When will Eurostar recommence carrying bikes?

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Will
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Re: When will Eurostar recommence carrying bikes?

Post by Will »

birkhead wrote: 3 Jun 2023, 10:03am Latest CUK info on Eurostar is not very encouraging.
I do hope Eurostar can get their act together regarding bike transport to Brussels and Amsterdam.

In 2024, Deutsche Bahn are scheduled to start replacing the ICE rolling stock used on the Brussels-Frankfurt and Amsterdam-Frankfurt international routes with new ICE3 Neo trains that include 8 bike spaces. You would then be able to get to Frankfurt (or Cologne) from London the same day. After an overnight stop, you would have access to a variety of services with good bike provision that would allow you to easily reach southern Germany, Switzerland and Austria. The options will get even better in the next few years as more of the ICE3 Neo and ICE L trains are introduced:

https://www-deutschebahn-com.translate. ... x_tr_hl=en

Will
st599_uk
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Re: When will Eurostar recommence carrying bikes?

Post by st599_uk »

Will wrote: 3 Jun 2023, 12:10pm
birkhead wrote: 3 Jun 2023, 10:03am Latest CUK info on Eurostar is not very encouraging.
I do hope Eurostar can get their act together regarding bike transport to Brussels and Amsterdam.
Even if they sort out the Amsterdam route this year, it's getting pulled next summer as Centraal needs to be rebuilt for the post-Brexit customs requirements and Rotterdam only has passport space for 160 passengers boarding.
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CJ
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Re: When will Eurostar recommence carrying bikes?

Post by CJ »

Jdsk wrote: 3 Jun 2023, 12:04pm Eurostar:

"You can book a space for your bike by emailing travelservices@eurostar.com...


I've sent this to that email address - not holding my breath:

I read this from Cycling UK: "From 1 June 2023, Eurostar has confirmed to Cycling UK it will now carry fully assembled and boxed or bagged bikes on its services between London and Brussels and between London and Paris for boxed bikes."

How many fully assembled bikes per train is that? (For reasons I'll explain below, boxed or bagged is no use to us.)

I'm interested in re-starting my popular rail-assisted group cycling tours into Northern Europe. Thanks to the re-introduction of European Sleeper services from Brussels, plus new ICE rolling stock with at least 8 bookable bike spaces per train, these will perhaps once again become possible. It all depends on the first link in the chain.

Our bikes need to be fully assembled because we use them to shift our luggage when changing trains. If the bike is boxed or bagged we simply have too much to carry. Bike panniers - unlike suitcases - don't have their own wheels; And unlike airports, railway stations don't always have trolleys. Our bikes ARE our trolleys!

I do hope Eurostar can help
Chris Juden
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mattheus
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Re: When will Eurostar recommence carrying bikes?

Post by mattheus »

Blimey! Not perfect, but good news. Thanks Jon.
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CJ
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Re: When will Eurostar recommence carrying bikes?

Post by CJ »

From Eurostar:
Currently, our bike booking service is available between London, Brussels and Paris on certain trains. Can you confirm if you are planning to travel from London to Brussels please. If you can also provide us with a date, we can check availability for fully assembled bikes on the Brussels route for the day and advise you accordingly. We can accommodate maximum of 4 bikes per train. Bike booking must be made separately with us once you have booked your Eurostar tickets.

Please note that there are some changes in our service to comply with new travel and customs regulations, which means bikes can only be sent on the same train as the passengers.

The fee for bike booking service is £45 per bike each way if booked at least 48 hours in advance or £60 per bike each way if booked less than 48 hours in advance. Once you book space for your bike, you will have to check in your bike at least 90 minutes before the train is due to depart. Please take this into consideration if you are looking to book another journey prior to your Eurostar journey. Please note that because of limited spaces allocated for bikes per train, we are unable to say if and when these spaces will be booked.
So four bikes. Still short of the ECF target (at least eight) but twice as good as two. An average-sized family might now travel together - not just a couple.
Chris Juden
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Bmblbzzz
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Re: When will Eurostar recommence carrying bikes?

Post by Bmblbzzz »

£45 per bike each way! :shock:
ANTONISH
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Re: When will Eurostar recommence carrying bikes?

