or less the same. You won't get it under your legs in a normal seat - you might if East Coast have priority seats with a little more legroom like TPE do. I suspect it would go under a table.
I generally put mine in the bottom of the luggage rack, or if there's no room, it goes in the vestibule - TPE carriages are different to East Coast, and have doors at each end and in the middle. I do fret about security, so if I possibly can I grab a seat where I can see it, even if it means turning my head every so often to look behind me. I've got a little cable lock that I use to lock it to the frame of the rack. Make sure you get up in plenty of time to unlock it before your station.
I often end up standing with my Brom, but that's as much because TPE run 3 carriage trains for services with a 6 carriage amount of people wanting to get on. Having the Brom probably slows me down a bit in the scrum for seats, but I live with it.
How many stops are you going? Bear in mind, no one can really go anywhere with your bike between stations. I suppose someone could pick it up and take it down the train and get off with it, but I don't know if it's a likely scenario. I watch mine carefully because there are other 3 stops between me getting on and off.
I wouldn't fancy leaving a decent bike at a station, day in day out. One day, it's not going to be there, or it'll have a bent wheel.
Oh, I did hear of someone who tried to put a Brom in the overhead luggage rack, and nearly killed an old lady when it fell out. Don't do this.
And certainly, if you're getting a folder for public transport, get a Brompton. The only thing that folds better is the Sinclair A-Bike, and you'd be better off with rollerskates than one of those.