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Pity the train for the last leg of the journey will be borked! LOLZ
It would be a smashing idea if the trains going to Inverness from Glasgow and Edinburgh were kitted out like this too. Otherwise it's too limited.
Last time I was at Oban station the level of Passive Aggressive "helpfulness" towards me and my family on bikes was staggering, so they could start there, right now with some customer care. Sadly mirrored in places like Dunbar in both cases the guard demands to know if you have "booked" your bikes on the train and took pleasure in being very clear that "if" someone else has a booking I would have to get off. >/axedown
Scotrail have piss poor attitude to bikes on trains at the moment so any increase in provision is good. All the new Trains being introduced on the Edin/Glasgow/Dunblane services expected to run for 20 years or more have precisely no improvement in accomodation for bikes - 4 carriages and room for only 8 bikes. Really not a fan of Abellio/Scotrail.
Weird. My experience with Scotrail staff has been exactly the opposite. I've not once had a problem getting my bike on a train when just turning up at the station.
Agreed. I've done tours, with my bike, via trains, including Oban, and the Scotrail staff were amazing.
A few years back I took the train from Thurso to Inverness. All bikes were loaded into a van and driven to Inverness. Staff were great
When I scratched from this year's HT550 I waited for the train at Corrour without having made a reservation and a bit nervous since the office at Ft William wasn't answering the phone for me to make one. (It was a Sunday). No need to worry, the guard shuffled everything around and myself and another cyclist got on board. There were definitely more than the regulation six bikes on the train.
Scotrail have a policy of not turning away bikes if they can get them on and I have never had issues bar once when I was trying to put the tandem ( banned on almost all trains) on the train at Pitlochry without a reservation- the guard was very apologetic and said " I have a wheelchair user and 6 bikes on already - I am sorry but really no room" .
I have used the north bewrick train and inverness trains with the tandem a few times and also had solos on the edinburgh / glasgow trains a load of times with no problem- even when far more than the allowed bikes were on the train.
West highland line is very short of space for bikes and again no issues getting on unbooked with two bikes and a trailer on a crowded train
I found the Scotrail staff super helpful, whilst waiting at Glasgow Queen st station for the GF to pick up the tickets, one of the gateline staff wandered over, and asked if I was headed to Oban, and then told me which platform, and what time the train would be ready, all without prompting. the only issue was understanding the Glaswegian accent...
As a southern rail commuter I was impressed by their cycle provision....
Mixed experience for me. When I lived in Falkirk the Glasgow -Edinburgh train was often mobbed and I had trouble getting the bike on even with a reservation as the space was often filled by other bikes or with luggage etc. Guard was always helpful though. No problems at all on trains to Inverness, and further north, nor down to the south. Now I stay in Lochaber I hardly use the train, I'd say booking is absolutely essential on both Glasgow and Mallaig trains
I thought you couldn't book on Glasgow / Edinburgh.
To be honest you could be right TJ . I lived near Grahamston station and used it with the bike every couple of weeks. Didnt use the Falkirk High service much at all and possibly never with the bike However it's more than ten years ago.
I've watched a guard wade in to an absolutely rammed commuter train in queenstreet and turf a woman out of the flippy down seat at the bike rack.
She was going mental and he was having none of it she could get off the seat or get off the train. He then proceeded to help squeeze 3 bikes onto the rack.
And plenty of blind eyes to waaaaay over stacking the meagre bike rack rationings admittedly on empty seats.
Their policy also says they'll take a bike if its to prevent being stranded so just put your foot through the spokes and hey presto bike allowed.
What we really need though is guard vans. By bike has shared the guardvan with a kayak and a surfboard before. You'd get loads of skiis in there!