Bike-train-bike-train-bike
ColinJ
Posts: 2,218
I can ride to the southern part of the Yorkshire Dales and back quite comfortably in a day, but the northern Dales would be pushing it. I'd also like to explore the north Pennines such as the area round Alston featured in a route in a recent Cycling Plus but that would definitely be too far unless I rode out one day and back the next, which I'd prefer not to do. I don't drive, and have no intention of doing so. Taking the bike part of the way by train would enable me to explore further north without me having to rely on getting a lift from somebody.
The lovely Settle-Carlisle line is served by trains running through the West Yorkshire town of Keighley which is only about 11 miles away from where I live in Hebden Bridge. The catch is that there is a 1,000 ft climb in between...
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I fancied giving the bike-train-bike-train-bike concept a trial-run so yesterday I rode to Keighley first thing and caught the train to Settle to meet up for a forum ride in the Dales. This is how I got on...
The first train of the day was 09:12 which would be a real problem for rides starting earlier, or further north. Maybe there are earlier trains in the summer?
The return fare was only £5.30; I was quite happy to pay that.
There is only officially room for 2 bikes per train, but places are non-reservable on these local services. The system works on a first-come, first-served basis - a bit worrying really. It would be bad enough to buy a rail ticket and then not be allowed onto a train, but it would be a right pain to be excluded on the way back! As it turned out, my fears appeared to be coming true when I got to the platform and spotted a couple of touring cyclists waiting for the same train :?. Even worse, when the train arrived, it already had couple of bikes squeezed into the tiny bike compartment. Fortunately, the customer liaison officer (or whatever they call the guard these days!) didn't bat an eyelid when we used up the wheelchair space and left one bike in the corridor, but if there had been a passenger (sorry, customer) in a wheelchair, or the train had been crowded, we'd have been stuffed. As it was, the journey to Settle passed by without a problem.
At Settle, the station master was kind enough to unlock a gate to allow me to wheel my bike over the lines to save me having to carry it over a footbridge. He rang the local signal box first to make sure it was safe!
When I came back to Settle station after my ride, my heart sank... There were scores of schoolkids and OAPs waiting on my platform. There didn't seem much chance of squeezing a bike on the train too if the bike compartment was full. To my relief, the OAPs suddenly realised that they were on the wrong platform and headed off to the opposite one.
The train arrived 10 minutes late, but there was plenty of space on it. One of the two bike spaces was taken up by a large mountain bike and a wheelchair ramp had been folded up and left in there too. It was very difficult getting my bike into the remaining space. After that, I had a comfortable return trip, apart from the 11 mile ride back over that hill of course...
Suggestions for the rail companies
It surely wouldn't be too difficult to have a couple of extra fold-down seats per carriage which could be folded up when not in use to provide extra bike spaces?
I'd be interested to hear any bikes-on-trains horror stories such as the last train home being cancelled (or missing it) and then having to ride an extra 50 miles in the dark without lights. I suppose the ultimate horror would be to forget you had your bike with you and get off the train without it! Not easy to do if you have Look-cleated shoes on, but I use SPDs a lot now so it is always a possibility. I suppose lycra shorts might be a bit of a memory-jogger though.
The lovely Settle-Carlisle line is served by trains running through the West Yorkshire town of Keighley which is only about 11 miles away from where I live in Hebden Bridge. The catch is that there is a 1,000 ft climb in between...
.I fancied giving the bike-train-bike-train-bike concept a trial-run so yesterday I rode to Keighley first thing and caught the train to Settle to meet up for a forum ride in the Dales. This is how I got on...
The first train of the day was 09:12 which would be a real problem for rides starting earlier, or further north. Maybe there are earlier trains in the summer?
The return fare was only £5.30; I was quite happy to pay that.
There is only officially room for 2 bikes per train, but places are non-reservable on these local services. The system works on a first-come, first-served basis - a bit worrying really. It would be bad enough to buy a rail ticket and then not be allowed onto a train, but it would be a right pain to be excluded on the way back! As it turned out, my fears appeared to be coming true when I got to the platform and spotted a couple of touring cyclists waiting for the same train :?. Even worse, when the train arrived, it already had couple of bikes squeezed into the tiny bike compartment. Fortunately, the customer liaison officer (or whatever they call the guard these days!) didn't bat an eyelid when we used up the wheelchair space and left one bike in the corridor, but if there had been a passenger (sorry, customer) in a wheelchair, or the train had been crowded, we'd have been stuffed. As it was, the journey to Settle passed by without a problem.
