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Southern to ban cycles throughout the Olympics

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Shimbleshanks

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I've heard that Southern Railway is planning to ban all non-folding cycles from its trains, 24 hours a day throughout the Olympic period. (Yes, even at 3am.)

Not sure if it will also extend to the Paralympics as well, nor am I sure what other train operators are doing. The National Rail web page 'Travelling with Cycles during the Games' is, ever so helpfully, 'Still under construction'. (only 11 days to go, guys...)

I have a sneaking suspicion that Southern would like at some stage to permanently ban all bikes, at all times, forever. Perhaps this is going to be its Olympic Legacy?
 
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sonic2009

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I don't believe Southern will ban cycles all together, they would get a lot of outrage from local cycling groups etc.

I believe it's only during the Olympics because of the amount of spectators that are expected and the capacity is needed.
 

Shimbleshanks

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I don't believe Southern will ban cycles all together, they would get a lot of outrage from local cycling groups etc.

I believe it's only during the Olympics because of the amount of spectators that are expected and the capacity is needed.

No, I was told by someone from Southern that it would be a 24-hour ban and throughout the Olympics.
 

swt_passenger

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SWT are having a blanket ban on non folding bikes as well - they've been announcing it for a week or more in the Southampton area.
 

Coxster

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SWT are having a blanket ban on non folding bikes as well - they've been announcing it for a week or more in the Southampton area.
This is now not the case, as of yesterday. This original plan has been reversed and the normal cycle policy will now be in force, with the exception of 28/29th July on services via Epsom to allow maximum capacity for spectators travelling to watch the Cycle Race at Box Hill.
 

GadgetMan

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Olympics or no Olympics, bikes are becoming an increasing problem in many parts of the country as more and more people are bringing them onto trains designed to carry a maximum of 2 (can squeeze 4 on). I'm regularly seeing 6 bikes on my trains when officially we only carry 2.

At some point this problem is going to need a solution. Either there needs to be more room for bikes on trains which I can't see happening.

Or the maximum number of bikes on board rule being enforced. It doesn't help when the bike space is also the designated spot for wheelchair users.

Perhaps we could add cycle carriers onto the rear coupler :lol:
 

Greenback

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Olympics or no Olympics, bikes are becoming an increasing problem in many parts of the country as more and more people are bringing them onto trains designed to carry a maximum of 2 (can squeeze 4 on). I'm regularly seeing 6 bikes on my trains when officially we only carry 2.

At some point this problem is going to need a solution. Either there needs to be more room for bikes on trains which I can't see happening.

Or the maximum number of bikes on board rule being enforced. It doesn't help when the bike space is also the designated spot for wheelchair users.

Perhaps we could add cycle carriers onto the rear coupler :lol:

Your right, GadgetMan. There are usually around three bikes in the bicycle/wheelchair space on my regular train home, which is designed for two cycles, plus several more in the spaces by the doors.

There is more fun then when anothe rcycle tries to board at Gowerton!

I don;t balem them though. Cycling was popular enough in the 1980's when there were complaints about the new stock being introduced not having enough capacity for bikes. It is even more popular now, and something really does need to be done.
 

user15681

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Southeastern are doing exactly the same. Banning all bikes apart from folded bikes during the Olympics and Paralympics at all times.
 

ushawk

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It isnt a blanket ban on ALL services. The ban covers Southern Metro, Gatwick Express and Mainline services north of Gatwick.

The ban in the area is a 24 hour one though, due to the expected high passenger numbers - going to be fun for us to enforce though !!
 

bAzTNM

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It is getting farcical up here (Scotland) in terms of number of cyclists on trains. It will be pretty hard to enforce, cyclists are rather "spikey" individuals I've found. Some are pretty nasty to be honest. The right hardcore "Tour de France" dressing like ones.

So good luck with that one!
 

90019

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It will be pretty hard to enforce, cyclists are rather "spikey" individuals I've found. Some are pretty nasty to be honest. The right hardcore "Tour de France" dressing like ones.

Lycra louts.


They're a bloody nightmare on the roads - I've lost count of the number of them I've nearly flattened with a bus when they appear out of nowhere at high speed.
 

David10

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The ban in the area is a 24 hour one though, due to the expected high passenger numbers - going to be fun for us to enforce though !!
Southern impose a network ban on all cycles on the day of the London - Brighton Cycle Ride for obvious reasons.
 

jopsuk

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Greater Anglia (as with NXEA/one before them) strengthen services for the London-Cambridge and London-Southend rides (not sure about c2c) though those are much, much smaller than London-Brighton (which attracts 25000 riders!).

