I want to ride my Bicycle: A guest blog by @SimmoTheGypo

South West Trains: On the issue of bikes

Another guest blog for your delectation. They seem to be more regularly sent to me nowadays, which is great, because this isn't just meant to be me ranting away (as much as it looks that way). It is meant to be a place where you can share your opinions on South West Trains.

Let's face it, they are completely and utterly sh*tbags, in terms of reliability, space and schedule. The bright spots being many of their staff, who we've all (thanks to twitter) had the chance to converse/disagree/agree with. Shame their senior management, in their Ivory Towers, don't pay more attention, because one day, this abonimable level of service will come back to bite them. One day...

Anyway, enough of my witterings, here's @SimmoTheGypo guest blog:

Commuter cycling has never been more popular.  Brompton, the classic commuter cycle maker has seen sales rocket in recent years; and Evans, the high-end bike shop, has seen expansion fueled by rich city commuters, often buying expensive, bespoke cycles. The London Cycling Campaign, a lobby group, has 11,000 members.

London, thanks to this fashion, the ‘Boris Bikes’ scheme, concern about the environment, the cost of the London Underground, and events like the London bombings; resembles Beijing in parts, with many more cyclists on the road.  On the whole this movement has been benign, however, friction often occurs.  Cyclists, who flaunt road rules, frequently come into conflict with other road users and pedestrians. The rise of the militant cyclist – with head cams and loud cycle warning horns designed to scare the wits out of pedestrians who have the temerity to cross the road – have alienated some. Cyclists come under frequent attack and are subject to aggressive abuse. Around 18 cyclists are killed each year in London, although this is miniscule when compared to the number of journeys made.

This has led to more cyclists on the road and a rise in the number of commuters travelling to work with their bikes. For years we have been used to the discreet city cyclist, with a folded up Brompton, rubbing along quite nicely with their fellow commuters. For a while this was the only way to bring cycles on some trains, certainly during peak hours.  If full-sized cycles were allowed, they were traditionally housed in the carriage used for the post.  But with the advent of new ‘high-density’ rolling stock, the ability to store bikes without affecting passengers has diminished.

I travel on South West Trains (SWT), and use their Class 444 Desiro class trains.  These have space for 3 cycles in two carriages. On peak time trains there is often more than this. On one occasion I witnessed 6 cycles in this area, and the passageway to other carriages totally blocked. On other services, with different rolling stock, the situation is worse, with the area with wall seats taken up totally by bikes.  Cross Country’s busy Southampton to Reading route is frequently rammed with cyclists and their full sized bikes. This abuse of bike rules appears to be repeated on other lines and train operating companies (TOCs) thanks to the anecdotal evidence on my6percent’s and SWT’s Twitter feeds.

This results in comfort and safety issues for the majority of passengers who do not take their bikes to work. Furthermore, the space given over for bike storage could be converted to seating, perhaps leading to around 20 seats per formation, thereby reducing overcrowding. However, this is unlikely to happen: TOC’s see allowing bikes as part of their PR on green issues; cyclists are a vocal lobby, and will argue strongly against any reduction in on-train bike facilities.

There is something Network Rail and the TOCs can do about this. Policing the problem is an obvious way to get cyclists to comply. Pre-booking could help, especially on peak-time services. The train manager, or guard, who is responsible for the safety of the train, should be allowed to order cyclists to leave if they overcrowd or abuse bike provision.

Better provision could be made at terminals and feeder stations for bike storage and security.  London is fairly flat, and you do not need a top of the range bike to get around. If cyclists left their “home” bike at their origin station, and had a cheap bike kept at a terminal, or used a free Boris Bike, then the only issue would be for passengers dealing with the BO of their cycling co-travelers.