Bikes on European Trains
 

I've been touring in northern France, Belgium and the Netherlands for a few weeks. I'm in the process of taking the trains back to Paris for my flight home. I thought I'd share what I've learned about getting bikes on trains, because it isn't at all obvious.

Netherlands:
I can't comment on getting a bike into Amsterdam Centraal station. That place is incredibly busy, with tens of thousands of bikes parked outside all the time.

I did manage to get on a train at Rotterdam Centraal. The NS web site says that bikes have to be boxed. It turns out that you can roll onto the train in cars marked with a bicycle stencil, as long as you have purchased a bicycle day pass. You can't take a bike during peak times (before 9am, and between 3 and 6pm) or on the Thalys high speed trains. My advise is to simply ask at the ticket counter or information desk, because they know which trains have bicycle areas, and are very helpful with getting the correct routing.

Belgium:
I got onto a Belgian train in Roosendaal, Netherlands and tried to follow the Dutch procedures. That earned me a lecture from the conductor. In Belgium, you find a conductor on the platform and they put your bike in a special car (depending on your destination.) You have to buy a day pass for your bike separately from your own ticket, and attach it to the bike before boarding. Your luggage goes on the train with you.

France:
Bikes are permitted on the regional (non high-speed) lines during non-peak hours. They used to be prohibited on the TGV high speed trains, but now there are special areas for bikes on some trains. I couldn't get this information on the SNCF web site, so I asked the ticket agent at the station. There is a surcharge for the bike that is added to your travel ticket.

For TGV trains, the seats and bike places are reserved. I bought my ticket to Paris for tomorrow when I arrived in Lille today. I'll update this thread if and when I get back to Paris :-)

Notes:
It's hard to find up-to-date information on transporting bikes on the web sites of any of the national carriers I've used. I've had to resort to looking plaintive when asking for advice at the stations. All of the railway employees I've interacted with have handled my poor French and non-existent Dutch with grace, and spoken excellent English when requested.

I deliberately set up my routing to avoid the 'International' routes because the situation is very different for those.

The best advice I can give is to show up at the station early - but not before 9am - and politely ask for help. If you're not in a hurry, it will work out fine.

All the timetables that I've seen posted in European railway stations (UK, France, Austria, Italy) had a series of icons for each train, indicating the services offered on that train and any schedule restrictions (holiday operation, etc.). Trains that accepted bicycles had a bicycle icon. I was always able to find out from the SNCF website which trains took bicycles. TGV trains have always accepted bicycles that are boxed or bagged in a container of a strictly specified size. I went all over France on TGV trains with my bicycle in a box that was bigger than allowed and only got hassled once. The conductor yelled at me for a few minutes, and let me bring the bike box on the train.

German and Austrian long distance trains seem to always take bicycles, even when they are outside their own countries. This can be useful in countries like Italy and France, where the native long distance trains seldom or never take bicycles.

The situation here in Spain is not good. Bikes (other than folders packed in bags) are prohibited on most long distance routes, including the ones covered by the high speed AVE trains. They are allowed on many middle distance and local (cercanías) trains, but even on those the decision is often left up to porters, who can be quite arbitrary. I'm a member of a cycling advocacy group that has been negotiating with RENFE, the main railway company, in an effort to get them to admit more bikes, but our suggestions have fallen on deaf ears. We're now considering public protests. Anyone considering travelling here is advised to contact RENFE before making plans. I've been using buses more and more as they tend to have more progressive policies. Most bus companies require that you dismantle and pack your bike, but I've found that taking off the front wheel and wrapping any parts that might damage other people's luggage (chain, cassette...) with plastic and tape is usually sufficient.

The situation in Portugal is much different. Almost all trains (except, I believe, some of the busier ones in the Lisbon area) accept bikes. The Portuguese railway company, in fact, actually encourages bike/train travel as a greener way to go.

I just took the TGV from Lille to Paris. They now have special areas where you hang your bike. There is room for four bikes, and from what I can tell, one bike-specific car on the train.

I didn't notice the bike icons on the timetables in Rotterdam, and I was booked through to Lille, so I didn't get a chance to look in Belgium.

