What will happen if, after boarding an Intercity Express Train (IET) with a bike with a reservation, there is no space to put my bike?

[Benjwri]

Did you claim delay repay for this mess?

Yes I got delay repay because GWR was a bit of a mess anyways that day.

 

[FGW_DID]

I frequently have this issue taking my bike on GWR IETs. Reservations are "compulsory" but this is rarely enforced and, in any case, having a reservation doesn't mean the space will be empty. I can't really complain as I have a Western Region Status Pass and usually just wait for the next train, but I do think GWR will have to address extra cycle provision at some stage (as Scotrail have done on the West Highland Line).

There lies the problem, most people don't bother with a reservation and because it's rarely enforced it becomes a norm. If reservations are to be compulsory then perhaps theses areas should be locked and the cyclist presents themselves and the bike reservation to the TM who then lets them in. Obviously would be an issue if the service is DOO!

 

[Parallel]

There lies the problem, most people don't bother with a reservation and because it's rarely enforced it becomes a norm. If reservations are to be compulsory then perhaps theses areas should be locked and the cyclist presents themselves and the bike reservation to the TM who then lets them in. Obviously would be an issue if the service is DOO!

Also would increase dwell times and would be especially problematic with 9 car sets with two bicycle storage areas and one train manager. You’d probably get passengers trying to ram bikes on anywhere if the spaces were made less accessible!

Not being able to honour reservations to me just suggests spaces on GWR IETs should be first come first served, if passengers holding valid reservations are getting booted off and the policy not being enforced.

 

[VC00]

There lies the problem, most people don't bother with a reservation and because it's rarely enforced it becomes a norm. If reservations are to be compulsory then perhaps theses areas should be locked and the cyclist presents themselves and the bike reservation to the TM who then lets them in. Obviously would be an issue if the service is DOO!

I travel by bike on LNER services a lot and find that usually the bike space is locked out, with staff on the platform/gateline asking to see your reservation then unlock the area for you once the train has arrived and then you can take it out without staff at your destination, the only problem is the area is too small for anything other than a kids bike. Avanti bike spaces are usually in the guards van which means you need to find staff to get on and off, only problem is that there's no staff nearby so you either have to egress or push your bike through the carriage to the door to avoid being overcarried.

 

[Bletchleyite]

Other option would be to use those cupboards for luggage only (with cameras pointed at it showing on screens in the saloon so people can watch their stuff) and remove a few seats in the saloon of one coach to add space for say 4 bikes horizontally, 2 either side, which would be at the expense of 12 seats, 6 on each side, 2 of which could be the rubbishy no view narrow ones. That's what ScotRail have done in their HSTs.

I travel by bike on LNER services a lot and find that usually the bike space is locked out, with staff on the platform/gateline asking to see your reservation then unlock the area for you once the train has arrived and then you can take it out without staff at your destination, the only problem is the area is too small for anything other than a kids bike. Avanti bike spaces are usually in the guards van which means you need to find staff to get on and off, only problem is that there's no staff nearby so you either have to egress or push your bike through the carriage to the door to avoid being overcarried.

The upside of that arrangement is that it's very unlikely your bike would get nicked.

 

[Benjwri]

spaces on GWR IETs should be first come first served, if passengers holding valid reservations are getting booted off and the policy not being enforced.

Maybe this is a feasible policy on the Paddington to Reading section, where trains are pretty frequent, but for any other route you're making it virtually impossible to travel with a bike. My example I gave, which was the Paddington - Bristol Temple Meads trains, which are every 30mins, I still had 1hr of waiting added to my journey, and this would become the norm, because there aren't enough bike spaces.

What about the Paddington - Penzance services? With trains every 2 hours what are you meant to do if there isn't a space? Just say oh well and pack up and go home? The kind of long distance journeys IETs make need the certainty that you will get a space.

 

[JamesT]

Issue bike reservations with a QR code, and put readers on the bike storage doors so they'll only open when reading a valid reservation? Then the train manager wouldn't need to be involved when boarding.

 

[zwk500]

Issue bike reservations with a QR code, and put readers on the bike storage doors so they'll only open when reading a valid reservation? Then the train manager wouldn't need to be involved when boarding.

Oh, for a like button!

 

[Benjwri]

Issue bike reservations with a QR code, and put readers on the bike storage doors so they'll only open when reading a valid reservation? Then the train manager wouldn't need to be involved when boarding.

Would be an awesome idea, plus would mean you could use an E-Ticket with a bike reservation made online. Currently you have to use a paper ticket and E-Tickets are disabled.

 

[4COR]

I did try to remain on the train but the TM said that they wouldn't move until I could be removed, as the bike was a 'safety hazard'.

