On 05/07/2010 06:48 AM, Mad City Biker wrote: > We need to make sure that trains > are 100% bike friendly at all times, i.e. you can travel with your > bike on the train at all service hours and not just off-peak.
I take my bike on Amtrak Cascades (which is not a commuter service) regularly. It's not "100% bike friendly at all times," but it's pretty good. Each train has a fixed number of hooks in the baggage car which you can reserve for $5. Where the service breaks down is:
1. If the train is cancelled-- as it is with surprising regularity-- they replace it with buses. And the rule on the bus, unknown to the booking agents, is that you need to box your bike if the bus driver decides you need to box your bike. That's okay if you are able to do it-- I had a recent event where I was *not* able to do it and had to scramble to find a place to leave my bike (in Seattle), then take a later bus. Worked for me but would have been a crisis for somebody with less flexibility.
2. They don't care to provide baggage car service except at the service endpoints, so the conductor has to make a special trip to the baggage car if you want to get off elsewhere. They whine about that, but there isn't much they can do once you've paid for the service-- the online booking service is happy to sell you a bike reservation for intermediate destinations.
3. If they sell all the hooks before you book, you are out of luck, despite there is plenty of room in the car for an unhooked bike.
-- Scott Rose Vancouver, BC _______________________________________________ Bikies mailing list [email protected] http://lists.danenet.org/listinfo.cgi/bikies-danenet.org
