Taking a bike on-board a train should be easier

Wouldn't it be nice if you could get up one weekend, head down to your local train station on your bike, take it onto the train with you, and head off to somewhere like the Lake District for a weekend of cycling? Or maybe, you’re a student and you want to take your bike with you on the train to university so that you have an affordable form of transport to get to different campuses. No drama, no working out how to fit the bike rack to your car, just a quick train ride to get where you need to go…

Now, you can already do this, it's possible, but it can be a bit of a hassle. Which is a shame because bikes and trains seem like a great fit.

Personally, having to go through the process of loading my bike into a car has always felt like a bit of a shame. Because you have a bike that’s made to get you places, but the interesting places are being gate-kept by your ability to drive and whether you can afford to drive. Suddenly, if you can’t do either of these things for whatever reason you can be a bit limited. Unless you're up for 18+ hours of cycling to the Lake District from Worcester, of course. 😉

I also enjoy the environmental benefits of cycling, so loading my bike into a car kind of diminishes that for me. With domestic transport being the number 1 source of greenhouse gases in the UK, I think there’s a compelling case for offering people a more sustainable way of getting to where they need to go with their bike. My one journey may not amount to much, but this adds up as more people choose to drive with their bike because the train is too much hassle.

I feel that there’s definitely room for improvement in how public transport caters for cyclists in the UK and maybe we can learn a thing or two about how other countries and different train operators within the UK manage bikes on trains.

But first, how did we get here?

British Railways used to be publicly-owned and under the control of the British Railways Board (BRB). Beginning in 1994, the Railways Act of 1993 came into effect, which saw the responsibilities of the BRB split up and sold off to various companies. Some companies would own the trains themselves and lease them out to train operators. Others would maintain the tracks themselves. Regulatory responsibility was transferred to a newly created Rail Regulator. You get the picture. The idea behind this move was that it would lead to free market competition and innovation in the railways.

So now instead of British Railways, we have regional companies like Great Western Railway (GWR) and West Midlands Railway (WMR). But unfortunately, they don’t always agree on things. For example, (free) cycle reservations may be compulsory on some services, but not necessary on others. And to make matters more confusing, sometimes restrictions apply at specific times where they don’t allow bikes on trains at all.

On top of that, operators may use different layouts and models of train, so where you store your bike might be different for different legs of your journey. And not all trains can support bikes over a certain size either. You may need to measure your bike and check each of the operator’s websites to make sure it will fit.

Even with all that information, it’s not always easy to tell how your trip might go. Sometimes trains get cancelled for unavoidable reasons, so you may have to get the next train. But if there’s already a limited number of spaces for bikes on the train itself, there’s a chance the next train might have all the bike spaces booked out and occupied. If you’re super unlucky, your only option could be a rail replacement bus, but according to GWR, those don’t allow non-folding bikes onboard.

Okay, but what about our local train operators?

You may be interested in how well our local operators fare when it comes to cycling. We have three operators that pass through Worcester: Great Western Railways (GWR), West Midlands Railways (WMR), and CrossCountry.

Great Western Railways

On GWR, it is intended for bikes to be stored upright in one of these cramped cupboards within the vestibule sections of the train. There's a few issues with this approach.

The bike storage cupboard on a GWR train (source: Sam Underwood, Bike Worcester)

Firstly, the sign on the door informs passengers that they can store their suitcases here. That is sometimes helpful when you are on a busy service and all of the other racks are full. But, having it be shared storage and right next to the door risks people leaving their bags there when there is a bike booked into that cupboard at the next stop. They do have a digital sign above the door which shows when it is booked, but not all people will check that after a long day or if they’re a bit flustered from the hustle and bustle of a train station. It’s not just a problem with bags though, other bikes may be parked in the cupboard without a reservation.

The design also requires you to lift your bike onto the hook within this cramped space in order to use the cupboard properly. This can be quite difficult for some people depending on their strength and the weight of their bike. On average, a standard Bosch eBike can be between 20 and 25 kilograms and depending on your height, you might have to lift that above shoulder height. You could take the battery out but that will only reduce the weight by three or four kilograms. With limited room to manoeuvre, this can be difficult to do. Some have questioned whether this is potentially discriminatory because some people rely on bikes as a mobility aid. Come to think of it, having bikes overflowing the bike storage like this probably isn’t ideal for visually impaired passengers either but people often have no other choice when the train sets off again.

There is also a restriction on the size of the bike that can fit in the cupboard. As of writing, GWR’s “Cycling by train” leaflet advises that they “can only guarantee your bike will fit if it has a tyre width of 7 cm or less and a rim diameter of 50 cm or less”. Unfortunately, no tandems are allowed.

There is also the issue of having to leave your bike out-of-view to sit down in the carriage. Unfortunately, the poster on the wall says you should not lock your bike to the train itself. So your best bet is probably to lock the wheel in place. As with most of this stuff, whether or not these things actually get enforced is another thing so you might still be okay. I have also seen bikes locked to the separator arm.

West Midlands Railways

Two bikes in the bike space on a WMR train (source: Sam Underwood, Bike Worcester)

West Midlands Railways trains seem better equipped for bikes. Doors open directly into carriages with plenty of space to manoeuvre a bike. There’s no need to hang up your bike. They may not be thrilled if you block the doors, but you could potentially just wait here if your next stop isn’t too far away or there’s no space left in the designated bike areas. In fact, the website even says the Senior Conductor may allow more bikes onboard if the train is quiet.

CrossCountry

CrossCountry operates a few routes from Worcestershire Parkway.

