Dear Amtrak: cyclists like us want to help you be successful – if you’d only let us!
For several years, the Virginia Bicycling Federation been asking Amtrak to make it easier to take our bikes on their trains. We think its a win for Amtrak by increasing ridership, and a win for cyclists who would like to carry their bikes to destinations for touring, recreation, or making the final connection on their trips, excursions and vacations.
As things stand now, if a person wants to carry their bike on a train in Virginia, they must disassemble the bike and box it — a hassle at best, but a deal breaker for someone who isn’t handy with a wrench. For someone not mechanically inclined, they would need to take a trip to a bike shop to break their bike down and box it – which, of course, precludes riding your bike to the train station — and do the same at their destination. A deal breaker for all but the most dedicated.
You then must pay a special handling fee to Amtrak to transport the bike.
Multiply all this by two for the return trip home.
I think most would agree this is a hassle.
We’ve asked Amtrak to reconsider their policy and carry unboxed bikes – heaven forbid – but have been told they would need need new, high-tech baggage cars make this difficult situation work.
According to Jay McArthur, Amtrak’s Principal Officer for Policy and Development:
Roll-on/roll-off bicycle carriage is not possible at this time on our Crescent and Silver Service routes which run through Virginia to and from New Orleans and Florida. This service is provided on a small number of Amtrak services, primarily those where states have provided short-distance equipment that features low-level boarding and bicycle racks in cars that are accessible to passengers. The equipment on these trains does not feature low-level boarding nor is there space for bicycles without taking away space already used for coach seats or racks for other passengers’ carry-on bags. There is a baggage car, but the doors and floor of that car are three-to-four feet above platform level, the car is not accessible to passengers, and the car does not have bicycle racks
Fast forward to 1955.
(Go to 1:30 in the video for the innovative BTF bike storage solution.)
Adventure Cycling forwarded a link to an old British Rail Board video I had seen a while ago. Funny how British Rail solved this difficult problem 56 years ago. What did these geniuses do to solve such a dilemma as carrying unboxed bikes? As they tell us in their video, they put hooks in the baggage car:
“A properly equipped touring cycle can be quite a bit of expensive machinery… and the owner of such a machine is inclined to be fussy about how it is carried. So what do the railways do? They hang it on a rubber covered hook… Because after careful investigation the Cycle Touring Commission of the International Touring Alliance decided this was the way to carry cycles by train.
The cyclist hands his unboxed bike to the baggage handler
The handler gently places the front wheel on the hook
Note an entire baggage car filled with bikes? Does that help profits?
Voila: the BTF Bike Solution Circa 1955
A British Rail station filled with happy cyclists
Why, we ask, doesn’t Amtrak take a lesson from our British brethren in the fifties and make it easy to carry bikes on trains? Perhaps they would find, as in the BTF film, that their trains would be filled with happy, Sunday morning cyclists, enjoying a cup of tea and weekend excursion on Amtrak!
{ 22 comments… read them below or add one }
Right. It’s called a ramp and raised platform to let you roll the bike up to the train.
It is pure bias and lack of interest that this isn’t solved. Sadly, in America, if you don’t generate lots of revenue, your nothing.
Our only hope is to be seen as more lucrative than other train passengers.
The same goes for getting respect on the roads. With cars, people see loan $s, insurance $s, maintenance $s, gas $s, etc.
Bikes are antithetical to this. For good reason. The world cannot sustain the excess waste cars produce.
Nevertheless, all of our current economic models depend on massive growth. Massive growth on a finite world is not sustainable. Find new models or don’t cut the space program cause we’re gonna need to grow out there.
I vote for the former. Learn to live with less. Learn that life is richer with simpler, leaner, solutions.
The bike is not a sacrifice. I prefer it. Until more come to similar states of mind they will view cyclists as a financial sacrifice. I think that is what you are experiencing.
