Online booking of bike spaces on trains.

[Brandane]

I've recently been trying to book a bike space on a train heading for Englandshire. Bookings are mandatory on most cross border services (Virgin trains and Cross Country) and it was always the case that you could book a space via train company website at the same time as booking a seat. However, no more; it would seem that you have to book bike spaces via their call centres, and we all know how difficult it can be to get to speak to someone without a lengthy wait. Virgin, Cross Country, and Scotrail; they all give similar answer to this - taken from the Cross Country website. And they call this progress??

Unfortunately we are unable to process bicycle reservations through our website.

However, one of our support team can process these requests either via our Social Media Team (Facebook, Twitter) or over the phone by calling 03447 369 123 (Option 3).

Although bicycle reservations can be made after booking online, we recommend making your booking and bicycle reservation together through our call centre so we can confirm whether bicycle spaces are available on the train you wish to travel on.

Please visit our 'Cyclists' page for further information.

 

[ColinJ]

I book through the Hull Trains website, which does accept online bike reservations.

 

[Brandane]

While I'm having a railway rant. £63 for a one way off peak ticket from Lancaster to Scarborough? WTAF?? I thought we were supposed to being encouraged off the roads and onto public transport? I guess I'll take the car then, and avoid the great unwashed public, set the air-con to a temperature of my choice, listen to music of my choice, leave at a time to suit me, etc. etc... Shove your dirty, overpriced, unreliable Great British public transport system where the sun doesn't shine!

 

[robjh]

Try booking via the website of a train company whose website does allow bike bookings, eg www.gwr.com It doesn't matter that it's not the operator you'll be travelling on, they will all book anywhere on the network.

(or Hull Trains as @ColinJ has just suggested).
Welcome to the wonderful world of a fragmented railway system. Too bad that these tricks are known only to train ticketing obsessives (of whom I think we have a good number on here ).

 

[PK99]

I've recently been trying to book a bike space on a train heading for Englandshire. Bookings are mandatory on most cross border services (Virgin trains and Cross Country) and it was always the case that you could book a space via train company website at the same time as booking a seat. However, no more; it would seem that you have to book bike spaces via their call centres, and we all know how difficult it can be to get to speak to someone without a lengthy wait. Virgin, Cross Country, and Scotrail; they all give similar answer to this - taken from the Cross Country website. And they call this progress??

No need to get hissy fitty about bikes and cyclists.

We were phoning to book Room & Table at a Restaurant with Rooms a while ago, just as the proprietor was about to write in in the diary, he asked us to hang on a moment while he checked Intenet Bookings, just to be sure the room had not been booked on-line while we were on the phone "It happens", he said.

Multiple booking channels for limited spaces = problems

 

[ColinJ]

While I'm having a railway rant. £63 for a one way off peak ticket from Lancaster to Scarborough? WTAF?? I thought we were supposed to being encouraged off the roads and onto public transport? I guess I'll take the car then, and avoid the great unwashed public, set the air-con to a temperature of my choice, listen to music of my choice, leave at a time to suit me, etc. etc... Shove your dirty, overpriced, unreliable Great British public transport system where the sun doesn't shine!

It gets worse ... TransPennine, who operate the 'service' from Scarborough run some trains with no cycle provision at all. They also will not let you book bikes on trains with less than 24 hours notice!

 

[Brandane]

Try booking via the website of a train company whose website does allow bike bookings, eg www.gwr.com It doesn't matter that it's not the operator you'll be travelling on, they will all book anywhere on the network.

(or Hull Trains as @ColinJ has just suggested).
Welcome to the wonderful world of a fragmented railway system. Too bad that these tricks are known only to train ticketing obsessives (of whom I think we have a good number on here ).

Thanks for that, and @ColinJ too. I thought trying 3 companies, including one who doesn't operate the route (Scotrail) would be a good representation of the general situation but obviously not. Since they all quote the same fares, it would seem they all access the same reservation system at some point in the process - so why can't they share the same bike reservation system? All this technology and they can't work out something as simple as bike spaces on a train.

 

[classic33]

Thanks for that, and @ColinJ too. I thought trying 3 companies, including one who doesn't operate the route (Scotrail) would be a good representation of the general situation but obviously not. Since they all quote the same fares, it would seem they all access the same reservation system at some point in the process - so why can't they share the same bike reservation system? All this technology and they can't work out something as simple as bike spaces on a train.

All now owned/ operated by the same company, Arriva. Who have been doing away with online booking for bikes.

Be wary if you're planning on travelling at the weekend. It's a reduced service for the forseeable future, in this necck o'woods, on Saturdays. And bikes are not allowed on rail replacement buses.

 

[User76022]

Rant alert.

Here we are, in the nation that pioneered rail travel and I believe an early adopter if not inventor of the bicycle, a nation whose government talks the talk about the environment and hassles every other country about their progress. A country that is listed as one of the richest in the world. Yet here we are, trying to figure out how to get around in a sustainable way. We have thousands of miles of bike tracks that fail the government's own definitions of safety. We have a rail network that is mocked in countries we used to laugh at. It is often cheaper to travel by road or even air. In fact if there were a few people that wanted to go on a cycling weekend together a few hundred miles away, it would actually be cheaper, quicker and easier to buy a 1 grand 20 year old diesel van to transport the bikes and riders even if it went to scrap afterwards than it would to use the train.

