Cycling on the train...your thoughts.

[Tetchytyke]

Imagine the looks of disgust when a cyclist gets on a busy train and expects four people to stand so they can bring their bike on!

I preferred the arrangement on the 158s where the bike area was out in the vestibule.

Yep, I've had that misfortune on TPE, despite having a bike reservation. It was a fairly empty train yet still had the whining when I asked them to move.

Although TPE's bike policy makes it pretty bloody clear that a bike reservation isn't worth the paper it's printed on.

 

[jon0844]

The S Stock has spaces specifically marked for buggies (not wheelchairs, which are available elsewhere) which are also tip up seats. The same thing applies; people won't move even if the train has loads of available seats.

Like wheelchair spaces, perhaps areas that can be reserved for buggies or bikes need to have clear markings on the floor too. Then it's quite obvious when someone sits down that they're likely to need to move.

 

[Emyr]

Worse than that, it's four tip-up seats in Coach C! Imagine the looks of disgust when a cyclist gets on a busy train and expects four people to stand so they can bring their bike on!

I preferred the arrangement on the 158s where the bike area was out in the vestibule.

With no bicycles, four people seated in the tip-up seats take the same space as 8 standing people.

Also, unless the owners are muppets, the 2nd, 3rd, 4th and 5th bikes each take a lot less space than the first. having a mountainbike with fashionably wide bars as the first costs a lot of space, as do drop-barred bikes when they aren't facing alternate directions.

 

[D2022]

having a mountainbike with fashionably wide bars as the first costs a lot of space, as do drop-barred bikes when they aren't facing alternate directions.

I'm glad you touched on that. Really hacks me off on units when you see all the bikes piled in bars first. Then you have to tr and drag yours out.

Always helps to actually ask where other people are going too, nothing worse than being blocked in by some lycra clad idiot with drop bars.

 

[maniacmartin]

Another part of the problem if you're boarding a train you are not familiar with is knowing where to stand and which door to board at with a bicycle. I find that british operators are bad at signing this. Often the bicycle symbols are tiny or non-existant. I think proper signage could make boarding much quicker and efficient. Something like this:
Picture

 

[table38]

We've got a slight improvement here on Northern with new turquoise and green stickers over the doors for cycles and wheelchairs, but not easy to see at a distance which sticker is which!

I was trying to find a photo, but obviously people are so bored of photographing Pacers and Sprinters, I couldn't find a recent enough one with the new stickers

 

[J123]

Cycles in the passenger space is an accident waiting to happen,

They often fall over, and tend to come down hard, I would not like to get caught by one and it would be worse for children. Also in the event of an accident would you want to be thrown across the carriage and land on one. Ban them unless there is a proper space for them before someone gets hurt.

I beleive towers of holiday luggage around the doors and pushchairs to be just as hazardous.

I am very considerdate when I place my bike on a train, I would never let it harm anybody. My choice of bike however is a little inconsiderate I must admit, I take a huge American beach cruisery choppery bike on board. I do appologize to everyone that I may have inconvenienced on the Portsmouth to Southampton line.

 

[jon0844]

While we can perhaps agree that a suitcase, buggy and bike take up similar amounts of floor space in many cases, I don't think anyone can argue that a bag tipping over is anything like the same as a bike. And buggies tend to just tip backwards and are pretty lightweight (if they had a baby in it, they'd not tip).

Bikes can easily move and they have lots of nasty things to cause an injury, as anyone bike owner will know only too well when they've slipped and grazed themselves on a pedal or hit themselves with the handle bars.

I wouldn't take my bike on a train unless I knew it had a secure area to store it, and never have taken my bike on a train. If I was going to take a bike on a train, I'd buy a folding bike.

 

[Trog]

I would never let it harm anybody.

It is good to know that in the event of an accident you have quick enough reactions to throw yourself over your bike, so that everyone else has something softer to land on, very public spirited.

 

[muz379]

I beleive towers of holiday luggage around the doors and pushchairs to be just as hazardous.

I am very considerdate when I place my bike on a train, I would never let it harm anybody. My choice of bike however is a little inconsiderate I must admit, I take a huge American beach cruisery choppery bike on board. I do appologize to everyone that I may have inconvenienced on the Portsmouth to Southampton line.

which is why I also dont allow people to place towers of luggage or pushchairs around doors or blocking aisles .

I dont treat anybody with a bike any different to anybody else with a large item of luggage . But a lot of cyclists I come across in the course of my duties seem to think they should be treated differently . Which is why I will reiterate my earlier point that cyclists need to take personal accountability for the fact that they have turned up to the station to board a train with an extremely large item of luggage .You must accept that If the guard whose job it is to ensure the safety of the passengers on the train decides s/he cannot safely accommodate your bike on board due to the passenger loadings or the presence of several other large items of luggage then that's the end of the matter .

Its not for you as a passenger to decide what does and does not constitute a hazard .

 

[jon0844]

But cyclists are saving the planet! Cars would take up far more space on a train and be considerably more dangerous, so that makes it okay.

(We all know that many cyclists defend their own actions by pointing out that cars are worse).

 

[Xenophon PCDGS]

Cycling on the train would be very difficult, there is not really enough room in the aisles for a bike unless it had very narrow handlebars...

Just realised that the title of this particular thread could have been better word-crafted.

 

[ANorthernGuard]

In my experience extra large luggage is more of a hazard than bicycles

 

[Minilad]

Pulled into a large station today and there were 7 people with cycles waiting to get on. All 7 of which had massive panniers on them. Caused quite a scene when they were told they couldn't get on as the bike spaces were already taken. They genuinely expected to be allowed on with no questions asked. None had reservations

 

[Tracked]

142's make surprisingly good bike stores, could've got the TPE back from Sheffield earlier but it looked packed, shame about the pushchair users from Rotherham though

 

[maniacmartin]

Don't take your pushchair on the train. Lock it up at the pushchair parking racks at your origin station, use another pushchair at your destination that you left in the racks there. Or perhaps rent a Boris Pushchair from one of the docking bays in town.

