Bikes on Trains

[TheBofh]

If you don't already know Transperth allows you to take your bike on the train for free, except during peak hours travelling to Perth in the morning and from Perth in the evening when bikes are not allowed on trains. This means that many of us who would train & ride to work can't. If I want to ride & train to work I have to leave home by 6:40 and leave my desk by 4pm. This doesn't suit most office workers & there are many who would ride to and from the train if they could take their bikes with them. For me it's a 6km ride from Cannington station to work, it's a pleasant jaunt on the bike, not so pleasant to walk. I may ride all the way some day but at 22km it's a little far for my current fitness level.

I would like to coordinate a petition with other Perth forums to get extra cars added to trains during peak hours where bikes, prams & wheelchairs are priority passengers.

Any thoughts? Any suggestions to who to contact?

 

[P!ERCE]

do it

im always out riding untill around 6:30-8 and the other night i was at carine skatepark and i got a flat tyre so i went to ge the train at warick and they wouldnt let me and made me walk from warick all teh way to freakin joondalup, i dodont get home till 10:30

so yea, a petition si a great idea, me and alot of other people i know would sign it

 

[david123]

Make a petition
its not fun trying to cram onto the trains at perth underground stations with a bike and three other mates with bikes.

 

[jippa]

i worked on the mandurah train line and picked up a bit of info there.. there trains are stretched to the max as the company who makes the trains and carriages had another contract to finish before they started on our new ones and wont be ready to 2010.. also the jondalup line is the busiest with more passengers in 1 day than all the passangers for a whole week on the armadale line.. so i recon u have no chance of getting extra carriages

 

[NH_]

mmm tehres a good reason your not allowed bikes on trains in peak hour, its hard enough fitting on the train with nothing else at those times

 

[TheBofh]

Maybe the train idea wouldn't be practicable but there are alternatives - What about a circle route for buses with bike racks? The authorities in WA don't suffer from too much creativity or forward thinking, praise the lord, or we might be subjected to atrocities like Sunday trading.

 

[NH_]

or you could just harden up and ride the whole way if you want to ride

 

[Hamsta]

I will gladly sign a petition, even though I no longer live in Perth (Bunbury)
I used to use the train to get to Goat Farm (Midland to Greenmount = warmup) and used to commute to uni and work via bike/train.

As far as buses go, they used to have 'pram racks' on the arse end years ago. However, I cannot see bus companies installing racks for bikes due to public liability issues. But, if you don't ask, you don't get an answer!

Last time I caught the Mandurah train was during peak hour (am and pm) and it was seriously packed and it would have been unfeasable to get a bike on and off the train.

Back to your question re: who to contact, perhaps Department of Planning and Infrastructure, Department of Sport and Recreation, or even BikeWest. I think some of the Uni's have informal Bicycle User Groups, might be worth checking that possibility.

Edit: Google search result:
http://www.btawa.org.au/~bta/members/buglist.shtml

Could be worth contacting the organisers of the Great Perth Bike Ride, the annual event to encourage cycling. That could be a prime opportunity to deliver a petition along with registration material to a lot of punters and raise awarness of the issue.

On a side note, maybe we could form a new Bicycle Advocacy Group. (Perhaps called CUNT. Cyclists United for Non-polluting Transport). Imagine the merchandising opportunities!!!!!

As NH wrote, maybe you will have to eat more pasta

Hope amongst my drivel there is a seed of an idea.

Hamsta out.

 

[holdenutes_93]

Yeah I do not personally live in Perth but I reckon the public transport companies should install bike racks on trains just so they are easier to lug around when travelling place. Buses should also be fitted with bike racks as well because its not like there are full buses after the work rush hour. Unfortunately I doubt this will ever happen, especially on the back of buses as there is too high of a risk of the bike being stolen while picking up passengers.

 

[NH_]

perth trains your allowed to put your bikes in the wheelchair section, plenty of room but bikes + peak hour will NEVER work, i used to catch the train to tafe once a morning two years ago, basically i got on the train, squeezed into an area where i could stand and was stuck there until the train got to the city

catching a train with a bike anytime but peak hour is no problem though

 

[flyer]

If you get a petition going I'll put my name to it. The problem is the cost for them I guess. If they were to add an extra carriage then they would have to charge for the carriage of the bike. At least that would allow carriage though during peak hours (I'd be willing to pay during peak times).

So I guess that would be a question worth asking if a petition was put together. A signature to support better facilities during peak periods. But also a couple of questions. Would you be willing to pay during peak times? If yes, how much would you be willing to pay?

Of course Transperth could decide to implement a charge for peak times with the option for train guards to refuse the bikes at their discretion. This would cause it's own problems with inconsistency between guards depending on the condition of the bike/age of the rider/number of people on train already/etc. A bit like going clubbing... wrong shoes, wrong age, wrong gender, etc.

I don't use the train a lot since moving to Perth, I'm pretty close to work, but I've been in that situation before. But I'm interested in supporting those whose commute makes it impractical to ride all the way. I'll keep an eye on this thread anyway.

 

[Dan.]

They should just do what they do in Sydney. Make you pay a child ticket for your bike if your travelling in peak hour.