I have emailed Avanti and Northern (copying our MP) in the following terms:
'EDEN VALLEY CYCLING UK
REPRESENTATIONS ON THREATENED CLSOURE OF RAILWAY TICKET
OFFICES – PENRITH AND APPLEBY JULY 23
I am the Campaigns Officer of Eden Valley Cycling UK Group.
A Background:
1. The
prospect of closing Ticket Offices at any railway station threatens the use of
rail service and good relationships between cyclists and the railways.
2. There are
many things that might be done to encourage cyclists back into regular use of
the railways; in particular the reinstatement of ‘Guards Vans’ where extensive
space for transporting larger items as well as cycles of all descriptions used to be provided.
As recently as 2018 we were able to take our cycles in such a carriage from
Newcastle to London for the Prudential Ride London. I understand the carriage
was regarded as ‘old’ and accordingly was to be withdrawn from service.
3. As a club
we used (before Covid) to travel out of our area for a ‘Club Week’. We are restarting
this but are not able to consider rail transport out of our area because of the limitations on
numbers of cycles on any train and bookings issues.
4. The
railways should be making proper provision for cyclists on a substantial
scale.
5. Recently
I and three others from our village went on a cycling holiday from Cumbria over
to Newcastle and down to Peterborough. We
had four ‘road bikes’ with panniers. We came back north as far as Darlington by
train. The cycle provision was 4 hooks,
2 in each of the single small compartments either side of the passageway. Our
Road Bikes all had ‘drop’ handlebars which are generally less wide than ‘Flat’
bars (the latter often also used on road bikes and generally on Off Road bikes). So cramped are the cycle
enclosures there was a substantial risk of damage to the bikes, particularly
the gear mechanisms, not to say to those lifting the cycles from awkward
positions. The panniers had to be taken off and stored elsewhere thus causing further
difficulties for other passengers, as well
as ourselves, at the times of
loading and taking the bikes off.
6. ‘Cycles
of all descriptions’:
6.1 many cycles are two wheeled
and relatively light; by no means all
bikes are so.
6.2 Cycles of other descriptions include, mountain bikes, upright tricycles,
recumbent bikes (2 wheeled), recumbent trikes (3 wheeled). Up until recently, generally, cycles were not
power assisted (‘eBikes’). In our Club now often half the participants ride
eBikes. The train cycle provision I describe above was wholly unsuitable for
these, incapable of being used.
7. ‘Cyclists
‘ are people who ride. The power
driving may be by leg(s) / arm(s), assisted by electric motor or not. They may
do more than one sort of the activity.
8 The
activities include:
8.1 ‘Utility cycling’ getting to
work / shopping by ‘green’ transport
8.2 leisure / social – meeting with friends /
companionship riding
8.3 competitive – racing, ‘Audax’,’ Sportives’
8.4 general health - balance,
heart, concentration, low impact exercise (on well set up bikes – pedalling should
not generally hurt joints) – enabling people, even with particular inhibiters.
9. For many,
eBikes enable people to start or
continue getting out and about in a way they would not but for the electric
assistance. There has been a very strong increase of eBike cyclists on and off
the road in the last few years. Dimensions of many cycles have increased. Many,
many cyclists could not singly lift their bike into and down out of a railway
carriage. Many would not be able to store their cycle within the compartments I
describe above. It may well be said that the present provision of accommodation
for cyclists on many, if not all, railway trains in England discriminates against an increasing
sector of the population.
Ticket sales:
10.
With the railway system in England being in the
ownership of several structured bodies
(from Private Enterprise to wholly Publicly owned) booking even for solo
pedestrians, can be fraught. It is possible to book a reservation for a person
who is then unable to book a cycle onto the same train. A friend recently had
such an experience at our local station when he booked himself on a train expecting to take his bike
with him on that train. A Ticket person on duty at the Penrith Station helped him
when this was not possible, booking his cycle on a later train on the same day with
another railway company (including dealing with the funding issues consequent
on it).
11.
The ease of making bookings for some trains
depends on the train company, some are more accessible than others. Making a
booking for a single bike is generally easier than for a group; for some it is
easier to book the bikes first and passengers second!
12.
Having proper levels of staffing on platforms is
essential (e.g. for eBikes). Having no
Ticket Office leaves potential passengers with no option but to seek assistance
of staff who would otherwise be on platforms which would leave demand for
increased personel!
13.
Although many aspects of life are open to access
by the internet we are not universally intellectually, academically or
monetarily able to use the internet effectively. Many, faced with trying to
book their travel on a train through a computer / phone are not going to catch a
train. Loss of ticketed persons through closure of Ticket Offices may represent
a small loss in percentage of passengers in the short term. In number terms It
is likely there will be a substantial loss of people not accessing rail services
even when it is a better integrated / serviced.
14.
Train travel should be a first thought for
people if we are to achieve reductions in our pollutions. Closing ticket
offices represent a backward step in encouraging and achieving conversion to
rail transport. Indeed it is likely the closures would reduce travel by rail thereby also increasing the cost of provision of the rail service.
Nigel Longworth.'
