Cycle resrevations on trains - a positive experience

[awparker]

Just before Easter my daughter asked me to arrange for her and her mountain bike to travel by train as follows for a Scottish holiday in late May

Leg 1 Milton Keynes to Adrossan Harbour
(Stay with the family on Arran)
Leg 2 Adrossan Harbour to Inverness
(Separately arranged bike packing trip Cape Wrath to Inverness)
Leg 3 Inverness to Milton Keynes

She seems to think that being retired I would have more time to deal with the matter (correct) and that I might forget to claim the costs back from her (incorrect).

Having read dire warnings on this forum regarding the difficulties in booking cycles on some trains I approached the task with some trepidation but so far it seems to have worked well. What has been noticeable is the very different arrangements each Train Operating Company has for this task and perhaps as a help to others in the future I have set out my experiences below. In each case, following advice on this forum, I rang the TOC customer help desk, obtained a (free) Cycle Reservation Number and only then booked and paid for a passenger seat.

Leg 1 MK to AH via Glasgow Central (She will get local pre booked taxi Bedford to MK)
Rang Virgin Trains
Given Cycle Reservation Number for MK to GC
Booked passenger ticket MK to AH.
No seat or cycle reservation possible or needed GC to AH.
Paid on my credit card.
Daughter can use ANY valid credit card with the Cycle Reservation Number at a booking machine in advance of traveling to obtain paper ticket to attach to cycle
Charged £2 to have tickets posted to daughter's home. They have arrived in 48 hours.
CalMac ferry Ardrossan to Brodick is pay at time of use for passenger, cycle free.

Leg 2 AH to INV via GC and Glasgow Queen Street.
Rang ScotRail
AH to GC no cycle reservation or seat reservation needed.
GQ to INV given (free) cycle reservation number.
Booked passenger through from AH to INV
Given seat reservation details GQ to INV
Paid on my credit card.
Could have had tickets sent to daughter's home but would be charged £6 for Special Delivery and need signing for as it was not the billing address for the credit card.
All tickets sent to my address for £2 and no signature needed. Arrived in 48 hours

Leg 3 INV to London Kings Cross
Rang LNER
Obtained cycle reservation number verbally as it is on a different system.
LNER then emailed me this. It appears BIKE is no smoking but has a facing, aisle seat!
Went on to LNER web to get cheapest fare.
Booked passenger and her seat.
Paid on my credit card.
Printed out all passenger and seat details at home. No charge.
She will then get a local train KX to BD and pay at the time. This is a journey she has done many times before.

Although the whole process took a couple of hours to work through one Sunday lunch time all the service desks seemed to know the system well and very helpful.

Sorry this is quite lengthy but I hope it may help others in the future (at least untist TOC franchises and websites change!)

Alan

[Jamesh]

I can echo that experience as I brought the rest of my lejog tickets today including bike reservations no fuss once they were released from the local train stations.

Cheers James

[Jamesh]

Btw how do you guys attach the cycle reservation to the bike?

Should I take some sellotape / duct tape - might well do so anyway.

Cheers James

[RickH]

Btw how do you guys attach the cycle reservation to the bike?

Should I take some sellotape / duct tape - might well do so anyway.

Cheers James

If it is the small "traditional" card tickets, I usually tuck the corner under the edge of a brake hood (drop bars). An elastic band or 2 round the bars near one end (or a brake lever) would work on many bars & also with the bigger paper tickets that seem to be becoming more common.

[ChrisF]

Btw how do you guys attach the cycle reservation to the bike?

Slip it between the water bottle and its carrier

[Jamesh]

Good idea!

Cheers James

[Cyril Haearn]

Taking a couple of hours to do the reservations seems a lot
Getting reservations is one thing, completing the journies is quite another, both seem rather complicated

Hope to read a report after the journies have been completed

[Oldjohnw]

Things went well this time.

Yesterday, using GWR, was able to book two journeys. One: Berwick to Dunbar; also Berwick to Newcastle return. Cheapest tickets and space available.

Brilliant.

[zenitb]

Things went well this time.

Yesterday, using GWR, was able to book two journeys. One: Berwick to Dunbar; also Berwick to Newcastle return. Cheapest tickets and space available.

Brilliant.

I have just booked with GWR. ..they just quoted a cycle reservation code over the phone for me to write down rather than send me a physical ticket...was that your experience John ?

[Oldjohnw]

Things went well this time.

Yesterday, using GWR, was able to book two journeys. One: Berwick to Dunbar; also Berwick to Newcastle return. Cheapest tickets and space available.

Brilliant.

I have just booked with GWR. ..they just quoted a cycle reservation code over the phone for me to write down rather than send me a physical ticket...was that your experience John ?

I did it all online and received two bike tickets: one for the bike and one for the passenger. I collected tickets at the station.

[zenitb]

Things went well this time.

Yesterday, using GWR, was able to book two journeys. One: Berwick to Dunbar; also Berwick to Newcastle return. Cheapest tickets and space available.

Brilliant.

I have just booked with GWR. ..they just quoted a cycle reservation code over the phone for me to write down rather than send me a physical ticket...was that your experience John ?

I did it all online and received two bike tickets: one for the bike and one for the passenger. I collected tickets at the station.

Thanks for that John. I need to book the return leg now..I will ask them about the lack of a paper ticket. They did take my surname so I am guessing the guard gets that so the can check its me..

[Sweep]

Thanks for that John. I need to book the return leg now..I will ask them about the lack of a paper ticket. They did take my surname so I am guessing the guard gets that so the can check its me..

mm - reminds me of my experience with the virgin call centre a few years ago.

A nice efficient sounding chap in india made the bike reservation under my name but gave me no reference and offered no printout. I well remember that when I asked how I would prove the booking to the train staff he cheerily advised me to mention his name!

I backed away from this - sounded risky - so I don't know if Mr whatever his name was would have sorted things.

After that, I had some appalling experiences with Virgin's Indian call centre.

No criticism of India or Indians - just Virgin's appalling bike booking.

Hope your experience is better.

[awparker]

As promised when I started this thread I can now provide an update to the first leg - Milton Keynes to Ardrossan Harbour.

Our daughter arrived yesterday afternoon as planned and most of the trip worked out OK. At MK station the railway staff wanted to see both her ticket and printed cycle reservation before she was allowed through the barriers. These were checked again before she got on the train itself and at this stage she was told that she had to attach reservation to the bike itself or it could not travel. Luckily she had a short section of tape that could be removed from her handle bars to do the job.

Apparently the bike traveled next to the drivers cab, accessible through a one way locked door - no real problem as she was getting off at the terminus in at Glasgow Central.

The next part on Scotrail and the Calmac ferry to Brodick passed without incident.

A further update in week or so for legs 2 and 3

Alan