Online train bike booking

[velociraptor]

Have always been a fan of East Coast Trains website as it tells you if you can reserve a bike space.
As it has been swallowed up by Virgin I expect their website will disappear so does anyone know of an alternative website where you can check if bike spaces are available.
I tend to be quite free and easy when it comes to booking holidays and YHA and bike on train spaces often dictate my travel.

On the subject of bikes and trains I have noticed great efforts being made to facilitate biking to/from stations such as the excellent cycle hub at Sheffield station but I fear train companies will think they have done their bit when getting a bike onto a train is just as important but seems to get harder. Oh for the days of guards vans.

[Bicycler]

You can do it on the Virgin site https://www.virgintrainseastcoast.com/ . Select bicycle reservations on the seat reservation page.

They do seem more reluctant to allocate much space to bicycles on trains these days. Though perhaps we forget that bicycle carriage used to be charged extra.

[Richard Fairhurst]

As it has been swallowed up by Virgin I expect their website will disappear so does anyone know of an alternative website where you can check if bike spaces are available.

East Coast's bike-friendly booking engine is called WebTIS and is used by Chiltern, Southern, Southeastern, London Midland, Great Western, First Transpennine Express, and probably some others I've forgotten.

[Bicycler]

I'm fairly sure the new Virgin East Coast one I linked to uses the same booking engine.

The Virgin West Coast one is different (or at least was at last check).

[mjr]

Update which I'm putting here because this looks like the most recent train bike booking thread in the campaigning forum:

Under our license, we are not permitted to allocate cycle reservations. Best to check with the train company if there bike spaces are available prior to booking.

I'll ask a bit more to try to find out who is issuing anti-cycling licences but this might explain why a lot of ticket booking sites don't let you book bikes on.