Oxford to Portsmouth: how to book trains

[Jdsk]

We need to take two laden tourers from Oxford to Portsmouth.

Any suggestions on how to book the tickets and reserve spaces for the bikes? First leg is GWR and second South Western.

Thanks

Jonathan

[st599_uk]

You can't reserve a bike on that South Western Railway route, it's first come, first served.

There are also rush hour cycle bans.

What time do you need to be at Portsmouth (and which Portsmouth station)?

[Bmblbzzz]

If you use GWR site to book tickets, you can book bikes at the same time for all operators - as long as there bookable spaces. Some other operators' sites allow this too, but I can't remember which ones.

[Woodtourer]

Not sure if this would be helpful. But we took National Express bus from Heathrow to Portsmouth last year. Worked great!

[Astrobike]

Do cross country trains not go through Oxford as they do a train to Southampton where you can change to
A local train to all Portsmouth stations , Portsmouth and southsea is the best station if you are catching the
Ferry to France or Spain, as for booking you will need to ring them to book the bikes .
Mike

[Bmblbzzz]

XC Voyagers are a bit crap for taking bikes on, especially laden tourers.

[mjr]

Do cross country trains not go through Oxford as they do a train to Southampton where you can change to
A local train to all Portsmouth stations , Portsmouth and southsea is the best station if you are catching the
Ferry to France or Spain, as for booking you will need to ring them to book the bikes .
Mike

Gwr.com and a few others (updated list on http://www.atob.org.uk) will book the bikes on XC. No need to phone unless you want.

I think XC Voyagers on that route have small bike cupboards between coaches D and F, visible on https://www.crosscountrytrains.co.uk/on ... our-trains seating plan. Often they get large suitcases dumped in them, but I'd move it into the neighbouring rack. But space is limited so GWR and SWR may be more likely to have space at the right times.

[Bmblbzzz]

The GWR Cardiff-Portsmouth trains are usually packed. At least they are between Cardiff and Salisbury, I doubt the crowds all vanish further south.

[mjr]

The GWR Cardiff-Portsmouth trains are usually packed. At least they are between Cardiff and Salisbury, I doubt the crowds all vanish further south.

From the OP's comments of using GWR then SWR, I'm assuming they're changing at Reading and Guildford. Connections from Oxford to the Cardiff-Portsmouth route are poor.

[Bmblbzzz]

Yeah, it's a shame the Oxford-Bristol directs got scrapped.

[Astrobike]

Agreed X C are not the best ,that said traviling with a loaded touring bike with any train company in this country is always going to be a fraught experience .
The 3 times I have traveled with C S they have got me and my bike to where I wanted to go with no great delays

[Bmblbzzz]

Something I picked up from chatting to a guy on his way back from the Highlands to Bristol on an XC Voyager (I had been camping in the Midlands) is that bikepacking-style luggage makes for easier train journeys, simply because it's less bulky to doesn't need to be removed from the bike before you hang it up. Of course this is also because you can't carry so much...

[Jdsk]

You can't reserve a bike on that South Western Railway route, it's first come, first served.

There are also rush hour cycle bans.

What time do you need to be at Portsmouth (and which Portsmouth station)?

Thanks

Sunday evening in June.

Train dep Oxford 1916, arr Portsmouth and Southsea 2143, change at Reading.

Jonathan

[mjr]

Sunday evening in June.

Train dep Oxford 1916, arr Portsmouth and Southsea 2143, change at Reading.

I don't know what's going on there because http://www.nationalrail.co.uk/times_far ... 44703.aspx says the times aren't yet confirmed for June.

[irc]

You can't reserve a bike on that South Western Railway route, it's first come, first served.

There are also rush hour cycle bans.

What time do you need to be at Portsmouth (and which Portsmouth station)?

Thanks

Sunday evening in June.

Train dep Oxford 1916, arr Portsmouth and Southsea 2143, change at Reading.

Jonathan

Some services show times 3 months out and let you buy full price tickets but don't let you book seats. Without a seat booking you can't book a bike. The online cheap ticket and bike booking is now open as from today up to the week including 22nd May. For June I would suggest waiting a week the check every day to see if the cheap tickets are released and try and book the bikes then.

But you may need to be fast. By 5pm today the bike spaces were gone on my first choice service though I got an alternative.