Bike On The Train

rcklap

Hey,

Planning on doing the Royal Canal towpath from Mullingar to Dublin on Friday, can I take my bike on the train?

Anyone want to join me?

rcklap

BBBBut my bike. Yeah fair point, new plans so.

Eabbey

As of the 18th we are allowed to leave the county, so you should be able to still plan this ride, unfortunately I'm not able to answer your train question, but I am following for an answer.

Wishbone Ash

I's imagine it would be a lot better after a prolonged dry spell. I'd say it will be heavy going in places at the moment.

Tombo2001

Dont know if this answers your question - I have never brought my bike to the train station and not been able to get a place for it on the train.

If you are booking your ticket online there should be on an option for bike.

Thecairn

well, did you bring the bike on the train after?

Mercian Pro

Don't know about the OP but two of us took the 9.05 Sligo train as far as Mullingar yesterday. We weren't able to book the bikes the night before but took a chance and, sure enough, the two spaces were already full when we arrived. Having previously been told to put bikes in the wheelchair area on a different trip, we did just that and the ticket checker ignored them. Had the space been needed, we would have moved but the train was largely empty except for the bike spaces.

All the cyclists disembarked in Mullingar and two of us had a very pleasant 90km spin back to Dublin.

mullingar to dublin to have the wind on your backs?

stones81

Did you follow the Greenway all the way back if so is it suitable for road bikes

Breezer

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118548746#Comment_118548746

There’s an entire thread on that here: https://www.boards.ie/discussion/2057747877/royal-canal-on-a-road-bike/p1

In summary, it’s smooth surface as far as Maynooth.

Then a mixture of compacted gravel and dirt/grass from Maynooth to Clonsilla, doable on a road bike if it isn’t soaking wet.

Clonsilla to Castleknock is the Deep Sinking, tree roots and mud, not suitable for a road bike.

From Castleknock to Spencer Dock it’s tarmac again.

Mercian Pro

Thanks Breezer for linking the other thread.

We stuck with the Greenway/towpath as far as Pike Bridge at the main entrance to Carton House, cut through the Estate before rejoining the canal at the county border at Confey. It was pretty slippy from there to Porterstown Road where we bypassed the Deep Sinking through some housing estates and picked up the towpath again at Castleknock Station. It was grand from there home.

And yes Haphaphap, we only decided to do the route W to E the night before when we saw the forecast.

Check out my activity on Strava: https://strava.app.link/ZloXAlchdnb

Wishbone Ash

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118548602#Comment_118548602

Just curious (as someone who hasn't been on an intercity train this century) are there bike spaces/disabled spaces on each carriage or do you have to find a specific carriage?

The last time I travelled by train with the bike, it went into what they called the Guard's van or mail van or something like that.

CramCycle

Specific carriage will have 2 bike spaces, make sure you tick for it when buying the ticket as you could get booted if busy

Mercian Pro

Most, but not all, of the Cork trains and the Belfast Enterprise trains have a guards van that will take plenty of bikes but you might want to bring a bungee cord to stop the bike moving around. The InterCity trains have just two bike spaces per four carriages. From my experience, these are often full even when I have pre-booked a space and I have yet to find someone to agree to move. On the tourist routes the bikes are often festooned with panniers so squeezing an extra bike in as suggested above isn't possible. I once encountered an unbooked bike that was so heavy the owner couldn't lift it on to the rack but wedged it in diagonally taking up both spaces. I can't imagine how you would fit 5-6 bikes in without encroaching on the corridor - 3 was the most we managed on our trip to Longford a few years ago.

You're allowed bring bikes on Commuter trains and the Dart but not during rush hours. I have always found IE staff to be very helpful in suggesting alternatives when bike spaces are full. There was however a report here of a number of bikes having to be removed from a train when an officious inspector started quoting health & safety legislation.

Wishbone Ash

There was however a report here of a number of bikes having to be removed from a train when an officious inspector started quoting health & safety legislation.

