9/7/59

Right for cycling way?convenient and safety?



Right  for cycling way?


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http://taiwanincycles.blogspot.com/2011/01/taiwan-railway-administration-bicycle.html

http://www.spokes.org.uk/2016/03/cuts-coming-to-train-bike-spaces/
http://www.freewheelingfrance.com/planning-a-trip/bikes-and-french-trains.html

http://www.14degrees.org/traveling-with-a-tern-folding-bike-on-the-train-in-japan/

http://www.seat61.com/bike-by-train.htm
http://ahpekbiker.blogspot.com/2016/03/bringing-folding-bikes-onto-malaysian.html

On this page...

...you'll find advice on how to take you bike with you by train from the UK to countries all over Europe.  You can take your bicycle with you on many European trains, though the arrangements vary on different services and in different countries.  If you have any feedback on taking bikes to Europe by train that might help fellow cyclists,please let me know.  Think of your journey as a 3-stage process:

How to take your bike by train from the UK to...

Folding bikes, tandems, motorbikes...

OK, lets deal with these first.  The rest of this page will deal with normal one-person non-folding bikes.
  • Small folding bikes (for example, Bromptons) count as normal luggage, so are no problem on any UK train or on Eurostar or any European train, although it's best to put them in a cover.  On Eurostar, the maximum dimension must not exceed 85cm.
  • Tandems are often not carried on trains at all, even ones that take regular bikes.  In the UK, only 5 or 6 out of over 20 train companies will carry tandems, including Virgin, East Coast, First Great Western InterCity and selected Greater Anglia routes including the ones linking London, Ipswich & Norwich to Harwich for the ferry to Holland, see www.tandem-club.org.uk/_tandemsontrains.htm for details.
  • Motorbikes are not carried on any regular European passenger trains at all, only on special car-carrying motorail trains which run on certain dates on a few key holiday routes, so for motorcycle transport see the Motorail page.

Step 1, taking your bike on British trains...

You can take your bike free of charge on almost all British trains, except during Monday-Friday peak hours around London & other big cities.  Sometimes bikes are carried on a turn-up-&-hop-on basis, but on many trains there are only a limited number of bike spaces so you must make a reservation for your bike beforehand.  The arrangements vary on each UK train operator, but they are explained on these recommended websites:

Step 2, getting your bike to Paris, Bru



vary on each UK train operator, but they are explained on these recommended websites:

Step 2, getting your bike to Paris, Brussels or Amsterdam...

The next step is to get your bike to Paris or Brussels on Eurostar or train & ferry, or to the Netherlands by Dutch Flyer train & ferry.

Option (a), take your bike bike on Eurostar to Paris, Brussels or Lille...

  • Eurostar carries a limited number of bikes on each train between London and Paris, Brussels or Lille for £30 each way.  You need to call their luggage service (called Eurodespatch) to check availability and book your bike onto the same train as yourself. 
    Bikes are not carried to or from Ebbsfleet, Ashford, Marne la Vallée, or on the direct Eurostars to the south of France or French Alps.
  • If you want to take a bike on Eurostar: 
    First call Eurostar's Eurodespatch luggage service as shown on the Eurostar bike page to check availability of bike spaces on your chosen departure.
    Then buy your Eurostar passenger ticket in the normal way.
    Then call Eurodespatch again to pre-book your bike onto the same train as yourself.  This costs £30 each way.  Make sure you have your Eurostar booking reference handy as they'll ask for this.
    On the day of travel, you must report to the Eurodespatch baggage office at least an hour before your Eurostar leaves.  You can either:
    (a) take your bike fully assembled;
    (b) place your bike in a special zip-up bike bag with the wheels, pedals & saddle removed and handlebars turned to reduce bulk, so that the dimensions do not exceed 120cm x 90cm or
    (b) you can semi-dismantle the bike when you reach the baggage office (loosening & turning the handlebars, removing the front wheel, removing the pedals, etc.) and put it in a bike box which they will provide for you at no additional charge.  Staff in the office allegedly have the necessary tools and will help you dismantle the necessary parts of your bike, but feedback would be appreciated.
  • If you don't or can't pre-book your bike, you can just turn up on the day and pay £25 one-way to send a bike on Eurostar as registered luggage, but in this case they can't guarantee it'll go on the same train as you.  All they will guarantee is that it will be available for collection at the destination station within 24 hours.  Clearly this may impact on any onward connections!  Again, see the Eurostar website bicycle information page for details.
  • Eurostar used to allow you to take a bike in a bike bag up to 120cm free of charge as normal luggage, stowed in the normal luggage racks the end of each coach - which was consistent with the normal policy on other French Railways trains.  Unfortunately Eurostar broke away from this standard French Railways policy in late 2012 and now only allows luggage of any sort if it doesn't exceed 85cm in any one dimension.  This rules out any free-of-charge bikes in bags other than Brompton-style folding bikes or children's bikes.