At Settle, the station master was kind enough to unlock a gate to allow me to wheel my bike over the lines to save me having to carry it over a footbridge. He rang the local signal box first to make sure it was safe!
When I came back to Settle station after my ride, my heart sank... There were scores of schoolkids and OAPs waiting on my platform. There didn't seem much chance of squeezing a bike on the train too if the bike compartment was full. To my relief, the OAPs suddenly realised that they were on the wrong platform and headed off to the opposite one.
The train arrived 10 minutes late, but there was plenty of space on it. One of the two bike spaces was taken up by a large mountain bike and a wheelchair ramp had been folded up and left in there too. It was very difficult getting my bike into the remaining space. After that, I had a comfortable return trip, apart from the 11 mile ride back over that hill of course...
Suggestions for the rail companies
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I can't see more than two dedicated bicycle spaces being made available per train, but those spaces should be reservable as they are on mainine Virgin and GNER trains. Anybody turning up with a bike and no reservation would take their chances just as they do now.
A bike compartment should be big enough to get two bikes in at the same time without requiring a hernia-inducing lift of one bike over another!
The bike compartment should have restraints for two bikes. The one I used yesterday had an inertia-reel belt for my bike, but the mountain bike was left free-standing and kept swaying against my bike.
Wheelchair ramps should be stored in a dedicated holder, not dumped in the bike compartment!
Perhaps if any wheelchair spaces on trains have not been reserved, they should be officially be available for bike use, though of course not
It surely wouldn't be too difficult to have a couple of extra fold-down seats per carriage which could be folded up when not in use to provide extra bike spaces?
I'd be interested to hear any bikes-on-trains horror stories such as the last train home being cancelled (or missing it) and then having to ride an extra 50 miles in the dark without lights. I suppose the ultimate horror would be to forget you had your bike with you and get off the train without it! Not easy to do if you have Look-cleated shoes on, but I use SPDs a lot now so it is always a possibility. I suppose lycra shorts might be a bit of a memory-jogger though.
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Comments
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ColinJ wrote:I'd be interested to hear any bikes-on-trains horror stories such as the last train home being cancelled (or missing it) and then having to ride an extra 50 miles in the dark without lights.
If the last train is cancelled then they have to put road transport on for you...bus or taxi depending on how many of you there are.....see the platform staff for details. If you are at an unmanned station then pay for the taxi yourself and keep the receipt for a refund from the train company via customer relations.I'd rather walk than use Shimano0 -
They are not responsible for the bike though!
I know - I tried!<b><i>He that buys land buys many stones.
He that buys flesh buys many bones.
He that buys eggs buys many shells,
But he that buys good beer buys nothing else.</b></i>
(Unattributed Trad.)0 -
Once, my elderly great aunt's train was late getting into Glasgow and she missed her connection to Oban. I'm not sure that connections are guaranteed but the staff took pity on her anyway and paid for a taxi for the rest of the journey (about 90 miles!). I'm not sure a middle-aged cyclist with a bicycle would receive the same assistance though.Rob Sallnow wrote:If the last train is cancelled then they have to put road transport on for you...bus or taxi depending on how many of you there are.....see the platform staff for details. If you are at an unmanned station then pay for the taxi yourself and keep the receipt for a refund from the train company via customer relations.0 -
Cunobelin wrote:They are not responsible for the bike though!
I know - I tried!
Not when road transport replaces trains during scheduled engineering work, no.
I will check the situation for this kind of case is not based purely on your powers of persuasion when I go in to work.;I'd rather walk than use Shimano0 -
Back in the spring I got the train from Leeds going to the Dales. Unfortunately it stopped at Skipton and become a coach! Going there was fine. Big coach, big boot spaces. Coming back was nearly a disaster. The coach arrived, smaller coach, much smaller boot. The driver took one look at the two of us and said there was no way we'd fit 2 bikes in the boot - but we were welcome to try. Which we did and fortunately by removing the front wheels off both they fitted in at a squeeze. Had three of us turned up someone would have been cycling back from Horton to Skipton!
To be fair the coach drivers didn't bat an eyelid, but I guess they wouldn't / couldn't have helped us much had the boots already been loaded up, or had the bikes simply not fitted.
It's a real shame that train companies have all but abandoned bike carrying capabilities.0
