I'm planning on riding from Exmoor to the Peak District next weekend – my friends are doing LEJOG in aid of the Christie hospital – a great cause – and I'm joining them for a few days.

This requires me to take my bike on a train from Macclesfield to Exeter, then onto Barnstaple next Saturday. I tried to make a bike reservation at the time of the ticket for the Macc > Exeter leg, but to no avail – you have to do that nearer the time, they said, as there are none available. I've tried on 7 separate occasions now – via the 'phone to the Trainline and XC Trains (the carrier) and in person at my train station. I'm going round in circles and the last half hour has been spent at my expense on the 'phone to India, being told that I have to just turn up on the day and convince the train manager to take the bike on board.

It sounds to me as if that's the same as trying to convince the pilot on the plane to take my suitcase – and I'm not happy that at such a critical time in the whole plans, I'm probably just flipping a coin to see if my bike can go with me.

Has anyone any experience or any other route to take on this one? I don't want to cancel the ticket as it's cost enough as it is, and I'm getting no sense from anyone at all. All I'm trying to do is use our wonderful integrated transport system… it's embarrassing being British sometimes, isn't it?

Are you going via Bristol or London,

https://www.raileasy.co.uk/go/home/?content=fare.default2main

£68 quid first class, to exeter, then just buy another tiocket to Barnstable

Bin bags – stick your wheels in one, frame with bars sideways in the others and carry it on. Stick it in the luggage rack or on the table and stare aggresively at anybody trying to complain about you taking up the table, not like you are going to doing it on a daily basis.

Thanks project – going direct, and got a ticket (£35 standard class from TheTrainline.com for the Macc to Exeter bit) – the problem's the bike…

Quirrel – that's my current cunning plan – I've got 2 lots of 90cm x 70cm x 30cm packages to play with, so I'll be gettin' me some bubble wrap, I think! 😈 I thought I'd write the dimensions on each one, and put a print out of their 'luggage' page on it too – just for good measure…

Crazy though isn't it?

I had the same when I wanted to do Stockport – Taunton, tha chaps in india wanted to book me 3 separate legs regardless of getting my bike on whereas I only wanted to book if I could be 100% certain of getting the bike on. My local station (not even a mainline on at that) were more than helpful and sorted me in about 10 minutes

A word of warning about the Exeter – Barnstaple leg of your train journey. The trains are usually only two carriages long and get busy at the weekends so there may not be much space even if you do take the wheels off your bike. Saying that the staff on that line are usually fairly helpful and are used to dealing with families on holiday with loads of luggage so a chat to them at Exeter station could go a long way to getting you a bit of help.

1) Ignore things you are told by people on the phone in India about the bike system, unless they are actually able to reserve a space for you, and even then I'd be a bit suspect about it, as you've not got a bit of paper to prove it (although I've only known this be a problem at Euston).

2) What's your local station? They are usually the best bet for this, as long as they've got access to the booking system. Macclesfield should be big enough to know what they're doing.

Are they telling you that they can't make reservations yet, or that there are no reservations available? If it's the former it's bollocks, you can make bike reservations a couple of months in advance. If it's the latter, you may have a problem, as they might be booked up, so you might need to change your ticket, or follow Quirrel's plan, or the turn up on the day and hope plan.

If you can get to an XC station it's worth having a chat with them, as they used to have 4 spaces, and I know they planned to reduce it to two, but I don't know if the trains have actually been modified yet. So it's possible that the system is only reserving 2 spaces, but there are 4, but you'd want to talk to a helpful human being about that in person to find out that sort of thing, India and the internet won't be able to help.

been all over with my bike on trains and never had an issue – are you booked on a specific train at a specific time ? if so have a visit to your local XC station and get them to book you a place for the bike. Don't ring the call centre – don't use online booking or ticket machines, always go to the booking office and tell them what you want to do and they'll sort it for you as cheap as they can.

Thanks njm and stAn-Bad-Brains MBC – really helpful (and slightly more comforting advice). Prior to seeing your posts, I'd decided the only sure-fire way of getting me and the bike on the train was to take Quirrel's advice and have just come back from the garage after measuring the bike in various stages of dismantling. Is it a coincidence that 90cm is just about the length of a frame with no forks and 70cm is just about the diameter of a road wheel?

