Stansted Express bike ban

[miklcct]

Stansted Express is one of the very few National Rail train services which ban full-sized bikes all the time.

However, I have just noticed that there are actually plenty of bike spaces marked on the train.

Why is the ban still in place despite that the new trains have bike spaces?

 

[Kite159]

I can understand about bikes not being allowed at Stansted Airport itself due to the station location in conjunction with the airport, but not an outright ban considering the services serve Harlow/Bishops Stortford & Stansted Mountfitchet.

Would be better to be like Great Northern Moorgate services where bikes can be carried as far as Drayton Park but no further due to the tunnels.

 

[43066]

Stansted Express is one of the very few National Rail train services which ban full-sized bikes all the time.

However, I have just noticed that there are actually plenty of bike spaces marked on the train.

Why is the ban still in place despite that the new trains have bike spaces?

Probabiy because they anticipate significant amounts of baggage being carried.

 

[Seehof]

You don’t want to have significant amounts of luggage if you are flying Ryanair!

 

[miklcct]

I can understand about bikes not being allowed at Stansted Airport itself due to the station location in conjunction with the airport, but not an outright ban considering the services serve Harlow/Bishops Stortford & Stansted Mountfitchet.

Would be better to be like Great Northern Moorgate services where bikes can be carried as far as Drayton Park but no further due to the tunnels.

Is there safety concern for bikes in the airport itself?

 

[Watershed]

Is there safety concern for bikes in the airport itself?

I'm not sure it's down to that - after all, bikes can be carried on flights.

It's probably more likely just because they don't want space that could be used for luggage, being used by bikes.

 

[Bletchleyite]

Is there safety concern for bikes in the airport itself?

Given that you can take a bike on a plane I rather suspect not.

It is probably just luggage space but really doesn't make any sense, particularly as these are no more airport expresses than the LNR Birmingham semifast is just because it happens to call at Birmingham Intl.

 

[NSE]

The trains are the same as the Norwich trains. I know there are two subclasses but it wouldn’t surprise me if there are elements that are on both despite only being needed for one.

 

[miklcct]

Given that you can take a bike on a plane I rather suspect not.

It is probably just luggage space but really doesn't make any sense, particularly as these are no more airport expresses than the LNR Birmingham semifast is just because it happens to call at Birmingham Intl.

A bike must be packed into a box in order to be carried on an aeroplane, in such case it is also accepted on Stansted Express as a regular luggage as previously confirmed by official Twitter.

So I'm only asking about the safety concern for a full-sized ready-to-ride bike in the airport.

 

[Bletchleyite]

A bike must be packed into a box in order to be carried on an aeroplane, in such case it is also accepted on Stansted Express as a regular luggage as previously confirmed by official Twitter.

So I'm only asking about the safety concern for a full-sized ready-to-ride bike in the airport.

Again, there is none. You can simply wheel the bicycle into the airport and put it in the bag or box there, as I'm sure many people do as carrying a bike bag on a train or through an airport is not an easy thing. Some airlines even provide or sell boxes at the airport - the one time I have taken a bike on a plane I bought the box from the airline there and then.

 

[Kite159]

There is a bike ban on the services to the airport from London, but does such a ban exist for the trains from the Cambridge direction (XC & GA from Norwich)?

 

[Bletchleyite]

There is a bike ban on the services to the airport from London, but does such a ban exist for the trains from the Cambridge direction (XC & GA from Norwich)?

No.

 

[Kite159]

No.

So the issue can't be Health & safety related due to the layout of Stansted airport station, otherwise it would be banned on trains from the north of the airport.

 

[brad465]

I'm not sure it's down to that - after all, bikes can be carried on flights.

It's probably more likely just because they don't want space that could be used for luggage, being used by bikes.

As someone who has many times taken a bike abroad, one tends to heavily dismantle it to fit in a specialised bike bag/box to the point that is actually luggage, and this is not ideal for completing at the airport, as one would have to travel with the bag/box and bike separately, then in a frantic rush pack it out in the open.

Again, there is none. You can simply wheel the bicycle into the airport and put it in the bag or box there, as I'm sure many people do as carrying a bike bag on a train or through an airport is not an easy thing. Some airlines even provide or sell boxes at the airport - the one time I have taken a bike on a plane I bought the box from the airline there and then.

Having to lug a bike bag to an airport is annoying, but it's better than what you suggested personally for reasons stated in my first point in the post. Usually lugging a packed bike around is only a serious issue walking to/from a station and for key interchanges, once at the airport trolleys make life easier, and at the other end an airport to hotel transfer limits the hassle.

 

[Bletchleyite]

As someone who has many times taken a bike abroad, one tends to heavily dismantle it to fit in a specialised bike bag/box to the point that is actually luggage, and this is not ideal for completing at the airport, as one would have to travel with the bag/box and bike separately, then in a frantic rush pack it out in the open.

Having to lug a bike bag to an airport is annoying, but it's better than what you suggested personally for reasons stated in my first point in the post. Usually lugging a packed bike around is only a serious issue walking to/from a station and for key interchanges, once at the airport trolleys make life easier, and at the other end an airport to hotel transfer limits the hassle.

