- recumbent friendly
- space for larger and wider vehicles (I have a recumbent long wheelbase delta trike with a wide rear for storage that I use for hauling my boy and stuff)
- trailer friendly
- routes that include stops near National Forests, National, State and County Monuments/Parks

That is a huge problem for Amtrak that they really need to work on. I know a in a large part it is caused by inconsistent and marginal funding. I just had to drive 250 miles due to cancellation/planned schedule outages due to track construction. Cancellation was due to east coast winter weather and lack of equipment. The track construction is being done by CSX and is major rail replacement. From my discussion with a couple of people in rail, apparently Amtrak’s lease agreement only allows them to use certain tracks so they cannot do run arounds like the freights do.

Aaron

My commute is an hour on the intercity service to downtown Melbourne, then half an hour on a suburban train, then 10 minutes ride to the office. Luckily it’s infrequent, and I’m allowed to travel on company time. Most people drive the 1.5 hours each way between sites.

The intercity trains have one bike/luggage bay per pair of carriages. It’s long enough to fit a bike comfortably, and wide enough to fit about 4 bikes (it’s about as wide as the 2-person seat that backs on to it). Above the bike bay is a rack for oversized suitcases. There are a couple of long velcro straps attached to the wall; you pull one of them around the top-tube and stick it back on to itself.

It’s free to take your bike.

It can be a squeeze getting a bike on to these peak services; Ballarat is within commuting distance of downtown Melbourne, and it’s becoming more popular every year. I haven’t missed out yet, but the official line is that bikes are only carried if there’s space. Luckily Ballarat is the start of the line, so there’s a better chance of getting a bike spot (and a seat) than if joining the train later.

Melbourne suburban trains, as mentioned in a post above, have no specific provisions for bikes, but bikes are permitted. A ban on bikes was introduced then overturned after concerted lobbying a year or two back.

On longer intercity routes, different (locomotive hauled) trains are used. These have a dedicated luggage room in the first half of the first carriage, which is where bikes are carried. I’ve only taken my bike on one of these; I loaded my (unboxed) bike into the carriage, and a railway staffer unloaded my bike at my nominated destination. I didn’t like this so much… not being able to see my bike and having no idea how it was being handled.

Several times, I rode between train lines or from a train stop to my destination. Overall, it was a very good experience.

–how are the bicycles stored or secured onboard? In a separate cargo car or mixed in with passengers?
In a separate bicycle car. There are 8 racks per car, and each can accommodate 4 bicycles, laid against each other and bungeed on. A tag system is used to identify each bicycle’s destination to avoid being buried by bicycles going further than you. Conductors ask non-cyclists to use other cars if possible to allow seating for cyclists.

–any fees you might have encountered while bringing a bike onboard
No separate fees. In California I do not believe it is legal.

–hits/misses in the experiences you’ve had. Was it good and efficient or a nightmare of logistical headaches…or somewhere in between?
Caltrain has a HUGE adoption rate. I regularly ride on trains where the bikes are at or near capacity, and this is after Caltrain raised their bicycle capacity so they have had massive success with getting commuters to adopt this service. I would say that when the cars get up to 40 bikes, it is a logistical challenge to get cyclists and their bikes on and off the train, and delays occur. Some trains have more than one bike car, and allowing cyclists spread themselves out across two doors and two cars alleviates the problems.

–what was the purpose of your travel: for recreation or for commuting purposes?
Commuting.

–any specific policies or procedures that worked or needed improvement?
As I said, be prepared for slow but eventual mass adoption. Once this happens, plans may need to be in place to convert additional cars to bicycle cars or risk delays.

–whatever else you care to add about your time onboard
As someone pointed out on LinkedIn, you can find out more online from the SF Bicycle Coalition here:
http://www.sfbike.org/?caltrain_bob

In the UK there is often a small cupboard for bikes. These are usually narrow, and state that they will hold 2-3 bikes, but in reality only hold one comfortably.

–any fees you might have encountered while bringing a bike onboard

No additional charges that I’ve experienced, but taking them on at busy times is a definite no-no.

–hits/misses in the experiences you’ve had. Was it good and efficient or a nightmare of logistical headaches…or somewhere in between?

No real problems – except in the mad rush to get on/off a bike in the way does tend to antagonise fellow passengers. A separate carriage would be sensible in this regard, but that would mean less seating space.

