"People will take priority over bikes" - rail boss explains why bicycles not welcome on Grand Départ trains

Welcome to britain, the country that likes to say "No we can't."

Sorry, this is total bs from the operators, I spent 2 years commuting from Hull to Leeds and in all that time never arrived on time, the trains in Yorkshire run 29 mins late as default because of unrealistic timetables and the operators know that carrying cyclists will take them over the 30 mins late mark which incurs operator penalties and refunds to passengers all of which affects profits. The defence that they can only carry certain weights is also a joke, the train I used to catch should have been a 3 carriage train but was always 2 carriage to save on rolling stock costs and I doubt that the addition of a bikes only carriage is going to exceed the weight of the same carriage full of people. The decision is a short term cost only decision.

OFFS - make one service a "free-for-all" and warn the tender travelling public that it will be full of bikes piled willy-nilly. Maybe even add extra space on that one service for bikes (if We Have The Technology).

Anyone wanting/needing to take a bike can book that service and then the Powers That Be can say they accommodated and made Special Provisions for the Bicycling Minority! Win-win!

In truth, train operators only want people on their trains. It must be galling for them that they have to waste space on seats, let alone bikes, baggage, prams, wheelchairs, etc.

Hundreds of people, all in crammed in and vertical, must be their vision of heaven!

Choose the bicycle and ditch the trains.

And, switch off when any politician starts rambling about a 'joined-up transport policy'!

Has anyone actually thought of just riding their bike to where they want to go?

If it's really too far to ride then get a train with someone who will take your train to somewhere else and ride.

Quote:

we are restricted on the size of trains we run by the lengths of platforms

I don't full understand that part. Lots of trains in the UK are longer than some of the platforms they stop at. When boarding you have to make sure you get on the right part of the train - or move once you are on - to allow you to disembark at your desired platform.

Obviously moving through the train with a bike is difficult but presumably you could stick the bike carriage and the wheelchair and pram spaces in adjacent carriages and leave the carriages that stick beyond the platform for the able bodied people who can just walk the length of a few carriages to disembark.

Andrew

I can see that Northern Rail have a point but the large numbers of people on local trains might not materialise if people can't take bikes for fairly simple logistical reasons.

In my local area there are four Northern Rail Stations, Littleborough, Hebden Bridge, Mytholmroyd and Sowerby Bridge all of which give reasonable access to the tour route but all of which are between 3 and 8 miles from good, hilly vantage points which is where many spectators will want to go.

For most people that will be a bit far to walk and for some completely impossible yet those same people with bikes can quite easily access those vantage points from those stations and without the issue of the roads being closed to cars for a much longer period than for bikes.

Those people won't be taking the train but instead will mostly travel by car, find a place to park in range of one of those towns and cycle to the vantage points.

Many others will want to make a weekend of it and apart from watching the Tour will want to go out and have a ride in the area - one of the primary drivers for Visit Yorkshire bringing the race here. They will also travel by car.

Northern rail run trains of up to 4 or 5 carriages to all of those stations and if they really wanted to they could run more frequently on those days and allocate more space for bikes.

Essentially they are saying: "people take priority" but meaning "we'd like lots of people to take the train for these events as long as we don't have to do any work beyond running standard trains on a standard timetable with maybe the odd extra carriage if we expect more people".

It always strikes me as odd how the real thought for customers in a business that relies on customers (and a heap of subsidies) to survive is so very rare!

Plus ca change!

As bikes will not be allowed on trains what additional measures are they putting into place to ensure there's enough bike parking at stations for people who want to ride at least part of their journey?

I can absolutely see why there are no bikes on trains for this event. I have absolutely no problem with it at all. Perfectly reasonable decision that is entirely separate to the multi-modal debate

The only way I'd be taking my bike would be if I was riding there, which I could, except that I'd rather drink a skinful of beer and enjoy the atmos. So I'll take the train, ta.

Unfortunate but entirely reasonable given the small platforms and large number of people likely to be traveling by train

First and foremost this is a massive spectator sporting event. Not a participation event . I love cycling and I love watching it . I will be using the trains to travel to spectate this event as I live in the North West UK . I do not want to be crammed on with a load of bikes. The rail companies are going to be under enough pressure. I really hate idiots at big tours who stand at the hoardings with their bike taking up the room of 3 people. Either ride your bike to a remote place on the stage and watch or leave it at home unless your Chris Froome

In 2007 as the date for stage 1 approached it began to dawn on Southeastern that they might not see such a surge in numbers as they had planned for with their extra trains, because of the rigorous restriction on cycle carriage which was being promoted. in the end I think we out around 100 bikes into bags supplied by CTC Shop, and other used their own.

So we managed to sort out a compromise. If you could get your bike packed down into a flat and neat package it could go on the train as your 'suitcase' allowance. This is widely practised on international trains across Europe, and during the £3 bike reservations regime of the mid 1980's I never reserved or paid for my 27" Scot fixed wheel bike which I took on trains, wrapped in an old groundsheet with a webbing shoulder strap/harness.

In this way bikes are also accepted on most long distance coaches, subject to the space being available, although with CTC and others I am trying to get some form of reservation facility to guarantee that you can get the bike on board.

