thirdcrank wrote:As I've often quoted my dear old dad, "What would happen if everybody did it?" ie Turned up at the station riding a bike and wanted to travel onward by train with their bike.
The good thing is they don't (the bad thing being that so few people are cyclists). As
Ibomaark2 described above, it's possible to travel all over the UK on trains and rarely encounter a problem with taking your bike aboard. Two bikes spaces is the norm, four a luxury but neither used that much. Once I had an eight train journey from Cornwall to Kent but no problem. Even at rush hour, the problem is the sheer number of commuters, not the proportion of them with bikes.
The train that I was trying to get on had four bike spaces, unusual for a small train, but all available. The problem was the number of bikeless passengers, the amount of luggage and the fact that it was a two-car train on the main line. Bikes certainly weren't the issue.
But if you want everyone to get on the train quickly, it's handy if there's an "out-group" that you can select from to take the damage. And, right on cue, two cyclists turned up. Yes, we had tickets, yes, there were spaces, yes, our journeys were important. And no, our bikes weren't excessively large and indeed had space available for them, double the amount needed in fact. Our needs and indeed our rights were the same as everyone else's. But we were picked out to remain standing on the platform, itself a very rare occurrence in the UK if you have the correct ticket.
The reason I posted this is because it didn't feel like "OK, it's full, we'll wait for the next one" (like bus passengers do). And in fact no-one did have to wait for the next one, except us. So that's why it went from a case of the usual GWR inadequacies to a spine-chilling sense that we were different from the other passengers. Bikes have been identified as the cause and solution of the problem of overcrowding when in fact they are neither. But it satisfies those who believe that by scapegoating one group and distributing their rights amongst the others you are somehow alleviating the problem (GWR must love their passengers). That is why for me it is a moral issue (as well as one of utter shortsightedness, lazy thinking and poor problem solving) and why I've posted about it.
This incident felt as though, writ large, it had appalling parallels with other greater social issues (especially the circumstances of the railway station and guards, being called out and such like) but I have to be careful not to exaggerate my case. Nevertheless, in a microcosm, the right ingredients were all there. That's why although I will get over it, in a way GWR will not as it reflects the way they deal with problems that is inherent to their company culture. I feel sorry too for the passengers whose lives revolve around a belief in a finite cake that if shared too generously leaves them short.
My last word at this point is to say that I'm very grateful for the comments so far but am very happy to continue the discussion.
