Hello
I just wondered if anyone had experience of taking a bike bag (or even just a very large suitcase) on the Greater Anglia train from Norwich to London. I realise I will probably need to stand with it in the vestibule (as it's not going to fit in the luggage racks) but I wasn't sure whether this would be frowned upon or if the guard may want me to move. I don't imagine that a bike bag can be put it in the guard's van (i.e. if I make a cycle reservation but turn up with the bag and not a whole bike). I will avoid peak times.
I have tried asking Greater Anglia and their response was vague at best.
Thank you
Bike Bag on Greater Anglia
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steady eddy
- Posts: 676
- Joined: 1 May 2008, 11:02am
- Location: Norfolk
Re: Bike Bag on Greater Anglia
What's the problem with a bike reservation? - they are hardly overwhelmed with bikes.
Re: Bike Bag on Greater Anglia
Thanks steady eddy. I just thought that the bike bag may be considered more as luggage rather than a cycle.
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The utility cyclist
- Posts: 3607
- Joined: 22 Aug 2016, 12:28pm
- Location: The first garden city
Re: Bike Bag on Greater Anglia
IME it would be far less hassle as luggage than as a whole bike, that is unless you actually need to cycle straight off the train and carrying the bike bag is going to cause problems.
Re: Bike Bag on Greater Anglia
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~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Brucey~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Brucey~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Re: Bike Bag on Greater Anglia
Odie54321 wrote: anyone had experience of taking a bike bag (or even just a very large suitcase)
Will there be a bike inside this bag?
Is it capable of folding up when empty or is it actually a rigid box, like a gigantic suitcase?
If it is a foldable bag and no bike, won't it just fold into a bundle that you carry?
If a foldable bag and a bike, would taking the bike out of the bag, loading it in the train's bike rack, and folding up the bag as above work?
If it is a rigid box, they might refuse to carry it as it is probably outside the max. dimensions set in the conditions of carriage. See page 22 in this: http://www.nationalrail.co.uk/static/do ... /NRCOC.pdf
If it is over 30 x 70 x 90 cm (the limit beyond which train companies can refuse luggage) then check with them beforehand rather than risk being refused boarding on the day.
Re: Bike Bag on Greater Anglia
my scheme for carrying a bike on a train without booking/being allowed (which I need to do only very occasionally) is to have a bike that folds to about the size of a 'normal piece of luggage' (BTW I didn't realise that this was specified as 30 x 70 x 90 max before they can refuse carriage) and then to whack it into a bin liner or something.
Most 'normal bikes' won't break down to the required size ( the wheelbase of most bikes with 26-27" wheels is longer than 90cm and can't be fitted into the diagonal without the 70cm dimension being violated). Presumably in Japan they have similar restrictions (and perhaps no bicycle spaces at all on some trains) hence the 'rinko' approach.
In much of Europe the (un-?)written rule is that anything that will fit onto a luggage rack is fair game. For example I have carried knocked down 'normal' bikes (over 1m length even with the wheels out) on Italian trains, and it was OK provided they went onto (and stayed on for which bungies were required) luggage racks. I would imagine a similar policy would apply on most trains but this still leaves room for a guard in a mood (eg on a busy train) to refuse you carriage.
My 'train bike' does fold down to about the 30 x 70 x90 size which means it is nowhere near as small as a proper folding bike but it can have 26" wheels and not ride like a folding bike does; it is more for riding that carrying on trains if you like. AFAICT there are only a few folding bikes that meet all the restrictions of the various train companies in the UK; the Brompton is one such. GA do not appear to have a specified minimum for the size of a folding bike but they do specify that it should be stowed behind the seats or somesuch, so if your (partially) folded bike doesn't fit in that space then they might refuse carriage or treat it as a non-folding bike. Non-folding bikes are not allowed on bus replacement services, BTW.
So if your bike bag fits into the available luggage space (despite being 'oversize') then you should be OK, but nothing is guaranteed; I have heard of guards kicking commuters off busy trains even though they had folding bikes that were within the size guidelines for folding bikes; in some cases it appears they think they can do what they feel like...
cheers
Most 'normal bikes' won't break down to the required size ( the wheelbase of most bikes with 26-27" wheels is longer than 90cm and can't be fitted into the diagonal without the 70cm dimension being violated). Presumably in Japan they have similar restrictions (and perhaps no bicycle spaces at all on some trains) hence the 'rinko' approach.
