Tranzmetro‘s new Matangi trains have an internal width of about 2.4 metres, and a bike on average is 1.8m long, so parking on a slight angle will give plenty of room for a bike to be stored on a train.
Copenhagen’s S-tog trains have a carriage in the middle of each train, with a one way system, where you enter with your bike at one end of the carriage, and get off at the other.
The inside of the carriage looks like this:
Bikes on trains are an important part of integrated transport, and should be encouraged by making it easier than it now is, be for way more than 3 bikes per train, and should be available for all services and not just off-peak. If crowding is an issue increase the frequency of service. It is more cost effective to increase the cycling options between Kapiti and Wellington than to build a billion dollar motorway for 3.25 billion dollars.
Info from the Cycling Embassy of Denmark.
I agree. Note in Wellington it’s 3 bikes per 2-car set, so 6 or 9 for longer trains.
There are other things that people should be able to transport by train e.g. cats, rats, and elephants. Trains were built to carry freight.
My guess is that it is too late to influence the design of the current and future Matangi trainsets.
We need a tried and tested solution to this problem:
http://www.railpictures.net/viewphoto.php?id=189496&nseq=0
The comment to the picture is: “Note the bicycle wagon spliced between the railbus (number 168) and its driving trailer.”
(If the link doesn’t work search on: Photographer=Glen Blatten, Year=2007, Keywords=diesel railbus)
Nigel,
That’s getting almost too trainspottery to approve.
Good luck with getting around town with your elephant!!
They’re Greater Wellington Regional Council’s trains, not Tranz Metro’s (they just operate them) – and while increasing off-peak frequency would be not that hard, at peak times it’s another story.
Copenhagen’s trains are quite a bit wider, too, which is how they manage to get seats in as well as the bikes.