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Bikes on trains in London

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  • October 26, 2016 at 8:07 pm #26440
    gr3g0ree

    Hi everyone.

    Will have to take a fast route to London zone 1 so I went to ask ahead and got different answers at 2x different stations in London. Conductor at Hounslow said yes. TFL guy at Clapham Junction said no.
    Am I allowed to take a non-foldable bike on a train heading to Waterloo between 6-7pm from any trainstation? Best would be to get off at Waterloo, what about other stations, Victoria, Vauxhal?

    Did anyone took a bike on a train at that time?

    Ta

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  • October 30, 2016 at 10:55 am #880985
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    Al__S

    each operator has different

    each operator has different restrictions, and even on the same train there can be different restrictions depending upon origin and destination. And there are oh so many operators and brands of operators in London. By terminal:

    Fenchurch Street

     – c2c

    Liverpool Street

     – Greater Anglia

     – Stansted Express

     – TfL Rail (pre-Crossrail)

     – Overground

     – (c2c at weekends)

    Kings Cross

     – Great Northern

     – Virgin Trains East Coast

     – Hull Trains

     – Grand Central

    St Pancras

     – Thameslink

     – East Midland Trains

     – Southeastern

     – Eurostar

    Euston

     – London Midland

     – Virgin Trains

     – (Overground)

     – Caledonian Sleeper

    Marylebone

     – Chiltern

    Paddington

     – Great Western (very different restrictions on local and High Speed/Sleeper services)

     – Heathrow Express

     – Heathrow Connect

     – (Chiltern once a day)

    Victoria

     – Southern

     – Gatwick Express

     – (Southeastern)

    Charing Cross

     – (Southeastern)

    Waterloo

     – SouthWest Trains

     Cannon Street

     – (Southeast)

    London Bridge

     – (Southern)

     – (Southeast)

     – (Thameslink)

     

    Other:

    London Underground (Subsurface lines)

    London Underground (Deep tube lines)

    DLR

    (Overground)

    Tramlink

     

    For just Thameslink and Great Northern, this is the guide to restrictions. Simple, yes? 

     

    October 28, 2016 at 9:36 am #880983
    0
    Dnnnnnn
    matthewn5 wrote:
    The Overground is good – bikes seem fine much of the time.

    But restrictions as per an earlier link still apply – my other half has been denied boarding between 6:30-7pm. Of course lots of the stations aren’t barrier controlled and there’s little sign of staff so you may well be OK in many cases.

    October 27, 2016 at 7:52 pm #880981
    0
    matthewn5

    The Overground is good –

    The Overground is good – bikes seem fine much of the time.

    October 27, 2016 at 3:56 pm #880979
    0
    Dnnnnnn
    dottigirl wrote:
    Duncann wrote:
    “Bicycles cannot join or leave trains bound for London Waterloo, Reading, Hook, Alton, Guildford and Dorking, due to arrive at London Waterloo between 07:15 and 10:00 inclusive and between 16:45 – 19:00.” www.southwesttrains.co.uk/travelling-with-us/cycle-policy–schemes

    You could try the “it’s not a bike, it’s luggage” angle – might work better if could you wrap/bag it?

    A-ha, you need to click on the link and read the exact phrasing in the pdf.

    https://www.southwesttrains.co.uk/globalassets/forms/cyclesontrains2010map.pdf

    At stations shown in red, cycles may not join or leave trains due to arrive at London Waterloo
    between 0715 and 1000 inclusive.
    At stations shown in red, cycles may not join or leave trains due to leave from London Waterloo
    between 1645 and 1900 inclusive.

    To my understanding, you can travel in the reverse to rush hour, and therefore going inbound would be OK.

    That makes a lot more sense – shame they’ve said different/wrong on the first page!

    October 27, 2016 at 2:57 pm #880977
    0
    dottigirl
    turnerjohn wrote:
    was my understand bi-cycles had to be folded but as long as they are thats fine any time of the day – its the case on the tube.

    Totally incorrect. You can take non-folding bicycles on certain Tube lines, out of rush hours.

    http://content.tfl.gov.uk/bicycles-on-public-transport.pdf

     

    October 27, 2016 at 12:30 pm #880975
    0
    ktache

       Always be nice to the

       Always be nice to the guard, smile, good morning/afternoon/evening.  Talk to them, you might be alowed on this one…

       If they say no, accept with good grace and try the next one.  Same as if it’s too busy and you really shouldn’t.

       Sometimes it was too busy on my FGW Reading to North Camp, on which the bicycle was permitted. Would be nice and ask the guard if I could get on the SWT to Wokingham, on which I was not allowed, and they never said no (always very empty, huge train).  I’d have to wait 20 minutes at Wokingham, then the next FGW would show up, crowded, half would get  out, and I’d get on to North Camp, or Farnborough North.  Sorted.

       It can even work on the big trains, though local stoppers are easier,  politeness and pleasantness can get you far, especially if kind of genuine.

    October 27, 2016 at 12:27 pm #880973
    0
    turnerjohn

    was my understand bi-cycles

    was my understand bi-cycles had to be folded but as long as they are thats fine any time of the day – its the case on the tube.

    October 27, 2016 at 11:58 am #880971
    0
    MoutonDeMontagne

    between 6 and 7 pm, then yes

    between 6 and 7 pm, then yes i believe you’ll be fine heading TO Waterloo, but not FROM Waterloo.

    In practise, it depends on the train, I often used to have people getting on at Clapham on London bound trains in the morning rush hour with non-folders and no-one stopped them. 

    October 27, 2016 at 11:39 am #880969
    0
    dottigirl
    Duncann wrote:
    “Bicycles cannot join or leave trains bound for London Waterloo, Reading, Hook, Alton, Guildford and Dorking, due to arrive at London Waterloo between 07:15 and 10:00 inclusive and between 16:45 – 19:00.” www.southwesttrains.co.uk/travelling-with-us/cycle-policy–schemes

    You could try the “it’s not a bike, it’s luggage” angle – might work better if could you wrap/bag it?

     

     

    A-ha, you need to click on the link and read the exact phrasing in the pdf.

    https://www.southwesttrains.co.uk/globalassets/forms/cyclesontrains2010map.pdf

    At stations shown in red, cycles may not join or leave trains due to arrive at London Waterloo
    between 0715 and 1000 inclusive.
    At stations shown in red, cycles may not join or leave trains due to leave from London Waterloo
    between 1645 and 1900 inclusive.
     

    To my understanding, you can travel in the reverse to rush hour, and therefore going inbound would be OK.

    October 27, 2016 at 11:07 am #880967
    0
    Edgeley

    The whole bike on trains

    The whole bike on trains thing is incredibly confusing, with different traincos having different rules. 

    Generally, I think you aren’t allowed bikes on trains due into or out of Waterloo in the rush hour.

     

     

    October 27, 2016 at 10:35 am #880965
    0
    webster

    The trains are very busy at

    The trains are very busy at those times and people will be struggling to get on in general. Even if they were technically allowed I still wouldn’t.

    October 27, 2016 at 10:13 am #880963
    0
    Dnnnnnn

    “Bicycles cannot join or

    “Bicycles cannot join or leave trains bound for London Waterloo, Reading, Hook, Alton, Guildford and Dorking, due to arrive at London Waterloo between 07:15 and 10:00 inclusive and between 16:45 – 19:00.” www.southwesttrains.co.uk/travelling-with-us/cycle-policy–schemes

    You could try the “it’s not a bike, it’s luggage” angle – might work better if could you wrap/bag it?

     

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