Cycling UK Forum

Cowsham wrote: ↑15 Jul 2022, 4:16pm The bus had more convenient times than the train by some margin but what makes the train more comfortable?

Glad it went well, I'm certainly not dissing the coach, as I said I'm a fairly frequent user.
Comfort is subjective of course. IMO - More legroom, the ability to get up and walk about, quieter (Sometimes), less cramped and smelly toilets (Usually), smoother (particularly the stop start of a coach in each urban drop-off/collection point). Seats are more limited on a coach, if there's something you don't like about where you're sitting on a train there's usually an option to sit somewhere else. Even if someone considered the comfort to be equal, they're still going to be sat on the coach about twice as long as on the train. My experience is also that most of the time trains run closer to the timetable. I was five hours late into Paris on one coach, roadworks out of London, missed planned ferry, next one full, driver ran out of hours...

Not only that but I booked the journey myself and couldn't see any mention of it being some sort of discounted price.

Maybe I was wrong to describe it as discounted, maybe I should have said you'd picked a price from the lower end of their variable pricing. I've just had a quick glance and prices seem to vary between £7 and £18, though the number of calling points and journey time are also pretty varied, far more so than you'd expect with a train. I'm now a little jealous, Flixbus don't serve Derby, National Express do, but unless I get the 3am coach it's rarely under £10.

Cowsham wrote: ↑15 Jul 2022, 4:16pm The bus had more convenient times than the train by some margin but what makes the train more comfortable? [...]
Had a little trouble with the seating plan since we also booked the seats cos of my wife's disability. The seating plan says " Top Deck " when it's a single deck bus which caused a bit of confusion.

The train is more comfortable because more space to walk around, fewer steps on/off, sometimes a buffet or shop is available and you're not on it as long because it's faster.

Wise to pick top deck on a single decker. The bottom deck has no windows. Or seats.

PH wrote: ↑12 Jul 2022, 4:09pmI wish coach operators would standardise the luggage restrictions

That's what governments are for, a condition of an operator's licence should be "You will carry bikes, and on these terms".

PH wrote: ↑15 Jul 2022, 10:53am

Cowsham wrote: ↑15 Jul 2022, 9:59am Sorry for slight thread drift -- My wife wanted to travel on the train from Leeds to Birmingham but the price was about £70 ! One way ! for just a foot passenger!
She went by Flixbus ( same schedule ) and paid £6 !
How and why the vast price difference ??

I don't think £70 is an unreasonable amount to pay for a 200 mile journey, particularly if what's being offered is comfortable, quick and convenient. £6 is an absolute bargain, but not everyone will value the saving over the comfort, time and convenience.

The bus had more convenient times than the train by some margin but what makes the train more comfortable? In the end my wife paid for two seats so she could have a bit of space as she's still a bit covid averse and somewhere to park her case. So worked out at about £12.

Not only that but I booked the journey myself and couldn't see any mention of it being some sort of discounted price. We did question how and wondered if all was right with the price and that it included the complete journey so I studied it for a while to figure out if it was what it said it was.
Had a little trouble with the seating plan since we also booked the seats cos of my wife's disability. The seating plan says " Top Deck " when it's a single deck bus which caused a bit of confusion.

All went very well in the end and she enjoyed the journey ( maybe cos she didn't have me driving trying to figure out which lane of the motorway I should be in )

Cowsham wrote: ↑15 Jul 2022, 9:59am Sorry for slight thread drift -- My wife wanted to travel on the train from Leeds to Birmingham but the price was about £70 ! One way ! for just a foot passenger!
She went by Flixbus ( same schedule ) and paid £6 !
How and why the vast price difference ??

The coach is usually a lot cheaper, but we ought to compare like with like, looks like you're comparing a discounted coach fare with a standard rail fare. When I travel Derby to London, that comparison £68 V's £29, though I've used the train for £8 and the coach for £5.
I use both, depending on what I'm doing, who I'm with, the time I have and whether I'm traveling with a bike. I like a bargain as much as anybody, but I also think we've come to expect travel to be cheap. I don't think £70 is an unreasonable amount to pay for a 200 mile journey, particularly if what's being offered is comfortable, quick and convenient. £6 is an absolute bargain, but not everyone will value the saving over the comfort, time and convenience.
The biggest UK bargains I've found are from Megabus, who despite the name often re-sell train tickets. About five years ago I traveled back from Penzance to Derby, three changes, took all day, train>coach>coach>train, but it was only £18!

