Bike and Go to Close

[mjr]

https://www.bikeandgo.co.uk/ has been replaced with a short message:

Bike & Go will no longer be operating from 30 September 2019.

The scheme was launched in 2014 to provide seamless door-to-door solutions in the form of bike rental at selected railway stations across England and Scotland.

Unfortunately the number of rentals and members meant that the scheme was not self-sufficient and the decision has been made to close Bike & Go across the UK.

Current Bike & Go members will be contacted and given a one-month notice period to make alternative travel arrangements and information on refunds.

If you have any questions regarding your Bike & Go account and rentals or would like more information regarding the closure please don’t hesitate to contact us on [email protected].

#
If they ever hoped to have it be "self-sufficient", the tortuous registration and rental process should have been simplified and it should have been installed at locations like Cambridge and Cambridge North where there would be more demand, connected to good cycling infrastructure, rather than only places like Ely which has poor cycling routes and has been cut off by the bypass building site for years (with promises of cycle route upgrades that still haven't happened - and no politicians care because the A road is open).

I guess it did its job and let Abellio win/retain some rail franchises?

[awavey]

but they introduced it to show they still supported cycling,whilst limiting the number of bikes carried on the "old" trains, the "new" Greater Anglia trains have even less cycling provision than that now, because its actually shared space theyve assigned so can be used with wheelchairs/pushchairs/passengers sitting on fold down seats, its not dedicated space as it was in most cases before

Though how the local press can get away with just printing Abellio press releases that claim the old diesel trains had no cycling provision at all I dont know, even the oldest diesel trains they had, had bike space, but even though this was announced, none of the local media have covered the Bike and Go closure.

[mjr]

but they introduced it to show they still supported cycling,whilst limiting the number of bikes carried on the "old" trains, the "new" Greater Anglia trains have even less cycling provision than that now, because its actually shared space theyve assigned so can be used with wheelchairs/pushchairs/passengers sitting on fold down seats, its not dedicated space as it was in most cases before

That is not quite true. While it's similar design spaces with flip-up seats in it, the Flirts have cycle spaces at one end (green stripe and symbol above windows) and wheelchair spaces at the other (blue stripe), and they carry six cycles each, instead of four on the old Turbostars and 2-4 on the Sprinters. The Aventras on the Cambridge-Liverpool St line haven't appeared yet to be sure what they have, but the Electrostars and Mark3s have no dedicated spaces.

Though how the local press can get away with just printing Abellio press releases that claim the old diesel trains had no cycling provision at all I dont know, even the oldest diesel trains they had, had bike space, but even though this was announced, none of the local media have covered the Bike and Go closure.

Indeed. I've only seen this closure reported in Scottish media and the EDP, BBC and so on do seem to have a bad habit of believing whatever the press releases say.

[awavey]

but they introduced it to show they still supported cycling,whilst limiting the number of bikes carried on the "old" trains, the "new" Greater Anglia trains have even less cycling provision than that now, because its actually shared space theyve assigned so can be used with wheelchairs/pushchairs/passengers sitting on fold down seats, its not dedicated space as it was in most cases before

That is not quite true. While it's similar design spaces with flip-up seats in it, the Flirts have cycle spaces at one end (green stripe and symbol above windows) and wheelchair spaces at the other (blue stripe), and they carry six cycles each, instead of four on the old Turbostars and 2-4 on the Sprinters. The Aventras on the Cambridge-Liverpool St line haven't appeared yet to be sure what they have, but the Electrostars and Mark3s have no dedicated spaces.

the mark 3s had the dedicated space in the driving van trailer thingy at the country end, and they were getting at least 8-10 bikes in them after the Dunwich Dynamo this year.

you wont get from the videos Ive seen of this cycling space in the Swiss trains, 6 bikes in the space assuming its empty to begin with, because youll block the gangway access and have had to play some kind of bike jenga to get them in the first place, plus you have to rely on the space being clear, which isnt a given whenever Ive used the existing shared space trains, theres always someone sitting there, who wont move just because you have a bike, it will be interesting to see if they persist with the cycling reservation system

[mjr]

The Aventras on the Cambridge-Liverpool St line haven't appeared yet to be sure what they have, but the Electrostars and Mark3s have no dedicated spaces.

the mark 3s had the dedicated space in the driving van trailer thingy at the country end, and they were getting at least 8-10 bikes in them after the Dunwich Dynamo this year.

The Mark 3s on the Cambridge-Liverpool St line are multiple units and have no driving van trailer. I think you're confusing them with the locomotive-hauled trains on Norwich-Liverpool St.

you wont get from the videos Ive seen of this cycling space in the Swiss trains, 6 bikes in the space assuming its empty to begin with, because youll block the gangway access and have had to play some kind of bike jenga to get them in the first place,

I'll wait until I've tried them before saying for sure but 3 head-tail-head belted in each side looks more easily doable than getting 4 onto the hanger one side of the aisle on the Turbostars.