[PR] Public Lecture "Building a Cycling Culture"
 

Hi,

Under a different hat, I'm a member of Dublin Cycling Campaign and we have our annual lecture coming up this week. Feel free to drop in.

Colm

Bike campaign
 

As a long-term member of Dublin Cycling Campaign, although not as active currently as a few years back, I'm keen on helping to formulate a proper Bike-Friendly policy on IE trains; I'll provide more details in due course, but for example, all offpeak DART/Suburban trains in Dublin, and the Cork-Cobh and Cork-Midleton Services, should immediately be made accessible to passengers with bikes; this will cost IE NOTHING, and indeed will bring in a LOT of extra revenue, especially at weekends/holidays.

We have been working on this.

In Toronto, all subway services are okay for bikes off peak, and most bus services have front mounted racks to carry two bikes.

See also this:
http://biketrain.ca/

All services nationwide with the following exceptions carry bikes

DART
Dublin - Maynooth/Longford/Drogheda/Dundalk/Gorey/Enniscorthy/Wexford
Cork - Cobh/Midleton/Mallow

The timetable now clearly states which routes and which trains carry bikes, this is due to us pointing out EC/1371/2007 requires this information to be made available before train.

Safety issues remain as no DART or commuter train is fitted with any appropriate racks or restraints to ensure a bike is secured while on the train. I don't see this being resolvable without significant capital expense but the rack could compromise capacity at peak hour. Safety is the key concern and no compromises are acceptable

The accepted industry approach is bike parking at stations which can cope with greater numbers.

Further expansion of bike facilities is dependent on a significant uptake on the facilities provided for intercity and regional services.

I didnt realise that it was not possible to take bikes on the Cork - Midleton trains. Last Wednesday morning I took my bike on the 06:45 Midleton - Cork. Nothing was said to me, due to there being no ticket checker, either on the train or @ Kent Station.

I was in Swansea last weekend, cycled Swansea - Burry Port, no probs putting bikes on the trains there.

How do other countries get around this? Lots of cities allow unsecured bikes on trains outside of rush hour. Los Angeles, London, Parisand New York. Isn't it shocking how other countries allow some common sense to prevail.

To add to that list:

Arriva Wales: http://www.arrivatrainswales.co.uk/Bicycles/
VVS (Stuttgart): http://www.vvs.de/tickets/mitnahme-von-fahrraedern/

Why does everything need capital investment in the country before anything is done?

The 06:45 last Wednesday had 40 ppl on the train. There was plenty of room* for bikes. *No dedicated bike space, but there was room.

In Stuttgart on all trams, outside of peak-time, bikes can be conveyed on them. Regional and InterCity trains have dedicated space (in some cases dedicated carriages) for bikes.

Here it should be possible to be able to cycle to work (via using the train where possible).

Last Tuesday I cycled Model Farm Road (work) to Midleton. Wednesday morning, I cycled from home to Midleton station (about 2km), bought my ticket, put bike on the train (which did not interfere with anyone boarding or disembarking from the train), arrived in Cork with ticket out, no one wanted to look at the ticket, cycled off to work.

Along with the lack of information in Midleton station, or any other East Cork station, there is nothing about taking bikes on trains.

Safety should be addressed and if a mechanism can be found to ensure a bike can be secured as to not cause an obstruction there is no problem

On a 2600 set in Cork, it would require seats to be removed adjacent to the toilet and a rack of some kind fitted.

The key is a space which does not obstruct entry/exit and that if the train is involved in an accident that the bike does not obstruct an exit or cause injury

Maybe the toilets could be removed? No need for a toilet on a commuter train where the route is less than 15miles in length. Though, from time-to-time the 2600's are used on the Mallow - Tralee runs.

Spoke to Ciarán Cuffe, TD, Minister for Everything last week. He wrote to RPA and Irish Rail two weeks ago on this.

You must have been very lucky to have had no problem with staff challenging you bringing a bike on board Midleton-Cork services. Since I have started using them, I always dismantle and pack my bike in bags and put it in the space near the toilet which is supposed to be for wheelchairs, and the ticket checker/controller seems to always be happy that it is not a problem, although I dont know what he would say if I took it on board without dismantling it. It would be good if IE could clarify the issue over this line, because Cork-Midleton is NOT exclusively a commuter route, it is also a 'Cross-Country'/'Inter-Regio' route, albeit a short one, especially as trains often go between Midleton and Mallow rather than terminating at Cork.

Even in the case of the DART being off limits to bikes at all times, the excuses about 'safety' or 'no space to put bikes' are plainly NONSENSE, as the DART trains have large amounts of space with no seats for standing passengers which are ONLY used in rush hours and are similar to the seatless standing spaces in trains in cities such as New York, Amsterdam, London, etc. which cyclists can quite happily use for their bikes at any time outside evenings and mornings on Monday-Friday. Just last weekend in London, I took my bike on one of the new OVERGROUND trains on the East London Line Route, from Forest Hill to Shoreditch and there was no problem for me and two other cyclists to take our bikes with us, even when getting off at a station with steps to street level and automatic barriers. A very helpful member of staff even helped me with my bike through the wide 'wheelchair' gate in the barriers onto Mile End Road.

BTW, about removal of toilets from 2600 trains to provide more cycle spaces on the Midleton Route, my opinion on the long term future of the route is that it will be electrified within the next 10 years, and Tram-Type LRV vehicles will be used instead so as to enable a Light Rail link through the centre of Cork put to places like Bishopstown, Wilton, Mahon, etc. In many Dutch and German cities, bicycles can easily be taken on trams on the off-peak, as tram vehicles also have large amounts of standing room. the heavy diesel railcars such as the 2600 class are unsuited in the long term to a route like Cork-Midleton and Cork-Cobh as they are too heavy and over-engineered for light branchline/regional/commuter use. Even if Cork-Midleton and a future extension to youghal are not electrified, there are far superior more lightweight diesel units available from manufacturers such as Siemens in Germany, and Bombardier, (e. g. the 'Regio Sprinter' and 'Regio Shuttle') with more room for standing passengers, bicycles, etc.:D