–what was the purpose of your travel: for recreation or for commuting purposes?

Commuting.

–any specific policies or procedures that worked or needed improvement?

Rail staff couldn’t give a monkeys.

–whatever else you care to add about your time onboard

I wasn’t encouraged to do it on a regular basis, I’ll put it that way.

how are the bicycles stored or secured onboard? In a separate cargo car or mixed in with passengers?
There are several bike racks in each car, for hanging bikes by their front wheel:

Bike Racks in Phoenix Light Rail Car.

If they are all full, or if you cannot lift your bike up onto the rack, or if your bike will not fit on the rack (such as my long wheelbase recumbent), you can stand with your bike as long as it is not blocking the aisle or a doorway.

any fees you might have encountered while bringing a bike onboard
No extra fee is required, you can ride all day, and change trains (or even change to a city bus and back) for a flat fee of $3.50.

hits/misses in the experiences you’ve had. Was it good and efficient or a nightmare of logistical headaches … or somewhere in between?
I had no problems at all.

what was the purpose of your travel: for recreation or for commuting purposes?
Recreation.

any specific policies or procedures that worked or needed improvement?
None that I can think of.

whatever else you care to add about your time onboard
I know Mark already posted some of this info, here’s another page at Valley Metro’s site:
Light Rail and Bicycles.

–how are the bicycles stored or secured onboard? In a separate cargo car or mixed in with passengers?

o- trains typically have at least one car which is set up with bike racks of the sort where a bike is hung by its front wheel with an arm that extends to strap it to. if there isn’t enough room in the racks (and there rarely is during good commuting weather), bikes are generally tolerated almost anywhere they’re out of the way of passengers.

–any fees you might have encountered while bringing a bike onboard

o- no fees; just roll it on.

–hits/misses in the experiences you’ve had. Was it good and efficient or a nightmare of logistical headaches…or somewhere in between?

o- generally good WRT the bikes themselves. train service itself still generally sucks due to the fact that it isn’t cheap, isn’t frequent, isn’t as fast as driving in many cases, and the Amtrak trains are secondary priority users so it’s impossible to count on them for arrival times if you have a fixed schedule.

–what was the purpose of your travel: for recreation or for commuting purposes?

o- both business/commuting and pleasure.

–any specific policies or procedures that worked or needed improvement?

o- while cars with bike racks are typically well-enough marked from the outside, it would be nice if bike cars were grouped together when there are more than one so it wouldn’t necessitate scrambling along the platform to the other car when one is found to be too full.
also, just a note if you have a bike whose finish you care about; the racks were obviously designed by someone who didn’t have any regard for the finish of a bicycle. the ‘hooks’ that the front wheels hang by will scratch rims, and the ‘arms’ that extend to keep bikes from swaying will scratch the paint on your frame. (i use one of my gloves at each contact point as an insulator if i’m riding a bike whose finish i care about.) this, of course, is all in addition to the disregard some of our fellow commuters display for others equipment when cramming their jumnkers into the racks… but that’s just how some people are about *everything* and is no fault of Amtraks.

–whatever else you care to add about your time onboard

o- when commuting on a semi-regular basis into the Silicon Valley, i found many of the cyclists begin to recognize each other (and their bikes) and a small sense of community evolves amongst those who like that sort of thing. that isn’t possible when people are all caged up on the highway in their individual vehicles.
tolerance of various conductors was generally amazing good WRT parking of bikes; some of them were very vocally Pro-Bike policy; “Amtrak should make better provisions for bicycles; just make it work!”. as long as bikes were out of the way, it didn’t seem that conductors ever expressed a problem with thoughtful bike parking on the train when it overflowed the racks as it typically did. (i once actually had a conductor have me put one of my handbuilt custom bikes in the aisle instead of parking it in any open slot between 2 junkers on the rack because it was less likely to get damaged!)

With a bike I only have a “miss” to add to your data. We had planned a 10-day multimodal bike/ train trip from Portland to the Kitsap Peninsula and Puget Sound. A week before departure Amtrak let us know that their special “bike” cars were all being pulled from the line for maintenance. (!) They offered us refunded tickets but no other options. It ended up being a mostly bike trip (eked out with a few motorcar lifts).

I love the idea but I’m leery of Amtrak’s reliability.