Post by ANTONISH »

Bmblbzzz wrote: 10 Jun 2023, 11:04am £45 per bike each way! :shock:
I don't know the passenger fare to Brussels but considering the space requirement £45 seems reasonable.
In my youth British Railways would charge a child's fare for a bike - half an adult fare.
Of course then there was a goods van which is sadly lacking today.
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MrsHJ
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Re: When will Eurostar recommence carrying bikes?

Post by MrsHJ »

I think it’s around £60 each way on the airlines (although their core price for each passenger tends to be lower but excludes all luggage). The neat move might be to get an interrail pass if the bike place can be booked separately. Then the train travel getting out of the uk becomes very valuable unless you’re already in or around London.

Someone was going to try interrail this summer- can they feed back on booking the bike when they have a moment
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mjr
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Re: When will Eurostar recommence carrying bikes?

Post by mjr »

ANTONISH wrote: 11 Jun 2023, 9:34am
Bmblbzzz wrote: 10 Jun 2023, 11:04am £45 per bike each way! :shock:
I don't know the passenger fare to Brussels but considering the space requirement £45 seems reasonable.
The trains are currently travelling part empty because of border capacity limits. The space is going begging. It's a bit odd they won't fill it with bikes to reduce the difference.
In my youth British Railways would charge a child's fare for a bike - half an adult fare.
Of course then there was a goods van which is sadly lacking today.
I think it may have been better if we'd gone flat rate, like BE & NL, but CTC won and it became free, so there's little incentive to have bike spaces in newer trains.
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nirakaro
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Re: When will Eurostar recommence carrying bikes?

Post by nirakaro »

MrsHJ wrote: 11 Jun 2023, 10:07amSomeone was going to try interrail this summer- can they feed back on booking the bike when they have a moment
Yeh, I've just done a month interrailing through UK/France/Italy. No problem making bike reservations at a ticket office in UK - they don't ask to see the ticket. Didn't use any trains needing reservations in France or Italy.
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CJ
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Re: When will Eurostar recommence carrying bikes?

Post by CJ »

mjr wrote: 11 Jun 2023, 5:17pm
ANTONISH wrote: 11 Jun 2023, 9:34am In my youth British Railways would charge a child's fare for a bike - half an adult fare.
Of course then there was a goods van which is sadly lacking today.
I think it may have been better if we'd gone flat rate, like BE & NL, but CTC won and it became free, so there's little incentive to have bike spaces in newer trains.
As soon as they won it I forecast history would judge that a pyrric victory: "A free service is a worthless service, initially for the provider and ultimately the recipient!"
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nirakaro
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Re: When will Eurostar recommence carrying bikes?

Post by nirakaro »

Bikes go free on French regional trains, and the provision is excellent. It's a question of whether the main purpose of a railway is to provide a service, or to turn a profit.
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mjr
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Re: When will Eurostar recommence carrying bikes?

Post by mjr »

nirakaro wrote: 12 Jun 2023, 8:13am Bikes go free on French regional trains, and the provision is excellent.
It now varies by region. Reservations are required on some Grand Est and Loire TERs. Assembled bikes are not allowed on some Hauts de France and Grand Est ones (TER-GV and TER200, respectively).
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ANTONISH
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Re: When will Eurostar recommence carrying bikes?

Post by ANTONISH »

mjr wrote: 12 Jun 2023, 10:54am
nirakaro wrote: 12 Jun 2023, 8:13am Bikes go free on French regional trains, and the provision is excellent.
It now varies by region. Reservations are required on some Grand Est and Loire TERs. Assembled bikes are not allowed on some Hauts de France and Grand Est ones (TER-GV and TER200, respectively).
We had to book bike spaces for some longer distance trains in Brittany last year.
We actually ended up taking a chance on taking earlier trains than the booking site (SNCF) permitted us - the earlier train from St Malo to Rennes wasn't busy.
The next one Rennes to Brest was crowded and I feared we may be asked to get off but there was no problem.
Booking bike spaces seems a bit problematic - I couldn't get Trainline to do it and it seemed strange that SNCF wouldn't book us on trains that we actually travelled on.
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MrsHJ
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Re: When will Eurostar recommence carrying bikes?

Post by MrsHJ »

For TER services I think that a bike booking is required from 2 June to 2 September ish in Brittany only.

The booking is on the regional TER site, not the normal SNCF one from reading the press release and following the links and I think costs 1 euro. I only used SNCF myself as I booked tgvs with a bike space and that can be done on the main app.
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