Those who may be travelling earlier during this month might want to test the premise by bagging up their road bike and carrying it in the bag on to trains. Best to get the size right down though.

If you have a group, and want to view the stages outside the city centres, why not consider hiring a coach, putting the bikes in the hold and getting to a location from which you can ride in. That might be the A1 or other major roads which should be remaining open, with options to get dropped off close to main junctions and service areas. A full coach might cost £15-£20 per head for a day trip to hire.

Contact me via Road CC or CTC for other detail

In 2007 as the date for stage 1 approached it began to dawn on Southeastern that they might not see such a surge in numbers as they had planned for with their extra trains, because of the rigorous restriction on cycle carriage which was being promoted. in the end I think we out around 100 bikes into bags supplied by CTC Shop, and other used their own.

So we managed to sort out a compromise. If you could get your bike packed down into a flat and neat package it could go on the train as your 'suitcase' allowance. This is widely practised on international trains across Europe, and during the £3 bike reservations regime of the mid 1980's I never reserved or paid for my 27" Scot fixed wheel bike which I took on trains, wrapped in an old groundsheet with a webbing shoulder strap/harness.

In this way bikes are also accepted on most long distance coaches, subject to the space being available, although with CTC and others I am trying to get some form of reservation facility to guarantee that you can get the bike on board.

Those who may be travelling earlier during this month might want to test the premise by bagging up their road bike and carrying it in the bag on to trains. Best to get the size right down though.

If you have a group, and want to view the stages outside the city centres, why not consider hiring a coach, putting the bikes in the hold and getting to a location from which you can ride in. That might be the A1 or other major roads which should be remaining open, with options to get dropped off close to main junctions and service areas. A full coach might cost £15-£20 per head for a day trip to hire.

Contact me via Road CC or CTC for other detail

In 2007 as the date for stage 1 approached it began to dawn on Southeastern that they might not see such a surge in numbers as they had planned for with their extra trains, because of the rigorous restriction on cycle carriage which was being promoted. in the end I think we out around 100 bikes into bags supplied by CTC Shop, and other used their own.

So we managed to sort out a compromise. If you could get your bike packed down into a flat and neat package it could go on the train as your 'suitcase' allowance. This is widely practised on international trains across Europe, and during the £3 bike reservations regime of the mid 1980's I never reserved or paid for my 27" Scot fixed wheel bike which I took on trains, wrapped in an old groundsheet with a webbing shoulder strap/harness.

In this way bikes are also accepted on most long distance coaches, subject to the space being available, although with CTC and others I am trying to get some form of reservation facility to guarantee that you can get the bike on board.

Those who may be travelling earlier during this month might want to test the premise by bagging up their road bike and carrying it in the bag on to trains. Best to get the size right down though.

If you have a group, and want to view the stages outside the city centres, why not consider hiring a coach, putting the bikes in the hold and getting to a location from which you can ride in. That might be the A1 or other major roads which should be remaining open, with options to get dropped off close to main junctions and service areas. A full coach might cost £15-£20 per head for a day trip to hire.

Contact me via Road CC or CTC for other detail

.

Duplicate post deleted

In 2007 as the date for stage 1 approached it began to dawn on Southeastern that they might not see such a surge in numbers as they had planned for with their extra trains, because of the rigorous restriction on cycle carriage which was being promoted. in the end I think we out around 100 bikes into bags supplied by CTC Shop, and other used their own.

So we managed to sort out a compromise. If you could get your bike packed down into a flat and neat package it could go on the train as your 'suitcase' allowance. This is widely practised on international trains across Europe, and during the £3 bike reservations regime of the mid 1980's I never reserved or paid for my 27" Scot fixed wheel bike which I took on trains, wrapped in an old groundsheet with a webbing shoulder strap/harness.

In this way bikes are also accepted on most long distance coaches, subject to the space being available, although with CTC and others I am trying to get some form of reservation facility to guarantee that you can get the bike on board.

Those who may be travelling earlier during this month might want to test the premise by bagging up their road bike and carrying it in the bag on to trains. Best to get the size right down though.

If you have a group, and want to view the stages outside the city centres, why not consider hiring a coach, putting the bikes in the hold and getting to a location from which you can ride in. That might be the A1 or other major roads which should be remaining open, with options to get dropped off close to main junctions and service areas. A full coach might cost £15-£20 for a day trip to hire.

Contact me via Road CC or CTC for other detail

Now you'll all know how I feel, not being allowed my bike on the train anyway

Funny that Abellio which is joint owner of NR is Dutch.

Imagine this will simply put off people from taking the train and encourage more to drive and ride. It would be nice to get a train to within 30 miles of a spot and ride the rest. Not even an option to book a place, if they added a couple of extra carriages with bike racks/hooks.

Not exactly Mr Multi-Modal, is he? I saw some vintage video footage from the 1950s (or whatever), when t was common for people to take their bikes on a train. A dedicated carriage had simple hooks to hang the front wheel allowing fifty or more bikes to be carried. Given that it's a 'bit of a special occasion', you'd have thought train operators might have jumped at the opportunity to trial this approach again - the positive PR would do them no end of good.