Booking a bike with GWR... Oh the saga

[icowden]

Well, I find this all very hard to believe. I have been told on multiple occasions that the Famous Five use these trains when they are out and about, and everyone knows that the Five (well the 4 human ones) travel by bicycle all the time when they aren't on trains.

I'm sure that GWR wouldn't have failed to provide at least 4 cycle carriers per carriage based on their Advertising campaign.

Or should we complain to the ASA?

 

[T4tomo]

Train is already booked and at £24, likely to be less than petrol to get there.

I would make a massive fuss in public on twitter with full electronic stamping of feet and see if that works. Companies tend to be less shoot when they know the public is watching.

 

[KnittyNorah]

A folder isn't really appropriate for off-road up and over Dartmoor and Exmoor though, is it?

Well, it's not exactly ideal, but if it's the only bike you they'll let you get on the train with ... - and look at some of the places riders go to with their Brommies!

 

[Jon George]

My heart goes out to everyone experiencing the problems of booking a place for a bike on a train, but just before the pandemic hit I purchased a Brompton (Super light-weight - a bonus of a legacy from my late father-in-law who would have loved how it 'folds') for the reason of guaranteeing that if I have a space on a train for any train-cycle-pub tours around Suffolk, my bike does too. (And I'm prepared to tackle quite a lot of adverse surfaces on it.)
As an aside, on a DVD Christmas present some years ago, I have seen film of how trains and ferries etc used to cater for bikes before and just after the WW2. It made my jaw drop. Perhaps there will come a tripping point in the future when train operators realise they could get substantially more business if they expand/guarantee the bike storage.

 

[briantrumpet]

Just a thought (and you've probably already thought of this anyway, but here goes) could you take slower trains that don't require reservations? This might involve changing.

eg today the 11:55 from Bristol Temple Meads to Penzance, calls at Plymouth 14:32 (This is the 11:00 from Cardiff Central to Penzance) does not require reservations according to National Rail Enquiries. But I'm a complete idiot so I may have got some things wrong.

Of course it could be a bit nail biting as you could get unlucky and be told that there's no room for your bike, as it's first come first served.
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Edit. A bit more digging on https://www.opentraintimes.com/ suggests this is a class 158 DMU (Sprinter).

Edit. And I've even found a picture of the weedy bike storage in a GWR class 158. It's at 7:44 in this Youtube video.
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Yup. think that's what you get on the Tarka Line from Exeter to Barnstaple... utterly inadequate. Even on the first service of the day last time I did it (7am on a Bank Holiday) there were six cyclists waiting on the platform, all thinking "Hmmmbugger" ... well, we kinda managed to squeeze five bikes in the solitary space on a 3-carriage train, and the sixth bike got taken into the carriage where we were the only occupants, Thankfully the 'train manager' (aka 'guard') was not a jobsworth, and squeezed around the bike to manage his train.

It's a farce.

 

[HelenD123]

Facebook ads threw up this interesting looking folding mountain bike. There's a review around which gave it a good test. I love my Airnimal Joey for its flexibility with train travel.