[QUOTE=Tourist in MSN;23530197]It depends on the route and the stations you are leaving from and going to. Prior to last year all my Amtrak bike trips were with a boxed bike. But last summer rode on a route that did not require boxing the bike. I pasted the below from a post I made last summer:
.I have taken the train, pretty sure it was Amtrak, from the East Bay to Davis, California. Easy as can be, just hoist your bike on a hook and enjoy the ride. I know the eastern U.S. has many more bike accessible trains than the west, Amtrak included.
I was going to take my bike on the Amtrak Coast Starlight, but it has to be boxed. You need to get permission beforehand to load the boxed bike. And worst of all, most of the stops in the small towns don't have baggage handlers, so you cannot get your bike off the train there. It seems as though Amtrak is discouraging bike transport for bicycle tourists.
Also, the one time I flew to the U.K., Glasgow, my bike made it fine. My luggage was lost for 27 hours. More than one whole day spent at the airport, burdened by the bicycle with no way to easily deal with the situation.