Why do trains hate cyclists?

[IHateTrains]

Why don't the train companys just put a 'NO BIKES ALOUD' sign on their trains? Make it alot easier for us all.

Trying to get a train this week I have encountered the following from the ticket office:

"You can't/don't a bike reservation on a Trans Pennine train."

"You need 24 hour notice to get a bike on a Trans Pennine train."

"You need to book a bike reservation on a Virgin train at least 20 minutes before departure."

"As long as you're here 5 minutes before departure, you can get on a Virgin train."

Later on the platform;

"You can get on a Trans Pennine train without a bike reservation."

"You can't get on a Trans Pennine train without a bike reservation."

"I will ring through the next station for someone to let you off." This is always a lie.

And on the train;

"Can I see your bike reservation?"

"You can't get on the train there, you have to use the next carriage..."

and my favourite:

"Can you please take your bike off as you have exceeded the weight limit."

I am absolutely sick to the back teeth with using the train. I am late to work and home every day. In the evening I am often an hour and a half late which means some days I don't even get to see my son before he goes to bed.

I'm seriously thinking of jacking it in and using the car

 

[stowie]

Looking at their website on their cycling policy, they say

First TransPennine Express welcomes customers who wish to combine bike and rail for commuting, business or for leisure.

There is a direct number for cycle enquiries - I would probably use this rather than mucking around at the ticket office, although it seems clear from the documents that you should be able to take the cycle on without booking as long as there is space.

Are you commuting everyday between the same stations? May be interesting to go to them when you have time, with a saved copy of their cycle terms and conditions to see why you are being mucked about. Clearly the weight limit thing is ludicrous.

I sometimes find posting on something like twitter or facebook with the company tagged will elicit a faster response than dealing with a bored station employee.

Good luck! Finally, if I was commuting regularly using bike and train, I would invest in a folding bicycle - they clearly state these can be carried on at all times as per any other item of luggage. Presuming, I suppose, that the weight doesn't compromise the train!

 

[ufkacbln]

Always carry a copy of the cycling policy with you...... preferably dated

That solves a lot of problems

.

 

[Longshot]

'NO BIKES ALOUD'

Nope, I'll leave it for someone else...

 

[ufkacbln]

No longer the case with folding bikes either!

South West Trains policy now states that the bike must not only be folded, but "fit into a luggage rack"!

THis excludes anything but a Brompton, and in some cases where the train is busy and no luggage rack is available also excludes them

 

[BigAl68]

The only way to get the train and cycle on smaller trains is a folding bike. I hate having to get a train with a bike at anytime of the day especially rush hour.

 

[James Blackwell]

Its not just bikes they hate.I think its customers is general.
Currently catching the train and bus as I was knocked off a few weeks ago and damaged my shoulder. My commute cycling was an hour each way. To do the same using public transport it takes (on a good day) 1 hr 45 min. Compare that to my cycling time and cost (£60 a week for current state of affairs), compared to my running costs of my bike. I run quite a big car generally (which I cant drive due to injury also) and even that only cost me £50 in fuel. I can though do my commute in 30 minutes by car, even at rush hour.

So costs more, takes almost twice as long (2.5 hrs on Friday gone) for a 20 mile journey. I used to do the cycle/train thing but gave up and started cycling the whole way as I was fed up of paying to be worse off in regards to time and money. It was not so bad when I had an older bike I could lock at the station and leave for the day, but when I bought my current bike, I didnt want to leave it at a station. That caused a whole new set of problems. Mainly being, I could only get on once everyone else had, so had no room to put my bike meaning I had to get off at every station to let everyone on and off, more often than not leaving me unable to get back on. More waiting for the next train and hoping there was room on stations where trans didnt stop. So generally ended up cycling home anyway.

This was for a service we pay for and as was pointed out in a way they encourage.

Still, I now (when healed) cycle about 175 miles a week and am the fittest I have probably ever been, and better off too.

Feel your pain.

James

 

[mattobrien]

3/10.

More effort needed for the next attempt at a rant. More swearing and vitriol needed.