Assuming that Amtrak doesn’t alter their bike policy anytime soon, I recommend getting a folding bike.
http://tinyurl.com/yebfna4
Editors note: this link shows Amtrak service in California where bikes are allowed to be stowed unboxed.
The idea of combining bikes and trains didn’t end in the fifties: it’s alive and well. Check out this video: http://youtu.be/RbtyLpfUVVw
and
http://pathlesspedaled.com/about/
(I just wish I could do this as easily on my non-folding touring bike!)
I’ve used Amtrak for my bike and found it, considering the other options relatively convenient.
By “disassemble and box it” you mean take the pedals off and roll it into a box. Not as complicated as you make is seem.
The only problem I have is you can only bring a bike between two stations that have “checked baggage”. A bike car like you suggest would solve this problem.
I, too, found it relatively easy to carry a bike on the Acela. You don’t even need to check it. It’s a little trickier on the regular Northeast, but not impossible.
I started by getting a “bike bag” at Performance. It has a shoulder strap. I removed wheels, skewers, pedals, rear derailleur, and handlebars, which required only an Allen wrench, and the bag has enough loose space for shoes, helmet, water bottles, etc. (Don’t forget to pack the Allen wrench.) Then you just walk on like you would with anything other shoulder bag. Not painless, but way better than flying.
Tom:
Your point is well taken but I think you’re missing the point; for someone with some basic wrenching skills boxing a bike isn’t a big deal. Unfortunately, I know experienced cyclists that can’t change a tire. Boxing their bike isn’t an option. That’s a deal breaker and Amtrak needs to know that due to this silly policy, Amtrak, motivated cyclists and all the people jammed on the interstate highways are the ultimate losers.
What your really missing, though, is that beside the hassle factor of boxing the bike, it makes their pricing uncompetitive. Either I bring a box to the station (tough to do if I want to ride my bike to the station!) or pay $15 for a box at the station,plus a $5 handling fee. Multiply this x 2 for my return trip. Besides the hassle factor, they’ve just added forty dollars to the price of my train ticket to carry my bike.
Based on this, if I want to ride Amtrak to DC for the weekend and take my bike to ride around the city, my $53 trip now costs $93 – a 75% fare increase.
Sorry Amtrak, but for $93, I’ll drive to DC with my bike on the Thule rack, park at the airport and ride my bike in. One lost ticket sale and one more car on Interstate 95. That’s a loose – loose for everyone!)
I’m not suggesting we have a, “bike” car on the train. Current baggage cars are fine. If Amtrak wanted our business, they could solve this whole problem, like the Brits did 66 years ago (and for pocket change, I might add) by simply rigging a few hooks to the ceiling of existing baggage cars. Watch the video. Simple, functional and cheap. Great concept!
Though as much as I want to ride with Amtrak, until they make it easy to do business for motivated cyclists like me – and their prices remain, effectively, uncompetitive due to their silly policies for carrying bikes – I’ll choose to spend my $$$’s elsewhere when I travel to DC, New York or whatever destination beckons. (Am I the only one thinking this way. Bet not.)
Bon voyage, Amtrak……
I agree they COULD make it easier. But none of what I described is as difficult as changing a tire, and I’m pretty sure it wouldn’t defeat you if you tried. It is 5-10 minutes work, and I am by no means a bike technician. The bag is not cheap ($50-60?) but is pretty durable and should last many trips. I found the experience surprisingly easy and pleasant and would absolutely do it again.
None of this is (or was) meant as a defense of Amtrak’s policies. I just think if you’re traveling with a bike the train is a good option – definitely better than flying, and on the northeast corridor probably better than driving. (And I am a fan of driving.)