Option (b), go London to Paris by train & ferry via Dover-Calais...

  • You might also consider the ferry alternatives to Eurostar.  For the Netherlands, Belgium, Germany, Scandinavia & Eastern Europe, even Switzerland & Italy, I'd suggest the excellent Dutch Flyer train & ferry via Harwich-Hoek van Holland as shown in option (d) below.  For Paris, France, Spain, or a more direct route to Switzerland & Italy you can take train & ferry between London & Paris.  To do the journey overnight with a comfortable en suite cabin on the overnight Portsmouth-Le Havre ferry, see option (c) below.  Here's how to travel from London to Paris with a bike in one day via Dover-Calais:
  • London-Paris via Dover-Calais.  To find out how long this takes and what the journey is like, see the London to Paris by train & ferry page.  Here is the info you need specific to taking a bike on that route:
  • Step 1, travel from London (Victoria, Charing Cross or St Pancras) to Dover Priory by train.  Bikes are carried free of charge between London and Dover on all trains except those leaving London between 16:00 and 19:00 on Monday-Friday or arriving in London before 10:00 on Monday-Friday.  You can double-check South Eastern's bike policy at www.atob.org.uk/bike-rail &www.nationalrail.co.uk/passenger_services/cyclists.html.  Cycle the mile or two from Dover Priory to Dover Eastern Docks.
  • Step 2, take a ferry from Dover to Calais.  Incredibly, it can cost less to go with a bike then as a foot passenger - from £20 with bike, but £30 as a foot passenger without a bike!  Book this in advance at www.poferries.com.  Cycle the mile or two from Calais Maritime to Calais Ville station.
  • Step 3, take a train from Calais Ville to Paris Gare du Nord.  There are various types of train, some take bikes for €10, some don't take bikes at all unless in a bike bag, some take bikes for free.  The classic route via Boulogne and Amiens might be best as bikes are carried free on the local TER trains from Calais to Boulogne, and the connecting Intercité trains from Boulogne to Paris.  On the Boulogne to Paris trains, cycles are carried in the special bicycle compartment which is normally in coach 14, marked with a bicycle logo.  To find a train which takes bikes, use the journey planner at www.captaintrain.com, trains which carry bikes will have a tick-box for bikes in the pricing box when you select that train in the search results - the journey planner favours faster routes, so to find the route via Boulogne you might have to break the journey into Calais-Boulogne and Boulogne-Paris.  Pre-book the French train for the cheapest prices as you'll pay full-price on the day - but if you pre-book, allow plenty of time, say 60 or even 90 minutes minimum between ferry arrival and train departure, in case of any delay to the ferry.

Option (c), go London to Paris by train & ferry overnight with cabin via Portsmouth...

  • The convenient overnight option where bikes go free on both UK & French trains!  For details of times, costs and what this journey is like,see the London to Paris by train & ferry page.  Here's the additional info you need specific to taking a bike on this route:
  • Step 1, travel from London Waterloo to Portsmouth & Southsea in the early evening, journey time around 1h30 - bikes go free on UK trains, but on Mondays-Fridays you'll need to leave late afternoon, before the evening peak period when bikes aren't carried.  Cycle the mile or two from Portsmouth & Southsea station to Portsmouth Continental Ferry Port.
  • Step 2, pre-book you & your bike on the convenient overnight Portsmouth-Le Havre ferry run by Brittany Ferries, www.brittanyferries.co.ukwith a comfortable cabin with shower & toilet.  She usually sails around 23:15, arriving around 08:00.  Next morning, cycle from the ferry to Le Havre station.
  • Step 3, take a train from Le Havre to Paris St Lazare - and on this route bikes also go free, check times and prices at www.captaintrain.comand check that there's a 'bike' tick-box shown when you select the train you want in the search results.  There's usually a train around 10:00 arriving Paris around 12:10.
  • This route works in a similar way in the return Paris to London direction, but there isn't always an overnight sailing, so just checkwww.brittanyferries.co.uk.  Always allow plenty of time between train and ferry.

Option (d), take your bike from London to Amsterdam by Dutch Flyer...

