Thought the latest buzz in transport policy was integrated transport? Think again. The primary operator of local train services in the South West (responsible for the operation of 125 stations), Wessex Trains, introduced a new Cycles on Trains policy in May 2004 banning cyclists on their trains for 4 hours a day and placing new restrictions at other times.
Cycling commuters previously making use of Wessex services to or from work and other railway-using cyclists are no longer be able to, as their new policy dictates that cycles are banned from trains arriving into Bristol Temple Meads, Exeter or Cardiff between 07:00 and 09:00 and departing between 16:00 and 18:00. At other times, all services (except their 'loco-hauled' summer service to Weymouth), under the new legislation, may carry a maximum of 2 bicycles, when some of their trains are physically capable of carrying up to 12. To add insult to injury, on all but their 'Alphaline' (and larger) branded services, it is not possible to make advance reservations for a bicycle. The train is very good at moving people between fixed points, but the bicycle is the very much missing link which gets people from their homes and to their final destinations. Unfortunately for any of us rail and bicycle users, whether we get on the train when arriving at the station is pure pot luck. For making onward connections, rail users cannot guarantee a space on the train for their bike at their local station and so are forced to begin their journey with a considerably longer trek to their nearest mainline station instead. You may well find yourself falling foul of the Wessex Trains restrictions if you fancy a trip to Devon or Cornwall in the coming months, as Wessex are responsible for most of the branchline services in the region.
While Wessex customers may not take their bicycle on the train, they are free to take other bulky items of luggage with no such restrictions. There have been reports of large musical instruments and surfboards making it onto the train and for the most part, it seems you're free to take whatever you like onto a train, unless it is a bicycle. In many cases, cyclists will and have been refused the right to travel on a train carrying only a handful of passengers due to the cycle ban, where clearly there is space available, and doing so would have increased occupancy by between 5 and 100%!
Wessex aren't the first either; of the 26 private rail companies now operating services, at least 5 now have bans on the carriage of cycles for some time during the day. In addition, all of the rail companies have differing policies for cyclists, and for this reason the Strategic Rail Authority have been developing a National Cycle Policy. Unfortunately Wessex's new restrictions pre-empted this report and seems to have been taken without any reference to 'users' in their consultation. The result is a severely inadequate solution which undermines current transport policy and for most people defies all logic.
After realising they were turning away customers in Truro and Plymouth, the bicycle ban has been dropped, but despite the best efforts of local campaigners, the ban is very much still in force elsewhere in the West. BCC passed a petition to Wessex Trains' local manager, Anne-Marie Delrosa with little effect. BCC has since invested in postcards to mail to Wessex to protest this ridiculous legislation and help them realise the scale of the impact on their customers. As this policy affects the whole of the South West, North Somerset Cycle Campaign are urging all rail and cycle users to fill in a form on their web site which will result in an automated complaint being sent (by fax) to Wessex Trains for every person who fills it in, at no cost to the user.
For more information on getting involved with the Wessex Trains campaign, see North Somerset Cycle Campaign: http://www.nscycle.org.uk/wessex.html
For more information on taking your bicycle on a train, A to B magazine run a comprehensive guide: http://www.atob.org.uk/Bike_Rail.html