make your cycle journey easier - Plusbike

[mercalia]

Got this ref to day in an email from the rail people re taking bikes on trains

"PlusBike is a one-stop shop for information about your combined cycle and rail journey.
It provides free and easy-to-access information to help you plan your journey and make it easier."

http://www.nationalrail.co.uk/stations_destinations/118390.aspx

any one used it or heard of it before?

[RickH]

I think it is just a branding by National Rail to put all the cycle option in one place. The cycle stuff has been available on the mobile app for a while but I hadn't come across the PlusBike branding before.

They are already involved with Plusbus that let's you get bus discounts with various bus companies, including using a railcard, when buying bus tickets with your train ticket.

Rick.

[ChrisF]

It may provide information but it doesn't allow you to book a bike reservation with your ticket, so pretty useless IMO.

[mjr]

Duplicates viewtopic.php?f=7&t=105937 among many others?

[bogmyrtle]

Duplicates viewtopic.php?f=7&t=105937 among many others?

Link doesn't go anywhere.

[mjr]

Duplicates viewtopic.php?f=7&t=105937 among many others?

Link doesn't go anywhere.

Methinks things have been merged.

[Antbrewer]

The old chestnut. Arranging bike on trains.

Like others I found 'Plusbike' useless.
I wanted to take my bike from Carlisle to Birmingham. There is all you need to know on the website page but trying to find where you actually connect with the site in reserving a bike space when you book a ticket for yourself is a nightmare. I had to ring up and ended up in Bombay to arrange a reservation.
This is complete madness. Why can this not be sorted. Rocket science is easier than this.
Anthony

[mercalia]

The old chestnut. Arranging bike on trains.

Like others I found 'Plusbike' useless.
I wanted to take my bike from Carlisle to Birmingham. There is all you need to know on the website page but trying to find where you actually connect with the site in reserving a bike space when you book a ticket for yourself is a nightmare. I had to ring up and ended up in Bombay to arrange a reservation.
This is complete madness. Why can this not be sorted. Rocket science is easier than this.
Anthony

I think we need to refer it as Minusbike?

[crazydave789]

on my crosscountry trips last year I had to make my reservations via facebook messenger

fortunately it was quick and efficient on all occasions.

[Cunobelin]

It may provide information but it doesn't allow you to book a bike reservation with your ticket, so pretty useless IMO.

There was (and is) a symbiotic link between Brompton and National Rail that aims to get bikes off trains.

Their plan is that you cycle to the station, park, then hire a bike at the far end.... hence the two options on the site

Note that the only hire bikes available are Bromptons, and unless it has changed I can buy a Brompton every year for the costs of hiring.

Brompton benefits, National Rail benefits, and cyclists as a whole lose out

This is just another small step in teh plans to remove bikes from trains.

[Ron]

The hire bikes at my station looked like rigid bikes, not Bromptons, but as stated the idea seems to be to have hire bikes available at stations rather than encourage bikes on trains, which is of course useless for touring cyclists.

[mercalia]

The hire bikes at my station looked like rigid bikes, not Bromptons, but as stated the idea seems to be to have hire bikes available at stations rather than encourage bikes on trains, which is of course useless for touring cyclists.

or any one who count their £s

[jgurney]

the idea seems to be to have hire bikes available at stations

But mainly at those stations with good bus services anyway, not the rural ones where bikes are most useful for onward travel.

[Cunobelin]

The hire bikes at my station looked like rigid bikes, not Bromptons, but as stated the idea seems to be to have hire bikes available at stations rather than encourage bikes on trains, which is of course useless for touring cyclists.

May differ geographically, SWT were so thick with Brompton that at one time their conditions stated that the folded cycle had to fold small enough to fit into the luggage rack

This made anything larger than the Brompton outside their definition of a folding bike

All the hire bikes here are Bromptons that sit in BikeDocks

[Cunobelin]

Talking locally, at the moment for an average commuter, the cost is about £825 per year

Compare that with £855 for a brand new single speed Brompton, £400 for a mid-point Dahon, or £200 for a Halfords / Decathlon economy folder (also usable at weekends and holidays) and it becomes even more ludicrous as a realistic travelling option