Related to this is (having done this a few times on GWR IETs), if you have your bike in a travel box (the ones Eurostar will accept), it becomes a bike sized piece of luggage.

Having had the similar issue with a bike reservation for the boxed bike being impossible due to suitcases in the bike space, I preceded to leave it tucked aside as much as possible in a gangway while sitting in the closest seat possible.

This only prompted a "is this your luggage?" (security type) question from the TM, and "If you can just make sure it's not in the way of the door at Slough" (tricky as it was on the right of the train) and all was fine. How is that less of a risk to having a bike in the same place?

Will add, same box fits into the Paris Metro, if only to the minor (!) annoyance of the Parisiens...

 

[hkstudent]

The passenger doesn't need removing from the train, the bike (apparently) does.

Let BTP arrest the bike.

Yeah, if I were in the case, I will wait for the BTP to come which they would not arrive in less than 30 minutes. Doubt the TM will really wishing to wait for the BTP on platform as the knock on delay will be serious and I am not at fault anyway.

Especially, for cases of GWR intercity which bike reservation is virtually impossible and can leave stranded easily.


If DfT is to be under Scottish government, the initiative of more cycle space would have been set.

 

[Wychwood93]

Oh, for a like button!

Agreed but........ if the person with the reservation does not turn up? Empty bike space and a need to utilise the train manager! Just a thought.
Edit: automatic cancellation of reservation if not activated?

 

[zwk500]

Agreed but........ if the person with the reservation does not turn up? Empty bike space and a need to utilise the train manager! Just a thought.
Edit: automatic cancellation of reservation if not activated?

TM should be actively managing the spaces. The reservation system will tell him/her where the bikes should have been loaded, and they can make the decision to release/retain the space as conditions demand shortly after departure from the respective stations.

 

[Towers]

TM should be actively managing the spaces. The reservation system will tell him/her where the bikes should have been loaded, and they can make the decision to release/retain the space as conditions demand shortly after departure from the respective stations.

Completely unrealistic, the train may be ten coaches long and formed of two sets with no through access. Not going to happen.

 

[Benjwri]

TM should be actively managing the spaces. The reservation system will tell him/her where the bikes should have been loaded, and they can make the decision to release/retain the space as conditions demand shortly after departure from the respective stations.

I think the problem with this, and any other ideas of locking spaces, is that realistically you cannot lock a space that has a bike in it on existing 80x stock.

Firstly there would obviously be no way for someone to get their bike out at their stop, with no way to contact the TM, but also any bike, especially those with drop bars, will not allow the door to be closed again.

Therefore you can only reserve half the spaces, because once one bike is in a space, anyone can put another in the other space paired with it.

 

[Doctor Fegg]

Completely unrealistic, the train may be ten coaches long and formed of two sets with no through access. Not going to happen.

And even if you can just about see it working on a limited-stop LNER from King's Cross to Edinburgh, it's certainly not going to work on a GWR service like the Cotswold Line where there's a stop every 10 minutes or less, with varying platform lengths to boot.

 

[Master29]

They really do need to bin off all the "no view, narrow" seats by the vestibule and fit luggage racks in all four of them. People would choose in-saloon luggage space over that outside the saloon as they like to see their stuff. It's just because there's nowhere else that they put it in the bike/wheelchair spaces.

LNER have I think but as usual First group slow on the uptake.

 

[Bletchleyite]

LNER have I think but as usual First group slow on the uptake.

Only some of them, but better than GWR!

 

[Benjwri]

Only some of them, but better than GWR!

Does anyone know how out of date GWR's seat maps are? I could have sworn I recently went on an IET with two bike racks next to each other, but no configuration would support that. What is actually in the areas with no marked purpose that seem to make up the majority of the free space in the gangways.

 

[VC00]

Does anyone know how out of date GWR's seat maps are? I could have sworn I recently went on an IET with two bike racks next to each other, but no configuration would support that. What is actually in the areas with no marked purpose that seem to make up the majority of the free space in the gangways.

LNER seat plans still show the spaces in first that would've been for bikes (now used for food trolleys), which were changed early on, so I would assume from when they first came out

 

[brad465]

In early July I travelled with my bike on an advance from Paddington to Plymouth ahead of a cycle event in Dartmoor, and not only were my bike reservation carriage and seat reservation carriage different, they were in different 5 car units. I chose the racks in the same unit (and by coincidence same carriage) as my seat, as the train was set to be very busy. While I got to Plymouth with no interruptions, this setup meant that two bike users together who'd reserved in the same rack were separated (I told them I had a reservation but didn't specify carriage), and just before Reading the guard called down the carriage asking about bike passengers due to expecting more to board at Reading. I showed him my tickets and explained due to the seat being in a different train unit I went for the other rack, which they accepted but advised in future to choose the bike carriage reservation over seat and go for the unreserved carriage.

