Cycles on trains

de-lurk after some months/years

For the first time in ages yesterday I took the bike on the train, in this
case on First Great Western. The cycle racks were full, but I was spared a
wait by two cyclists getting off when I wanted to get on.

Chatting to the train manager, he mentioned that if Stagecoach get the Great
Western franchise, there will be no cycle provision. Can anyone comment on
whether there is a precedent for this anywhere? What do Stagecoach do on
their other franchises (if any)?

Certainly, the trains seem to be getting fuller.

al_Mossah

/de-lurk after some months/years

al Mossah wrote:

Chatting to the train manager, he mentioned that if Stagecoach get the Great
Western franchise, there will be no cycle provision. Can anyone comment on
whether there is a precedent for this anywhere? What do Stagecoach do on
their other franchises (if any)?

Stagecoach are the same thing as First Group AFAICT. When they took
over Scotrail in the not too distant past the cycle rules stayed pretty
much as they we they "welcome" cyclists, but not if there's more than
2 of them on a train, and not if they're on tandems or trikes or have
trailers. Reservations are not usually needed with exceptions for some
routes, but are recommended and free. No better or worse than it was
before AFAICT.

Pete.
--
Peter Clinch Medical Physics IT Officer
Tel 44 1382 660111 ext. 33637 Univ. of Dundee, Ninewells Hospital
Fax 44 1382 640177 Dundee DD1 9SY Scotland UK
net http://www.dundee.ac.uk/~pjclinch/

Chatting to the train manager, he mentioned that if Stagecoach get the Great
Western franchise, there will be no cycle provision. Can anyone comment on
whether there is a precedent for this anywhere? What do Stagecoach do on
their other franchises (if any)?

I wonder if they have been briefed to say things like this to encourage
their customers to write in support of their 'fantastic' service.
I've never been much of a fan of the First Great Western operation,
however I have to say I've not experienced many hassles with them, which is
rare for taking a bike on a train.
Stagecoach are responsible for South West Trains, amongst other things,
who have very strict rules about bicycle carriage (ie banned from peak
time trains going into / out of London). The National Express group, who
is the other bidder, currently own Wessex Trains, who also had a short
time of bicycle bans (dropped, after considerable pressure from
customers) and still have severe restrictions, ie max 2 bikes per train, even
where there is space for 8-12! Guards are relatively flexible these days
though..

Tom

Peter Clinch wrote:

Stagecoach are the same thing as First Group AFAICT.

Oooops, actually wrong, sorry!

Pete.
--
Peter Clinch Medical Physics IT Officer
Tel 44 1382 660111 ext. 33637 Univ. of Dundee, Ninewells Hospital
Fax 44 1382 640177 Dundee DD1 9SY Scotland UK
net http://www.dundee.ac.uk/~pjclinch/

In message
"al Mossah" wrote:



Chatting to the train manager, he mentioned that if Stagecoach get the Great
Western franchise, there will be no cycle provision. Can anyone comment on
whether there is a precedent for this anywhere? What do Stagecoach do on
their other franchises (if any)?

Stagecoach have the South West Trains franchise (SW of London). They are
seriously anti-bicycle.

Paul

--
CTC Right to Ride Representative for Richmond upon Thames

On Sat, 01 Oct 2005 19:39:59 GMT, Paul Luton
wrote:

In message
"al Mossah" wrote:



Chatting to the train manager, he mentioned that if Stagecoach get the Great
Western franchise, there will be no cycle provision. Can anyone comment on
whether there is a precedent for this anywhere? What do Stagecoach do on
their other franchises (if any)?

Stagecoach have the South West Trains franchise (SW of London). They are
seriously anti-bicycle.

However outside of rush hours - which I completely sympathise with,
people with bikes getting on trains at rush hour severely slow up
boarding - there's plenty of provision on all the surbaban services in
southwest London.

Jim.

I submit that on or about Sat, 01 Oct 2005 19:57:21 GMT, the person
known to the court as (Jim Ley) made a statement
in Your Honour's bundle) to
the following effect:

people with bikes getting on trains at rush hour severely slow up
boarding

Depends on the train. On Virgin Voyagers, HSTs and Thames Turbos it
is a non-issue. On the new Adelantes, designed by an idiot, the train
staff have to let you into the bike stowage, then you have to walk
back round the outside of the train and reboard.

Guy
--
http://www.chapmancentral.co.uk

"To every complex problem there is a solution which is
simple, neat and wrong" - HL Mencken

Paul Luton wrote:

In message
"al Mossah" wrote:


Chatting to the train manager, he mentioned that if Stagecoach get the Great
Western franchise, there will be no cycle provision. Can anyone comment on
whether there is a precedent for this anywhere? What do Stagecoach do on
their other franchises (if any)?

Stagecoach have the South West Trains franchise (SW of London). They are
seriously anti-bicycle.

They do seem to have softened of late.
For the last three months I've been using them about 6-7 times a week,
usually on a line that requires reservations 24hrs in advance.
This includes in peak times, and so far I've snuck on with no problems
at all.
The guards have never uttered a word, even when i don't use teh bike area.
I'm fearing its the lull before a storm.

I occasionally use FGW Link (ex Thames Turbos) and they can sometimes be
difficult due to having no space whatsoever and they need the bike being
looked after in the vestibule for the whole journey.

Full posting - previous was cut short :-(

Paul Luton wrote:

In message
"al Mossah" wrote:


Chatting to the train manager, he mentioned that if Stagecoach get the Great
Western franchise, there will be no cycle provision. Can anyone comment on
whether there is a precedent for this anywhere? What do Stagecoach do on
their other franchises (if any)?

Stagecoach have the South West Trains franchise (SW of London). They are
seriously anti-bicycle.

They do seem to have softened of late.
For the last three months I've been using them about 6-7 times a week,
usually on a line that requires reservations 24hrs in advance.
This includes in peak times, and so far I've snuck on with no problems
at all.
The guards have never uttered a word, even when i don't use teh bike area.
I'm fearing its the lull before a storm.

I occasionally use FGW Link (ex Thames Turbos) and they can sometimes be
difficult due to having no space whatsoever and they need the bike being
looked after in the vestibule for the whole journey.

I now always avoid Virgin, as the few times I've tried to use them the
guard has been obnoxiously difficult, and they also have abysmal reliability.

John B

Paul Luton wrote:

Stagecoach have the South West Trains franchise (SW of London). They are
seriously anti-bicycle.


I've not found them too bad although I always take the Brompton on them
but many of the trains have a dedicated cycle storage area.

--
Tony

"I did make a mistake once - I thought I'd made a mistake but I hadn't"
Anon