I would hope that they'd inform the cyclists that they were going to do that rather than simply throwing them onto some random platform along the way.

tnegun

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118550250#Comment_118550250

You can get booted from an empty train too, myself and 6 other cyclists were asked to leave at Maynooth on the first Sunday morning Sligo train last September. The guy on the counter in Maynooth warned us that the checker on the train was notorious for it so we removed wheels and made the bikes fit in the luggage racks but he was having none of it. He also insisted that bikes be removed from the wheelchair spot despite assurances that we would get off if the space was required during the journey he then insisted that only 2 bikes could use the dedicated bike spot despite 4 fitting without issue.

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118550844#Comment_118550844

I think that was me his line was that the bikes would impede a safe evacuation, fair enough if they're in the doorways and vestibules but he wouldn't even entertain them in the luggage racks so it's just an excuse and he was quick to mention the gardai too so no doubt loves creating conflict.

Gerry

What a fupping baxter. Did you make a complaint, tweet irish rail, etc.. for all the difference it would make

jebidiah

I did the greenway to Longford last summer and had trouble with getting my bike on the train. I tried to get on to a train from Longford to Dublin at around 4 pm on the Sunday, and not only was it packed, but the two bike spaces were taken, and there were two "conductors" on the train. One was getting off, and as a fellow cyclist was fairly sound and was telling me that there are plans to add bike carriages (like those on the Cork line) to that route in future due to the greenway.

Mercian Pro

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118553853#Comment_118553853

Unfortunately adding bike carriages isn't a simple matter as the Cork train has the bike/luggage room in the engine carriage whereas all the other InterCity trains have the engines integrated under the floor of regular carriages. Refitting some of those regular carriages by removing a bank of four seats and installing more bike racks is probably the solution but IE will need to be convinced it makes economic sense. Alternatively, they need to be told to do it by the Government/Minister for Transport.

The Cork Mark 4 train:

tnegun

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118553055#Comment_118553055

Yeah I complained and was just fobbed off with

"Thank you for your e mail.

The 09.38 train from Maynooth yesterday was the Inter-City train to Sligo. Bicycles can only be carried on this service when they have been booked in advance. Staff have been advised that this rule must be strictly observed in the interest of customer safety as the bikes must be secured in the relevant bike racks."

I responded with

"Do Irish rail have any plans to address the lack of bike capacity? Running a near empty train on a Sunday morning and removing half the passengers because they had bikes seems counter intuitive to me? Also what's the issue with dismantled bikes in a luggage rack? They take up less space that some large suitcases! 

I'm not trying to be difficult but it seems to me that with some effort more bikes could be accommodated on off peak trains."

and got this final reply

"For safety reasons bikes must be secured in the bike storage area of Inter-City services. On commuter trains bikes are permitted at off peak travel. Please see section on our website for full details. There is no doubt that extra capacity is required since the opening of the Greenway, however as you can appreciate in order to provide extra bike capacity it would involve substantial investment from the NTA.  Under the national development plan, we are currently progressing a major order of 600 new carriages, which will increase bike spaces on certain routes where needed."

As far as Irish rail are concerned they'll wait for the new carriages which AFAIK are identical to the existing ones and are just intermediate cars so will have the same layout as existing so might add 2 more spots to the train!!

CramCycle

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118557175#Comment_118557175

I once removed both wheels and locked them each side of the frame and carried it through. On intercity commuter trains we often have 4 bikes in the 2 bike space and there is another hidden space they don't tell you about unless your nice. The H&S reason, once it is not impeding a walkway and is secure, is complete BS but again, the letter of the law rather than the spirit seems to be something that the less pleasant in society thrive on.

Gerry

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118557175#Comment_118557175

the last bit of your reply, about the new carriages is particularly galling. probably for the public transport forum but it would be good to get some confirmation on that..

tnegun

From what I understand 41 new intercity carriages have been ordered to slot into the middle of the intercity DMU trains 22000. From what I've heard/read these were ordered to the same spec as previous so I doubt have any more than a max of 2 additional bike spots. The 600 in the reply I'm sure relates to the new stock for the Dart services so irrelevant to the Sligo line(North of Maynooth if Dart West ever happens) but either way there are no plans to add bike capacity that I can see. I emailed some TDs at the time too but nothing came of it.

