We’ve been getting some questions about how easy it’s going to be for people to get to and from Edinburgh by train, for those who don’t want to cycle all the way (rumours are reaching us of a feeder ride from Aberdeen, by the way). As any cyclist will know, it’s not always easy to take your bike on the train at the best of times – and if hordes of people all try and cram themselves and their bikes on the same train, then people, or more likely bikes, are going to get left behind. If at all possible, bring a folding bike if you’ve got one, or try to arrange to borrow a bike in Edinburgh if you know someone there with a spare. However, if neither of those apply to you, don’t despair – it doesn’t mean you can’t bring your full-size bike on the train at all, just that you’ll have to plan ahead and be a little flexible about how you do it.
We’ve put together some advice – in consultation with ScotRail and others – listing the train services that take bikes, how many they take and how often they go. In general the advice is:
- Leave loads of time to get there. The earlier you get to the station, the more likely you’ll be able to find a train with space for you and your bike
- The same applies for the return journey – don’t all rush for the first train home, but try and spread out your travel
- Tweet which train you’re planning on getting, or if a train is already full of bikes using the #popbikespace tag to help people coordinate travel plans (also if you’re driving and can offer someone and their bike a lift, use the same hashtag)
- Bring a sturdy lock in case you have to leave your bike behind at the station and just come on foot.
We hope it doesn’t come to that… but there’s no shame in Pedestrianing on Parliament instead of pedalling