london stations' policy to carry folded bikes

[David Cox]

I would not be able to do this but I don't think I travel on these trains. Do they have trolleys? I could always bring the Bike Hod of course! Dont they realise that Brompton seems to be the only British owned vehicle manufacturing company left in London and probably the whole south east? This is why they always have politicians visiting. The stupidity of train companies passeth all understanding. London Midland are good re bikes and good on Twitter but have a real difficulty making the trains run at all. Be interesting to test out whether the increased visibility and political salience of cycling over the last two years will have any effect on them. Will make some enquiries.

[rootes]

Do you think CTC or Brompton produce a laminated card with the key health and safety and carriage rule facts that we could carry with us?

bit like Brompton advertising on Manchester trams on which you are not to take Brompton folded or otherwise unless in a bag..

[NUKe]

Write to Boris and your local MP's

[David Cox]

I'm trying Twitter first. We all have to travel across London!

[John Holiday]

Interesting thread, & the comments from Dave very helpful as usual.
I travelled from Winchester to Waterloo & back last Saturday & experienced no problems,perhaps because it was off-peak.
Guess the answer is to keep using the trains in greater numbers & just wear them down until they give up!

[rootes]

Interesting thread, & the comments from Dave very helpful as usual.
I travelled from Winchester to Waterloo & back last Saturday & experienced no problems,perhaps because it was off-peak.
Guess the answer is to keep using the trains in greater numbers & just wear them down until they give up!

SWT are better - for example yopu can get a Brompton from them from £2 per week.

[CJ]

Manchester trams on which you are not to take Brompton folded or otherwise unless in a bag.

Apologies for going further off topic via Manchester trams to Japanese trains, but in Japan you cannot take a bike on any train at all unless it's in a bag.

On my trip to Japan last year I travelled on seven different trains and usually got away without putting my Brompton in the bag if I carried it folded through the automatic barriers. But if I wheeled it through, with the intention of folding when I got to the platform, one of the smartly uniformed employees (with whom Japanese public services are most liberally staffed) would spring into action, soon to be joined by reinforcements, who politely but firmly insisted that I not only fold but also bag the machine before letting me get any closer to the train. Showing them the bag with a request to 'rinku' on the platform fell upon deaf or more likely uncomprehending ears, that word being almost the limit of my vocabulary and my pronunciation surely terrible)! Once in its bag of course, one cannot trundle the Brompton. Thus I learnt to fold before the barrier.

Vista train on Kintetsu Railway limited express by Chris Juden, on Flickr

[james01]

[with a request to 'rinku' on the platform
Vista train on Kintetsu Railway limited express by Chris Juden, on Flickr

Blimey, I'd eat my breakfast off that floor!
BTW, what were you saying when you asked them to "rinku" on the platform

[CJ]

BTW, what were you saying when you asked them to "rinku" on the platform

I was trying to say that I'd put it in the bag when I got to the train. And one reason I failed is I didn't even get that word right. Since you asked I thought I'd better re-check my sources, according to which: 'Rinko' is a bike bag.

[Orangey]

FWIW I use the high speed line in to St Pancras every day. Before the Olympics they started displaying the "Welcome to fold" posters which concerned me, but no-one actually enforced them. I talked to one of their managers when they had a morning standing around the station, and asked them if they would really be enforcing this during the Olympics as I felt I'd be more dangerous carrying a 10+ Kg lump of spiky metal than wheeling it along. He said that they would be enforcing it, and that their staff should have been enforcing it all along. Fortunately their station staff seemed to have more common sense and in fact I never had any problems wheeling my bike along the platform.
They had another "meet the managers" morning recently and I congratulated them on their staff's common sense - the manager this time said thanks and that they were pleased that I hadn't been asked to fold my bike.
Not sure what that shows other than that the official policy isn't necessarily indicative of what happens.

[kwackers]

As someone whose exit from a train has been brought to a premature halt by the insistence of a Brompton owner to unfold his bike immediately on vacating the train in the vicinity of the door it does occur to me that perhaps the train companies are simply responding to complaints?

[David Cox]

I always get mine to the side and it is discourteous to do otherwise on a crowded platform but I wouldn't think this would generate complaints at the noise level to change policy.

[kwackers]

I always get mine to the side and it is discourteous to do otherwise on a crowded platform but I wouldn't think this would generate complaints at the noise level to change policy.

Whilst I've only ever been stopped once by 'inconsiderate' unfolding - I have witnessed a number of people folding and unfolding them in places I thought were just a tad thoughtless. Not necessarily blocking anyone but definitely in the way and would have benefited from just a little more thought.
Doesn't take much to get some folk to complain and who knows how many complaints it takes to raise something above the noise floor...

[rickybails]

I was told this week by southern manager that the change was in response to customer complaints about folding bike owners.

Unfortunately there are a few inconsiderate folk out there

[CJ]

I always get mine to the side and it is discourteous to do otherwise on a crowded platform but I wouldn't think this would generate complaints at the noise level to change policy.

Whilst I've only ever been stopped once by 'inconsiderate' unfolding - I have witnessed a number of people folding and unfolding them in places I thought were just a tad thoughtless. Not necessarily blocking anyone but definitely in the way and would have benefited from just a little more thought.

To err is human.

But for a cyclist NOT to attract the condemnation of right-thinking Britons, he must be divine.

Doesn't take much to get some folk to complain and who knows how many complaints it takes to raise something above the noise floor...

When the complainee is a cyclist, a single incident is usually found to be quite sufficient.