Hmm. While vertical bike storage may work for people taking light road bikes over longer distances, they aren't necessarily convenient for people taking their bike for a few stops, and certainly not good for people with heavier, Dutch style utility bikes if they have to lift them up and hang them by the wheel.
The situation is even worse for older or disabled people who might want to take a cycle as a mobility aid. Adapted tricycles, handcycles, tandems etc. are larger than standard bicycles, and in any case, disabled people may need assistance to lift their cycle into the appropriate space.
Something like the Deutsche Bahn IC model might work. Here there's half a coach at the back of the train with cycle priority and racks on the coach wall, and crucially, while you can hang your bike up on the racks, you don't have to. But whether this can coexist with the ever increasing demand for seating and standing room is another matter.
I think a lot of the shorter distance demand would evaporate if it was easy and convenient to hire a bike at the station. Bike&Go is a mess, and I'm surprised the various TOCs haven't been partnering with the various dockless bike hire companies to provide cycle hire at stations.
(A lot of the shorter distance demand would also vanish if the street design for local journeys allowed for slow, safe cycling, rather than leaving you to contend with cars and turn your journey from, say, Woking to Guildford, into an episode of The Krypton Factor.)