It isn’t like their train cars are all full anyway, and, for now, you’d probably only have 2 or 3 bikes at a time on any given train so that they could easily accommodated. And please don’t make me take my bike apart
Oi vey. I ride the Pacific Surfliner all the time out here in CA and I guess I never realized how easy we Californians have it when it comes to bikes on trains. I usually just stow my bike inside the regular cars where they have the aforementioned hooks, but at least once I had to hand off my bike to be held in a regular baggage car (probably due to the regular racks being full). Did they have hooks on the interior of said baggage car? Who knows? All I know was my bike was in perfect working order after they handed it back to me…. from three to four feet above platform level. Head meet desk.
whothewhat:
My point precisely. If rolling your bike onto the Pacific Surfliner works on the west coast, as it works in England, and works all over the civilized world, why can’t it work here in Virginia?
Good post. I, too am hoping for roll-on service soon. That was a recommendation for the Capitol Limited in Amtrak’s improvement report. Hopefully it will be soon in coming.
I just want clarify about the difficulty in implementing some of the “easy” solutions suggested here.
Baggage Car
The baggage cars Amtrak uses on most routes were built in the 1950s. The newest among them was built in 1955, the same year as that helpful film you linked to. In fact, Amtrak inherited them from the various railroads that operated before Amtrak came into being in 1971.
Now, that’s not to say that Amtrak could not modify them with bike racks. But the cars are about to be replaced, so there’s little incentive to spend a lot of money on them.
Currently, Amtrak is having new baggage cars built. They should begin to replace the older cars within the next 2 years. I believe that some of these cars may have bike racks installed from the get go.
Platforms
The first comment here, from Jody Brooks, suggests that the solution is to just build a raised platform. That would not be cheap, since Amtrak has over 500 stations, most of which currently have low platforms.
And it is not possible anyway. On any route where Amtrak shares the track with freight trains, the platforms have to be low. The reason for this is because freight cars are wider than passenger cars. Since the freight railroads own the tracks, they get to say “no” to high platforms.
And there’s another problem…
The railcars
Amtrak operates several different types of passenger cars. For the purposes of this discussion, they can be divided into 2 categories: (1) High-Platform equipment and (2) Low-Platform equipment.
The high-platform equipment is capable of using a high platform (like the DC Metro or stations like the Amtrak station at New Carrollton, MD). These platforms are about 4 feet above the rail, and allow customers to walk (or roll) directly onto the train without stepping up.
Almost all of the high-platform equipment can also accommodate low-platforms. The Acela Express is the exception. It can only platform at high-platform stops. For the rest of the equipment, at a low-platform station, the same door is used as would be used at a high-platform station, but a staircase drops down. Passengers on the low platform (rougly even with the rails) have to climb 4 steps up into the car.
The second category, low-platform equipment can ONLY serve stations with low platforms. Someone mentioned the Surfliner in California. Those trains have low platforms. The platform is even with the rail in height, and the door is a few inches above that, just one small step up. All of the cars that are low-platform only are double-decker trains. The pass through between cars is on the second level. It can’t be on the lower level because the trucks (wheels) of the car are in the way.
The Capitol Limited, for example, uses Superliner equipment only capable of platforming at low-platform stations. But the baggage car is a high-platform piece of equipment. Amtrak does not expect riders to lift their bikes over their heads to place them in the baggage car.
The best solution would be to have a space in a Superliner car for bikes. But the problem is that the lower level is small, and is generally where the bathrooms are located and also where the mobility-impaired seating is located. There are some Superliner cars that have a baggage compartment in part of the lower level, but there are only a few of those cars, and they’re used on routes where a full baggage car is not used (meaning that the space is for checked baggage).
So, as you can see, there is no easy solution:
1. Most baggage cars are high-platform only.
2. High platforms can’t be installed on the freight lines.
3. On the few low-boarding baggage/coaches, bag space is at a premium.
The Surfliner (and California) cars were purchased with money from California. California wanted bikes to be permitted, and since they were spending the money, they got to specify about bikes.
Amtrak is going to receive (in 3 years or so) new cars based on the Surfliner design for the Chicago-hub network.
