mjr wrote:atoz wrote:It's simple- private railways=less cycle space- just like they mean less space on trains for passengers to actually sit. Not difficult to understand..
The main reason that there's less cycle space is that some foolish cycling organisation got the bike ticket price set to zero many decades ago, so there's little incentive for private operators to want bicycle spaces on their trains. Unintended consequences, eh?
A secondary reason is that UK railways aren't private, with new trains negotiated with the government still and the UK government hasn't approved any Motor Luggage Vans compatible with new trains, unlike the Scottish government whose
ScotRail is recycling some old low-accessibility Sprinters into new MLVs compatible with the diesel trains they use on some lines.
I doubt whether the CTC ever really entered the thoughts of those making the decisions. Rather it's because BR withdrew from the parcels market, which is why there are no spaces for parcels traffic on most trains. When the rolling stock with that space was withdrawn, that was the end of the cycle space- QED. When you think you can get several seats into the space used for parcels space/cycles, it's a no- brainer- you get more money that way, even if you charged for bike tickets. Just take a look at what the old pre-Sprinter stock used to be, and how much space existed for parcels- must be around 3 seat rows per each side of the coach. No way will you get your money back by charging for space. It could only be done on a non-profit basis, which is why private railways are not by and large in the business of providing cycle space.
Scotrail will only use their old rolling stock for this purpose for as long as they have it- after that, the space will be gone. The trains concerned looik like refurbed class 155s to me. They are over 30 years old, and I wonder how long they will be in service. Some of the other Sprinters and Pacers will be withdrawn for accessibility reasons, so there won't be too many left for conversion. Should we lose 155s in my area, they will be replaced with new stock which will be even less suitable for cycle carriage- or worse, just replaced by Transpennine class 185s when First have finished using them. As for travelling on 155 stock- they are quite noisy and have no air con- OK for short local journeys, not for long cross country travel. Not a problem for the bikes of course, but the people using the few extra seats won't be over happy.
The real problem with the erstwhile CTC is that they should have seen this coming, and did precisely nothing. On this subject their lack of action is staggering. Then was the time for serious campaigning to increase the miminal space on the then new Sprinters and Pacers.
Had the LGBT community taken this line, this country would still be arresting people for importuning, and clause 28 would still be on the statute books.
