Southern Trains & London Freewheel

[LOGAN 5]

I did the London Freewheel ride last Sunday and had a terrific day apart from the journeys from hell from the South Coast to London on Southern Trains.

Having previously phoned rail enquiries and been told there were no engineering works scheduled for the weekend I (along with the rest of our group) was dismayed to find only 1 train per hour which stopped everywhere and a rail replacement bus service. The bus drivers were a bit reluctant to let us on with our bikes so we waited for the train which took for ever and was really crowded.

At one station the guard announced that a fast train was coming up behind and said if passengers wanted to get on it to leave the train. Within 1 minute of this announcement the train left, splitting up some groups of people as some had got to the platform whilst others got stuck behind the then locked doors. Utter lack of communication.

It's as though the engineers turn up on a random Sunday and start repairs wherever they like and the station staff/guards/driver have no idea which trains run where, how and when. They must make it up as they go along. No wonder people drive.

On arriving at Victoria to go home we were approached by Southern staff and told to go wait in a certain area to be issued with numbered tickets (we already had our travel tickets). I've never had this happen before and asked why. They said they were seeing how many cycles were being put on their trains due to the Freewheel event.

I wonder if this monitoring operation is going to result in bikes being banned on Freewheel day in the future if Southern deem too many are travelling. Just like they do on the London to Brighton bike ride where no bikes can travel over their entire network on that day. I can't think why they would be counting bikes unless they planned to ban them if the numbers increased. Call me sceptical but they like to ban bikes (restrictions in the rush hour, ridiculously small bike space in their carriages, being treated like a criminal going through their gates with a bike etc etc) and probably will do so on this event in the next year or two.

 

[TwickenhamCyclist]

Having previously phoned rail enquiries and been told there were no engineering works scheduled for the weekend I.

LOL – had the joy of trying to get from Stanstead to Twickenham on Sunday. Took me longer to do that bit of the journey than getting back to the UK from france. Pretty much every single underground line was partly closed and SW Trains had bus replacements from Barnes – Journey that should take an hour and a half took over four…

 

[TwickenhamCyclist]

will be driving next time if journey involves a sunday

 

[hackbike 6]

It's as though the engineers turn up on a random Sunday and start repairs wherever they like and the station staff/guards/driver have no idea which trains run where, how and when. They must make it up as they go along. No wonder people drive.

I think this is a bit unfair to dedicated railway staff but what the heck I should be used to 25+ years of this stuff by now.

When I have done the London - Cambridge/Southend/Brighton in the past I have tended to cycle back as I didn't want all the hassle of faffing about on trains full of bikes.

Yes I know this isn't always feasible if you have your family along as per like Sunday.I must admit I was caught out on my commute back with the amount of bikes there were.

Just like they do on the London to Brighton bike ride where no bikes can travel over their entire network on that day.

I can understand the reason for this however unfair you think it is.
I remember the first time I caught the train back from Brighton with a bike I think it was 1993 I never did that again (engineering works and signal to signal lark) I tended to make a day of it and ride back.

(restrictions in the rush hour, ridiculously small bike space in their carriages,

Restrictions in the rush hour are due to many people traveling at once.

I never put my bike on a train at between 1600 and almost 2200 (due to,too many people travelling.
The morning doesn't apply generally as I always cycle in or just don't have a bike with me (very rare).

being treated like a criminal going through their gates with a bike etc etc)

Do they stick you in handcuffs and wrestle you to the ground then?
I have never had any trouble at Liverpool Street or anywhere else for that matter.

 

[BentMikey]

Yes, the engineering works at weekends are a pain, but then this is the only gap they have to work in given the overloading during the weekday rush hours.

And I don't see a problem with the L2B bike ban - that makes sense to me. Then again I'm biased - I've only ever skated it, and they let skates on the train.

 

[hackbike 6]

Ever tried to cycle/skate it back mikey?

 

[ufkacbln]

You were lucky - the normal response to a popular cycle event is to ban bikes completely on the whole network

Both Southern and Thameslink refuse to carry any bikes at all on the day of the London Brighton run!