If Virginia was serious about this, they could get in on that order. But the catch is that those trains would be unable to operate on the Northeast Corridor above Washington DC, because it’s a high-platform only area (with a few exceptions).
For the high-level trains (the Silvers, the Crescent, the Cardinal, and the Regionals, there really is no easy solution. Bikes will either have to be carried up (in boxes, by baggage handlers) or new off-line stations (on sidings off the main line, like at Greenbelt, MD) will have to be built with high-platforms.
I hope this helps clarify. If anyone has questions, my email can be found by clicking my name at the top of this comment.
Could this type of bag be used to circumvent the bikes have to be checked rule?
https://www.performancebike.com/bikes/ProductDisplay?langId=-1&storeId=10052&catalogId=10551&productId=1023904&summaryOnly=true
Matt
Perhaps Amtrak might equip some of the new baggage cars with hooks and bike could be handed up – unboxed as shown in the videos. Or would it be too much to ask that Amtrak try a pilot project on one or two popular routes?
I am moving to Richmond VA from San Diego CA and am dreading the obvious reduction in bicycle friendly options. I just took my bike on the Amtrak to Santa Barbara and back. Roll on, hang up, roll off. Not available in the Richmond area it seems.
I also can leave home and ride in any direction (except west) for many miles on roads with bike lanes. As far as I can tell from previous visits to Richmond, there are no bike lanes. I am terrified of riding under those circumstances. Hopefully I can meet people who can show me ‘the ropes’. Don’t want to give up cycling!! Thanks for listening.
There are 3 stakeholders at the amtrak decision table…
1)Congress, who funds the money
2)Amtrak management who spends the money
3)Train Union Employees who get the money
Nothing happens unless all three agree.
The actual passengers are not at the table because their fare contribution is small relative to Congress’s funding. I don’t mean to be bashing any of the 3 parties at the table, they are each just doing what is in their own best interest. It is human nature.
If you want something to be done, don’t waste time with Amtrak, make your plea to your congressman. This, and vintage of train cars, also explain why the policies differ by region.
WHEW!!!!!! I only came to this site out of cuiosity. I am currently between Roanoke and Lynchburg, Va., I am a VERY LONG distance cyclist, but was curious about going by train with my Bicycle.
LOL, I think I will just ride the 210 miles to D.C. from my current location – right through Lynchburg and past the Amtrak Station. I know I am an exeption, but during 15 hours of daylight from mid May through mid July, I can do that ride from sun-up to sun-set. But as I said, I now I am an exeption (I bicycle over 10,000 miles a year – I am a mile-eater).
Having my road bike hanging from a hook from the front wheel next to other SWINGING bicycles does not tickle my funny bone either. Call me stupid for asking, but are bicycles secured from swinging from the bottom? Expensive wheelsets being hit, or hitting something and getting out of true is not something I want to be thinking/worrying about while in transit.
It’s a shame there are no cummuter trains here like the ones that operate between Trenton, N.J. and N.Y.C. for example. If there is space available (number of bikes per car not exceeded), you can just roll your bike onboard with you (no unusual bikes such as tandem or recumbent). But of course we can’t have that on the more plush and expensive Amtrak trips.
Seems Amtrak in the State of Virginia is not interested in more riders or less vehicles on the road. I sympathise with those who can not/will not do a full day ride (or two, or three day ride) from Lynchburg to D.C. (about 180 miles), but I’m gonna do it. Actually my ride will be all the way to Philadelphia (370 miles in 2 – 3 days). Even if I take a room once or twice, it’ll still be less expensive. Sorry Amtrak. I do not see the initiative on your psart to attract riders. Or maybe you just do not like cyclists.
Hey Sean,
I love your spirit. It reminds me much of Thoreau’s thoughts in “Walden” when he discusses that he would rather walk 30 miles to Fitchburg than take the train.
