| The home of cycling in Stevenage and Hitchin |
|
| The home of cycling in Stevenage and Hitchin |
|
http://petitions.number10.gov.uk/bikes-on-trains/
We the undersigned petition the Prime Minister to require the train operators to provide an integrated system for the carriage of bicycles and ensure there is adequate capacity available.
Currently there is no minimum requirement for train operators to carry bicycles and each operator has a different set of rules and booking procedures. This makes the system extremely complex to use, especially where multiple operators are used. Its not possible to book bicycle reservations online and hence one does not know whether there will be room for a bike on a train when a ticket is purchased (note, advanced tickets cannot subsequently be altered to a train with available bicycle carriage space). Some operators have extremely poor provision. The Crosscountry service has reduced the capacity of its trains from 4 bicycles per train to 2 bicycles (so they can provide secure accomodation for their retail trolly). Hence, a maximum of 2 people can travel together with bicycles when you using the crosscountry service (a major element of the national network). Clearly, a national policy is required with a fully integrated booking system (that is available online through the standard ticket retailers) and incentives/requirements for operators to improve capacity.
Alisdair's reply (Jonathan's message is reproduced below this reply):
Dear Jonathan,
It is not my petition, I was just passing it on, so I have no influence on the wording. However I think that the key phrase is 'and ensure there is adequate capacity available.'
When I was a boy trains had guards vans nobody expected people to shove their bikes into a door vestibule jammed with commuters who cannot get a seat. This is a problem of:
a) Overcrowding - not enough seats/ trains / capacity on busy lines at rush hour. And:
b) Design - no provision for cycle carriage other than to battle for space in the door vestibules.
Neither is a problem that the hapless traveller who arrives at the station with his bike has any influence over.
The way that the railways have been 'addressing' this over the past 20 years or so is to blame the cyclist and then ban him. From their point of view this is easy and requires no constructive action. Other travellers are only too happy to view the guy with the bike as a scapegoat because few of them will ever put themselves in the same position. People used to be able to avoid all of these problems and hostility by buying a Brompton, but now the overcrowding can be so bad that even these marvels of integrated transport provoke filthy looks and muttered curses. When will boarding a train wearing a wet coat become socially unacceptable ?
There are of course more constructive ways to address this.
The first is of course to address the root problem - overcrowding. The railways probably aren't all that keen on trying to reduce demand by persuading passengers to work closer to home, but that really is the best solution. We don't all need to work in London, we would have a much healthier economy if more people did their business in the towns of North Hertfordshire. Failing that, the trains need to be longer and run more frequently in the rush hour.
Bans should be avoided and replaced by financial deterrents wherever practical. If you have to travel with a bike at peak times (and many of us do from time to time) then there should be provision, but you have to pay for it.
Of course not all trains are packed to bursting, in fact during the day many run near empty, but lack the flexibility to carry bikes and put people off with confusing restrictions and plain bad attitude. That is just plain bad management because it turns away an obvious, off peak market.
The knee jerk 'No way, there isn't enough space to stand, let alone bring a bike' reaction presumes that everything is going to stay as it is now, and that is somehow acceptable. It isn't acceptable and it does need to change. As part of that process we need to address what is strong demand for cycle carriage, demand that has survived all attempts to stamp it out.
Bike-rail is, after all, the only practical alternative to the car for many medium to long distance journeys. If I couldn't put my bike on a train then my own personal car mileage would increase by several orders of magnitude.
Whether or not individuals choose to support this petition is up to them. That is, after all, what petitions are all about. Personally I think that this is an important issue - part of the progressive marginalisation that cycling has suffered in my lifetime - and so I have signed up to it. I hope that other people will join me.
Regards
Alasdair DV Massie CEng MIStructE
CTC Right to Ride Representative, North Herts
CTC is Britain?s largest cycling organisation with 70,000 members. Formed in 1878 we have actively campaigned for better, safer roads, locally and nationally since our inception.
We have a large and active section for Stevenage and North Herts.
From: Jonathan
To: Alasdair Massie
Subject: RE: Cycle carriage on trains - petition
I've passed this on to a wide group but so far have had three people respond with a "no chance" as they understood it to be about requiring space in the carriages rather than a proper bike car. Many people dislike a wet bike amongst them in the rush hour, understandably I think. The wording could be better to get more support.
Cheers
Jonathan
Back to top
Snow!!!Haven't we all had fun in the snow. Here is a copy of the letter Alisdair sent to The Comet and the New Civil Engineer. The photos are from Cambridge photo gallery.
