Successes/Problems with Folding Bikes on Amtrak?
 

I'm feeling rather pleased. I was able to work out carless transportation to my training class by borrowing a folding bike and taking it on the Amtrak train, so I could ride the final 6 miles from the train station without taking a $20 taxi. (No convenient local bus routes.) I had to use a folder because the stop I needed to get off at (Worburn, MA) is only a short stop for passengers, no freight handling, so I couldn't take my normal bike. Getting on in Portland (ME), the ticket agent wasn't sure it would be allowed (because "it's a bike"), but fortunately the conductor didn't have any problem with it.

I'm wondering what others' experience with Amtrak has been? Depends on the whim of the conductor, perhaps? I'm considering purchasing a folder for my commuting club, but I'd kind of like to get some kind of written statement from Amtrak that it is okay to take a folding bike of certain dimensions as carry-on, and keep it with the bike, in case anyone else gets challenged. Does that happen a lot, in your opinion? (Of course there are other bus and air carriers to consider, too.)

Yes, I know one solution is to put a cover over it so they can't tell what it is. In this case, unfortunately, I only borrowed this one, and the lender did not have a suitable cover that I could carry while riding.

I have brought my bike on the Downeaster (Portland - Boston) a few times. You have to make a reservation for the bike, and pay a fee ($5 if I remember), and then they let you take the bike on the train. You have to take it on and off, but it was no big deal, even for my bike, fully loaded with panniers.

I have also taken a folding bike on trains all over with never a problem (including the Monorail in Vegas), on the Vegas monorail a cop got on at one station and was closely eyeing the bike (folded up). I asked him if there was an issue with bringing bikes on the monorail, and he said, 'not cute ones like that which go through the turnstiles'.

After riding my bike from dc to phili for a conference I planned to take the train home. I was very bummed to find out that Amtrack does not permit bikes, either racked or boxed on the NY-DC corridor, so check ahead of time. A folder should be able to pass so long as it's bagged.

You can definitely take a folding bike on Amtrak, and it does not have to be bagged.

Read this article:

http://www.bikefriday.com/amtrak

Download and print out the conductor rule page PDF and carry it with you:

http://www.bikefriday.com/images/new...akpolicy07.pdf

Although the conductor still has authority, particularly if the baggage area is full, Amtrak now (as of May 2007) has clarified the policy and specifications in the above PDF. I have done over 75 round trips on Amtrak with my folding bike this year!

Dave, this is excellent, thank you! I will definitely try to print this out at my training class in case I have any problem tomorrow with the return trip.

I take it that you're the Dave in the article? A thousand more thank-you's! :beer:

I think it's absurd that Amtrak's bike policy is so restrictive. It's just another example of how bicyclists are shortchanged when it comes to transportation.

Talk about limiting transportation: The so-called "Transportation Center" at Woburn, MA, serves only rail, car/taxi, and an express bus to the airport. No freight handling, and get this, no local bus connections at all! But it is right next to the Interstate, for all the good that does travelers getting off the train! (Or anyone, during rush hour.) That is what started this thread.

I've taken a full size bike on the Downeaster (paid the $5) and it was no trouble. I've also taken a folder from Boston to Williamsburg multiple times and nobody batted an eye since it was able to fit on the overhead rack. I would think that if you have a folder going on the Downeaster you could just waltz onto the train and throw it up on the rack and no one would complain unless you pointed it out.

FWIW, Woburn in general just sucks for cyclists.

I took my Downtube Mini folding bike on a business trip from Trenton to DC last month. It was a complete success.

I rode to the station in the early morning darkness; the train was crowded, though, and there was no room in the luggage rack at the front of the coach, so I put the bike on the overhead rack on the train; and rode from there to the Old Post Office building. No problem other than that my train was seriously delayed; even so I got to my 9:00 meeting just after it started at 9:10.

On the way home I put the bike in the luggage rack at the front of the coach; it was not as convenient as the overhead rack, but more legal.

