Pre-pandemic, Eurostar used to permit a small number of fully-assembled bikes on board. In January, it finally resumed the service on “selected trains” from London to Brussels. I have been trying, since then, to book bikes for our summer holiday. It’s not possible online, and, when I’ve emailed and called, promised responses never came. There has been a huge increase in bike touring which, combined with train travel, means a low-carbon holiday. So why has Eurostar made it impossible to access the service?
EP, London
Eurostar’s website tells passengers who wish to book non-folding bikes on board unspecified “selected trains”, to send an email and, ironically, to do so early to avoid disappointment. You’ve been trying for more than four months.
My initial enquiries made no headway. Eurostar told me that it did not yet have an online system for checking availability and witlessly referred me back to the website. “We remain fully committed to providing an efficient and accessible service for customers who wish to bring bikes on board and will continue to look at how we can do better,” it declared. I tried again. Eurostar mulled it over for six days, then announced bikes could be booked on to services between 07.55 and 15.30 GMT from London to Brussels, and from 07.30 to 19.30 CET from Brussels to London.
Cut out and keep this intelligence because it’s not on the website! And there’s a catch. You can’t request the bike booking until you’ve bought your non-refundable train tickets, and responses to emails take between seven to 10 days. If you’re lucky, you get permission to pay £45 to check your bike in; if you’re not, you’ve got a ticket that’s no use for a cycling holiday. This is farcical. It appears that Eurostar knows it, but is in no hurry to reform. “We are working hard to decrease the turnaround time for bike requests, and we are also looking at improving how we display information online,” it says vaguely. “This also means an online booking tool to simplify reserving bikes and luggage. We are looking at launching this in the near future.”
You have now managed to book in your cycles.
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