Tim Jennings wrote a great blogpost which goes into his experience of the CrossCountry route he uses to get to Cheltenham and how he had to get a foldable bike when the route was temporarily suspended for maintenance. I’ll include an excerpt from that:

“I had been travelling on this train with my bike for the past 12 months and found it excellent thanks to a spacious bike area, low ticket price and perfect timetable for my schedule. I travel with a full sized regular bike (i.e. not a folding one) plus 2 loaded panniers with my laptop, book and change of clothes and even with such a setup my bike rolls straight into the designated area. There’s more than enough room for many bikes and another can snuggly fit in the gap on the unused door side.Combining the train with cycling was both faster and cheaper than driving from Worcester to Cheltenham and provided much needed fresh air and exercise plus a little boost for the environment. A rare Win-Win-Win in my books.”

Comparison

There’s a great deal of variation in the cycle policies of various operators across the UK, but there are some exceptions where operators have gone above and beyond to offer better services for cyclists.

One Bike Worcester member noted that they had a great experience on a Greater Anglia train. It had level boarding, six bike spaces (without the need to hang your bike up), clearly marked carriages, signage and announcements to tell you where the bike carriage would be on the platform. The audio announcements on the train also told you which side the platform was on before arriving.

In the rest of Europe, there is a mix of cycling policies from country to country. Some even have trains with dedicated carriages for bikes. Some require you to hang up your bike, but may also be more spacious which makes it easier to manoeuvre. However, unlike train operators in the UK, some of the operators in Europe charge a luggage fee for bikes. I know multiple people, myself included, who have said they would be happy to pay a bit more to take their bike onboard a train in the UK if the provision was better. Though, I do wonder how many people would be happy to do that given the cost of train tickets in the UK as it is.

Is it even the train operators fault?

Well, this is where it gets complicated. There have been programmes like the Intercity Express Programme (IEP) where the Department for Transport (DfT) wrote a specification for and procured new Hitachi Class 800 trains. These are the newer fleet of trains that Great Western Railways currently uses. These new trains feature increased seating space which is great for profits and for getting more people to where they need to go quicker. But this seems to have left very little room for bikes. These new trains also seem to be the standard going forward as some other operators have begun adopting them as they retire their old fleet.

This programme attracted some criticism from politicians and from within the railway industry. Then Chief Executive of the Rail Delivery Group (previously known as The Association of Train Operating Companies), Michael Roberts said: "The best way to get value for money would be to give train companies a greater role in buying their own rolling stock".

To learn more about possible solutions, I submitted a Freedom of Information Act request to the Department of Transport to ask how much influence operators have in how many cycle spaces they have on-board their trains. They clarified that train operators “can propose changes to the interior space allocation of trains between seating, other facilities and cycle spaces. However, these will need to be agreed with the Department.”

So in short, it seems like there’s a mixed bag of blame. But the Department of Transport seems to have set the precedent by allowing the current level of cycle storage in the first place.

Potential workarounds for cyclists

Despite the poor design of some cycle spaces on trains, many people still travel with their bikes so you might not run into any issues. However, if you’re looking to avoid these potential problems altogether, you have some options. Unfortunately, all 3 come at a cost.

If you can use one, a folding bike is probably your best bet if you want to take a bike on the train with you. Unfortunately, not all foldables are suitable for taller riders like myself and they won’t offer the best ride possible on harsh terrain. Though, when folded, you can take them on almost all trains. They can fit on the luggage shelves or right alongside you if you are on a less crowded service.

A Brompton folding bike on-board a GWR train (source: Tim, Bike Worcester)

There may also be a bike hire scheme (e.g., Santander bikes) or a bike hire shop where you’re going. That’s definitely an option, though for many cyclists, you don’t get the same satisfaction when you’re not riding your own bike. Also, if you’re on the taller or shorter side, the bike hire scheme bikes don’t always fit well and they usually don’t have much suspension for off-road cycling. If you have to do this regularly, the cost might add up and you may run into availability issues occasionally.

Disassembling your bike and sending it using a bike sending service might also be an option, but you will have to book it ahead of time and be confident in disassembling and reassembling your bike to fit it in a bike box.

Now what?

So, at this point, the new Labour government has committed to renationalising the train operators one-by-one as contracts expire. GWR will see its current contract expire in 22 June 2025, WMR's contract ended in 15 September 2024, and CrossCountry’s contract will end on 17 October 2027. Though, the party has ruled out nationalising the rolling stock companies.

It seems at this point, there are two main approaches to solving this issue on Intercity Express Programme trains. They could try to “retrofit” extra space for bikes somehow. Both the technical specification for the train and the response I received to my FoI request above seem to suggest that this would be possible by customising the interior layout and luggage capacity ratio.

Or, they could look to updating the design spec for future trains with better cycling provision. Though, it may be a while before we see these new trains on the Great Western Mainline as the first IEP train to be used on the Great Western Mainline entered service in 2017 and it seems the Government's plans were to maintain this fleet for 27.5 years.

Either way, we won't see these changes unless we push for them. Thankfully, as of writing, the Government has launched a consultation to support the development of their new Transport Strategy for England. Anyone can respond with feedback regarding the current state of our transport system or ideas on how to improve it. This would include feedback regarding barriers to cycling and taking your bike onto a train.

If you’re interested in responding to the consultation, Cycling UK have produced a handy guide with ideas on what you might want to include in your response. The deadline for submissions is on the 30th January and the online form takes around 10-15 minutes to complete. You can fill it out here.

As always, Bike Worcester is happy to work with anyone who can help improve cycling provision on trains or anywhere else. If you’re interested in discussing this further with us, get in touch.