Cycling using trains (in UK and EU)

[plancashire]

Thanks for the Bahnhof.de app tip. It is now on my phone ready for next week, when we will travel to Kassel then up and down the Fulda Radweg. Bikes go for free in Hessen but not in the neighbouring states. You can buy a 24h bike ticket for our transport area, for the state or for all Germany. I had to consult a map of transport companies to work out the cheapest option, which is just state (NRW) as free Hessen adjoins on the train route we will take. Phew!

[Will]

Any advice on bikes at Den Haag Centraal for the leg to Amersfoort?

Last time I did it, there was a three-bike compartment in each end of each unit, but that's a terminal station, so the main thing is to get there early and grab spaces before they fill up.

That only applies to the 4 carriage VIRM trains. Intercity services between Den Haag Centraal and Amersfoort Centraal are operated using ICMm (aka Koplopers), DDZ, and VIRM trains. These trains are often coupled with another train set of the same type.

The ICMm (Koploper) single deck trains come in a 3 car or a 4 car version. Both the 3 car and 4 car versions have bike spaces in only 1 end carriage. These trains are often run as a coupled pair and it can be difficult to tell where the bike spaces will be as it depends which may round each train section is. These trains have 4 digit numbers that start with a "4".

DDZ double deck trains come in 4 car and 6 car versions. The 4 car versions have bike spaces in 1 of the middle carriages (the other middle carriage is the disabled carriage). The 6 car versions have bike spaces in 3 of the middle carriages (the other middle carriage is the disabled carriage). These trains have 4 digit numbers that start with a "7".

The VIRM double deck trains come in 4 car and 6 car versions. The 4 car versions have bike spaces in the first and last carriage. The 6 car versions have bike spaces in the first and last carriage plus bike spaces in one of the middle carriages (3rd or 4th). These trains have 4 digit numbers that start with a "8" or a "9".

To identify what bike spaces (and where) a particular Intercity train has, it helps if you can identify the different types.

The ICMm (Koploper) are the weird looking trains with a driver cab that is high up:

ICMm.jpg (15.41 KiB) Viewed 796 times

The DDZ trains are double deckers with a rather plain looking front:

DDZ.jpg (19.15 KiB) Viewed 796 times

The VIRM trains are double deckers with a much more modern looking front:

VIRM.jpg (15.14 KiB) Viewed 796 times

Alternatively, you can use the Rijden de Treinen app to identify the train number(s) for a particular service before it arrives on the platform, and hence identify the train type (which may not be apparent looking at the picture of the train on a small phone screen). For example, here is what the app is showing for trains from Den Haag Centraal that call at Amersfoort Centraal this morning (times showing UK time in the app):

You can tell if a DDZ or VIRM is 4 car or 6 car by looking at the picture of the train in the app.

The Rijden de Treinen app is useful for identifying if a train changes platform. Here we can clearly see that a train that goes to Groningen (via Amersfoort Centraal) that was scheduled to depart from platform 7 is actually departing from platform 8:

Will

[Will]

Continuation of previous post (too many images for 1 post):

You will sometimes find that a train will arrive at platform 7 or 8 as a coupled pair, but will be uncoupled before departure. You need to ensure that you are in the correct train section. The app shows when this happens:

In this example, there will be two DDZ(4) trains on the platform that probably arrived together, but they are uncoupled and only 7504 is used for the service to Enschede (via Amersfoort Centraal). You need to ensure that you are in the correct train section (trains have their number at the ends):

Will

[Andrew-l]

I'm excitedly planning our trains to get to and from the VeloSud in September, and have come across something a little strange.

I'm looking at TGVs coming back from Perpignan, and quite a few of them are showing "Fully Booked" on the SNCF website - these are Trains at seemingly random times - 6pm one night or 11am the next day for example. Is that a glitch in the booking system because it's still some time away, or is there another reason - any ideas, oh wise ones?

Edited to add:
It seems that almost every single 11 O'clock train from Perpignan to Paris is fully booked - from May through to December. How very strange!

[ANTONISH]

I ecoutered a similar problem booking bikes on a train to Rennes from St Malo.
I couldn't book the train I wanted so had to book a later one.
Whilst at the station at St Malo there was a train at the platform that I suspected was the one I couldn't book.
The train was almost empty so we decided to take a chance and get on with our bikes. We were the only cyclists on the train. The ticket inspector was happy with our ticket. IME the ticket inspectors are pretty relaxed about actual numbers of bikes anyway provided that the gangway is clear.
I have no idea but it may be that bike spaces are being booked but not actually used.

[Andrew-l]

The strange thing is, this isn't just about available bike spaces - but any ticket being available at all!

I may have partially solved the mystery - it appears that the ones that are fully booked are the ones that all start in Barcelona. Good info for a future train trip back from Spain - book immediately, as soon as the tickets become available (looks like about 7 months in advance!)

Edited following even deeper diving down this hole:
Tickets on these trains are available from Barcelona, just not from Perpignan. I don't know whether they have a quota from Perpignan that's full, or just don't allow boarding there. Very strange.

[ANTONISH]

The strange thing is, this isn't just about available bike spaces - but any ticket being available at all!

