Bikes on "Le Shuttle"

[RG]

snip

>>
>
>
>> I really can't understand why the Shuttle is so awkward about bikes.
>> It would be trivial to allow cyclists to board in the same way as
>> M/Cs. The onlt difference is that they may need to be sent on 30
>> seconds ahead of motor traffic.
>
> Can't really help there. I guess it wasn't part of the original plan
> (motorway car / lorry interchange), and now it would be too much hassle
> for too few customers.
>
>
> - Nigel
>
>
> --
> Nigel Cliffe,
> Webmaster at http://www.2mm.org.uk/
>

The reality is that it's probably best part of a mile and half to drive/ride
from the entrance to the train door - and then the length of the train which
is getting on for a third of a mile I would guess. The H&S issues would be
colossal in allowing cyclists to ride around the system like a motorcycle or
car.

One other option may be for the operator to try and do something using the
Shuttle trains that take trucks - the drivers take their trucks on to the
open carriages on the train and then are taken by minibus to a normal
carriage with seats for the journey (i.e. they don't stay in the vehicle
like drivers and passengers in cars and buses on the closed in trains)

BUT the obvious key to the whole question is supply and demand, for both le
Shuttle and Eurostar - they are running a business (and can't make any
money - in fact it's all almost gone bust!) so it's also a commercial
decision.

RG

 

[Tom Crispin]

On Sun, 10 Dec 2006 20:44:53 -0000, "RG" <nochance> wrote:

>The H&S issues would be
>colossal in allowing cyclists to ride around the system like a motorcycle or
>car.

Perhaps bicyles shouldn't be allowed to ride around the road system
like a m/c or car either!

 

[Nigel Cliffe]

Tom Crispin wrote:
> On Sun, 10 Dec 2006 19:02:22 -0000, "Nigel Cliffe" <[email protected]>
> wrote:
>
>> Thanks, nice to know it worked for you.
>> I can't see how a bike would be under 120cm by 90cm with the rear
>> wheel still in place (posting elsewhere suggesting that as the
>> "regulation size"). I'd be fine doing the dismantling you list.
>
> 120cm x 90cm implies a maximum diagonal of 150cm.
>
> Measure the length of your bike from the front forks to the end of the
> rear rack and from the rotated handlebars to the mudguard reflector.
> if those lenghts are less than 150cm you should be able to manage.
> They won't be concerned about little bits protuding, such as bar ends.

Thanks for your help.

I can measure shapes accurately, and, assuming the 120x90 to be a rectangle,
my bike has to be dismantled as I described. If I'm allowed a
parallelogram, I might get away with less dismantling.

If I'm allowed "extra bits", then I'd prefer a definition which allows me to
decide in advance if my bike fits or not.
But, its all academic, as its based on SNCF's bike bag size, which we are
assuming to be Eurostar's. As Eurostar won't actually say what size they
apply, we're guessing. And I won't gamble a holiday on my guess of
Eurostar's unpublished baggage rules.



> I think that the information about fitting into the x-ray machine is
> wrong. I believe the regulation is there so that the bike in its bag
> will fit onto the luggage rack.

I agree, the SNCF size is about luggage racks and space in a coach.
SNCF probably see the X-ray security for Eurostar as a strange English
obsession about security and borders; the rest of French international
trains have little more than a passport inspection at the Swiss border. (I
use "English" deliberately, and I am English).

> TGV in France have exactly the same regulation.

The size rule applies to bikes in bags, carried on as hand-luggage, no
pre-booking.
But they also have full-sized bike places so your assembled bike travels
with you. OK, not every train, but usually possible to get about, indicated
by a bicycle symbol on the timetables.



>> But I'd only be willing to use the service if *Eurostar* will
>> actually say what is permitted and what not.
>> Its no use turning up at Waterloo and discovering that they won't
>> carry your bike.

> Having used the service, I have more sympathy for cellists than
> cyclists. The former have no option but to pay £20 and use the
> registered luggage service. At least cyclists have a choice, of
> sorts.

Cellists have the same choice as bicycles; carry it by another form of
transport, or condemn it to 24hrs away with their baggage handlers. Neither
particularly useful.



Probably time to draw a line under this thread.

- Nigel

--
Nigel Cliffe,
Webmaster at http://www.2mm.org.uk/

 

[Tom Crispin]

On Mon, 11 Dec 2006 19:40:17 -0000, "Nigel Cliffe" <[email protected]>
wrote:

>> TGV in France have exactly the same regulation.
>
>The size rule applies to bikes in bags, carried on as hand-luggage, no
>pre-booking.
>But they also have full-sized bike places so your assembled bike travels
>with you. OK, not every train, but usually possible to get about, indicated
>by a bicycle symbol on the timetables.

I had two bikes booked onto a TGV - assembled - from Gare du Lyon to
Bayonne.

The guard refused me and my friend aboard. He was extremely rude and
offered no help whatsoever. My friend translated his final words as,
"I have told you twice already, I will tell you just one more time.
Bicycles are forbidden on the TGV."

We were able to downgrade our tickets to a slow train from Gare
D'Austerlitz to Bayonne, arriving eight hours later than planned. The
lady at the booking office was incredibly sympathetic and embarassed.

The rest of out tour was excellent, and we completed the Raid Pyrenean
in nine days, meeting much help and good will en-route - including a
camp followed by breakfast, with home baked bread and home produced
honey, in someone's back garden.