In much of Europe the (un-?)written rule is that anything that will fit onto a luggage rack is fair game. For example I have carried knocked down 'normal' bikes (over 1m length even with the wheels out) on Italian trains, and it was OK provided they went onto (and stayed on for which bungies were required) luggage racks. I would imagine a similar policy would apply on most trains but this still leaves room for a guard in a mood (eg on a busy train) to refuse you carriage.
My 'train bike' does fold down to about the 30 x 70 x90 size which means it is nowhere near as small as a proper folding bike but it can have 26" wheels and not ride like a folding bike does; it is more for riding that carrying on trains if you like. AFAICT there are only a few folding bikes that meet all the restrictions of the various train companies in the UK; the Brompton is one such. GA do not appear to have a specified minimum for the size of a folding bike but they do specify that it should be stowed behind the seats or somesuch, so if your (partially) folded bike doesn't fit in that space then they might refuse carriage or treat it as a non-folding bike. Non-folding bikes are not allowed on bus replacement services, BTW.
So if your bike bag fits into the available luggage space (despite being 'oversize') then you should be OK, but nothing is guaranteed; I have heard of guards kicking commuters off busy trains even though they had folding bikes that were within the size guidelines for folding bikes; in some cases it appears they think they can do what they feel like...
cheers
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~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Brucey~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Brucey~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Re: Bike Bag on Greater Anglia
Brucey wrote:Non-folding bikes are not allowed on bus replacement services, BTW.
I think it's technically at the bus driver's discretion... which in practice means not allowed, but I have heard of it being allowed, especially around the more cycling-friendly cities.
MJR, mostly pedalling 3-speed roadsters. KL+West Norfolk BUG incl social easy rides http://www.klwnbug.co.uk
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All the above is CC-By-SA and no other implied copyright license to Cycle magazine.
Re: Bike Bag on Greater Anglia
mjr wrote:Brucey wrote:Non-folding bikes are not allowed on bus replacement services, BTW.
I think it's technically at the bus driver's discretion... which in practice means not allowed, but I have heard of it being allowed, especially around the more cycling-friendly cities.
That's what I've always been told, though I know people who have been turned away from replacement bus services, so I have generally not risked it.
“In some ways, it is easier to be a dissident, for then one is without responsibility.”
― Nelson Mandela, Long Walk to Freedom
― Nelson Mandela, Long Walk to Freedom
Re: Bike Bag on Greater Anglia
I think you can divide bus replacement services in two - planned & unplanned.
On planned ones (such as our local services where there in ongoing electrification work at weekends) you are unlikely to get a bike on.
On unplanned disruptions my experience is they don't give any hassles.
Last time for me was travelling home from Glasgow when an engineering train had derailed the day before. They put on buses from Carlisle to Preston. The only slight extra delay was that they put me & my bike on first on a "fresh" coach rather than the one they were filling up. It probably delayed me by an extra 10 minutes but was no real hassle (& I got my fare refunded because of the delayed journey).
On planned ones (such as our local services where there in ongoing electrification work at weekends) you are unlikely to get a bike on.
On unplanned disruptions my experience is they don't give any hassles.
Last time for me was travelling home from Glasgow when an engineering train had derailed the day before. They put on buses from Carlisle to Preston. The only slight extra delay was that they put me & my bike on first on a "fresh" coach rather than the one they were filling up. It probably delayed me by an extra 10 minutes but was no real hassle (& I got my fare refunded because of the delayed journey).
Former member of the Cult of the Polystyrene Head Carbuncle.
Re: Bike Bag on Greater Anglia
RickH wrote:I think you can divide bus replacement services in two - planned & unplanned.
On planned ones (such as our local services where there in ongoing electrification work at weekends) you are unlikely to get a bike on.
On unplanned disruptions my experience is they don't give any hassles.
That has been my experience too. When a train from Carmarthen to Haverfordwest was suddenly replaced by a bus due to a level crossing accident, bikes were carried. On another occasion when a series of delays (the main one due to arson at a station) meant I arrived in Darlington with my bike four hours late and an hour after the last connecting Saltburn train had left, the station staff arranged an estate-car taxi to carry the bike and I the rest of the way.