Bikes left at railway stations

[Cush]

Went to town on the bike today and as I knew that there were bike racks on the station and they are the only one's in town that are under cover I went there but of course they had been moved to another part of the station. A group of railway people were hanging round the coffee vendor, so I asked where the racks were and was pointed in the right direction but then one of them spotted my panniers (My Lidl every day one's) and told me I could leave the bike in the station but if I left the panniers on the bike they would be treated as unattended luggage. We spoke but he was positive The panniers could not be left on the bike. Was he just been a Job's worth or was he right? As I see it if the bike could be left unattended in a designated area then there was no harm in leaving the panniers in the same place but I had to carry the panniers in to a meeting and round town for several hours.

 

[4F]

I suppose given the security alerts these days I can understand their viewpoint even though it is a pain in the backside.

 

[upsidedown]

I'd say he was spot on. Before you know it you'd have the army coming to blow your bike up with one of those robots.

 

[The Jogger]

He has a point, although some stations aren't too bothered about things like that.

 

[Soltydog]

At Hull station there are signs saying that panniers must not be left on bikes secured in the station, although most people ignore it & I've not seen the army robot blowing any bikes up lately
Same reason you dont find rubbish bins on platforms at mainline staions, get fed up of people walking round with paper coffee cups asking where the bins are

 

[PaulSB]

I had the same thing at Inverness last summer. Got a lecture for leaving my bike unattended while I was in the shower, I'd just ridden from Ullapool in 40 miles of pouring rain.

 

[wiggydiggy]

Jobsworth

Leave a wind up alarm clock ticking in it

 

[quassleberry]

When I saw the headline I thought it was going to be about the number of bikes stolen/vandalised.

All this week I need to leave my bike at Hull station to travel to Doncaster, I'd asked a driver how safe it would be, he replied the same as anywhere else.

Looking at the few bikes there were at 06.20 and even less at 19.06 a couple had panniers attached different bikes each time and as soltydog said nobody seemed to bother.

 

[Wind in my Air]

Same reason you dont find rubbish bins on platforms at mainline staions, get fed up of people walking round with paper coffee cups asking where the bins are

Maybe that's why you're not allowed panniers, people might dispose of their paper cups in them!

 

[HLaB]

When I saw the headline I thought it was going to be about the number of bikes stolen/vandalised.

I thought it was going to be a thread about all the bikes abandoned/ dumped at stations ;-)

 

[Alembicbassman]

You can pack a hell of a lot of C4 into a bike frame, no need for panniers.

 

[Cush]

Jobsworth

Leave a wind up alarm clock ticking in it

The point I was trying to make (and I hope I dont spoil it worse for those that leave their bikes at stations) is that if I was going to blow up the station then taking the panniers away would not make much difference, the bike could be packed with PE ready to go off, with out the panniers on.
I think it's just another bit of "I made the rule" and yes I would love to leave a clock ticking in a pannier near the Jobsworth but I do need to use that station again and I would hate to disrupt other peoples journeys

 

[Soltydog]

All this week I need to leave my bike at Hull station to travel to Doncaster, I'd asked a driver how safe it would be, he replied the same as anywhere else.

I dont hear many tales of bikes being messed about with at Hull station, although one member of staff had a rear wheel nicked off his Tesco MTB serves them right for not using the secure staff cycle storage.
If I was using the public racks at Hull I'd use the ones about half way down platform 2. It's close to the station managers office & usually more staff than passangers around there, so anyone behaving suspiciously would stand out. Not many drivers will tell you that

 

[Soltydog]

The point I was trying to make (and I hope I dont spoil it worse for those that leave their bikes at stations) is that if I was going to blow up the station then taking the panniers away would not make much difference, the bike could be packed with PE ready to go off, with out the panniers on.
I think it's just another bit of "I made the rule" and yes I would love to leave a clock ticking in a pannier near the Jobsworth but I do need to use that station again and I would hate to disrupt other peoples journeys

Not sure who makes all these 'rules' possible some influence from Transec. A lot of rules such as this will not be enforced, but if you ask a member of staff they have to tell you the rules. A bit like the no smoking law, the railways decided to ban smoking on all railway property, so you cant even smoke on an open platform If someone asks me where they can smoke on a station, I have to inform them of the rules, but if they just light up on the platform I doubt I'd see them

 

[Beardie]

one member of staff had a rear wheel nicked off his Tesco MTB

WHY??? It's not as if it's going to be of any use for anything.