And not all those in Lycra are @rs3holes. From my experience it seems to be even a minority of them, and they are very much the minority of cyclists in the first place.

Bring back MLVs! A fleet of multi-inter-operable, dual voltage electro diesels (don't really need to be that powerful- and to be fair, they don't all need all three power sources) that can be tacked on to pretty much any unit up to 100mph capability on to trains that are not already at their platform length limits.
 

thelem

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jopsuk

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Whilst I can hardly condone the sort of cycling that leads an idiot to smash into the back of another vehicle, do you really enjoy seeing people get injured?
 

bAzTNM

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Southern impose a network ban on all cycles on the day of the London - Brighton Cycle Ride for obvious reasons.
You should have saw the train I was on when the Skyride was happening in Glasgow Green. There must have been 15 bikes just in the carriage I was in. Ticket guy was absolutely losing the plot.

I think Scotrail need to do this when this event happens in September. Especially in the Glasgow city centre area?
 

4SRKT

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A blanket ban seems a bit extreme. What will picnickers sit on?
 

Shimbleshanks

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It is getting farcical up here (Scotland) in terms of number of cyclists on trains. It will be pretty hard to enforce, cyclists are rather "spikey" individuals I've found. Some are pretty nasty to be honest. The right hardcore "Tour de France" dressing like ones.

So good luck with that one!

I know the type you mean - but in fairness we're not all like that. I just want to occasionally put my old boneshaker on the train to save time rather than cycling all the way to central London.
 

aleph_0

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I saw one of them crash into the back of a car recently - his head went through the back window and I think he did a fair bit of damage to his rather expensive bike.

Made my day, that did.

Hmm, I see all types of road users do things which are at least one of stupid, illegal or inconsiderate every day. Whilst I would hope that they would stop doing so, I wouldn't take any pleasure in seeing them have an accident as a result.

Do you actually enjoy seeing people get hurt, I find that quite scary?
 

OliverS

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It isnt a blanket ban on ALL services. The ban covers Southern Metro, Gatwick Express and Mainline services north of Gatwick.

The ban in the area is a 24 hour one though, due to the expected high passenger numbers - going to be fun for us to enforce though !!

Well that is going to cause some fun for the volunteers who may need to cycle to some shifts. I'm fortunate in that I can do my shifts by public transport, but that wasn't always the case and I had planned to stay with a friend and cycle, which would have meant taking a bike on the train...
 

90019

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Do you actually enjoy seeing people get hurt, I find that quite scary?

He wasn't hurt, his helmet broke the window. Other than a bruised ego, he was fine.

He'd been riding like a complete prat, wasn't paying attention and damaged his rather expensive bike as a consequence.
Saying it made my day was a bit tongue in cheek, though.

If he'd been hurt, I'd have had some sympathy for him, but when you spend your day on the roads trying to avoid these idiots who seem hellbent on trying to get themselves run over, as bad as it sounds, it can be kinda satisfying when you see one do some rather expensive damage to their bike through their own idiotic cycling. Consider it like seeing the boy racer who manages to rip the bumpers off his car or destroy his engine because he's been driving like an arse.



I feel I should point out that, not only am I a bus driver, but I'm also a car driver (and I do a lot of driving), trained as an HGV driver (only class 2 so far though), and most importantly, I am a cyclist - so I can see things from multiple points of view.
I have no issues with most cyclists on the roads, but there are the select few - mainly the 'I'm entitled to use this road, so I shall use all of it, and bollocks to the rest of you', or the 'I don't care what's going on around me' (particularly with headphones on) that are particularly bad, and it never ceases to amaze me how unaware some are of the dangers of the roads, but that's a rant for another time.
 
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jopsuk

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For a truly bad example of driver behaviour, the other day I saw a driving school car pull in, in a manner suggesting it was told to by the instructor, to the side of the road. Into a Mandatory Cycle Lane (solid white line). Rules are clear- unless it is an emergency, motor vehilces must NEVER enter such a lane - to do so can attract a £60 fine/ 3 points if the cops bothered to enforce it. What hope is there when instructors flagrantly teach bad practice?
 

The Colonel

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This is now not the case, as of yesterday. This original plan has been reversed and the normal cycle policy will now be in force, with the exception of 28/29th July on services via Epsom to allow maximum capacity for spectators travelling to watch the Cycle Race at Box Hill.

Great shame! I'd personally ban 'em 24/7/365 as they're a firkin nuisance. The days of guards vans where you could stash half a dozen and no one would notice are long gone. London commuter routes are too busy now. Do easyjet let you take your car on board? Same should apply to trains. You wouldn't mind if they paid road tax and acted in a responsible manner but they want everything and for free.

