[gekebiba]

My bike (Croix de Fer 20, 2021, blue) was stolen this morning from Avanti West Coast train in Coventry. A man got on with a cheap bike at Watford Junction and got off in Coventry with mine. Avanti requires to store bikes on a separate carriage with next to a drive, where only crew has access to. The train manager provided access to the thief and watched him taking my bike instead of his. Avanti does not allow locking bikes on trains. I’m wondering if I can pursue a compensation from the train company as it didn’t take reasonable care to prevent this theft? The loss is estimated at £800.

Topic

[HLaB]

Unfortunately they got away  

Unfortunately they got away :-/ 

[john_smith]

And what happened to the

And what happened to the would-be thief?

[HLaB]

SCUM! My colleague came into

SCUM! My colleague came into the office a bit bruised one day.  Some scum had tried to nick his Brompton from the train. He managed just to grab it and wrestle it off them. 

[wycombewheeler]

IanGlasgow wrote:

I agree with this. I’ve only ever travelled with my bike on trains where you can sit beside the bike. 

aside from the ridiculously small lockers, reservations that don’t mean shit if someone get’s their luggage in there first. My peeve with GWR is that when making a bike booking you must reserve a seat. That seat is almost certain not to be adjacent to the bike lockers.

Why would any cyclist want to be 3 carriages away from their bike?

Also impossible to book from Maidenhead to Bristol/Exeter with a bike booking. Bikes must be booked, bike bookings nead a seat reservation, but this is not possible on the short leg from Maidenhead to Reading which is a free for all. So two tickets must be bought, increasing the expense.

[essexian]

I am really sorry to hear

I am really sorry to hear about your loss. I dislike travelling with Avanti for a number of reasons including the fact that it can be hard to keep an eye on your bike…whilst I have had at least three experiences where no one has been on hand to open the door for me at my destination station! 

However, I note your comment: “Avanti does not allow locking bikes on trains.” I always lock my bike when travelling with a massive D lock. The way I read the sign is that you can’t lock your bike to the train but locking the wheels to the frame etc doesn’t seem to be banned. I would hope that if someone tried to carry a locked bike off of a train would be challenged by the Train/Station staff…. 

Finally, I’ve been on trains where I’ve booked and turned up to find the storage area full of “bikes*” without resevation slips: mostly into Birmingham. Its a madness. We need better bike spaces on trains…although these would quickly been filled up with suitcases, pushchairs and other general junk.

 

*they are mostly junk. 

[wtjs]

BTP should be able to

BTP should be able to identify the thief

I foresee BTP following the example of the terrestrial police and resorting to the GDPR dodge: we can’t tell you whether we hold that information as it could lead to the identification of a person who could then suffer a telling-off.

[IanGlasgow]

If bikes have to be booked on

If bikes have to be booked on the train then – unless they paid cash at the ticket office – Avanti should have details of who else had a bike on that train. BTP should be able to identify the thief. That and CCTV from the stations where the thief got on and/or off.

[kevgravelkev]

If you’re a member of Cycling

If you’re a member of Cycling UK I’d get ont to their legal team with this.

[wtjs]

I’ve only ever travelled with

I’ve only ever travelled with my bike on trains where you can sit beside the bike

I must put in a commendation for Merseyrail here- excellent service from Southport down through Liverpool to Chester. I have travelled with a trailer both ways. Lots of places for bikes, although it can be hard work on the lifts. It’s also easy going up the escalators, although I haven’t yet braved a downwards trip.

[IanGlasgow]

I agree with this. I’ve only

I agree with this. I’ve only ever travelled with my bike on trains where you can sit beside the bike. I accept responsibility for the bike in that situation.
From what I’ve read Avanti make you reserve a space for the bike, print the reservation and attach it to the bike so they can see whose bike it is. Passengers have no access without supervision from Avanti staff – so they’re taking responsibility for the bike and preventing you from doing so yourself.

The wording on their website is about the “secure area” that only staff can access and the need to show your reservation to collect the bike.
“Your printed bike reservation will need to be shown to our team members to gain access to the train to board your bike, it will also be required to retrieve your bike on reaching your destination” – in this case they’ve let someone leave with a bike without checking their reservation matches the bike they’ve taken.

https://www.avantiwestcoast.co.uk/travel-information/onboard/bikes

[HoarseMann]

Yes, I think they have failed

Yes, I think they have failed in their duty of care to you here and I would pursue compensation.

You will need to report the theft (if not done so already) with BTP https://www.btp.police.uk/ to get a crime number.

It might also be worth registering it on the lost property website in case the thief dumps it: https://www.lostproperty.org/ and on https://www.bikeregister.com/

Avanti’s website notes that a ticket is required to access the ‘secure’ area for bike storage and they will assist in retrieving your bicycle, that sounds like responsibility to me:

https://www.avantiwestcoast.co.uk/travel-information/onboard/bikes

[Author]

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