Mercian Pro

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118562701#Comment_118562701

That's what I feared and it's very disappointing. I raised the issue on the Royal Canal Greenway Facebook page which is run by Waterways Ireland and asked that they request Iarnrod Eireann to add additional spaces for bikes on their trains. As before on other issues, there was no reply from WI. There was a time when that site was run by local enthusiasts and it was much more proactive in pushing for improvements.

CramCycle

Thankfully the inspectors on my route are fairly reasonable, they will give a warning but so long as everyone can stash them in a safe manner, nothing is said. Nice common sense. The sligo train was always a mixed bag for inspectors, from normal people to arseh*les.

Wishbone Ash

Thanks to the expertise of Mercian Pro, we managed to neatly get 4 bikes into the 2 bike space on the Rosslare train this morning. We encountered a very pleasant Irish Rail employee who was convinced it couldn't be done. He was amazed and even took his own picture for future reference. (He also warned us about cranky 'jobsworths' who are sometimes on the route).

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118602355#Comment_118602355

Nice looking Topstone 1? to the fore there, going off road?

Wishbone Ash

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118603565#Comment_118603565

Not mine so I'm not sure which model it is but it's a Cannondale Gravel alright. I'll have to take a closer look next time. It was on it's maiden voyage. We didn't go off road today.

Mercian Pro

Before I started arranging the bikes the helpful ticket checker/inspector/operative (what ar they called?) offered the use of the hidden store but didn't want any bikes in the wheelchair spaces. For what it's worth, the technique with the bikes is to reverse the first one tight against the window wall and the same with the third one between the two normal spaces. I'm pretty sure a fifth one could have fitted on the outside but might have needed to be secured with a bungee.

CramCycle

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118604076#Comment_118604076

Don't tell people about the hidden space, he put mine in there once, road bike only space but it is a genuine space. Not sure why they don't use it unless there is another use for it.

Cyclingtourist

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118604303#Comment_118604303

Yes used the 'hidden space' once when travelling to Roslare to catch a ferry. Hadn't booked the bike and there were a number of other cyclists including a worried looking French couple with two kids. With the help of a great conductor we all (8 in total) made it on. I think the space is for storing wheelchairs.

Only time I've failed to get my bike on a train was coming back to Dublin from Kilarney (the feeder train didn't have a bike carriage)about ten years ago the driver refused to take any bikes and ended up with the station master freighting the bikes to Dublin the following day for free. Also came close to being refused going from Connolly to Roslare to catch a ferry when there were more than two bikes and the driver (again) was sticking by the rules. Eventually he relented when one of the cyclists took the wheels off his bike.

Wishbone Ash

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118604432#Comment_118604432

It's highly unlikely that the train driver would have refused to take the bike. They generally don't have any interaction with passengers.

magicbastarder

this is not helpful, but every time i see this thread title, i get 'fog on the tyne' stuck in my head.

Wishbone Ash

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118604815#Comment_118604815

...that awful version by Gazza?

magicbastarder

yes

Cyclingtourist

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118604807#Comment_118604807

I agree they generally don't. However, in the Killarney example I watched the station master speaking to the driver after which the SM told us the driver was refusing to take them as there were no facilities for carrying bikes on that particular train. In the Connolly Station example I was present when the driver said to the conductor he was only allowing two bikes on, as per regulations. There were already two bikes on and when I pointed out that I had already purchased a ticket from the ticket office for my bike (this was before they stopped charging for bikes) I was told by the driver, leaning out, that I should take it up with the station authorities. Fortunately a guy who already had his bike on offered to remove the wheels and stow it so the driver relented reluctantly.

You may not believe it but these two occurrences did happen, although the first was around ten years ago and the second about 6.

Wishbone Ash

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118606652#Comment_118606652

Ah fair enough. Most of my train experience is with commuter services where I've never a driver interact with passengers.

billyhead

Where are you off too? Are you getting the ferry to France?

Mercian Pro

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118609918#Comment_118609918

That is a terrible slur on a man who has been known to cycle to West Donegal (via Belfast) for a family get-together and back to Dublin the following day. It was only loyalty to his clubmates that made him take the train to Gorey on Tuesday. 😉

CramCycle

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118615883#Comment_118615883

Gorey, they would have been quicker cycling down its so close.

stevencn88

Got the train yesterday from Greystones to Enniscorthy and cycled home 109km along the coast. While the weather was abysmal and I had one extreme close pass by a taxi just as I came into Courtown (wing mirror inches from my elbow and no oncoming traffic what so ever), the whole experience of taking the bike on the train was brilliant. I'd highly recommend it to anyone!

