LNER azuma train experience

Just for info, the new azuma trains on LNER aren’t great for bikes. 4 places for the whole train (which are straightforward to book). you have to hang the bikes in what appears to be a wardrobe. The hooks were too small for my 35mm deep rims so I had to let the tyre down to fit it in. Any deeper or with a decent sized tyre and I doubt you’d manage. I got the impression the guard (who was doing his best) was used to passengers with bikes struggling. My wife would have really struggled to get a bike up and secure. Another rider without a booking was turned away at Edinburgh as there’s no flexibility with the spaces. We felt his pain.

Didn’t like travelling on the Azuma at all, thought the old 225’s were comfier.

It’s a shame the bike capacity was so poor and awkward for a train serving Inverness. The Caledonian sleeper is no better with capacity for only 4 bikes as well.

Discussed another thread recently:

Transporting bikes to tour start/end

But I hadn’t realised the LNER trains were new. That’s ridiculous. How can a government say they want to encourage cycling, and yet allow a rail franchise to make such minuscule and poorly designed provision? (I think I know the answer).

It’s pretty poor on all the hitachi trains. This is the only 2 bike cupboard on each transpennine 5 car set.

It’s bizarre and ridiculous but in my experience it is because they need x no of seats on new trains to make the business case work. This is why luggage space is so restricted on new trains too.

A Japanese colleague once showed me a model of their new bullet train, with a very long aerodynamic nose. He joked that in the UK the nose would be filled with seats!

Also that’s a good looking Whyte..

They basically built / tested it with road bikes in size S.

XL 29er no chance.

TBF I do prefer siting next to my bike / the wardrobe rather than leaving it in the guards carriage and just hoping it would be there when I got to the other end.

Yup, was on one a couple of weeks back. Hook wouldn’t go round front wheel, and rear mudguard would have been trashed if I stood the bike vertical. I just wedged it in exactly how they don’t want you to.

Infuriatingly, as I was getting off the train in Chester le Street, a mad cat lady and her feline containment chariot swiped my bike’s space in the cupboard, reducing the whole train’s bike capacity to a big fat zero.

Infuriatingly, as I was getting off the train in Chester le Street, a mad cat lady and her feline containment chariot swiped my bike’s space in the cupboard, reducing the whole train’s bike capacity to a big fat zero.

On most of the ScotRail trains I’ve been on the guard would have been on her like a shot telling her to move it. The last one I was on she was practically snarling at anyone that even looked at the bike rack. It was ace.

I remember travelling on one when they first came out, seating area felt very cramped, almost like they were narrower than other trains.

Had this experience at the start of summer. Timely because I’m travelling with pals tomorrow with bikes on the East Coast line.

These cupboards with 2 hanging spaces are ridiculous, and indeed infuriating. Added to that, we had a jobsworth train conductor who blew her top at the first sight of my bike in the corridor threatening to kick us off at the next stop – we had bike reservations. We ended up telling her (politely) we weren’t getting off, but that involved some serious bike tetris with our bikes and some poor deaf guy’s bike, who didn’t have a reservation and was utterly confused by the conversation he was trying to keep up with.

I’m thinking of taking my bike down to London next for a Lael Wilcox Rapha event. Got a space booked but this is making me think i really am mad considering it (for many reasons!).

You know they also carry tandems ‘in’ those shitty cupboards…

Seats are crap but when I let them know they told me the focus group said they were great. No views from the CFO on how skinny upright seats modelled on Ryanair allow them to fit 10% more meatsacks in at £200 a pop.

Tray tables with extendable laptop supports are mint though!

We came back from Edinburger a couple of weeks ago on one with 3 hardtails. They didn’t fit and the train was 10 mins delayed whilst everyone faffed trying to make them. I’m expecting bikes to be delisted soon if they are seen as the cause of delays (ie rather than the shitty provision for them). Tandems first as they’re an easy target.

I’ve dropped LNER some feedback just in case they aren’t all on singletrack all the time…

They aren’t great compared to the old 225 and 125s. Bike provision is awful, particularly if you’re a woman (I’ve had to help a few women get their bikes off them).

In addition to that, the seats aren’t comfortable and first class doesn’t feel at all luxurious anymore. The whole thing feels like a cheap local commuter train. When I’ve written this in their customer survey emails I never heard anything back.

Having now experienced this for myself – I’m fuming. 43 mm tyres were a tight squeeze and I’m now missing paint on my rims. And a mtb that was forced to wedge in next to me has taken the paint off my chain stay due to the pedal pins!!!

Oh and they never came and unlocked the locker at Leeds, so I eventually had to go and find a cleaner!

You know they also carry tandems ‘in’ those shitty cupboards…

oooh you;re lucky, most Train operating comapnies say they don’t allow tandems on…

I tweeted LNER after my poor experience today. And they have told me that upgrades are due across the fleet by Easter. Apparently these have been designed in consultation with cycling groups; and include larger hooks.

LNER now have a cheaper branded trainset service running from scotland to london called LUMo same sort of trains but fancy painting and lower fares limited departure pickup points though.

It’s nothing to do with LNER, it’s an open access operator (no franchise, but not allowed to directly compete with the franchisee, hence weird stopping patterns), owned by First Group.

But yes, they are using similar Hitachi trains, likely with similarly crap bike provision.

I tweeted LNER after my poor experience today. And they have told me that upgrades are due across the fleet by Easter. Apparently these have been designed in consultation with cycling groups; and include larger hooks.

Dont suppose anyone knows if this upgrade ever happened, and made a notable difference?

Ive family in Ely/Downham/Thetford/Norwich, could make a tour work getting off at Peterborough.

I don’t think it happened. I went from London-Glasgow on Avanti last weekend and it was perfect, nice big guards van and super helpful staff. I’m off to Edinburgh in a few weeks (LNER/LOMO) and can’t hook my 29er is those tiny cupboards. Last time some cheeky git took my mountain bike out mid route and put it in the corridor! and put his racer in there instead! I too had missing paint on my frame! They seem to want to go down the Ryanair route!

Well, that’s both expected and disappointing.

I had the misfortune of getting on one of those Lumo trains a few months back, I was crippled by the time it pulled into Newcastle.

How have they managed to make a train seat so uncomfortable? They manage to feel narrow despite presumably being the same width as any other train, and designed for someone 5ft2?

It’s not even cheap, you only get the cheap prices booking the tickets when first released, if you can’t do that then it’s still ~£180 return. Still nicer than the M1/M25/M4 + cost of petrol, but did completely remove the biggest benefit of the train, being able to relax with a book or get some work done unless you can numb the experience with painkillers.

Fire regulations are to blame for the seats and lack of padding on them. DFT are to blame (as with most things that are wrong with the railways at the moment) for the poor design of the trains.

Fire regulations are to blame for the seats and lack of padding on them.

Is the isle bigger? The ergonomics of the chairs are just unforgivably bad though.

Maybe it’s just down to the time spent on them but the Hitachi trains on GWR don’t feel anywhere near as bad. Whereas the Lumo felt like I’d got a bad back before we’d even pulled out of Euston?

Had fun and games getting our tandem on an Azuma last week! To be fair the staff did their best to help but it was a bit of a squeeze! Didn’t have any issues with comfort but we were only on for an hour (Newcastle to York). Booked 2 bike spaces btw.