  • What is the Dutch Flyer?  The Dutch Flyer is a bike-friendly train-ferry-train service between London and Amsterdam via the Stena Line Harwich-Hoek van Holland ferry.  There's a time-effective overnight service leaving London Liverpool Street station every day at 19:32, you sleep on the luxurious Stena Line superferry from Harwich to Hoek van Holland a private cabin with en suite shower & toilet, satellite TV and free WiFi 21:00-08:00, and arrive in Amsterdam by connecting train around 10:01 next morning.  Highly recommended!  There are also easy connections for Germany and all points beyond.  See the Netherlands page for full details of the timetable, cabin types, and how it all works, but be aware that if you are taking a bike, you cannot use the special combined train & ferry tickets, you'll need to buy separate train & ferry tickets as described below.
  • How much does it cost? 
    (1) A train ticket from London to Harwich costs around £32 one-way bought on the day, unlimited availability, no reservation necessary and your bike goes free.  However, if you book in advance you can get fares from as little as £8 upwards, no refunds, no changes to travel plans, only valid on the specific train you book.  You can check fares from anywhere in Britain to or from Harwich at any train operator site such aswww.virgintrains.co.uk.
    (2)  A ferry crossing from Harwich to Hoek van Holland costs around £38 each way for 1 passenger with 1 bike, plus the cost of a cabin, see cabin types & costs here.  You can check ferry fares online at www.stenaline.co.uk.
    (3)  Hoek van Holland Haven to Amsterdam Centraal costs around €17 + bike ticket around €6, each way.  You can check prices (but not buy tickets) from Hoek van Holland Haven to anywhere in the Netherlands at www.ns.nl, or from Hoek to anywhere in Germany atwww.bahn.de/en.
  • How to buy tickets when taking a bike:  You can't use a Dutch Flyer combined train & ferry ticket if you want to take your bike, as they have stopped allowing bikes with these special integrated fares.  But you can still use the Dutch Flyer service, you just have to buy separate train & ferry tickets instead:
    Step 1:  Go to www.stenaline.co.uk and book the ferry from Harwich to Hoek van Holland with a comfortable cabin and bike space reserved.
    Step 2:  Now go to a UK train operator website such as www.virgintrains.co.uk and buy train tickets from London or any other station to Harwich International, the station right at the ferry terminal.  You can buy on the day, no reservation necessary, but you can get much cheaper tickets if you pre-book a specific train in advance.
    Step 3:  You can then buy your Dutch train ticket plus the necessary bicycle ticket from the reception desk on deck 9 on board the Stena Line ferry (much easier than using the ticket machines at Hoek van Holland Haven station, which don't accept credit cards or banknotes).  Alternatively, if you're heading to or via Germany, the German Railways website www.bahn.de/en can sell tickets from Hoek van Holland Haven to any station in Germany with cheap fares if you pre-book, but you'll still need to buy a Dutch Railways bike ticket on board the ferry (or, if coming the other way, at a station).
  • Taking bikes on the train from London to Harwich:  You can take bikes on trains between London & Harwich free of charge, except on trains leaving London between 16:30 & 18:30 on Mondays-Fridays or (in the other direction) trains arriving in London between 07:45 & 09:45 on Mondays-Fridays.  No reservation is necessary for your bike if it's a direct local train to Harwich, but a bike reservation is necessary if you use one of the limited-stop London-Norwich inter-city services between London and Manningtree, you have to reserve your bike on these trains by calling Greater Anglia (www.abelliogreateranglia.co.uk).  But there's no problem using the recommended 19:32 direct train from London to Harwich which connects nicely with the overnight ferry, nor with the direct morning trains from London to Harwich which connect with the daytime ferry.  In the inwards direction, the time restrictions obviously mean that if you arrive at Harwich on the overnight ferry from Hoek on a weekday, you'll have to wait an hour or so and catch a later train to London than you would have done as a foot passenger, so you arrive in London after 09:45.  You can check the arrangements for bikes on any British train company at www.atob.org.uk/bike-rail.
  • Taking bikes on the ferry from Harwich to Hoek van Holland:  When your train arrives at Harwich International, as you're a cyclist not a foot passenger you need to go up onto the footbridge (a lift is available) and out of the main station entrance, then cycle round to the motorists' ferry terminal so you can check in as a road user and ride your bike onto the ferry's car deck.  Park the bike on board the ferry where you're shown and head upstairs to the cabins & passenger accommodations.  While you are on the ferry, buy a Dutch Railways bicycle ticket from the information desk on deck 9 - the announcement that tickets for the Dutch railways are on sale at the information desk will remind you to do this!  On arrival at Hoek van Holland, the ferry terminal is right next to Hoek van Holland Haven station.
  • Taking bikes on Dutch trains from Hoek van Holland to Amsterdam:  You can take bikes on any Dutch domestic train if you buy a bike ticket for around €6, except during peak hours when bikes are banned.  Peak hours are defined as 06:30-09:00 & 16:30-18:00 Mondays-Fridays.  So if you arrive at Hoek van Holland on the overnight ferry at 07:45 on a weekday, you'll need to wait an hour or so and catch the first train to Rotterdam after 09:00, changing at Rotterdam to arrive in Amsterdam around 11:30.  But don't worry, Hoek van Holland is a nice little town, with a good supermarket and places for a coffee.  In the return direction, the recommended trains from Amsterdam to Hoek to connect with both daytime and overnight ferries all leave outside peak times, so no problem.

Other ferry options...











https://thinkingaboutcycling.com/2013/02/
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