 

[jon0844]

My two year old could ride a bike better than some people that hire a Boris Bike!

Sent from my LG-D855 using Tapatalk

 

[Jonny]

Bikes can easily move and they have lots of nasty things to cause an injury, as anyone bike owner will know only too well when they've slipped and grazed themselves on a pedal or hit themselves with the handle bars.
.

Bags are available that can completely enclose a full-size bicycle albeit without one or both wheels attached; they might still be over-size for luggage (depending on the level of (dis-) assembly) but at least it covers over the rough edges.

 

[Flamingo]

Just realised that the title of this particular thread could have been better word-crafted.

The whole thing has gone seriously off-thread. I want to know why the MOD's aren't doing something about it...

 

[Wyvern]

Yes I keep thinking surely the gangways are too narrow for cycling through them.

 

[Flamingo]

Not to mention bags in the aisles, feet sticking out, and the possibility of a head-on collision with the catering trolley!

 

[DownSouth]

Good example of (permitted) cycling on a train.

 

[AM9]

which is why I also dont allow people to place towers of luggage or pushchairs around doors or blocking aisles .

I dont treat anybody with a bike any different to anybody else with a large item of luggage .....

Whilst I understand some of the invective here from staff as regards non-folding cycles, I think that it is unreasonable for folding cycles to attract the same criticism.
I have a Brompton that I occasionally take to London by train, not normally in the peak hours, (too expensive for leisure purposes), but Thameslink trains can get pretty full for much of the off-peak hours. I fold it and it has a cover to prevent any dirt/oil rubbing off anywhere, so as far as I am concerned, it is just another piece of luggage, within the size permitted by the byelaws.
With two airports on the line, there are plenty of inconsiderate passengers with their oversize luggage and not-folded push-chairs big enough for two ten year-olds and their travel accoutrements. I can even legally take it on the tube if its convenient for me. I don't put it across the doors and not between 4-seats so if anybody wishes to have a whinge, (not happened yet), I would suggest that they check the CoC.
As far a charging for it, - well if they charge for all luggage, including (folded) push-chairs, then I would not object.

 

[jon0844]

Good example of (permitted) cycling on a train.

Yup, that's fine.

 

[hassaanhc]

Whilst I understand some of the invective here from staff as regards non-folding cycles, I think that it is unreasonable for folding cycles to attract the same criticism.
I have a Brompton that I occasionally take to London by train, not normally in the peak hours, (too expensive for leisure purposes), but Thameslink trains can get pretty full for much of the off-peak hours. I fold it and it has a cover to prevent any dirt/oil rubbing off anywhere, so as far as I am concerned, it is just another piece of luggage, within the size permitted by the byelaws.
With two airports on the line, there are plenty of inconsiderate passengers with their oversize luggage and not-folded push-chairs big enough for two ten year-olds and their travel accoutrements. I can even legally take it on the tube if its convenient for me. I don't put it across the doors and not between 4-seats so if anybody wishes to have a whinge, (not happened yet), I would suggest that they check the CoC.
As far a charging for it, - well if they charge for all luggage, including (folded) push-chairs, then I would not object.

I've seen those bikes, and I agree that they are smaller than almost all suitcases/holdall bags, let alone pushchairs.

 

[AM9]

I've seen those bikes, and I agree that they are smaller than almost all suitcases/holdall bags, let alone pushchairs.

The only people who complain about them are those who have a hang-up about bikes generally, - probably because they can't ride one, (without stabilisers)!

 

[muz379]

Whilst I understand some of the invective here from staff as regards non-folding cycles, I think that it is unreasonable for folding cycles to attract the same criticism.
I have a Brompton that I occasionally take to London by train, not normally in the peak hours, (too expensive for leisure purposes), but Thameslink trains can get pretty full for much of the off-peak hours. I fold it and it has a cover to prevent any dirt/oil rubbing off anywhere, so as far as I am concerned, it is just another piece of luggage, within the size permitted by the byelaws.
With two airports on the line, there are plenty of inconsiderate passengers with their oversize luggage and not-folded push-chairs big enough for two ten year-olds and their travel accoutrements. I can even legally take it on the tube if its convenient for me. I don't put it across the doors and not between 4-seats so if anybody wishes to have a whinge, (not happened yet), I would suggest that they check the CoC.
As far a charging for it, - well if they charge for all luggage, including (folded) push-chairs, then I would not object.

I have no problems with folding bicycles if they are folded up and take up the same space as a suitcase or something . And even better if they are in a cover .If you are boarding from the far end of the train from me I might not even be able to tell unless you are wearing a helmet or cycling clothes what you have in the cover .


I Will repeat again regardless of trains you have been on I will treat anybody with non folding or non folded up pushchairs the same as I would a cyclist with a non folding bike if it is peak time and there is no room . If they dont fold and there is no room that is the problem of the person who bought a pushchair that does not fold . If it is a folding model then I am happy to let you on board if it is folded up .If you are not prepared to fold it and the train is too busy you have made your choice there and then .

 

[Flamingo]

it comes down to the decision we have to make on a daily basis, does one inconvenience one person, or accommodate one and inconvenience many?

It's the same question as one asks oneself when somebody carrying a coffee cup or McDonalds bag appears at the end of the platform screaming ""Wait" as the tip is being given? Do I hold the train for another 30 seconds or so, delaying everybody else who didn't go for coffee of fast-food?