Train journey with a replacement bus service...
- Thread starter Mazz
- Start date
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StuAff
Silencing his legs regularly
- Location
- Portsmouth
Riding. One time (having checked the timetable a few days before) I got the train home from Waterloo after a night out, only to find there was a bus from Petersfield (15 miles from home). Bus driver didn't have the courtesy to say anything to me when I asked about taking me. Under the circumstances, the A3 was the least-worst option home (grotty potholed lanes the alternatives). Got home at 2.15 or thereabouts....
That sounds really rubbish.
So you asked the driver if you could come on board with your bike and he didn't say anything?
lazybloke
Considering a new username
- Location
- Leafy Surrey
Yes, one of those named storms had felled a load of trees, blocking my rail journey home. Only had PEter Storm "waterproofs" over my office clothes, and was wearing leather shoes.... but my only option was to ride home through the deluge as the storm still raged.
YEs I got very wet. No, it wasn't much of a problem. Just needed better clothing and it became my regular way home.
Brandane
Legendary Member
- Location
- Costa Clyde
The only time it happened to me, the driver was happy to take the bike in the luggage compartment of the coach.
I have noticed though, that rail websites won't let you pre-book a bike if the journey involves any sector by bus. So if you want to travel on the west coast mainline between Scotland and England on a weekend, you might find it very difficult to take a bike. Engineering works are frequent.
I have noticed though, that rail websites won't let you pre-book a bike if the journey involves any sector by bus. So if you want to travel on the west coast mainline between Scotland and England on a weekend, you might find it very difficult to take a bike. Engineering works are frequent.
Ming the Merciless
There is no mercy
- Location
- Inside my skull
Not bus replacement but I’ve ended up riding often enough when trains are cancelled / long delays
wiggydiggy
Guru
Not a bike but I know you can't drink alcohol on these replacement buses, had a very cranky driver shout at me for opening a can.
Jameshow
Veteran
Easier on a coach I think.
Useful you gave a bungy cord to tie your bike up to an upright with the wheels off and tied together.
Brandane
Legendary Member
- Location
- Costa Clyde
Then there was the time when I was heading from Glasgow to Portsmouth with touring bike fully laden for a week in Normandy. I had an overnight ferry to catch, and those wonderful people at Southern trains decided without warning to terminate the Waterloo to Portsmouth service at some station 15 miles or so from Portsmouth!
I had no idea where I was and not a lot of spare time to figure out how I was going to get to the ferry port (or to wait on a replacement bus which may or may not have allowed the bike to travel). Luck was on my side as a couple on bikes were also heading for Portsmouth and knew the way, avoiding the main roads, so I tagged along. But I do find travelling long distance by train with a bike to be fraught at best. Local trains are usually fine.
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All uphill
Still rolling along
- Location
- Somerset
If you have paid for a booking for yourself and your bike then you have a contract with the train operating company to get you and your bike to your destination.
Our son has stood his ground and eventually been supplied with a taxi big enough to take him and his bike.
Our son has stood his ground and eventually been supplied with a taxi big enough to take him and his bike.
Did you get on your ferry?
mjr
Comfy armchair to one person & a plank to the next
- Location
- mostly Norfolk, sometimes Somerset
The only time I recall, I got a train to a nearby station on a different line and rode to the correct town. On the return a few days later, I rode to a different station, the one just north of the closure. Foolishly, I didn't get my ticket endorsed to use the other line but no-one challenged me.
Brandane
Legendary Member
- Location
- Costa Clyde
Yes! Thanks to my fellow cyclists rather than Southern trains.... IIRC they were offering taxis, but there was a very long queue to get one (this was a peak time train from London with probably a couple of hundred passengers), and I figured that cycling with people who knew the way was a better and quicker option. Especially when having to wait for a "suitable for a bike" type of taxi.
Brandane
Legendary Member
- Location
- Costa Clyde
I have highlighted the important word here! Which can be problematic if you are heading for a ferry or other appointment
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