Headpost

Going strictly by the PDF schedule it looks like the farthest you can go with a bicycle on the morning trains is Croton Harmon, whereas you can return from Poughkeepsie on a bike-friendly train in the afternoon.

Am I reading this wrong? Or, once we’re out of the city, would they care if we transferred to a Poughkeepsie-bound with our bicycles at the Croton-Harmon station?

if anyone knows about this I would appreciate your insights.

arbee

Visit the MTA homepage. You can select amongst Subway Bus Rail to view current service issues.

and

View MTA's train schedules online.

I can't copy/paste a narrowly-targeted URL for e.g.: GCT - Poughkeepsie. Some things are do-it-yourself.

Steve B.

I would be surprised if they ban bikes on a weekend train.

arbee

Looking at the PDF of the Hudson Line timetable, I see what may have provoked @Headpost's query: the only northbound trains displaying the bicycle icon are between GCT and Croton-Harmon. In contrast, southbound trains with that icon are between Poughkeepsie and GCT.

Further, MTA does restrict bicycles on trains during weekday rush hours. Strangely, there's an icon for that on the PDF, but it's not deployed on the actual schedule. Fear not: this MTA web page offers details. But this doesn't pertain to @Headpost's query.

My experience - First (and most important): on any train, the conductor is the boss. Second, with extremely rare exceptions, Metro North train crews are delightfully accommodating. Just don't be a jerk. Third - some specifics: some trains have capacious room for bicycles. Really - it's a small parking lot. Others not so much. Unfortunately, this is somewhat random, more random than one might expect.

Steve B.

My thought was take the bike onboard, first or last car. I bet the conductor will not know the rules and let it go.

Headpost

Thanks for the replies. The trip was cancelled but will hopefully be rescheduled.

I plan to just bring our bikes on the train and see what happens, as suggested. We'll see how it goes.

Bob Ross

Here's one of the amusingly inexplicable things about Metro-North that I don't believe is explained in any of their literature:

- that bicycle icon indicates that the train is a designated "bike train" ...but it's not at all clear what that designation means, because you can take bikes on any train (except during rush hour).

More often than not I and my cycling compatriots will strive to avoid those designated "bike trains".
We also strive to be friendly and gracious towards the conductors, and use whichever car they direct us to.
In 16 or 17 years of bringing my bike on Metro-North trains I have never had a conductor tell me "you can't bring bikes on this train."

rumrunn6

why is that?

Bob Ross

Because Metro-North hasn't sufficiently explained what the designation means, and there is no penalty for bringing a bike on the non-designated trains.

Steve B.

A conductor can refuse the bike, or ask you to get off.

Bob Ross

Right, any day of the week, at their discretion...so what are you gonna do? Say "hey, but there's a tiny bicycle icon next to this listing on the schedule, YOU HAVE TO LET ME ON!" ???
Yeah, I don't think so.

csport

Metro North bike regulations explain it:
In reality I have seen these limits exceeded with no problem, but the train was not super crowded. In the TrainTime app some trains have a "no bicycles" sign - they allow absolutely no bicycles. Some have no sign - they allow bicycles. Some have a "bike train" sign - they officially allow more bicycles than those with no sign.

Edit: the same it true re: the PDF schedule. Whenever the bikes are prohibited, it explicitly says so at the top (e.g., AM peak inbound trains). Otherwise bikes are allowed, and the trains with the bike sign allow even more of them.

rumrunn6

ok it sounded like there was some reason to go out of your way to avoid them. maybe I misread that out of context

Headpost

Thanks for all the information! This clears up my confusion with the schedules and is hopefully helpful to other cyclists in the future.

Until they change the system again…