Of course none of this would have happened if GWR actually allowed passengers to choose specific seats like LNER do.

 

[Bletchleyite]

Of course none of this would have happened if GWR actually allowed passengers to choose specific seats like LNER do.

You can choose specific seats on GWR by booking with Trainsplit/Raileasy. However, I don't think I've ever done so and found the displays actually working, and when they're not GWR operate the old BR policy of "if not displayed just sit anywhere".

 

[Benjwri]

You can choose specific seats on GWR by booking with Trainsplit/Raileasy.

You can choose the seat, however unfortunately you can't book a bike with either of them.

 

[Neptune]

Only some of them, but better than GWR!

All LNER 9 car class 800’s are having luggage racks fitted at all the windowless seats as these work the Aberdeen/Inverness services. Not sure if the 9 car 801’s are also getting the same treatment. The 5 car units aren’t as far as I know.

 

[Towers]

Does anyone know how out of date GWR's seat maps are? I could have sworn I recently went on an IET with two bike racks next to each other, but no configuration would support that. What is actually in the areas with no marked purpose that seem to make up the majority of the free space in the gangways.

Which "unmarked" areas are you referring to?

GWR's 80Xs have either toilets or bike/luggage space in the large vestibules, or a smaller vestibule which contains various equipment cabinets (these have the 'wood effect' covering and a litter bin on one side). The only unmarked area, in the larger vestibules, is one trolley store per train, which looks like a bike area but will have a locked and closed door. There is then a bike space opposite.

 

[Benjwri]

Which "unmarked" areas are you referring to?

GWR's 80Xs have either toilets or bike/luggage space in the large vestibules, or a smaller vestibule which contains various equipment cabinets (these have the 'wood effect' covering and a litter bin on one side). The only unmarked area, in the larger vestibules, is one trolley store per train, which looks like a bike area but will have a locked and closed door. There is then a bike space opposite.

I was referring to the seat map, which lists all the vestibules as the same size. Looking at them again though I see where I found what I was asking about. On a 9 car IET Coach J has bike spaces 99 and 00, and next to it it has a luggage locker. However I could have sworn this luggage locker had the equipment to store bikes as well. Does anyone know if this is true?

 

[Western Sunset]

Wonder what'd happen if, say going to Cornwall, your reserved seat was in the front unit of a 10-car set, your bike in the rear unit and that was detached at Plymouth?

 

[Benjwri]

Wonder what'd happen if, say going to Cornwall, your reserved seat was in the front unit of a 10-car set, your bike in the rear unit and that was detached at Plymouth?

I would hope GWR's reservation system, which almost always puts you at the other end of the train to your bike, would at least leave you both on the right train to get to your destination.

Usually you just have to disregard your seat reservation with a bike, and hope there's a seat nearby or sit in the gangway. Unfortunately impossible to even get to your seat obviously without leaving the train and risking it taking your bike with it, but if your risking taking your bike on the train, it's probably too valuable to leave alone.

 

[Bletchleyite]

I would hope GWR's reservation system, which almost always puts you at the other end of the train to your bike, would at least leave you both on the right train to get to your destination.

Usually you just have to disregard your seat reservation with a bike, and hope there's a seat nearby or sit in the gangway. Unfortunately impossible to even get to your seat obviously without leaving the train and risking it taking your bike with it, but if your risking taking your bike on the train, it's probably too valuable to leave alone.

Avanti have some seats marked "reserved cyclist" so people can stay near the bikes. It'd make sense for GWR to do the same, it would only be 4 seats per full length train which wouldn't be a huge loss.

 

[trebor79]

I've actually had this experience, multiple times, on GWR IETs. GWR does allocate bike spaces on IETs, and technically you can't travel on one without. However where this becomes a problem is either when people travel without a reservation or put luggage in the bike areas, despite the lights above showing they were booked. I came across this situation on a train from Didcot to Bath last year, and with no other spaces I tried to stand in the corridor next to the bike locker, leaving enough space for someone to get by. Unfortunately the Train Manager came along and informed me that he couldn't allow a bike there, an promptly booted me off the train at Swindon.

This was despite showing him the paper ticket showing him I had a reservation for this service, in this carriage. He informed me policy is that they can't ask anyone to move luggage or bike out of the area once it's been put there, regardless of a reservation, and therefore I'd have to be the one to get off.

You should have removed the unexpected item in your reserved bike area to park your own bike.

Indeed, this is what I would have done. Doesn't break their policy of not asking someone to shift their stuff (weird policy but anyhoo). No different to turfing someone out of a reserved seat.
If I was feeling bolshy I'd just have refused to get off, and told the TM it wasn't my problem that the bike space I'd reserved was full of someone else's stuff.