SPAMMER : Manchester to Scarborough trains with a bike

[gvnbm2018]

I've not taken a bike in the train for about 25 years, but I might need to make a return trip from Manchester to Scarborough ln a few weeks.

Can anyone tell me if it is possible and give me some websites to book it all through?

All help gratefully receives as I am a novice in this area.

It was all free guards vans when I last did it.

[Tiberius]

It is possible to do Manchester to Scarborough, by train ,with a bike using

https://www.tpexpress.co.uk/?ds_rl=1206 ... S7EALw_wcB

Travelling from Manchester Victoria (right next to Manchester Arena...very central) directly through to Scartborough.

The absolute pain with Transpennine Express is that you have to book a bike space at least 24 hours in advance which screws up doing anything spontaneous. On the other hand, once you've booked it you are guaranteed the space. Trains can be busy Manchester to York but then they thin out as they trundle through to Scarborough.

HTH....

[bromptonrail]

And it is not unknown for late running TPEXPRESS services to terminate short at York or Malton , leaving passengers going east to catch next service, or those travelling from Scarborough to await the next train. Either way a delay of upto an hour is likely. “Failing Grayling” says there will be more York -Scarborough trains ..... next year!

[Chat Noir]

I commuted from York to Scarborough for many years until 2014. In my latter years the service was much more reliable. All trains have spaces for bikes, although can be awkward if more than 2 but I never saw people barred from getting bikes on even when more than 2. Never experienced a train terminating at Malton nor, for that matter, at York but that doesn’t mean it can’t happen. I haven’t often taken a bike on this line (running east or west from York) but when I did always simply turned up and got on. As Tiberius said, these trains are much busier between York and Manchester (I sometimes went to Leeds) but, if you can avoid rush hour times don’t think you’ll have a problem. It is an attractive rail journey, my favourite bit being running alongside the River Derwent before arriving in Malton.

[thirdcrank]

The policy for compulsory cycle reservations was introduced earlier this year amid some controversy. There doesn't seem to be any waggle room

Customers without a cycle reservation will be directed to store their bicycle at the station before boarding the train. Folding bikes don’t need a reservation, and can be stored in the luggage racks or between the seats.

https://www.tpexpress.co.uk/travelling- ... servations

[bromptonrail]

13.46 Scarborough to Liverpool cancelled today. Reservations are essential now before taking bikes on TPEXPRESS as cyclists without have been refused.

[geocycle]

Even with a reservation you can be refused. I had to negotiate very firmly with a guard on tpexpress heading into Manchester as the bike space was filled with luggage. I’d try and avoid peak commuter times if possible.

[pal]

As others have said, the main issue with Transpennine at the moment is that the service is far from reliable (but the Scarborough line isn't too bad, I think; it's services which run through to the airport which seem to be especially flakey). If you have the choice of getting on at Manchester Picc. or Victoria, then I think Victoria is the better option (there's more space on the platform; also, one of TP's current endearing habits is to cancel trains from Picc, and tell passengers to get themselves over to Victoria with 10 minute's notice...).

It's possible to make bike reservations online, via the Transpennine website or app (but you have to do it at the same time as buying the ticket); alternatively, you can do it on the phone or at a station -- but it always has to be 24 hrs in advance, which is vexing, esp. given the unreliability of the service. (However, in my experience since the new compulsory-reservation regime came in, guards have always been willing to exercise common sense: if you had a reservation for a train which was cancelled, they'll let you get on the next one...)

The bike space is usually in carriage A (which will be at the far end of the train from the carriage with First Class in it); it's marked with a bicycle symbol (which isn't always v. easy to spot; but it's the door closer to the middle of the train). In theory, you keep your bike in place with a velcro strap; in practice, the velcro isn't strong enough to cope with the Bouncy Tracks, so it's best to tie a knot in it!

[philsknees]

pal is correct to recommend travelling from M/cr Victoria which saves a change of train somewhere along the route. I've done a very brief check of trains from Piccadilly & all the ones I've seen seem to involve at least one change somewhere in Yorkshire - never welcome when accompanying a bike.
Plus, many Transpennine trains out of Manchester have visited the Airport first (including those bound for Scottish destinations) & by the time they reach Piccadilly the "cycle storage area" is already full of luggage, leaving you to battle the crowds to board only to find your "reserved" cycle space is full of piled-up luggage. I live 'twixt the Airport & Piccadilly stations & find it's worth the small extra cost to travel back to the Airport so I can start my journey at the terminus, with a chance of grabbing the cycle space before the luggage is piled up & its owners disappear to their seats. (And from past experience ALWAYS position your bike with the gears on the far side or you'll likely have a bent derailleur).
I suppose we'd be banging our heads against a brick wall to suggest that being refused to board with a cycle is unacceptable if we've been forced to reserve a bike space in advance? The rail company is aware that we've purchased travel tickets conditional on the cycle space being available & their guard should ensure that it's available for our use? They can put reserved tickets on seats, so why not place a prominent notice saying "This area reserved for a cycle between X & Y stations. Luggage left in this area may be offloaded". Rant over...... !:evil:

[Graham]

SPAMMER =================================================================================

Here is the original topic :

viewtopic.php?f=1&t=107501

SPAMMER =================================================================================

[thirdcrank]

Well-spotted by somebody. I suppose a duplicate of an earlier successful thread is a way to avoid coming to notice unless somebody remembers the originals or does some word searches on all new members' early posts. In this case, the original OP (Blackbike) hasn't been active for some time which probably made early detection even less likely.

[Cyril Haearn]

What was the stammer trying to do?

[Graham]

. . . . adding a commercial ( South-east asian ) link into the User signature, AFTER having had a first credible post approved.

We have seen this before, but as it requires more effort than simple spam-posting, it is a rare occurrence.

[thirdcrank]

I'm a member of another forum which has had a lot of spam in Cyrillic script. After there was a similar tactic to the above using a photograph which had only recently been posted, somebody suggested a blanket ban on posts in Cyrillic script. Part of the reply from a mod was:-

unfortunately we can't be as broad brushed as that. I do have the ability to ban specific IP addresses and when cleaning up the Spam I am sorely tempted to do so. However on checking some of the recent spam it turns out the adrress is an Internet Project in Bangalore. I wouldn't want to prevent ex-pats, visitors or genuinely interested residents living in Bangalore from posting by banning what may be their Internet Service Provider.

I have looked up the IP address the new poster registered from and it turns out to belong to Virgin Media which suggests UK based although it is possible to use redirects to mask the original. There is no signature , yet, to include a hypelink and the two posts so far seem to be genuine with no spam content. So despite a slightly suspicious/unusual username I am unable/unwilling to act unless there is evidence of misuse of the site. This may be the post of someone from eastern/south eastern europe who just happens to be residing in Leeds and showing interest in their location.

Anybody googling the username is straight into a dodgy Russian site.

It's no wonder that these people feel able to try it on like this. Innocent until proven guilty.

[JohnW]

Those of us who live in areas where 'First' is the almost monopoly 'bus service provider won't be surprised at TPE's behaviour.

Why not cycle all the way? - or catch a 'Northern' train from Manch to York and cycle the rest of the (fairly Hilly) way? - or to Selby (you'd have to change, probably Leeds), ride to Driffield and then Northern up to Scarborough? - or buy a Brompton or similar? - or go somewhere else? - or find the TPE MD's office and go and kick his chair? Does anyone believe that anyone will listen? It's amazing how so many authorities and powers seem intent on making life as difficult as they can for us.