Tombo2001

My tuppence - if you have to travel across ireland for work reasons, e.g. Dublin to Cork or Galway, the train plus bike is a super combo. It really is.

Mercian Pro

Posted this over on the Royal Canal thread but it's probably more relevant here:

A couple of us tried to board the almost empty Sligo train this morning with our bikes. We intended heading to Mullingar and cycling back along the Greenway. We were repulsed by two attendants who were determined not to let us on unless we could produce booking confirmation. Neither of us could so off the train went without us.

We had no trouble getting on the Maynooth commuter train shortly afterwards and had a great spin from there to lunch at Nanny Quinn's (Thomastown) and back to Maynooth afterwards.

It's the first time in many trips to Mullingar and Longford that I was asked for proof of booking and I'm not sure if it is even noted on the ticket when you do book a bike space. It looks as if it is a new and regrettable policy to restrict the number of bikes.

Seth Brundle

Is there an additional cost for bringing bikes on a train or were the IR staff just petty jobsworths who wanted to see that you had booked them on (with no additional charge)?

tnegun

It's entirely jobsworths I was put off an empty train during covid as I didn't have a bike booking, I complained to IR and they said it was at the train staffs discretion to carry bikes.

iwillhtfu

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119830529#Comment_119830529

There's no additional charge.. A train may be empty at departure but someone may have their bike booked at the next station and there's only limited space for bikes and I guess IR don't want bikes blocking walk ways.

It's no different to booking a seat and finding someone else sitting in it. Just book your bike on as you book your train ticket, simple. The lack of bike space should be addressed though.

tnegun

Some staff just have issues with cyclists. The day I was put off several others were put off too despite the bikes being stowed out of the way. He took issue with 3 bikes in 2 bike spaces and bikes with the wheels removed in luggage spaces despite being secured he also wouldn't entertain bikes in the wheelchair space even with assurances that if the space was required we'd leave the train. When we tried to reason he pulled out his phone and said he was calling the gardai if we didn't leave the train immediately. I walked the whole train looking for space for the bikes and as it was during covid there was a max of 10 other passengers on the train along with 10 cyclists trying to board. The train left for Sligo with just 10 on board after we were left behind!

cletus

I've never brought a bike on the train, and I don't doubt that some IR staff are awkward (people like that in all walks of life), but the first bullet point under Bikes on Intercity lines on the IR website, is that all bikes must be booked, in advance

tnegun

I've carried my bike on the train plenty of times too and have typically had a good experience doing so.

The point stands that some staff do not like cyclists and are permitted by Irish Rail to hide behind bylaws to discriminate against them. The day we were put off there were 2 bikes with bookings the member of train staff wouldn't entertain additional bikes on the train at all regardless of how they were stored. From memory one possibly two fit neatly with the other two in the bike rack and 4 others had wheels removed and fit neatly into the large luggage racks.

It was when he wasn't happy with them in the luggage racks we offered to stand with them in the empty wheelchair space, staff typically know if the spot will be used as its typically prearranged on InterCity as the ramp needs to be put out he never mentioned a wheelchair booking but started on about calling the guards and an almost empty train departed. He also had the option of accommodating one bike in the hidden space beside the toilet but chose not to offer it or do so. If the train was anyway busy I'd probably have been less critical but it was empty and I don't believe gathered many more passengers en route.

CramCycle

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119832205#Comment_119832205

This, but the main issue is lack of space. I have my train tickets booked months in advance because of it. One evening the Kildare train got delayed as there was no CSO on it and 20 bikes got on, blocked access and then people couldn't get on or off.

Took them 40 minutes to sort out the wheelchair users getting on in Connolly as none of the bike users would get off.

The intercity needs to clear seats on the other side as well and with little effort you could have 6 to 8 spaces

CramCycle

The Sligo train has always had a really penchant for attracting absolute ****s as CSOs, there was the odd nice one but most were just ****s.