Bike spaces on a Virgin double voyager

[raveon]

Hi, I wanted to book my bike on a VTWC service (for which I have an advance ticket), but there were no bookable spaces left. It happens to be booked as a double voyager, so there will actually be 8 spaces, but does the system only make the four in coach A available to book? (and therefore the four in G are likely to empty?).

Thanks

 

[civ-eng-jim]

From my experience with Virgin trains, they're very hot on compulsory bike reservations. I've only carried my bike on Pendolino services where you have to ask a member of staff to open the door for you (Something a button or a handle on the door would have done just as well!) Even if you turn up with your bike at your own risk they will potentially turn you away as someone may have booked the spaces further along the line. I'm not sure if the same policy applies to the voyagers too.

On CrossCountry I've been told there were no bike spaces, but waited a few days and managed to book a space through Facebook.

 

[daniel97]

Hey, I work for VTWC and get asked this a fair bit. There's actually only 4 spaces in total, 2 on each set. There are 4 spaces on a Pendo however, in Coach A like you mentioned. Hope this clears it up!

 

[Great_Western]

I think it is quite possible that only a portion of cycle reservations are available, given that it seems like I am never able to get any availability for customers traveling towards North Wales on the voyager services. Although that might just be bad luck. What service will you be catching exactly?

 

[Bletchleyite]

Hey, I work for VTWC and get asked this a fair bit. There's actually only 4 spaces in total, 2 on each set. There are 4 spaces on a Pendo however, in Coach A like you mentioned. Hope this clears it up!

There are 2 hooks on each side of the aisle in the "van" area, aren't there? Do they only normally "sell" two of them, perhaps due to issues with bikes banging on other bikes?

 

[raveon]

Thanks for the replies. Its the 16:38 Wigan North Western to Oxenholme Lake District this Friday (22nd June).

 

[daniel97]

There are 2 hooks on each side of the aisle in the "van" area, aren't there? Do they only normally "sell" two of them, perhaps due to issues with bikes banging on other bikes?

I think it's due to the sizing of certain bikes, so we only allow 2 per bike rack to prevent damage, interior damage etc. I think they're actually stored in the vestibules in one of the coaches, however it's been ages since I've been on a VT Voyager as I never get put on them. I know XC Voyagers have the vestibule bike racks at least.

 

[All Line Rover]

daniel97 might be confusing Virgin's Pendolino bicycle policy, which is 4 bicycles OR 2 bicycles and 1 tandem.

There are 4 spaces PER Virgin Voyager (all of which are reservable on single Voyagers), in a publicly accessible area behind the driver's cab in Coach A / 'G' (the original Bombardier layout, which is much preferable to Arriva's botched "refurbishment"). On a double Voyager serving two separate destinations with a split or merge (1), all 8 spaces can be reserved.* But where a secondary Voyager is detached from or attached to the rear of a primary Voyager mid-way through one journey (2), the rail industry's reservation software is unable to identify the 4 additional spaces in the additional Voyager. So there is no way to reserve these spaces, but you can have a look if there are any available spaces when the train turns up. To further confuse matters, where a secondary Voyager is detached from or attached to the front of a primary Voyager mid-way through one journey (3), all 8 spaces can be reserved again!*

An example of (1) is the 18.10 from Euston to Holyhead and Wrexham, splitting at Chester. 4 spaces can be reserved in the Holyhead unit and 4 in the Wrexham unit, even if making a journey wholly before the split point - e.g. Euston to Nuneaton.

An example of (2) is the 19.10 from Euston to Holyhead. This is a double Voyager from Euston, with the rear unit detaching at Chester. The rear unit is 'dead' for reservation purposes. It isn't even possible to make seat reservations in this unit (which is a nuisance, given that the 19.10 is the first off-peak service to Milton Keynes / Nuneaton / Stafford / Crewe / Chester). When the train operates, the reservation displays above the seats in this unit are black / unlit. Another example of (2) is the 18.23 from Euston to Shrewsbury. This is a double Voyager from Euston, with the rear unit detaching at Wolverhampton.

An example of (3) is the 05.49 from Glasgow to Euston, via Wolverhampton. Until Wolverhampton, this is a single Voyager, operating as Coaches A to E. At Wolverhampton, it is attached to the rear of a secondary Voyager already waiting on the platform (in other words, the secondary Voyager is attached to the front of the primary Voyager). From Wolverhampton, there are 8 reservable bicycle spaces and seats are reservable in all 10 carriages.

Where a double Voyager serves the same destinations throughout, seats are reservable in both units, but bicycle reservations can't be made in the rear unit. I'm not sure why this is.

Yes, it's confusing!

*If attempting to reserve e.g. 6 spaces, you'll need to make one reservation request for 4 spaces and another reservation request for 2 spaces, because a single reservation request can't be split across units.

 

[All Line Rover]

Thanks for the replies. Its the 16:38 Wigan North Western to Oxenholme Lake District this Friday (22nd June).

That's a double Voyager throughout (from Euston to Glasgow). I've just had a look at future availability and it's only possible to reserve 4 bicycle spaces in the leading unit (coaches A to E). The bicycle spaces in the rear unit (coaches G to L) will be unreserved. It's possible that someone with a bicycle reservation, intended for coach A, will have mistakenly placed their bike in Coach G (coach G being nearer the middle of the overall 'train' rather than at the very front), but if there are spaces in Coach G available when the train turns up, you can be confident that you can place your bike there without someone later claiming to have a reservation (any reservation will be for Coach A).