Out this morning (11.00 a.m.) and a half mile queue of slow moving traffic on a road near Cobham - get to the front and there a pack of 20 - 30 cyclists, two abreast holding us all up for a couple of miles. Round here where the Olympic route is there are similar packs every weekend - worst thing that happened to this area.

I'll be out early on the 28th with a box of tin tacks . . . :lol:
 

jon0844

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Olympics or no Olympics, bikes are becoming an increasing problem in many parts of the country as more and more people are bringing them onto trains designed to carry a maximum of 2 (can squeeze 4 on). I'm regularly seeing 6 bikes on my trains when officially we only carry 2.

The problem is that increasingly, people are causing a nuisance with their bikes. And there's nothing worse than a cyclist that thinks having a bike is making some sort of political statement and expressing the freedom to do what he/she likes. I am sure they get hassle from motorists, so decide to take out their anger on everyone else.

On a train this week into King's Cross, there were bikes wedged in nearly every vestibule (Wednesday about 5pm) and I have no idea if there was some sort of event going on to have so many bikers on one train but it didn't seem as if any of them knew each other.

It made it very hard for me to walk through the train and when I got to the London end of the train as it came in to King's Cross, the bike owner that had his bike on the side of the platform didn't even rush to get up and move his bike - and when he did come over, seemed to have no problem with swinging it round and brushing the rear wheels and pedal against my jeans.

Still, said bike owner didn't ride it along the platform as they do at Hatfield. Not kids, but adults who look like they're cycling only to prove a point.

(Hopefully I don't need to add a disclaimer to say that not all cyclists are like this, and that I also ride a bike, but get a cyclist on the train and suddenly the chances of said biker being an a&&e are greatly enhanced for some reason. Yet those with folding bikes never seem to be any bother at all).
 

jopsuk

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You wouldn't mind if they paid road tax and acted in a responsible manner but they want everything and for free.
HONK! Canard alert! Why should cyclists pay a tax that doesn't exist and hasn't done since Churchill abolished it in the 1930s?. You pay a "car tax", but even that plus your fuel duty doesn't cover the cost to the country of your motoring (even factoring in the economic activity that it enables). Especially, of course, if you drive an efficient car in the lower VED bands, which even for conventional petrol or disel cars may be as low as £0 per year. Damn Fiesta drivers, getting all those roads for free!

As for two abreast- if you check the Highway code, you'll find out how much room it recommends giving a cyclist to safely overtake. The diagram shows the motor vehicle almost fully crossing the centre of the road. Single file or two abreast, unless it's a super-wide (pseudo three-lane) road, you should not be overtaking at all if there's traffic coming the other way.
 

aleph_0

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tl;dr: Lots of people are selfish twats, however they're travelling.

Ideally the train companies would be able to just say "you can't carry bikes on trains if the service is busy during the olympics, here is a non-exhaustive list of potentially busy times", rather than introduce blanket bans.

Slightly less on-topic:
He wasn't hurt, his helmet broke the window. Other than a bruised ego, he was fine.

I feel I should point out that, not only am I a bus driver, but I'm also a car driver (and I do a lot of driving), trained as an HGV driver (only class 2 so far though), and most importantly, I am a cyclist - so I can see things from multiple points of view.
I have no issues with most cyclists on the roads, but there are the select few - mainly the 'I'm entitled to use this road, so I shall use all of it, and bollocks to the rest of you', or the 'I don't care what's going on around me' (particularly with headphones on) that are particularly bad, and it never ceases to amaze me how unaware some are of the dangers of the roads, but that's a rant for another time.

That's more reassuring. The image "his head went through the back window" conjured wasn't a pretty one. Unfortunately, he's likely to externalise the blame for the event on someone else, so it's not going to improve.

The basic problem is that people are selfish and twats are twats. It doesn't matter if they're on a bike, trying to take a bike on the train during peak hours, or putting luggage on seat. Unfortunately, most debates seem to quickly reduce to making absurd generalisations, like:

You wouldn't mind if they paid road tax and acted in a responsible manner but they want everything and for free.

Roads aren't paid for by VED, and if bikes paid VED, it should be Band A. I agree with you that cyclists should pay their Income and Council tax to pay for the roads, and that irresponsible road users should be dealt with. The cyclist specified in your example sound potentially inconsiderate, but I wouldn't say irresponsible (cycling 2-abreast shouldn't affect overtaking potential, but if a sufficiently long queue had built up, and a suitable passing point existed, then a considerate group would give way).
 
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