Thought this may be of interest to anyone thinking of incorporating the Heart of Wales railway line between Shrewsbury and Swansea into a ride.

[Cut & paste]
Today (25/2/25) was the first day in service for a refurbished carriage, one that should see daily use on the Heart Of Wales line.

The carriage has 10 bike spaces and they are sized to suit different styles of bikes, with one that would even fit a tandem. The wheel supports are large enough for mountain bikes and the straps and belts work well. Some of the spaces have seats so if bikes are not on board it is not completely removing all seating.

I believe it's the only carriage with the painted exterior, so it's easy to spot. According to the conductor the only downside, as this is the rear carriage, is that it wouldn't be able to stop on the short stations, such as Sugar Loaf.

excellent, hope this might spur other TOCs to follow suit!

this looks good, not just a cupboard to hang two 'racers'...

picture here:

https://news.tfw.wales/resources/heart- ... ine-153s-2

cheers,

Keith

When I toured in Ireland, they had a guards carriage and anything bulky, mail etc all went in there. Cracking system, you had to pay to use it but was a good setup

(As a side, mereyrail is one of the best companies for bikes, never been refused once and the staff are accommodating too)

Good news, and the right line to put that on too. I guess if the carriage itself doesn't entirely fit on the platform, you can try and wheel it through the gangway, not easy with a loaded bike though. Or wait until the next stop and swap carriages.

Sadly it won't catch on, as so much of the new rolling stock that is locked in for the next 20-30+ years is the class 80x with its pathetic bike cupboards. Also, most lines need to maximise seat/passenger capacity. Also, I think guards/train managers have little time/are under too many time pressures to deal with outsized luggage/bikes etc., so there's not the appetite to facilitate this kind of stuff.

I live right next to the HOWL, can see it from the house. The new carriage is certainly an eye opener, but have plans to use soon, so will report any findings.

Only concern is how many are there? If there's only the one then it will be pot luck if it turns up when you want to use it?

Still some progress at least!

FWIW, I've found the train staff really helpful when taking the bike and can't be more accommodating. TIP, get on train as early as possible in the day to guarantee space. I do a train out and ride back home and never had any issues!

I read the website, and this one carriage* is the first of a number they are converting so I guess the intention is it'll be on most/all services.

*for the geeks, it's not a carriage, just another single car diesel unit added to the normal single unit.

Slightly off-topic but have the (much vaunted) bike carriages/trains actually come into service on the West Highland Line yet?

A couple of years ago we were trying to get tickets on the WHL but couldn't get bikes on - this was at Oban, the guy in the office was saying that they weren't in service yet as there were no drivers trained up on that particular class for the WHL. Dunno if that's still the case.

voodoo_simon wrote: ↑Wed Feb 26, 2025 9:46 am When I toured in Ireland, they had a guards carriage

alas like in GB, most of the loco-hauled (or pushed) stock has now gone in Ireland, there's still a 'guard's van' for some of the Enterprise (Belfast-Dublin) trains (as well as Cork-Dublin services) but most of our trains here now are 'units', so just a space somewhere in one of the passenger carriages--if we're lucky!

cheers,

Keith

Been quite impressed with the upgrades being done to the Welsh trains, at least the ones running in South Wales.

Hopefully investment will continue.

faustus wrote: ↑Wed Feb 26, 2025 10:25 am Sadly it won't catch on...

It will if we want it to.
The Government is seeking comments on this consultation paper about how Great British Railways will serve the public.
It had a good, solid, 8/10 from Richard Bowker (former Head of the Strategic Rail Authority) on the Green Signals podcast.
Opportunities like this don't often arise, so best grasp it while we can

https://www.gov.uk/government/consultat ... ins-future

Survey done, ta Pete.

In similar news: https://www.standard.co.uk/news/transp ... tml

MuddyPete wrote: ↑Fri Feb 28, 2025 1:57 pm

faustus wrote: ↑Wed Feb 26, 2025 10:25 am Sadly it won't catch on...

It will if we want it to.
The Government is seeking comments on this consultation paper about how Great British Railways will serve the public.
It had a good, solid, 8/10 from Richard Bowker (former Head of the Strategic Rail Authority) on the Green Signals podcast.
Opportunities like this don't often arise, so best grasp it while we can

https://www.gov.uk/government/consultat ... ins-future

Thanks for pointing this out. I hope the consultation gets more publicity because I wasn't aware of it. I've all but given up on trains at the moment

I used the HOW line on the weekend and the new bike storage is great and whilst I have never failed to get my bike on a HOW train, it has often been a bit stressful and difficult, so the improvements are very welcome. I hope it gets well used so TFW see the benefits from the investment in cycle facilities. We need to get the busses sorted next!

It is a shame that Lee Waters, who was much of the driving force behind TFW and active travel implementation is no longer in the transport job and will be leaving the Senedd at the next election.

Hamish wrote: ↑Mon Mar 03, 2025 11:42 pm I hope it gets well used so TFW see the benefits from the investment in cycle facilities. We need to get the busses sorted next!

Exactly what I said - most of the rural buses are practically empty a lot of the time anyway, so I can't see space being an issue...

Imagine if you could take bikes on the T4 buses between Cardiff and Newtown.

Anyway fear not, now that I have the ear of my TFW apprentice daughter who works a little bit in the buses department too, my sphere of influence in such matters is enormous

The buses in the part of California I lived in all had a rack on the front for two bikes - it was great for those days where I’d cycled into work, gone for a ride with a coworker at lunchtime and couldn’t be arsed to ride back home.