 

[racingaway]

I drove to the London Freewheel and found it a lot better than I thought, even not too difficult to park, was a great day out and the girlfriend really enjoyed it!!

 

[hackbike 6]

You were lucky - the normal response to a popular cycle event is to ban bikes completely on the whole network

Both Southern and Thameslink refuse to carry any bikes at all on the day of the London Brighton run!

It's a different railway as compared to the British Rail days.

I remember they used to take the seats out of the slam door trains so you could get more bikes in.No chance of that now at a guess.

 

[LOGAN 5]

It's as though the engineers turn up on a random Sunday and start repairs wherever they like and the station staff/guards/driver have no idea which trains run where, how and when. They must make it up as they go along. No wonder people drive.

I think this is a bit unfair to dedicated railway staff but what the heck I should be used to 25+ years of this stuff by now.

When I have done the London - Cambridge/Southend/Brighton in the past I have tended to cycle back as I didn't want all the hassle of faffing about on trains full of bikes.

Yes I know this isn't always feasible if you have your family along as per like Sunday.I must admit I was caught out on my commute back with the amount of bikes there were.

Just like they do on the London to Brighton bike ride where no bikes can travel over their entire network on that day.

I can understand the reason for this however unfair you think it is.
I remember the first time I caught the train back from Brighton with a bike I think it was 1993 I never did that again (engineering works and signal to signal lark) I tended to make a day of it and ride back.

(restrictions in the rush hour, ridiculously small bike space in their carriages,

Restrictions in the rush hour are due to many people traveling at once.

I never put my bike on a train at between 1600 and almost 2200 (due to,too many people travelling.
The morning doesn't apply generally as I always cycle in or just don't have a bike with me (very rare).

being treated like a criminal going through their gates with a bike etc etc)

Do they stick you in handcuffs and wrestle you to the ground then?
I have never had any trouble at Liverpool Street or anywhere else for that matter.

This is my experience of trying to use trains on a Sunday which I try to avoid of course. Lucky you to be able to cycle back from everywhere. I've often cycled back fro the L2B, the Cambridge, Oxford etc but our group consisted of riders who couldn't or wouldn't want to so we were on the train. Next time will probably drive to London and park.

Station staff at my south coast station are really grumpy and yes they do treat us maybe not like criminals but certainly as unwanted passengers. They are entirely different in their attitude when walking through the gates in normal clothes without the bike.

The chaos on Sunday was particularly annoying as I'd already called to check the trains were running normally which I was told they were only to find they weren't! The staff were not helpful. When the guard on the train told us there was a fast train behind that would have been helpful had he told us earlier on and given people a chance to get off the train. He did neither and some groups got separated as half got off and half didn't as the driver just drove off. It was poor communication.

With regard to bike on rush hour trains, luck you again that you don't have to do a part train/bike commute. Many do. I know the trains are crowded but this wasn't a problem with the old guards van but now that's gone and we're struck in 2008 with train companies making it difficult to take a bike on the train with limited space instead of more dedicated larger spaces. We're supposed to be going forward not backwards. Why defend their draconian decisions? You sound like you're supporting their views on bikes. Do you work for the railways (from your opening remarks)?

Baning bikes is a Southern Trains delight. Why ban on the L2B? Why not lay on special trains for the day? There's a lot of revunue to be had from it and I did think they were a commercial operation or maybe they're not!

If I didn't put my bike on the train between 1600 and 2200 I'd have to sleep in a cardboard box in London! That's why I have a folding bike which I'd prefer not to have as it's not up to the mileage I do but I have no choice unless I move within cycling range of work.

It's difficult for me to accept any argument defending particularly Southern Trains and their bike policies, rolling stock design with limited bike space when they could be more forward thinking and encourage cycle use instead of discouraging it as they do.

 

[Auntie Helen]

I have to say that my experience of taking the train to Freewheel was overall positive. I have a recumbent tricycle which aren't supposed to be carried on National Express East Anglia trains. However when someone contacted the Colchester station manager for me he provided me with a letter to say that I could take my trike on the train for Freewheel. I didn't have to show the letter at all, nobody questioned me having the trike.