“I have learned that the swiftest traveller is he that goes afoot. I say to my friend, Suppose we try who will get there first. The distance is thirty miles; the fare ninety cents. That is almost a day’s wages. … Well, I start now on foot, and get there before night; I have traveled at that rate by the week together. You will in the meanwhile have earned your fare, and arrive there some time tomorrow, or possibly this evening, if you are lucky enough to get a job in season. Instead of going to Fitchburg, you will be working here the greater part of the day. And so, if the railroad reached round the world, I think that I should keep ahead of you.”
He pre-dates the bicycle by a few decades, but he would have been a fan, I’m sure.
Responding to Sean: my experience was that the bike hangs by the front wheel from the upper hook and the back wheel fits in a stabilizing bracket that keeps each bike from swinging, and I used a lock on it as well. but………there are only 3 hooks on each designated car on the train, and they are first come, first serve. I made it on first! So no, the bikes don’t bang together. FYI.
Thank you Jack for the interesting synopsis. But yes, I do have an intrepid spirit of adventure – especially when I have the time and the stamina. Fortunately, given the way it appears to be in Virginia, I have both. I wish others had the stamina and spirit, but as I said in my second paragraph (where I stupidly typoed), I KNOW I am an exeption. It does appear I will be doing the ride I spoke of, and I really do not mind.
To further expand on my post for all others: From what I am reading, it seems the State of Virginia is particularly tough for cyclists where Amtrak is concerned, though to really check into it, I may just bicycle into Lynchburg to the Amtrak Station and get the skinny there. As I mentioned, I know of other trains (N.J. Transit for one example) where taking your bike is not a problem (as long as it’s a standard type pf bicycle), and you do not have to take it apart and box it up, or fold it (I will NOT buy a folding frame bicycle). I read a post elsewhere made by someone who claimed to be an Amtrak Conductor. He brought up a few things which would seem valid, but other services like N.J. Transit seems to have addressed the issues just fine. People rebutted (and of course any rebuttal or disagreement is deemed “whining” or “complaining” by many folks). The bottom line is Amtrak (among most other transportation companies) just DO NOT want to be BOTHERED with the hassle of cyclists. That is something I will ponder each time I see ads which are geared to encourage people to take public transportation to get some cars off the road. Unless there is a subway,or city bus which goes everywhere you plan to go, you may as well stay near the train station or rent a car, and VOILA, another car on the road – LOL.
Thanks Ann. I do not know where you had the experience where hooks are available, but that does not appear to be the case in Virginia (from what I have read). I also read that if you want to take your bicycle by train, you need to call for a reservation, so I do not see the need to get there first if I have a reserved spot. I figured there may be a way of securing the bike from swinging, but I had to ask anyway given I never experienced that (it may answer the question in the minds of others who may ask the same). It may be a good idea to put less elaborate wheelsets on the bike though (for riders who run with the expensive carbon fibre wheelsets or the like). While it is a fact wheelsets DO take a lot of stresses on the road, why add to that with other stresses by hanging the bike from, and securing against movement by the other? I’d rather that be done from aluminum alloy wheels costing a couple of hundred dollars than wheelsets well into the four digit figures. Hooks (rubber padded) are a good idea, just make your bike a bit more travel robust where certain possible damages will not matter as much or be as costly. Just food for thought.
Sean, my trip on the Amtrak was San Diego, CA to Santa Barbara, CA and back. I actually did a dry run the day before my trip and was told where to line up and that cyclists board first. No reservation was needed at that time. The Santa Barbara depot was not as organized as San Diego so there was no line, just first come, first served.
Okay, thanks Ann. I can not speak for California, though I have read that California is more bicycle-friendly than most other states where taking bicycles on Amtrak is concerned. I am in Virginia, and the issue with this story from the Virginia Bicycling Federation (“Bikes on Amtrak — Why Such an Ordeal?”) we have been commenting on deals mainly with Virginia. Happy riding and stay safe.