Eurostar

[StoneyQuine]

There may be a thread already, tho I looked.

What is the current situation for taking a bike on Eurostar ( have emailed them three times but over 3 months, no reply).

I want to tour the Camargue: the trains would be (Stonehaven) Aberdeen - London (GNER), London - Paris (Eurostar); Paris - Arles (or Avignon - poss TVG or slower train).
I need my bike to get from home to the station in Stonehaven. Not a problem with an assembled bike - a bit of a problem with a disassembled bike. I can book an assembled bike on GNER to London.
I then need to get the short distance from Kings Cross to St Pancras. Not a problem (with an assembled bike, less easy with a bike in a box.
I am not sure if I have to disassemble my bike to take it on EuroStar: it seems one does for the London Paris route.
Once in Paris I need to cross Paris to get from Gare du Nord to Gare de Lyon: not a problem with an assembled bike, but much trickier with a dissassembled bike.
I also need to spend a night either in London (YHA St Pancras) or Paris (HI next to Gare du Nord) - again easier with an assembled bike.

Needless to say, a bike that is dissassembled (and the bag or box to pack it in) are very much not ideal.

Does anyone have any further or more recent updates.

I am also told I cannot take e-bikes on either EuroStar, Scotrail or GNER trains (I am not intending to take my just purchased e-bike if things go to plan; the e-bike is to build up my stamina again (where I live it is a very steep incline to get out of the town before I can cycle).

 

[matticus]

Have you read this? https://www.eurostar.com/uk-en/travel-info/travel-planning/luggage/bikes

Key bit is this: "We can only transport fully assembled bikes on trains travelling between London and Brussels. If you’re travelling between London and Paris, your bike must be disassembled and in a box or bag when you drop it off."

... although I think they are progressing the situation - slowly! - with every passing year.
[Is Brussels any use for you? :-/ ]

There is looooads of info on the CUK forum - which, with respect, does actually have a lot more touring info than here - such as this fun thread https://forum.cyclinguk.org/viewtopic.php?p=1897100

 

[StuAff]

Sadly, the reasonably uncomplicated pre-plague days of bikes on Eurostar are long gone. Back then, as now, they did not have a joined-up booking procedure- allegedly still in the works- but (i) they did have spaces for fully-assembled bikes on trains to both Paris and Brussels and (ii) though you couldn't book bike and yourself in one place at one time, there was the simple workaround of booking your own ticket on eurostar.com & ringing EuroDespatch to sort the bike space. Oh, and they also had workstands so you could dismantle and reassemble if need be at each end. Those were the days…

The Brussels option is only three trains to there, four returning, from London to Paris only departures between 0801 and 1531 and returns between 1113 & 1813. Very helpful, eh? FYI, you would still have issues getting from Paris to Arles/Avignon- some TGVs do not have space for fully assembled bikes, and this includes most services to those cities. I did a search for Paris-Avignon on Saturday (10 May): SNCF Connect gave me one option with a fully assembled bike- 1.53 from the Gare de Lyon, TGV to Lyon (arrives 4.10), 2 hours wait in Lyon, then another 2:35 to get to Avignon. Direct services are 2:40 or so!

 

[Punkawallah]

I feel your pain. My plans for a Paris to London ride were scuppered by the failure of trains to take a bike, and the exorbitant cost of a one-way plane journey. Last I heard the Eurostar was only accepting folding bikes in a cover - it may have changed by now.

 

[Boopop]

I love Eurostar as a concept but at this point I strongly dislike the company. Hate them? I don't know, I try not to hate but I'm close with Eurostar! In 2023 they told CyclingUK that full sized bicycles would be allowed on services to Paris in the "near future". Here is a link to the CyclingUK page from 2023 on the WaybackMachine. It's now 2025 of course and you still can't take a full sized bike to Paris.

I've emailed Eurostar's customer support who told me there's no information they can give me and I've also emailed their CEO, who just ignored me. I've emailed CyclingUK who essentially explained that they're getting as little info out of them as I managed.

I'm a little tempted to email my MP about the issue but compared to all the other things going on in the country it seems like a rather middle-class non-issue.

That 2023 article says full sized bikes would be allowed on services to Amsterdam by 2025, has that happened?

I've just checked, no, big surprise. I love trains but when the companies that operate them treat them no better or worse than airlines, it's difficult to remain positive about them. Don't get me started on prices compared to flying! For the forseeable future I'll be using ferries out of spite.