Cycling UK Forum

dai_t75 wrote: Oh well, I'll put it down to experience. 10 Days until we set off

Please let us all know how you get on

dai_t75 wrote:Still not overly happy about not having a physical ticket, but doesn't seem to be anything I can do! . I would have happily paid a premium for not having the hassle of changing trains. Shame I can't get a refund for advance tickets. Oh well, I'll put it down to experience. 10 Days until we set off

I think you are just suffering from 'pre-match nerves', nothing unusual about that. You have had a written assurance that your tickets are correct for the journey, nothing more you can do, I'm sure all will be well.
Now you still have ten days to think of something else to fret about before you set out.
Good luck on your LEJOG, and enjoy

end2ender wrote:Have you thought about using a courier for your bike, i know there is a place in Thurso that will take delivery for you.

We are flying back from Wick and using a courier for the bikes - http://www.johnogroatsbiketransport.co.uk/. Going to be taking the bikes on the train with us down to Penzance to start though.

end2ender wrote:Please let us all know how you get on

Definitely will do! It's the least I can do after all the great help people on this board have given me.

Ron wrote:I think you are just suffering from 'pre-match nerves', nothing unusual about that. You have had a written assurance that your tickets are correct for the journey, nothing more you can do, I'm sure all will be well.
Now you still have ten days to think of something else to fret about before you set out.
Good luck on your LEJOG, and enjoy

You are probably right. It's just a few horror stories I have read on other boards about trains and bikes. The train leaves at 10 so should hopefully avoid the busiest times anyway.

Haha, quite right! Once I have the panniers packed I will be happy. Thanks for the support

This might be a step in the right direction.
http://road.cc/content/news/96206-natio ... -functions

Whenever I've bought tickets with a bike reservation at the station, I've always got physical bike tickets, one marked "ATTACH TO CYCLE" and one marked "PASSENGER COPY". However, recently I had to book tickets over the phone (I would have done it online, cheaper and easier, but you can't reserve bike spaces online ). I was sent an email for the tickets, but given a code over the phone for the bike reservation, and told to take it to the ticket office when I travelled. When I did this, I was just given an A4 print-out rather than the usual tickets.

The whole system is bizarre and largely broken.

I'm another Bromptoneer. Having had hassle in the past, it's wonderful to just roll up, fold up and relax on the train with the Brommie cosily ensconsed in the luggage space.

T wrote:...but you can't reserve bike spaces online

If you use East Coast, Scotrail, & others, which I can't remember use the same background system (you don't have to use any of their trains - I've used East Coast to book a journey using Virgin & Crosscountry, for example) you can book your bike reservation as part of the seat bookings (you have to book a seat, even if it isn't compulsory for the ticket, to make the bike reservation). The other advantage is you don't pay the Trainline booking fees, only postage if you get the tickets sent out to you.

Rick.

RickH wrote:

T wrote:...but you can't reserve bike spaces online

If you use East Coast, Scotrail, & others, which I can't remember use the same background system (you don't have to use any of their trains - I've used East Coast to book a journey using Virgin & Crosscountry, for example) you can book your bike reservation as part of the seat bookings (you have to book a seat, even if it isn't compulsory for the ticket, to make the bike reservation). The other advantage is you don't pay the Trainline booking fees, only postage if you get the tickets sent out to you.

Rick.

Assuming this works (it looks like it should...), then that is a very useful piece of information. Thank you! I've looked at booking through several of the train companies before, but didn't happen to hit any of the ones that offered bike reservations.

Having now completed the trip thought I better report back on my train experience:

Train 1 - Bridgend to Bristol, FGW.
No problems here, there was a carriage at the back of the train with about 6 spaces for bikes on a rack with a velcro band to fasten around the bike to hold it in place. Think there was only 1 other bike in there when we loaded up, but we were never asked for any booking details the conductor just opened the door for us.

Train 2 - Bristol to Plymouth, Crosscountry.
Not too pleased with this one. We basically had to put the bike in the conductors section. It was just an open space at the front of the train, i.e. no bike racks. We tried to wedge the bikes together and against the wall to stop them falling over. When we arrived at Plymouth the inevitable had happened and the bikes were on the floor. Luckily our bikes are cheap so we weren't too worried about damage.

Train 3 - Plymouth to Penzance, FGW.
Same as train 1 above with the only difference being there were a few bikes already in there. Again we were not asked for any booking details.


Overall we had a fairly painless experience. However, I think a big thing in our favour was the day and time we travelled - Thursday between the rush hour periods. I can imagine the spaces getting taken up very quickly on weekends and can't imagine the conductors doing anything about it even if you had booked in advance. One other thing I noticed was just how unsecure the whole thing is. Anyone could have grabbed our bikes at a stop and we wouldn't have known until we got to our stop.

I don't think we will take our bikes by train again in the near future. As I mentioned earlier in the thread for a few quid more we could have had a one way car rental (I realise this option won't be feasible for everyone), and we would not have to worry about the bikes falling over or potentially being stolen.

Anyway, those were my thoughts/experiences! It sounds as if the new booking system still has a few issues, but as you say hopefully a step in the right direction.