Bikes on trains - the best and worst train operating companies

[malumbu]

Just came back from Bath this morning on GWR. You have to hang your bikes on some clumsy hook arrangement in a tight upright cabinet thingy. There isn't room for one or two bikes with straight bars. My space had been taken with Glastonbury baggage. The sign where to stand at the station was a coach or two out of the way. The platform attendant was no help and I got on in the wrong place as the sign didn't appear obvious - a comedy few minutes as I shuffled around people with large bags and just managed to move down the carriage. I thought that this was clearly a British Romcom moment where I bumped into the partner of my dreams (gotta larf).

Couldn't find anything on line with recent experience. This one from ten years ago predicts the increasing difficulties https://www.theguardian.com/environment/green-living-blog/2009/oct/26/bike-train

Last time I had done similar with GWR they had a guards carriage type arrangement. Virgin are decent albeit draconian (don't just turn up without a bike reservation).

Great to hear others experiences. It's as if the TOCs don't want bikes. The magnificent Eurostar takes this even further!

This is a thread for whingy cyclists. If you want to whinge about cyclists there are other threads here.

[Passiflora]

I will go to the other threads.

[DirtyBox]

Shouldn't you be cycling rather than getting a train?

[Lowlander]

Caledonian Sleeper is good. The new(ish) ScotRail intercity trains are also good

Respective staff have always been patient and helpful - as long as you book in advance.

[malumbu]

The old Caledonian sleepers were a blast from the past.

A lot of the local trains here have reasonable bike space which why GWR was so disappointing.

I find that when I am going long distance the train is always quicker than cycling but taking my bike adds extra convenience. And this works locally too, for example a trip out to Walthamstowe via the Overground and central line took less than an hour door to door - on Google maps this was an hour and a half cycle which I wasn't keen on in November (ie a three hour 30 mile cycle on a November evening).

OMG do I really need to explain this?

[zerkalo]

The Cycling UK forum has plenty of relevant threads about taking bikes on trains. Worth checking them out.

https://forum.cyclinguk.org/viewtopic.php?f=16&t=130933&hilit=train

[malumbu]

Interesting read but some of this was quite old. I'd love a simple comparison of what the different operators offer - and their attitude to bikes. There's some sycophantic stuff on live with awards to operators and their staff for being bike friendly. It was easier under BR and the earlier days of privitisation where you just turned up and put it in the guards van