What's it like?
I've need to catch a VT West Coast service at stupid o'clock and if I book for Haymarket it gets me an extra 10 minutes in bed but is that worth any extra hassle vs getting it at Waverley?
CityCyclingEdinburgh Forum » Leisure
Getting a bike on the train at Haymarket
(16 posts)-
Posted 9 years ago #
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Easy. I do it most days. Less hassle than Waverley, in that the station is smaller.
There are decent sized lifts to all the platforms (you can get three bikes and their owners in if one of the cyclists decides to organise you!). There are wide gates for people with things like bicycles.
Just mind the road outside the station!
Posted 9 years ago # -
no problem at all. Show your ticket and go through the wide barrier on the RHS and you have a choice of taking lift or escalator/stairs down to your platform.
If you know your carriage, you can often anticipate roughly where it will stop on the platform- sometimes there will be indicators and others a guard may be able to help. VT trains will stop for 2-3 minutes, so even if you don't get it right you'll have time.
The only advantages for Waverley would be that you should get in ahead of any opportunists who don't have a bike reservation. You'll also have more time to load up if Waverley is the departure point of the service.
Posted 9 years ago # -
Cool, thanks guys.
I think I need to reserve a bike space any way so that should prevent any one getting my space.
Posted 9 years ago # -
Once again reminded why I never take my bike on the train. Half an hour on the phone to book a train space, guy on the phone had call back office to do it. I used to at least be able to do it on the front office systems back in the day so could talk the customer through what was available.
Why in the name of Stephenson can we not do this on the web, VT seem to have nerfed the East Coast site, they used to do bike reservation on the web...
Posted 9 years ago # -
Quick question, any way of knowing what type of train will turn up on Saturday? Its the VT 0656 from Haymarket for Euston, I suspect it'll be a Voyager but doesn't the occasional Pendolino run this route?
edit: I'm in Coach B and looking at the floor plan it doesn't really matter both types load the bikes in the front of coach A.
Posted 9 years ago # -
Quick question, any way of knowing what type of train will turn up on Saturday?
http://www.realtimetrains.co.uk/train/P55179/2015/08/15/advanced
Booked for "diesel multiple" = Voyager.
Voyagers only 5 (occassionally 4) cars long (or multiples of 5), so not so bad as Waverley when the Class 91 (9+2 cars) and HST (11+2 cars) share the Edinburgh - London routes but have the bike van at opposite ends. Involves quite a run when you find the platform staff told you to go to the wrong end!
Posted 9 years ago # -
Cheers kaputnik. I figured there would be a web site detailing that kind of information but didn't know how to phrase the question so Google would understand what I meant.
Posted 9 years ago # -
All Virgin are Class 221 5 car tilt enabled. They had 3 x 4 car but created unit 221 122 as a 2-car and now all VT Voyagers run as 5 car.
Coach A on VT WC is always planned to be Country end and always place for bikes Coach D has catering and is 'convertible' with almost all seats table seats and what feels like higher seats, and plenty space for folded bikes between seat backs.
Most 9 coach Bendy**s have had Coach G converted to Coach F for more standard class seats. 11-coach retains Coach G and adds F, U.
Posted 9 years ago # -
Coach lettering is odd. I assume the reason the Mark IV sets have no Coach A and start at B is that the former is the technical name for the DVT? I've never figured out why they sometimes skip letters, why don't they just name them in sequence for the sake of confuddled passengers?
Posted 9 years ago # -
IIRC coach A on Mk IVs used to be the smoking coach, which was removed and the letter never replaced. I don't know what happened to the actual vehicles - I assume they were refurbed and assimilated back into the sets. (oddly coach B on East Coast HSTs was the smoking coach, which meant that coach A felt very cut off from the rest of the train and usually had free seats, even on quite busy services).
And yes, I've spent far too much of my life over the last twenty years on the ECML...
Posted 9 years ago # -
I fairly often get the train to Livingston from Edinburgh at least a couple of times a month often more.
I see Finn gets the train every day so possibly has a better idea, If I recall correctly she rides a Brompton so no risk of being refused entry.
I have been refused entry from Haymarket before, if the space for bikes is already in use, I have never failed to get the train from Waverley before.
If you go to Waverley you can go early and get on first, but even if you do not and the space is already taken you can place your bike in the corridor.
The train will often depart before the conductor notices the extra bike.
Once already onboard the train I would guess the conductor is less likely to ask you to depart than they would be to refuse entry prior to boarding, possibly due to phycology, the bias to the current status quo, also possibly because more agro asking someone to leave compared to stopping them enter.
So you can travel on a train they would not have let you board at Haymarket even if you arrive and spaces are full.
You could also choose not to stay with the bike on the train and it may be less likely the bike is taken of still; as logistical issues and a resulting delay departure at the next station that the conductor would want to avoid.
So if your meeting is important, to ensure you get on the train and assuming you don’t ride a folder may be worth going to Waverley for an extra 5 mins cycle to almost guarantee you get on the train if get there early.
Posted 9 years ago # -
Being refused entry or put off a train depends also on the company you're travelling with.
A few weeks ago I was dumped at Motherwell by an implacable Cross Country guard. Someone had made a reservation (which I should've done myself) and boarded at Motherwell. Ordinarily there's a very large and very unused luggage space just next to the bike cubicles. It would take at least three ordinary bikes. My folder was off the road for some reason. Long, long journey home ensued.
A sympathetic ScotRail staff member at Motherwell told me that XC guards, usually those based in Glasgow, would've been happy enough to take four (instead of three) bikes. The crew from Preston are, apparently, implacable.
What was interesting is that I stayed beside the bike cubicle and the guard took my ticket without saying a word about someone boarding at Motherwell with a reservation. Makes me think they don't actually know how many reservations they have.
Needless to say, I either leave my bike at Waverley or ensure I have a reservation (easiest to do CX reservations at a station rather than over the phone, which is akin to root canal without analgesia).
Posted 9 years ago # -
If I'm travelling with my Brompton and going west, I'll usually get on at Haymarket and enjoy the six extra minutes. If I'm taking any other bike, I go to Waverley.
If the train starts at Waverley (going east or west) then you have a better chance to get a bike onboard if you get onboard there.
If the train has picked up passengers earlier then you might pick Waverley or Haymarket depending on which comes first.
For some trips to Glasgow I leave my bike at Waverley and walk. Mostly it's when I'm unsure about bike parking at my destination and additionally unsure or unwilling to taking a Brompton inside (like going to the SECC!).
Posted 9 years ago # -
Ed1
1) My username is fimm not Finn (it is interesting that people get it wrong, you are not the first).
2) are you going to Livi North or South? As I've said before, Livi North trains seem very flexible in my experience. Another tip, if the carriage with most space for bikes seems busy, seems to be to go to another carriage and leave the bike in the door. If I have my road bike because the Brompton is off the road that is what I tend to do. (Doors open on the same side at Haymarket, Edinburgh Park, Uphall and Livi North.)
Posted 9 years ago # -
Well no one to refuse me entry, no one to tell me what end coach a is. I chose wrongly. Had to peg it the length of a 10 car set, it would be a double one today wouldn't it.
Posted 9 years ago #
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