Amtrak bike train?

by: Phillip Barron - January 16th, 2008   3 Comments

Larry Lagarde over at RideThisBike.com is in the initial stages of discussing a Bike Train with Amtrak, and he’s surveying the country for feasible locations.

He says –

Last summer, Canada’s ViaRail ran a pilot Bike Train with space for 56 unboxed, fully assembled bikes from Toronto to Niagara Falls. The service was such a success that ViaRail is expanding the Bike Train. I’m convinced that an Amtrak Bike Train would have the same results.

Ideally, the Bike Train would run from a large metro area served now by Amtrak. The metro area selected must have a high number of cyclists and the train must run to a destination that is favored by cyclists and is just a few hours from the large metro area. The cycling destination should already be a stop on Amtrak that is staffed by Amtrak personnel.

Based on the above qualifications, if readers have ideas regarding a potential Bike Train service, please pass them along.

Here’s a link with more info about the Canadian Bike Train service.
http://ridethisbike.com/2008/01/riding-bike-train.html

You can email Larry at larry AT ridethisbike DOT com

By way of leaving a comment on his site, I let him know that on North Carolina’s daily trains between Raleigh and Charlotte there is a bike rack in the last car. It can hold six bikes, and reservations must be made ahead of time. There is a $5 fee for your bike to ride, which is on top of the ticket price.

To make arrangements, you need to call 1-800-872-7245 because you cannot reserve bike rack space on Amtrak’s website. They ask that you please remove panniers and other bags before handing your bike to the baggage handler.

 
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  • http://ridethisbike.com Larry Lagarde

    Thanks for your interest in the bike train service.

    People have been calling and emailing like crazy about the bike train. Many have asked what more they can do to help get the bike train underway. Here are my suggestions.

    Ways To Build Interest In The Bike Train:
    1. Tell others.
    More cyclists must be aware of the bike train and express their desire to use it.

    2. Gather statistics.
    Providing Amtrak with hard facts on the number of cyclists interested in the service and where those cyclists want to take the train to go cycling helps Amtrak guage the costs and benefits of the service.

    3. Endorse the concept.
    Everything that Amtrak does is scrutinized so demonstrating broad support is vital. The more entities that speak up, the better.

    4. Sponsor the bike train.
    Offsetting the initial costs of the bike train service with sponsorships makes it more appealing for Amtrak to initiate bike train service.

    By the way, Gene Bisbee (bikingbis.com) suggested running the bike train to major cycling events like the Seattle to Portland Bike Classic (STP). The coordinator of that event (Dave Douglas) believes that a competitively priced bike train would sell out for the STP and other rides put on by the Cascade Bike Club.

    Although I am not Amtrak’s spokesperson, I am very passionate about combining cycling and passenger rail. I’m also confident that a bike train would be successful and will continue to pursue the idea with Amtrak.

    Now let’s make it easier to get bicycles on and off passenger trains!

    Respectfully,
    Larry Lagarde
    RideTHISbike.com

  • http://www.bicyclefrenzy.com Bradly Fletchall

    I am in Sedalia Missouri and a lot of people do use AMTRAK for bike trips here because Sedalia is the western most town on the Katy trail that Amtrack connects to.

    So people get on the Amtrack in St. Charles near St. Louis and get off in Sedalia. Then they bike back to St. Charles. Its really a very good way to ride over half of the trail without having to get someone to drive you back home. The biggest problem with the Amtrak system is they allow so few bikes per train and that you must reserve your spot ahead of time. Often times the train will not even have enough people to fill half of one car (usually leaving 3 cars totally empty) but they still will not allow any more bikes on board.

    Now there is about to be an expansion of the Katy Trail going from Windsor Missouri to Pleasan Hill (near Kansas City). So people from Kansas City will be able to take the train to Sedalia and ride back to KC on the trail as well in a few years time.

    A working Amtrack “Bike Train” system would be good for Amtrak and good for tourism on the Katy Trail in Missouri.

    I think I’m going to write about this on my site as to maybe grow some local support for this here as well

  • Don

    If you want to promote bikes on Amtrak trains you must do more than just that. You must become an Amtrak supporter, and user, across the board, not just for bikes on board trains. Amtrak’s health, and growth, is dependant on how much the US Congress (and state legislatures in instances such as in North Carolina, Missouri, Maine, Illinois, Washington State and California where passenger trains receive state support) invests in passenger trains. So, although it is great to suggest to Amtrak that they put more bike racks in their baggage cars, you need to also bang on the doors at city hall, your state legislatures and governor’s office and members of the US Congress. I would also suggest the President but he has not listened in seven years and I do not expect an epiphany over the next few months. However, you might ask the various candidates as to their position on expanding Amtrak and intercity passenger services. Here is a link that may be of assistance http://www.narprail.org/. There are also various state organizations and these can usually be linked to from the NARP site.