The rules are bewildering.
On Dutch NS trains, it seems, no ticket required if the bike is in a bag, disassambled.
But if that train plans to cross a border, then you get barked at. But maybe only if unbagged.
Returning to NL from Brussels, they wouldn't sell me a bike ticket, the checker didn't ask for one.
I'd like to take my bike on the Eurostar to London, but didn't see an obvious spot for it on those trains.
The Swiss trains all seemed to have bike hanging apparatus. But at the prices they charge, you may be better off hiring a private jet.

it's no problem WHATSOEVER to get a bike on a train at Amsterdam CS.

as long as you have a ticket, there's no problem taking your bike across the border.

this has been my experience on various trips to belgium and germany.

It's not true that TGV trains have always accepted bikes. Some TGV trains do, some don't. There was a wide geographic variation regarding bikes the last time I rode a TGV with my bike, which was 5 years ago. For whatever reasons, TGV trains between Paris and the southwest of France generally did not allow bikes in boxes, but TGV trains to many other regions were more likely to officially allow them. I've got a folding bike so I was able to bring mine on 2 trains between Paris and the SW. However, in the wake of the Madrid train bombing, the SNCF (French railroad company) was requiring all passengers to bring their luggage to their seat area. The large luggage racks at the end of the cars had been blocked. The upshot was that large items were dumped in the platform areas outside of the seating areas, as well as blocking the aisles inside the seating area. Everyone, conductors included, seemed to go along with this. I don't know if the luggage areas are still blocked off.

What you described wasn't so much being "allowed" to bring a boxed bike, but rather "getting away" with bringing a boxed bike.

Did you happen to take any photos of those special areas on the TGV? If you did, I'd love to see them.

The attitude in SWEDEN seems to have changed somewhat. From having been impossible to take your bike, the policy is now: "You can take as much baggage as you can carry by yourself, as long as it doesn't interfere with with other passengers travelling area"

I called the customer service... "so it's ok if I bring my bike?"... "can you carry it?"... "yes"... "then you can bring it"...

Seemed pretty clear cut to me... HOWEVER the super fast trains (X2000) do not have as much room for luggage. I would advise taking both wheels and pedals off, turning the handlebars and putting in as small a cardboard box as possible (or wrapping in a tarp) as to using a larger bike cardboard box.

Get to the train early (at terminal stations) so you can put the bike into the luggage before the baby prams and suitcases get there, make it look like your bike is a Gucci handbag (light, easy to carry), be polite to the train conductors (loosing your cool will get you nowhere, but persistent reasoning (with a hint of begging, but not desperate) works well in case they say there is no room... "please let me try, I'm sure you'll see that it won't bother other passengers" sort of thing ;)

I didn't think to take a picture. The bike car had a bicycle stencil on the door. The bike area was to the rear of the car, behind a sliding door. It had a rack with four hooks and vertical channels. The bike was hung by the front wheel, with both wheels in the channels.

I took the bags off and carried them into the passenger area in a nylon stuff sack.

My ticket did specify the car number for the bike along with the one for my seat.

I have to say, when you're on tour it's nice not to have to disassemble the bike for a short train ride.

http://www.sncf.com/fr_FR/html/media...-larticle.html

From this link:

Vélo accepté ! Démonté et rangé dans une housse (90 x 120 cm maximum), votre vélo voyage comme un bagage, c’est-à-dire gratuitement, dans tous les trains. Non démonté, cela dépend des trains.

I translate this as: bicycles accepted! Disassembled and placed in a cover/container (90 x 120 cm max), your bicycle travels as baggage, that is to say free of charge, on all trains. Not disassembled, it depends on the trains.

My container was bigger than 90 x 120 cm, but I was allowed to bring a boxed bike. The restrictions you encountered seem to be a response to the Madrid bombings.

If the SNCF has changed their policy and now allows bikes in a housse on all TGV trains, I'm pleased to hear it. As I wrote, that was not the policy 5 years ago. Only some TGV trains allowed bikes. The 2 TGV trains I took in 2004 (Paris to Angouleme, and Bayonne to Paris) did not allow bikes, even in a housse. However, since my Bike Friday folds, I folded it up, put it in the nylon bag I brought with me for that purpose, and carried it on. You originally wrote that TGV trains have always accepted bikes within certain size and container restriction. (I presume you weren't referring to folding bikes, but regular bikes.)

Also, anyone reading this should note the size restriction. 90cm x 120cm is not huge, and a lot of people would have a difficult time, I suspect, readily compacting their bike to fit those restrictions. As you wrote, your container was larger than that, but you were allowed to bring it on anyway. I would simply tell others that they shouldn't assume that they'll be so lucky.

I'm curious if they TGV trains you were on allowed passengers to use the large baggage shelves at the end of the cars, or if they were still blocked off?