I may have partially solved the mystery - it appears that the ones that are fully booked are the ones that all start in Barcelona. Good info for a future train trip back from Spain - book immediately, as soon as the tickets become available (looks like about 7 months in advance!)

All very strange - a few years ago I was trying to book tickets Calais to Hendaye and back from Pertpignan - I was having problems and decided to try the SNCF office in London (Idon't know if it's still there).
One of the staff was very helpful and able to navigate the system to get me the tickets I needed.
Sadly there was a train strike and I had to get to Hendaye by my elder son driving me.

[ajj]

Does anyone know if it's possible to reserve bike spaces on the GWR Bristol to Portsmouth service? 2 years ago we used the service and it was first come first serve. I have just tried to book our tickets for this year and all the journeys I have checked so far are showing no bike spaces available. When I phoned GWR I was told that all spaces had been booked, although I had the feeling that the operative was just looking at the same screens as me. The further information box states that reservations are only available on Intercity Express Train services, but I'm not sure how to check which these are. The list I have seen seems to list trains from Paddington only. (I didn't have this information when I made the phone call, so thought I would ask here before trying again). Thanks

[Jdsk]

For those who weren’t aware GWR have removed their seat and bike booking feature from the website. Apparently it was being abused.

I believe the feature has also been removed from the SWR website as well. These companies recently change the booking engine that was used by their websites. The new booking system produced a QR code for seat and bike reservations that allowed the user to open the gates at stations (like it was a valid ticket to travel). It could also be scanned by train staff and they would get a green light indicating that it was a valid ticket. The train staff would need to manually check the ticket to see that it was just a seat/bike reservation (and they are too busy to manually check every ticket).

This issue was reported in the Daily Telegraph a month or so ago (they managed to travel from one end of the country to the other without ever having a proper ticket checked).

[bohrsatom]

The strange thing is, this isn't just about available bike spaces - but any ticket being available at all!

I’ve seen the same myself on a trip entirely within France. This time the train was ‘fully booked’ the morning that tickets were first released which seemed highly unlikely. IIRC seats were available closer to the departure date but by then I’d booked another service. My guess was that SNCF were either holding back seats to sell later or the service itself was at risk of being cancelled due to engineering works.

[Will]

The TGV trains between Barcelona and Paris starts off as a single 8 car set and a second set is then added at Perpignan. It may be that in order to maximise the number of people travelling from Barcelona, SNCF make only the first set available for booking from Barcelona, and then when they have sold enough seats from Barcelona (or a set number of days before the departure date), the second set from Perpignan is then opened for bookings.

It might be a good idea for someone who is looking to use this service to keep an eye on a service that currently shows as fully booked to see if it later becomes available (and when), and then come back here to this thread and let the rest of us know.

Will

[mjr]

Does anyone know if it's possible to reserve bike spaces on the GWR Bristol to Portsmouth service? 2 years ago we used the service and it was first come first serve. I have just tried to book our tickets for this year and all the journeys I have checked so far are showing no bike spaces available. When I phoned GWR I was told that all spaces had been booked, although I had the feeling that the operative was just looking at the same screens as me. The further information box states that reservations are only available on Intercity Express Train services, but I'm not sure how to check which these are. The list I have seen seems to list trains from Paddington only. (I didn't have this information when I made the phone call, so thought I would ask here before trying again). Thanks

Last week's trains on that route were all sprinters or turbos, so I think it's still with unreserved bike spaces. I doubt the Hitachi express trains have been tested into Portsmouth yet.

[ajj]

Thanks. I can't find a single service with any bike spaces available for several days at the start of June, so presumably that means they are not available to book. Will try to again to get this confirmed by phone.

[ANTONISH]

The strange thing is, this isn't just about available bike spaces - but any ticket being available at all!

I’ve seen the same myself on a trip entirely within France. This time the train was ‘fully booked’ the morning that tickets were first released which seemed highly unlikely. IIRC seats were available closer to the departure date but by then I’d booked another service. My guess was that SNCF were either holding back seats to sell later or the service itself was at risk of being cancelled due to engineering works.

I have found the SNCF app to be unhelpful for border crossings.
Two years ago (non cycling train trip) I tried to use it to book tickets from Nice to Bolzano in Italy.
The app stated that no trains were available.
I used Trainline which gave me the tickets I needed.

[MrsHJ]

Thanks. I can't find a single service with any bike spaces available for several days at the start of June, so presumably that means they are not available to book. Will try to again to get this confirmed by phone.

If you live in/near the GWR region pop over to a ticket office. I am in Bristol every other week so would ask for you but I’ve got a couple of weeks without a visit as then I have a 3 day stint. I’m pretty sure that the answer will be that it’s still the free for all approach which is slightly unnerving on this train but you are getting on fairly near the start (assuming it still starts in Cardiff). I will certainly check when I’m next there but it’s not for another 10 days. Will shared that diagram link further up the page (ok a couple of pages ago called realtimetrains for me to figure out the greater anglia services so you might try that.

It sounds like we are off at about the same time but I’m heading to Harwich. Very much up to you but you could take a bike bag (light packable one) as backup. I suspect that’s overkill though and as long as you give yourself enough buffer time you’ll be fine. I know it will be unnerving though right at the start of your trip.