Bikes on French trains

[Lionel Scales]

Hoping to take a train from Ashford to Grenoble avec bicycle to see the L'Alpe D'Huez stage of this
year's TDF. Please does anyone have first-hand experience of bikes on French trains which they would
be willing to share? ... or know of any links to sites with good info? Cheers.

 

[Mark]

"Lionel Scales" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> Hoping to take a train from Ashford to Grenoble avec bicycle to see the L'Alpe D'Huez stage of
> this year's TDF. Please does anyone have first-hand experience of bikes on French trains which
> they would be willing to share? ... or know of any links to sites
with
> good info? Cheers.

www.voyages-sncf.com , the French national railway site has an English language section (if needed)
and full information on bicycle policies. In order to travel on TGV trains and most long distance
trains, the bike must be in a container (rigid or a bag) of specified dimensions. Just about any
bicycle must be disassembled to meet the size requirements of the box. I made a few journeys with a
bicycle box that clearly exceeded the prescribed dimensions and got told off once but was never
actually stopped from bringing the bike on the train. There are trains on which bicycles can travel
unpacked and assembled in the baggage car, but these are all local trains or international trains
operated by a railway other than the SNCF.
--
mark

 

[Howard]

I have used French railways a number of times, including the TGV services, whilst carrying a bike in
a standard bike bag and have had no problems. Assuming you are taking a road bike all you have to do
is drop out the wheels and perhaps the bars/stem to make quite a compact package. I used a
lightweight OZZO bag with a couple of bungees around it to secure everything further and make the
package samller. I did go one year with panniers and stuff and had to drop the rack off as well but
with forward planning this can be done easily as well. If you don't have a bike bag or don't want to
carry one (I used mine as a groundsheet for sitting one etc) you could always go the 'strong
binliers and tape' route, buying new bags for the journey home.

Have fun!