Rant over.

Awesome to learn from here that some booking providers do handle bike bookings.

 

[rogerzilla]

Even if you make the mandatory reservation on GWR, you're likely to find huge suitcases or (in our case) surfboards occupying the bike spaces, and no train manager to be found. The new Class 800 trains are the problem as the bike spaces are no.longer in a separate "guard's van". This was at 0830 on a Saturday, so not even a busy time. It's not surprising people buy Bromptons.

 

[PaulSB]

While I'm having a railway rant. £63 for a one way off peak ticket from Lancaster to Scarborough? WTAF?? I thought we were supposed to being encouraged off the roads and onto public transport? I guess I'll take the car then, and avoid the great unwashed public, set the air-con to a temperature of my choice, listen to music of my choice, leave at a time to suit me, etc. etc... Shove your dirty, overpriced, unreliable Great British public transport system where the sun doesn't shine!

I just tried that journey for you using my "train split" app. Obviously I could only do a random off peak journey. Catch the 10.45 from Lancaster on Monday of next week. The cost is £28.41.

https://www.trainsplit.com

I recently used this to book a return from Preston to Oban for £36. Couldn't buy the petrol for that.

On the bike space issue I know it raises people's blood pressure but my experience is generally the situation is not so difficult. Some companies have online chat facilities which work very well - I was once in Greece using online chat to book cycle reservations with Virgin - very easy. Secondly try phoning at a quiet time, I find 8.00pm onwards good, and in my experience one will usually encounter helpful and polite staff who will make booking for you.

 

[Brandane]

I just tried that journey for you using my "train split" app. Obviously I could only do a random off peak journey. Catch the 10.45 from Lancaster on Monday of next week. The cost is £28.41.

https://www.trainsplit.com

I recently used this to book a return from Preston to Oban for £36. Couldn't buy the petrol for that.

On the bike space issue I know it raises people'' blood pressure but my experience is generally the situation is not so difficult. Some companies have online chat facilities which work very well - I was once in Greece using online chat to book cycle reservations with Virgin - very easy. Secondly try phoning at a quiet time, I find 8.00pm onwards good, and in my experience one will usually encounter helpful and polite staff who will make booking for you.

Booking in advance is the answer for getting the best fares, but that requires 2 things.
1. You need to be organised and plan ahead.
2. You cannot be a dedicated FWC (fair weather cyclist).

As I am very much disorganised with a particular dislike of cycling in the rain/extreme cold/headwind, the end result is trying to book train journeys within 24 hours of departure, having studied the weather forecast! So it's a case of cough up or don't go; or possibly use the car - which normally means a one way train journey to retrieve it.

 

[PaulSB]

@Brandane I agree booking in advance is the best option for the cheapest fares. This definitely applies when booking directly with the train operator.

My limited experience of trainsplit is you can still get very good prices even at 24 hours notice. The first example I gave was for Monday - 48 hours - and I've just tried for tomorrow at 10.30. The cost is £31!!

You may not be aware trainsplit works by dividing the journey, using the same trains, in to separate sections based on the cheapest tickets for those sections. By doing this you end up with multiple tickets for the journey.

I've yet to combine this with a bike. Why not give it a go, the worst that can happen is you end up using the car.

Good luck

 

[Brandane]

@Brandane I agree booking in advance is the best option for the cheapest fares. This definitely applies when booking directly with the train operator.

My limited experience of trainsplit is you can still get very good prices even at 24 hours notice. The first example I gave was for Monday - 48 hours - and I've just tried for tomorrow at 10.30. The cost is £31!!

You may not be aware trainsplit works by dividing the journey, using the same trains, in to separate sections based on the cheapest tickets for those sections. By doing this you end up with multiple tickets for the journey.

I've yet to combine this with a bike. Why not give it a go, the worst that can happen is you end up using the car.

Good luck

Thanks for that link, and i did try it! I have to get to Lancaster first, from Ayrshire, so I'm looking to travel after midday which puts the price up to £43 which is still good.
However, dig a little deeper and you find that services on Northern Trains this weekend might be affected by industrial action. Dig a little deeper still, and find out that......

Ongoing engineering work in some areas will also see some disruption to services on Sunday, particularly between Preston and Hellifield, Manchester and Crewe, Manchester and East Lancashire, and Blackpool and Leeds.

This weekend will also see thousands of people visit the famous Christmas Markets in Manchester. Customers are reminded of the impact the amended timetables will have on travel to and from Manchester.

Now I don't mean to sound too negative about our utterly shite public transport, but this sort of thing is not untypical.

Edit to add... It would appear that you can still travel on later trains if any sector in the journey is delayed. However, there does not seem to be an option for booking a bicycle on that site, which introduces an obvious risk....

 

[NorthernDave]

Northern, on the rare occasions that they actually run trains, currently have a first come first served system and I've never seen anyone refused travel although it remains a possibility depending on staff attitude (which is normally sensible). There are persistent rumours that this will change soon though.

Trans Pennine Express insist on a reservation at least 24 hours before. Even better, it's virtually impossible to reserve a bike space and reserve a seat in the same carriage - their booking system will insist on seating you at the opposite end of the train...