GWR Bike Policy

[SpacePhoenix]

On the IEPs, the bike storage areas are lockable, so people might find it a bit tricky to use them for standing space without a member of staff on hand to open them up.

Picture showing the rather hefty-looking sliding door

http://www.rail.co.uk/images/8459/original/9-Bike-storage-area-by-Phil-Marsh.jpg

From that photo it looks like it also doubles at luggage storage, in practice will guards bother to close and lock it

 

[Flamingo]

From that photo it looks like it also doubles at luggage storage, in practice will guards bother to close and lock it

Well spotted...

 

[Bletchleyite]

And will people move bags for bikes? I fear those fold down shelves will cause arguments...


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[SephenWorceste]

I take my bicycle on the HSTs on the Cotswold Line. I always make a reservation. Cycle storage is centrally controlled by the train manager. He or she controls access and can easily not allow a unbooked cycle. On the new trains they will be running up and down the train dealing with multiple locations. I cannot imagine they will enjoy that when they have a minute at the station to do everything. I would guess people will just leave bicycles in the vestibule if the storage is occupied by another bicycle or luggage. Then along comes the catering trolley. People do not like doing what they are told and the railway is not always very well organised.

Doe anybody know many cycles are they hoping to have in each cupboard?

Thank you, Stephen.


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[brompton rail]

I take my bicycle on the HSTs on the Cotswold Line. I always make a reservation. Cycle storage is centrally controlled by the train manager. He or she controls access and can easily not allow a unbooked cycle. On the new trains they will be running up and down the train dealing with multiple locations. I cannot imagine they will enjoy that when they have a minute at the station to do everything. I would guess people will just leave bicycles in the vestibule if the storage is occupied by another bicycle or luggage. Then along comes the catering trolley. People do not like doing what they are told and the railway is not always very well organised.

Doe anybody know many cycles are they hoping to have in each cupboard?

Thank you, Stephen. Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk[/QUOTE


According to pictures from Hitachi the IEP will have cupboards with space for 2 cycles. The photo I've seen (if I can find it I will post here) shows one bike suspended from the front wheel but the other suspended from the REAR wheel. Don't try doing that at home, folks!! However the actual internal layout details of the trains is down to the TOC, and I don't think GWR have given any clues. The answer, however, may be a folding bike, and a considerable drop in cycles being carried by train - hardly 'sustainable transport'.

]

 

[SephenWorceste]

> According to pictures from Hitachi the IEP will have cupboards with space for 2 cycles. The photo I've seen (if I can find it I will post here) shows one bike suspended from the front wheel but the other suspended from the REAR wheel. Don't try doing that at home, folks!! However the actual internal layout details of the trains is down to the TOC, and I don't think GWR have given any clues. The answer, however, may be a folding bike, and a considerable drop in cycles being carried by train - hardly 'sustainable transport'.



I agree but who at GWR management knows or cares. They have other priorities. I guess I should wait for GWR layouts to be released. A five car train potentially has 16 cupboards. They will be used for toilets, cycle storage, luggage storage, catering storage and technical equipment storage. I cannot think I would like to leave my luggage in them such a way from my seat. I thought GWR had been trying to encourage cycling (away from London) for both commuting and leisure. Otherwise we end up with station car parks the size of small villages.

Best wishes, Stephen.


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[jimm]

And yet more 'what if' doom.

Maybe, just maybe, GWR and VXEC have some idea of how this will work in practice and will tell people nearer the time, you know, when the trains are actually going to enter service.

Or you could contact GWR direct and ask about their plans if it bothers you that much, months away from passengers being allowed near an IEP.

They might even brief the staff as to how things are supposed to work, like locking and unlocking the spaces, what bike reservations there are, rules on surfboards to Newquay...

SepehnWorcester, did you actually read my post on the previous page?

There will be four bike spaces per five-car set and 10 bike spaces per nine-car set - on GWR and East Coast alike (presumably TPE as well). The train managers or dispatchers will not be running up and down the train - the bike spaces are basically concentrated together at one door, or an adjacent pair of doors.

See https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/3469/iep-train-layouts.pdf

How is offering more bike spaces than an HST on nine-car or 2x5 formations going to bring about a 'considerable drop in cycles being carried by trains'?

And if GWR management don't care, why do they provide one of the most comprehensive leaflets about taking bikes on trains of any TOC?

On West Coast services, whatever the length of train, Virgin takes a grand total of four bikes.

 

[Flamingo]

As far as I am aware (and am open to correction) the internal design of the trains (including bike spaces) is down to the DfT, who agreed it with Hitachi. GWR are leasing them, but had minimal input.

At least that is what is being told to staff in relation to the removal of a shop/buffet, so I would imagine is the same for the trains.

After all, the job of any TOC is to shift people, not bikes. Each bike takes up the equivalant of 2-3 seats, so that is a lot of seats being removed to make room for six bikes. Which you may think is a reasonable compromise if you are a cyclist, but may think is unreasonable if you are the non-cyclist standing for your journey.

Personally, I don't have strong views one way or the other, but I do feel that the TOC is damned either way.

Making it work will be a learning curve for everybody - both cyclists and railway staff. There will always be the ones on both sides who will struggle with the change in the procedures required.

 

[SephenWorceste]

Thank you for the seat plan link. From what I could see bicycle are not taking passenger space. As far as I can see seats (other than the toilet type) are not planned for the end of carriage space. My concern is how cycle storage would work practically for passengers and train crew. I am pleased to see that the cycle space is grouped together so easier to keep locked and managed. Hopefully as it is towards the middle of the train it should work in reverse formation and small platforms.

Four spaces rather than six on HST will be sufficient most of the time but sometimes not. If you are booked you will be able to travel. When I travel there is usually one other bicycle. I have wondered if it belongs to a member of the train crew.

Not relating to this discussion but the kitchen seems to take up quite a large amount of potential passenger space. On GWR (apart from Pullman Dinning) the food service is quite limited. Perhaps we will get the Travelling Chef back.

Best wishes, Stephen.


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[Flamingo]

Highly unlikely that the bike belongs to a member of staff on-duty. I have never heard of that as a one-off, let alone as a regular thing. I can't see any reason why anyone would need to, and as it's not unknown to have to swap jobs mid-shift, the risk of watching a train disappearing off into the distance with one's bike on-board is quite high...

 

[SephenWorceste]

I just wondered as the bicycle does not look like a cyclist bicycle and there are often so few passengers on the train.


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[jon0844]

From that photo it looks like it also doubles at luggage storage, in practice will guards bother to close and lock it

Or like 365s, they'll be used as seats!

 

[Flamingo]

I just wondered as the bicycle does not look like a cyclist bicycle and there are often so few passengers on the train.


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Ask the guard, if it's a regular they probably know them! (You've got me curious now )

 

[SpacePhoenix]

Looking at the seating diagram it's probably going to be a struggle to get a bike to the storage area if there's anyone standing in the vestibule

 

[jimm]

Looking at the seating diagram it's probably going to be a struggle to get a bike to the storage area if there's anyone standing in the vestibule

If people are standing in a vestibule, then it tends to be a struggle to get on a train full stop, whether or not you have a bike.