Your preference may be to dismount it first, and that's fine, but my point was that you CAN just wheel it into the airport, which demonstrates that it is not in any way an airport issue.

 

[dk1]

Never realised there was a ban. Apart from platform staff I’m not sure who enforces it. 745/1s actually have more areas for cycles.

 

[Bletchleyite]

Never realised there was a ban. Apart from platform staff I’m not sure who enforces it. 745/1s actually have more areas for cycles.

Fair point. As these services are DOO, it's very likely bikes are in fact carried as there's nobody who would notice or stop you in most cases.

 

[telstarbox]

I've boarded a southbound one at Bishops Stortford with a bike before (and was prepared to be refused) but nothing happened.

 

[TUC]

Probabiy because they anticipate significant amounts of baggage being carried.

So why don't they mark them as luggage spaces rather than bike spaces?

 

[dk1]

So why don't they mark them as luggage spaces rather than bike spaces?

Because they are used on Norwich services too.

 

[Malaxa]

So it's all nonsense, but nobody at GA is going to say that or reverse the pointless ban.

https://twitter.com/SeanPatKerry/status/1528802767476867073

Are prams and pushchairs banned?

 

[Geml246]

Probably it is a condition of operating through the Stansted Airport Tunnel & it is just easier for them to say no bikes on the whole service.

 

[Bletchleyite]

Probably it is a condition of operating through the Stansted Airport Tunnel & it is just easier for them to say no bikes on the whole service.

Nope. Other services into Stansted carry bikes.

 

[SargeNpton]

Would help if Greater Anglia mentioned it here...

Cycles on trains

From 1 June, Greater Anglia and most other train companies in the UK will no longer allow e-scooters on trains. There is a set number of full-size bikes allowed on our trains, depending on the type of train in service. At Stratford, Liverpool Street and Cambridge stations no full-size bikes are...

www.greateranglia.co.uk

 

[Kite159]

Would help if Greater Anglia mentioned it here...

Cycles on trains

From 1 June, Greater Anglia and most other train companies in the UK will no longer allow e-scooters on trains. There is a set number of full-size bikes allowed on our trains, depending on the type of train in service. At Stratford, Liverpool Street and Cambridge stations no full-size bikes are...

www.greateranglia.co.uk

It's mentioned within the West Anglia main line section on a table,
"Sorry, no full size bikes are allowed on the Stansted Express service at any time."

Although I can't say I've never heard the
restriction announced on stations.

 

[43066]

So it's all nonsense, but nobody at GA is going to say that or reverse the pointless ban.

https://twitter.com/SeanPatKerry/status/1528802767476867073

Are prams and pushchairs banned?

Why is it nonsense?

The picture is of a packaged up bike being carried from the airport. What they’re clearly trying to avoid is full size bikes (which have a risk of falling over/injuring people) being carried between intermediate stations on airport trains with passengers carrying lots of baggage.

That doesn’t seem too unreasonable to me? Various TOCs have restrictions on carrying bikes at certain times of day and on certain services etc.

 

[Bletchleyite]

Why is it nonsense?

The picture is of a packaged up bike being carried from the airport. What they’re clearly trying to avoid is full size bikes (which have a risk of falling over/injuring people) being carried between intermediate stations on airport trains with passengers carrying lots of baggage.

That doesn’t seem too unreasonable to me? Various TOCs have restrictions on carrying bikes at certain times of day and on certain services etc.

It's nonsense because they aren't "airport trains" like HEx, they are the normal service with a brand on it.

If they're going to operate additional non-stop expresses, then I'd be fine with it.

 

[43066]

It's nonsense because they aren't "airport trains" like HEx, they are the normal service with a brand on it.

If they're going to operate additional non-stop expresses, then I'd be fine with it.

If they’re branded as “Stansted Express” then clearly they’re going to get a lot more airport passengers (and baggage). Other trains also service the intermediate stations (and the airport) and will allow bikes to be carried, so what’s the issue with bikes being prohibited on the Express branded services?

 

[Bletchleyite]

If they’re branded as “Stansted Express” then clearly they’re going to get a lot more airport passengers (and baggage). Other trains also service the intermediate stations (and the airport) and will allow bikes to be carried, so what’s the issue with bikes being prohibited on the Express branded services?

It's more that there is no sensible reason to do so. Things should be allowed unless there is a strong reason to ban them. I disagree that luggage poses any kind of issue here with the new, very long trains - they won't mostly be anywhere near full.

 

[43066]

It's more that there is no sensible reason to do so. Things should be allowed unless there is a strong reason to ban them. I disagree that luggage poses any kind of issue here with the new, very long trains - they won't mostly be anywhere near full.

The “sensible reason” is probably that there are a lot of leisure travellers and a lot of cyclists in and around Essex and East Anglia. Bikes have grown exponentially in number post pandemic and my operator is increasingly finding this is causing issues, especially as leisure travel is now above 2019 levels on many services.

Trying to allocate the bikes away from busy airport tourist services seems reasonable enough to me!