My Son is hoping to catch a train up Friday evening fro Banbury to the Ard Rock Enduro Swaledale…can he just buy a ticket online and rock up with his bike or does that need to be paid for/ reserved or are there only certain trains that take bikes?

He should check with the operator for “official” line and then be prepared to wing it to actually get anywhere.

Depends on the rail operator. Try to travel at an off-peak time as many won’t let you on during rush hour. Some also require a bike reservation. Best to call the operator first.

Need to read the T’s and C’s for the individual train company(ies) as they are all different. It’s not hard to find links through to them from National Rail booking site.

They pretty much all reserve the right to refuse more than 2 bikes, but I’ve never been challeged, even on mega-busy services.

Usually on longer runs you need to book a bike reservation in advance, limited spaces and first come basis.

They can refuse travel if you try and wing it.

Depends on the train staff/conductor, usually they will ask if you have a reservation but not always ask for proof. Which could obviously backfire if all the spaces are taken.

Going on Trainline.com I’ve had this come up

“Advance Single (OUTWARD) – £52.50

Specified Train Only. No Refunds. This ticket is only valid on CrossCountry services.

What does cross country services mean?

It doesn’t give the opportunity to add ‘ luggage ‘ .

I bought a manchester-euston ticket and specifically asked for a rail booking for my bike – which didn’t happen

so I had to go back to the virgin desk at piccadilly and they gave me a bike booking, I would phone the rail operator and ask them

crosscountry is the operator if I remember correct. it means its not valid if you decide that a midlandmainline train gets you there quicker.

CrossCountry trains is the service operator, you now need to check their T&Cs and if required you will have to call them for the bike reservation.

http://www.crosscountrytrains.co.uk/customer-service/cyclists

And if there is any rail replacement service, they more than likely will not take the bike either.

He’s left it a bit late for buying a train ticket IMO, for this Friday.

I’m not sure a train will go to Richmond, there may be rail replacement buses from Darlington. The buses will not take the bike. A train from Banbury to Darlington this weekend is from £180 return

For any future reference it is always a good idea to book a bike space. Not many websites have facility for bike reservations, but East Coast does. You do NOT have to be on an East Coast route or even part of one to book with them. Reserving a bike space is in the checkout procedure.

Put the bike in a bike bag – it is then luggage.

Job done.

The whole mixed up cycles on train policy doesn’t help matters.
You can understand why Bromptons and Dahons etc. are so popular!

Put the bike in a bike bag – it is then luggage.

+1, you could pretty much move the entire contents of your house on rush hour trains and no-one would bat an eye lid. Try to get your bike into the bike section of a train and people will look at you like you asked to shit on their shoes.

there may be rail replacement buses from Darlington. The buses will not take the bike.

This was the case when I checked trains from Manchester for the same weekend a while ago, I’d check nationalrail.co.uk instead of trainline.co.uk, much more useful IME.

Phone National Rail Enquiries and ask them. They can look up what trains/times he can take the bike on and book him a ticket and a place for the bike there and then. They are very helpful from my experience of occasionally taking a bike on the train during peak hours.

The bike-in-a-bag solution does, of course, depend on how far you have to travel at either end of the train jpurney, as you have to carry the bag – either with the bike in it or empty, while you ride the bike

Bike in a bike box, dump it at the other end. Job done.

Book on the east-coast website. That allows you to book a bike on a train on-line (applies for any service and operator!)

As above, check for disruptions to the route tho, otherwise you might end up on a bus.

Tough garden bin liners: one for wheels, one for frame and fork. Stuff them into rucksack when you get there and you can use them to get home again, and they’re very unlikely to ask you what’s in them (and not sure they’re allowed to either).

My mate does this on the usually super-fussy French TGV to get to the Alps at least once a year.

Booking in advance is a waste of time ime, it’s the driver/guard that has the last word.

If the train is full it makes no difference whether you’ve booked in advance or not, they’re not going to kick walk on passengers off so you can get on.

Been turned away despite booking and even then, if you get on, the ‘bike racks’ are often used for baggage storage, inevitably you spend the journey stood with your bike in the carrage exit, next to the toilets.

Who’s clever idea was it to get rid of the guards carriage?