For Voyagers, you don't need to find a member of platform staff to allow you to board a bicycle, as the bicycle storage area on Voyagers is publicly accessible (through one of the two doors that passengers use to alight / disembark Coaches A and G, the standard class quiet coaches). So you shouldn't encounter any issues with staff, but do try to stand in the right place (near the middle of the platform) so as not to delay the departure of the train.

...it seems like I am never able to get any availability for customers traveling towards North Wales on the voyager services.

If you're talking about double Voyagers west of Chester (so double Voyagers throughout Holyhead to Euston or reverse), the 4 spaces in the rear unit will always be unreserved (and available on the day).

 

[Bletchleyite]

Apparently VT are modifying[1] the Pendolinos to lock the door between Coach A and the bike store to stop people wandering in and out of there - bikes will then be accessed from the outside as they are on GWR HSTs. This would have the advantage of making them visible to the guard - people seem to quite often get stuck because the guard doesn't show up as he forgot and there is no way to get to the outside from there, as well as better security for the bikes, not to mention that passengers aren't meant to be in the front N% of the coach over 110mph anyway.

The thing I've always found odd along similar lines is that that space on the Voyagers is left open and often used as standing room when very busy - isn't it supposed to be similarly passenger-free?

[1] I thought they always had a carriage key lock on that door, maybe it doesn't work?

 

[daniel97]

daniel97 might be confusing Virgin's Pendolino bicycle policy, which is 4 bicycles OR 2 bicycles and 1 tandem.

There are 4 spaces PER Virgin Voyager (all of which are reservable on single Voyagers), in a publicly accessible area behind the driver's cab in Coach A / 'G' (the original Bombardier layout, which is much preferable to Arriva's botched "refurbishment"). On a double Voyager serving two separate destinations with a split or merge (1), all 8 spaces can be reserved.* But where a secondary Voyager is detached from or attached to the rear of a primary Voyager mid-way through one journey (2), the rail industry's reservation software is unable to identify the 4 additional spaces in the additional Voyager. So there is no way to reserve these spaces, but you can have a look if there are any available spaces when the train turns up. To further confuse matters, where a secondary Voyager is detached from or attached to the front of a primary Voyager mid-way through one journey (3), all 8 spaces can be reserved again!*

An example of (1) is the 18.10 from Euston to Holyhead and Wrexham, splitting at Chester. 4 spaces can be reserved in the Holyhead unit and 4 in the Wrexham unit, even if making a journey wholly before the split point - e.g. Euston to Nuneaton.

An example of (2) is the 19.10 from Euston to Holyhead. This is a double Voyager from Euston, with the rear unit detaching at Chester. The rear unit is 'dead' for reservation purposes. It isn't even possible to make seat reservations in this unit (which is a nuisance, given that the 19.10 is the first off-peak service to Milton Keynes / Nuneaton / Stafford / Crewe / Chester). When the train operates, the reservation displays above the seats in this unit are black / unlit. Another example of (2) is the 18.23 from Euston to Shrewsbury. This is a double Voyager from Euston, with the rear unit detaching at Wolverhampton.

An example of (3) is the 05.49 from Glasgow to Euston, via Wolverhampton. Until Wolverhampton, this is a single Voyager, operating as Coaches A to E. At Wolverhampton, it is attached to the rear of a secondary Voyager already waiting on the platform (in other words, the secondary Voyager is attached to the front of the primary Voyager). From Wolverhampton, there are 8 reservable bicycle spaces and seats are reservable in all 10 carriages.

Where a double Voyager serves the same destinations throughout, seats are reservable in both units, but bicycle reservations can't be made in the rear unit. I'm not sure why this is.

Yes, it's confusing!

*If attempting to reserve e.g. 6 spaces, you'll need to make one reservation request for 4 spaces and another reservation request for 2 spaces, because a single reservation request can't be split across units.

Hah, thanks for clearing it up! It's been so long, I've completely forgot how it works -- I need a refresher

 

[All Line Rover]

The thing I've always found odd along similar lines is that that space on the Voyagers is left open and often used as standing room when very busy - isn't it supposed to be similarly passenger-free?

[1] I thought they always had a carriage key lock on that door, maybe it doesn't work?

The partition doors on the Voyagers have a lock (I don't know if they work - they're never used). The partiton doors on the Pendolinos (Coaches A and K) don't.

 

[Bletchleyite]

The partition doors on the Voyagers have a lock (I don't know if they work - they're never used). The partiton doors on the Pendolinos (Coaches A and K) don't.

Ah. A very odd omission.

Well...they are I understand in the process of fitting them.

 

[telstarbox]

Are there any plans to integrate the bike space booking with the main VTWC website?

 

[All Line Rover]

Apparently VT are modifying[1] the Pendolinos to lock the door between Coach A and the bike store to stop people wandering in and out of there - bikes will then be accessed from the outside as they are on GWR HSTs.

I've not seen any evidence of this yet. I hope they don't make such a change. It would lengthen an already lengthy process and further risk delaying the departure of Pendolino trains. At present, a passenger might faff about with the fabric straps to secure a bike for some time after a train has departed. The change you mention would require all bikes to be strapped securely before a train could depart. It would also prevent a passenger from releasing their bike (which could be covered by three other bikes) - which presently a passenger will do, as guards reguarly advise, well before the train arrives at the passenger's arrival station - until they have alighted the train by some other door, walked down the platform, waited for the staff-only door to be unlocked, walked into the bicycle storage area, released all the bikes on top of their own bike, released their own bike, re-strapped the aforementioned three bikes, and alighted the train with their own bike. This would be a farce.