 

[shouldbeinbed]

To see it from their view. (Not that I agree or endorse it) a full size bike is a big awkward shape to fit into a narrow tube shaped vehicle that is designed to maximise seating space over access/egress facility. It also has cables and sticky out handlebars that can get caught by people and cause it to fall onto them, it has a nasty oily chain & generally may be wet or dirty -any of which can *ruin* clothes, it has sharp pointy cogs especially exposed at the rear and often pedals with teeth that can take off skin or give you a nasty bruise if banged into - all things that an irate punter would be shouting at some poor train employee over and very likely demanding money to replace or dry clean clothes and/or free travel as compensation.

Unless (even?) bagged a folder can tick several of the 'will prompt a complaint' boxes too and not be popular with the operators and a management that is probably not stuffed with cyclists nor those sympathetic to our needs over those of the vast majority of non cycling passengers

They've created a problem by poor design affecting a, let's be honest, very small part of their customer base and mitigate it by trying to discourage/remove multi modal travel unless it suits them or they are pre warned about it.

 

[ufkacbln]

The seats on the new SWT rolling stock are apparently 2.5 inches narrower than the average British posterior!

 

[James Blackwell]

I

To see it from their view. (Not that I agree or endorse it) a full size bike is a big awkward shape to fit into a narrow tube shaped vehicle that is designed to maximise seating space over access/egress facility. It also has cables and sticky out handlebars that can get caught by people and cause it to fall onto them, it has a nasty oily chain & generally may be wet or dirty -any of which can *ruin* clothes, it has sharp pointy cogs especially exposed at the rear and often pedals with teeth that can take off skin or give you a nasty bruise if banged into - all things that an irate punter would be shouting at some poor train employee over and very likely demanding money to replace or dry clean clothes and/or free travel as compensation.

Unless (even?) bagged a folder can tick several of the 'will prompt a complaint' boxes too and not be popular with the operators and a management that is probably not stuffed with cyclists nor those sympathetic to our needs over those of the vast majority of non cycling passengers

They've created a problem by poor design affecting a, let's be honest, very small part of their customer base and mitigate it by trying to discourage/remove multi modal travel unless it suits them or they are pre warned about it.

I agree that there is the other side to the story, it's just another example of badly thought out compromise, surely sometimes it's better to just not offer the service instead of a second rate bad attempt.
Just my thoughts.

 

[FeistySquirrel]

I use to commute 5days a week on trans pennine train... Some part of the journey saw upto 3-4 other cycles.
None of us booked them on, and no one blinked an eye at it.

Some times even more were on and we could just stand with them in the door spaces in other carriges.

I guess a lot of it comes down to the ticket office and the conductor.

 

[growingvegetables]

... Trans Pennine ... Virgin (that's NOT a surprise - they are grim) ...

Don't suppose Northern Rail is an option? Just guessing - probably the slow trains . But they are generally very good with bikes and cyclists. (A frequent and happy user )

 

[User33236]

My son asked the conductor on the Trans Pennine Express train from Glasgow to Manchester last Friday about bringing a bike with him on the return journey on Sunday evening and was advised to pre-book a spot. He went to the ticket office at Piccadilly station and was told that the conductor lied and you cannot book a bike onto the TPE trains.

Later that day I checked of the TPE website and found a number to call to book a bike on. Unfortunately when he called the office was closed for the weekend.

In the end we decided he should just turn up with it and if he couldn't get in on the train I'd take in back to mine and get it up to him some other way. We were lucky and needn't have worried as he got the bike on the train without issue.

Still annoyed though regarding the idiot at Piccadilly!!

 

[annedonnelly]

Don't suppose Northern Rail is an option? Just guessing - probably the slow trains . But they are generally very good with bikes and cyclists. (A frequent and happy user )

Yep, the Northern Rail staff on my commute are lovely. My Brompton was taken into the conductors cab one day to keep it safe. And another conductor told me that there ought to be bigger bike spaces and that he'd squeezed 14 on one day