Cycling UK Forum

Anyone managed to get unpacked, unbooked bikes onto Corail Lunea trains ?

I have non-refundable Corail lunea train tickets to Bayonne (via Rail Europe) and didn't book at same time as booking tickets. Rail Europe tell me my only option is to use a bike bag (which is dooable but a pain in the B T M)

If anyone has manged to get them post tickert purchase can you let me know how ? would be much appreciated

Same, except I'm booked on from Perpignan to Toulouse on a corail teoz then lunea to Paris. The last thing you want is to chance it, get told there isn't a space then....panic. Luckily, I have a friend who can provide a bike bag in Perpignan. Just need to find a nice, inexpensive bag now. Prices seem ridiculously high for these - £39 quidish cheapest I've seen.

Maybe use the CTC plastic bag? According to a CTC colleague SNCF staff don't care what sort of bag its in, just so long as it's packed and looks about the right size. (Apparently most of the purpose-made bags are actually a bit more than 120cm long, but nobody measures them.)

Am still interest if anyone has got unbooked bikes on Corail Lunea without packing them in bags & if so how

I can recommend viewing the SNCF video "train+bike - the history of Love" ,. very French - perhaps not for the ultra feminist ! link below:

http://www.sncf.fr/en_EN/flash/

I'm interested in the CTC placcy bag, but how to buy one when the shops down for mainainance? And somebody must've tried to get a bike on a corail lunea or teoz train.

alas i have just sold mine on ebay. If you can spend half an hour or so taking a few bits off the bike and wrapping it in something such as plastic or lightweight ripstop nylon and taping it up you can take the bike on any train anywhere. OK, it's harder to carry it across the platform on to the train and then keep an eye on it to make sure no one drops a heavy suitcase on it, but if you can just bear that bit of aggro you can take it anywhere. I made a purpose-built bag for it, which made life easier than dealing with yards of plastic and tape but cheap plastic covering it, wheels off, handlebars turned and pedals off, it's not much aggro really.

I recently caught a Corail lunea train to Tarbes. I just took off the wheels and put it in an unpadded bike bag. They just want it covered, but it's unlikely they will let you take your bike on the train uncovered. I wouldn't risk it.

hoogerbooger wrote:Am still interest if anyone has got unbooked bikes on Corail Lunea without packing them in bags & if so how

I've used corail lunea with an unbooked bike and without packing the bike in a bag. I found it fairly straigtforward, went to the station (Bourg St Maurice), bought a ticket and when the train arrived got on the train with my bike. A ticket inspector type person, shook his head and made disapproving noises (Something about how next time, I should do...., .......) but otherwise it was fairly straightforward.

Hi
I am in the same situation descried in the first post- i booked a ticket online from Paris to Perpignon and rang up to book my bike on and they said i couldn't add it on, i would have to pay lots to rebook the ticket over the phone. I was just wandering if since this thread started if anyone else has been able to turn up without a bike booking for a corail lunea train? Or should i re book the tickets? We're reluctant to take bags because we're cycling for a month and going back from a different station.
Thanks
Jo

i took the pedals off mine and tied two flattened cardboard boxes round it one on each side and they let it through , didn't take the wheels off or anything else

Hi
Just came back from Pyrenees and travelled Paris to Hendaye on Lunea sleeper. bikes were booked, but there is a huge bike storage section on the bike carriage, so even if there were a few already on the train I'm sure you could probably get yours on as well. only thing is you might not have your sleeping accommodation in the same carriage?