Best Practice

Hitching Rail, Sheffield Station.

Every station needs SHORT STAY CYCLE PARKING where cyclists can leave their bikes while they book seats / bike reservations (remember most cycle and train journeys require reservations). It helps if the cyclist can see his/her bike whilst waiting in the ticket queue.

However, even the best intentioned measures can have unintended consequences. In the case of this hitching rail it got used as long-term storage for a few bikes rather than short-term for many. East Midlands Trains have now rendered it unusable by fixing an advertising hoarding to it.

If you use Northern Rail's trains you don't need a bike reservation to take your bike, and their trains carry at least 2 bikes per train. When trains are not busy Northern's conductors are encouraged to use their discretion and allow more than 2 bikes if there is room. REMEMBER it is the Conductor's decision (she/he is legally responsible for the train), and please do say THANK YOU!

If the Operator gets it right they can expect some happy customers (like this one)

Where reservations are needed, you can make them online by using the Virgin Trains East coast, Southern or Scotrail sites.