The overhead rack on the Amtrak regional train is actually bigger than the overhead rack on the NJTransit trains I normally take. Amtrak rules are, I think, that you may not stow a bike on the overhead racks no matter what; and NJTransit has no such rule that I know of. I'm pretty sure the conductor saw the bike up there, but did not hassle me.

No one at either Amtrak or the Old Post Office gave me any trouble about the bike. It was not bagged or anything.

I take the train into NYC with some regularity from South Station/Back Bay Boston. I've had no luck with bringing my regular bike on an Amtrak train. The last time I rode down to South Station with my folder I ended up leaving it locked at the station because the woman taking tickets for the Acela said it was not allowed even as carry on baggage- and that was my folder!

Unfortunately, my experience has been that Amtrak is generally bike unfriendly and inconsistent in it's policies and/or their interpretation by employees. I think the don't ask/don't tell policy of just folding your bike up and getting it on the train without asking anyone- may be the best option at present. I think a bag for the folder would make it all the easier. It just feels a bit immature and insulting to be paying the ticket prices that Amtrak demands for the trip to NYC and have to play such stupid games getting your bike on the train.:(

I say a letter/email writing campaign is in order.

Amtrak doesn't seem to do much to help cyclists.
The train from DC stops at Cumberland MD, which is the western end of the C&O canal trail. Would be a good way to start an end-to-end ride, except that Cumberland has no baggage handler so you can't get your bike off the train. And 190 miles on a gravel trail on a folder is not my idea of fun.

If Amtrak were adequately funded, they'd have many more options for accomodating all kinds of bikes.

As it stands, they run what they need to run to move people, and no more. Bikes take up space; space has a cost.

On the route I ride regularly, they run a café car on busy holidays; the rest of the time they rely on some dude with a cooler in a corner of one of the passenger cars, because that's what they can afford. A dedicated café car brings with it fuel and maintenance costs that are probably hard to justify otherwise.

Likewise, an open bike policy, bike hooks in every car, a team of baggage handlers at every stop to unload your boxed bike, or even a specialized bike car would be sweet, right? But it won't happen without funding. If you want to start a "letter writing campaign," start with the folks who you elected to help pay the bills for a national passenger train infrastructure, not the train administrators who already know that they can't afford to do this stuff.

I had no problem last week with my bagged folder on Amtrak going to Boston. However, I was wondering if you can do this, why not take a regular bicycle, remove the wheels and use the "bicycle bags" that Performance uses? Buy the covers for the wheels and you might not have any problems. Unfortunately, the three pieces might be too much for Amtrak since your allowed only two. Why not ask another passenger to carry a wheel just until you pass the ticket agent?

Can you keep the folder on your lap, if the luggage rack is full?

Every car in Amtrak (NEC) has a section where people put the suitcases. I've yet to see this section so full where you could not put your folder there. If this is the case, you simply move to the next car and the next. The luggage rack above your head is usually not accepted. IF YOU Absolutely must, I suspose it could sit on your lap. However, this will become very concomfortable and your're better off standing by the door with your folder.

It shouldn't be a problem so don't worry.

Here is the link to the Amtrak Website. They sound remarkably accomodating in print but watch the language for the "check availability" and "certain trains" and "certain cities".

I don't think you can take even a folder on the Acela express- has anyone managed this?

As for the letter writing campaign to Congress- great idea but those of us in the Northeast already have elected officials that support Amtrak funding. I'm sure my congressman, Barney Frank, and my senators, Kerry and Kennedy would appreciate my encouragement for their votes in favor of more Amtrak funding but unless there is pressure directly on the service provider there is no way to measure the degree of need. Knowing that accommodating bikes on trains might increase ridership is exactly what Amtrak officials need to hear. I suggest letting Amtrak know via letter or email.

And in many cases it comes down to a judgement call on the part of a ticket taker or a conductor and most of them seem clueless as to the policies and tend to immediately dismiss cyclists.