I agree. It is expensive.

I have just checked Trainline for your route and can see it's £68

However, I use a booking site by a traveller who brings down the price by offering split tickets:

https://andybtravels.trainsplit.com/tim ... fares.aspx

When plumbing in Leeds to Birmingham it brought the fare down to £43.

I have a railcard, and when applied it brought it down further to £29 (one third off).

Obviously still more expensive than £6, but cheaper than the original £68.

Sorry for slight thread drift -- My wife wanted to travel on the train from Leeds to Birmingham but the price was about £70 ! One way ! for just a foot passenger!

She went by Flixbus ( same schedule ) and paid £6 !

How and why the vast price difference ??

Have train journeys in the uk out priced themselves?

Is that why rail is struggling to survive ?

Why do they want to build HS2 if that's the case?

Living near Cambridge, I have just seen the news about FlixBus direct services from Cambridge to Paris

Unfortunately, when searching on their website there do not seem to be any bike slots available for any of the direct routes - which only appears to be the overnight service, not the transfer to London. Would be nice to have a convenient way of getting as far as Paris with a bike that is so close.

I wouldn't take a best carbon bike on a coach but have taken my carbon audax on the Thurso to Inverness coach.
It was simply taped with duct tape, wheels slightly outboard of the frame and put in a acquired bin bag, I had a bungy cord (essential as duct tape and lube on tour!) which I strapped the seat post to the triangulation truss in the hold.

A roll of bubble wrap would do a much better job. But getting some late Saturday early Sunday in the Highlands wasn't going to happen!

I did this route in reverse and apart from the PIA around Victoria Bus Station it was great. Very easy to book using the app. I was on foot so cannot comment re transporting bikes but the prospect of loading my bike in Manchester and riding off through Paris sounds a fabulous prospect and so much easier than other transport options.


https://help.flixbus.com/s/article/PSSP ... uage=en_IE

Question is, are there sufficient passengers in the north west to make this viable? History would suggest not. There used to be services for the services primarily, from the UK to Germany (Transline) with start points across the country, when UK forces withdrew from the likes of Bielefeld, the network shrank and eventually became part of Eurolines, all the regional starts were cancelled, on an operational level its simpler to get all the passengers to one point and run fewer vehicles across the Channel.

The chances of Flix in the UK falling in line with the rest of the network re bikes is currently pretty slim. Go to Germany for example, bikes are taken on most services, the vehicles are all pretty new and the drivers will mostly be in uniform. Up to now in the UK, many operators are using below par vehicles, whilst getting a bike on is theoretically possible you wouldn't want to bet on it and, IME, the drivers fall well below what you might hope in terms of attitude and appearance. A lot of this is lack of policing by the parent company, All Flix (and most of Nat X services for that matter) are operated by sub-contractors who commit to supplying vehicles/crew of a certain standard for services on a particular route, in return they get a guaranteed journey fee and a % of ticket value.

I have travelled with a bike on Flix UK - but i cheated, it was my Airnimal in a full bag, just paid for second piece of luggage. In the past i've used a similar method to travel by Megabus, Nat X and Eurolines in the UK and across to various destinations in Germany pre Flix. Being a non driver, i've travelled on a lot of coaches over the years, if you can afford the time it can be a great way to travel even if i'm not entirely convinced of the 'green' credentials.

The current service from London Victoria doesn't carry complete bikes, but if you can bag or box it within the special luggage requirement (I think it's H+L+W max 240 cm, the weight limit is more than you'll need) you can put it in the luggage hold for a fee (About £5 last time I did so).
I wish coach operators would standardise the luggage restrictions, last time I made a long coach journey I used three and it wouldn't have been possible to comply with them all. It caused some worry, the reality was none of the drivers or staff seemed in the least bothered.
Flixbus moving out of central London ought to speed up journey time, though it's a pain if you have a connection from elsewhere.

I've considered Flixbus myself in the past with no luck.
I wonder if they franchise to local operators and we are experiencing the general reluctance of British transport providers to have anything to do with bicycles.
I think there is a possibility from Calais - haven't tried it.

I have just checked a few random dates in July and August for Manchester to Paris and there were no bike spaces available, oh well....

Don't know if this is new news, but I got it on my newsfeed.

I've seen it said on this forum that Flixbus take bikes, but I've no idea. If they do, could be a useful and cheap route.

https://www-mylondon-news.cdn.ampprojec ... s-24454154