I went to my station (Macc) today and spoke with someone there. She got on the system and said that the problem was is that service is using the old 'slam door' type rolling stock (yippee – 5 hours on a 50 year old train…) and therefore it was impossible for them to reserve a bike space – god knows why? Therefore, I had to then phone XC and explain this – and of course you know what happened then. I'm just being fobbed off left, right and centre – it's an appalling indictment of our rail system.

XC's call centre say that it's just not possible to reserve a space – not that the two spaces have been taken, not that the spaces haven't been released yet – just that I can't / they can't do it. Surely, one would think, that as it's the old type train, it'll have a guards van, and therefore some decent space within which to house a built up bike…? Maybe I need to go back to the station and find someone else with a bit more know how working there, as the two women behind the counter just seemed keen to get rid of me.

So – looks like my choices are:
1: split the bike down, pack it up and take it on board. That should be fairly certain way of getting it all on the train, but requires me to take the mudguards and rack off, the forks out etc etc – and then rebuild it on a platform at Barnstaple (assuming I can get those packages on the train to there from Exeter). Or…
2: leave the bike built up and hope I can wing it on Saturday morning – smiling sweetly at anyone and everyone with my fingers crossed.

I don't like gambling like this – and don't feel at all comfortable about any of it. It should be so simple shouldn't it?

Strangely there are no DMU 5o0 year old trains still running on the network as far as im aware, there are HST, sdating from 1974, and possibly some coaches hauled by locos a bit younger.

All the HST,s still have slam doors, as do all mark 2 and 3 coaches.

The problem wil be Exeter to Barnstable, as its a tourist resort lots of people with kids and prams.Especially Saturdays.

Are you travelling on the 0825 from macc??

Looks like thats the only service thats using slam door stock

(i have a magic computer by the way)

0725 should be a double setted voyager!

STWmassive – you're too weird with your worldly knowledge. 🙂 Very impressive magic computers by the way – I'm amazed!!! 😉 I'm trying not to freak about the Exeter – barnstaple bit, but if the worst comes to the worst, it's rideable…

It's the 07.25 service – don't tell me the people at the station have given me duff info… 😯 … so what should I do then?

Its been a 5 car super voyager the last 2 weeks, to be fair the system is not telling me what the set will be on saturday though!
The 0825 has been slam door sets both weeks too!

So if it's a 5 car super voyager or a slam door, do my chances of getting on with the bike built up, and 'convincing' – in the words of the call centre operative – the train manager to take it look ok or is it all a little too risky? 😕

http://www.atob.org.uk/Bike_Rail.html

Only ever but tickets online if you can book a bike on at the same time see East Coast Trains.

The voyagers should have bike spaces where the shop used to be! 2 or 3 each side of the carriage, but lock it up as its been known for bikes to go walkies! Your on train for most of its journey so you might not notice its missing till its too late!

OK… Plan B has become Plan A…

My lunchtime was spent making boxes from bits from the cardboard recyling skip in the warehouse at work. I now have a 900 x 700 x 300mm box that fits the Roubaix frame with the cranks and pedals in place, and just the rear mech, the bars (with stem still attached) and the forks dangling. The CrudRacer mudguards just undid from the brake bolts and swung alongside and the saddle's loose in the box.

I covered everything in old innertubes and pipe cladding, used a fair few zip ties and Bob's your uncle. I just need a smaller box making for the wheels, panniers and bottles and I'm done – well within their sodding requirements and I feel like I'm beating their rubbish system. Not that I've got anything better to do with my sorry life than make cardboard boxes within which to carry my mode of transport. Aaaarrrggghhh! 😈

So then – Plan B Part II was to put it all back together again – imagining that I'm stood on a platform at Exeter station, with no workstand or spare pair of hands. I did it with a 4mm and 5mm allan key and the blade from my swiss army knife. Mrs GTTH offered to turn the garden hose on me "to pretend it's raining" but I declined.

Thanks for all the suggestions, advice and considerations – it's really helped me plan for it, and I feel prepared to not be let down by the system. If anyone can see a flaw in my plan, please let me know now, so's I can work on Plan C!

Cheers 🙂