Bantamzen
Established Member
Lots of this is true. People refuse to move sometimes, and when they don't I'm standing wherever I fit with my bike, because more often than not when I leave it unattended it gets manhandled, and if it's in the cycle space someone else might lean theirs on it, which is a real pain when I want to get off. When it's busy it gets leant on by people which I really don't appreciate.
It's also unaccpetable that most guards won't enforce the cycle space unless the train is rammed, and when it's that bad I can't get to the cycle space, I don't want it there - I'd rather stay in the vestibule with my bike. It takes an age to get back out, and while it's in there it gets leant on, and often the whole thing just annoys everyone.
Bike spaces are for bikes, not people.
TPE are completely clueless about cycle storage. Nowhere else that you can take a bike on the train have I ever had an issue!
Just on this matter, and sorry to be really blunt, but frankly be grateful that there is any cycle space currently on the 185s at all. I think I can safely say that most passengers rammed onto the peaks each would rather have an area for disabled passengers and the rest for seating people. As has been mentioned, TPEs policy will be changing with the pending arrival of the new stock, and as also mentioned over on one of the Crossrail threads elsewhere cycle restrictions are from just a TPE thing. I have no problem with some people occasionally bringing bikes onto trains, but with the ever increasing popularity of cycling in general more and more people are starting to arrive at stations with them. Ive seen on at least one occasion half a dozen or more cyclists having angry exchanges with other passengers about the limited space, and on one occasion (during the Tour De France in Yorkshire) cyclists (as well as prams) trying to ram onto chock-full 333s even after Northern had specifically told passengers (both through publicity & by station announcements) not to attempt to board the service with them. At some point the TOCs need to deal with this, most trains have at best only a limited amount of room to carry them and if too many are carried they start to cause issues with blocking doorwells, corridors and even occasionally depriving fare paying passengers room to board services. Cycling Im afraid has become something of a victim of its own success, and it is highly unlikely that TOCs will ever be able to meet the demand for more cycle storage space on trains.
It is worth remembering that trains are primarily for people, not bikes. And on services where there are many more people than seats, and these services also act as not only commuter and even inter-city / international airport services priorities have to be made. Hopefully the idea of cycle reservations will mean that the numbers can better be managed to reduce issues for train crews in future.