Now trikes are a bit of a pain at stations because mine is about as wide as the disabled/cycle barriers so I had to squeeze it through but station staff helped me. Other cyclists helped me to lift it into the guards van and out again (I had agreed only to get a train with a guards van) and as the guards van was absolutely packed on the way home from Freewheel, and my trike was in the middle, another cyclist who was staying on the train after my stop came to the guards van to help me get the trike out.

Liverpool street station was a bit of a nightmare as it took me ages to find a route out that didn't have steps (the lift was out of order). I actually returned home to a different station than normal because my normal one has stairs and no lift, but when cycling back from the station it was only a couple of miles further so no major problem.

I have to say that the station staff when buying my tickets were pretty morose but the platform/train staff were really helpful. One chap who was going off duty escorted me and my trike to the lifts at Colchester station on the way home so I could get off the platform - apart from a tendency to call me "darlin'" all the time he was a charming chappie.

I won't make a habit of taking my trike on a train (the aforementioned rules against them, plus the inconvenience) but overall it was a less hassly experience than I had expected.

 

[BentMikey]

Perhaps someone on here could work out exactly how many carriages would be required for 30,000 bikes at 80 bikes/carriage?

I think that's nearly 32 trains of 12 carriages each. No wonder there's a ban. *rolls eyes* at suggestions of practicality of L2B bikes on trains.

 

[LOGAN 5]

Perhaps someone on here could work out exactly how many carriages would be required for 30,000 bikes at 80 bikes/carriage?

I think that's nearly 32 trains of 12 carriages each. No wonder there's a ban. *rolls eyes* at suggestions of practicality of L2B bikes on trains.

They've done it before with the old trains and riders would purchase special tickets for those particular trains. Once allocation was used up nobody else gets on, simple. It worked for years. Rolls eyes at your suggestion that 30,000 people would be on the trains. Not all of them would be would they, doh! Loads of people get picked up anyhow even when the trains took the bikes. Bit of linear thinking here BM

 

[jonathan ellis]

we went from paddington (sw trains) I think. No space available for bikes so I put them in 1st class...

 

[Otto]

This is my experience of trying to use trains on a

With regard to bike on rush hour trains, luck you again that you don't have to do a part train/bike commute. Many do. I know the trains are crowded but this wasn't a problem with the old guards van but now that's gone and we're struck in 2008 with train companies making it difficult to take a bike on the train with limited space instead of more dedicated larger spaces. We're supposed to be going forward not backwards. Why defend their draconian decisions? You sound like you're supporting their views on bikes. Do you work for the railways (from your opening remarks)?

Baning bikes is a Southern Trains delight. Why ban on the L2B? Why not lay on special trains for the day? There's a lot of revunue to be had from it and I did think they were a commercial operation or maybe they're not!

If I didn't put my bike on the train between 1600 and 2200 I'd have to sleep in a cardboard box in London! That's why I have a folding bike which I'd prefer not to have as it's not up to the mileage I do but I have no choice unless I move within cycling range of work.

It's difficult for me to accept any argument defending particularly Southern Trains and their bike policies, rolling stock design with limited bike space when they could be more forward thinking and encourage cycle use instead of discouraging it as they do.

I have to agree completely the ban on normal cycles is crazy...I train cycle commute, either part train part cycle of cycle in train home etc...as it would be a 60 mile round trip otherwise, these ‘new’ trains are a nightmare, plus the fact that two or three folded bicycles take up as much room as two or three carefully stacked non folders, and add to that the fact they allow people on board with cellos, double basses, double buggies, ladders and surfboards!..it really makes me angry. At least I get on second station on the in the morning so usually get a spec. Anyone getting on after that has a right royal battle...and while we are ranting..what about those people who get onto an otherwise empty train and insist on taking up the seats around the bike spaces! I have eight seats to choose from you have a whole bloody train you inconsiderate bastards!