Bikes on Eurostar?

The best bit is the size of the box: deliberately(?) smaller than any available bike case.

Bastards!

They've already issued a correction on that to 'any size box within reason'

OK, that makes a big difference. Perhaps not bastards!

But really, the whole good think about paying £30 was not having to disassemble bike.

They still want to charge you £30 and make you disassemble your bike. Which is a pita at best, or not possible for some*.

*I've seen quite a few MTB electric bikes and dutch bikes on eurostar.

It really sucks. They clearly give zero fucks about cyclists using them or they'd have bothered thinking their policy through.

Random sized cardboard boxes (with bits poking out) don't stack or use space well. Well placed hooks is all we need.

I don't get this. As soon as you bag up the bike you might as well carry it on as regular luggage- for free. Why pay £30 to have the hassle of dismantling and building it up at the other end anyway?

Eurostar claim the move is to free up space for other passengers and luggage, but if bikes are just carried on, the opposite will be true, as they take up a whole luggage bay in the carriage.

I for one blame the French.

http://www.theguardian.com/business/2015/mar/04/eurostar-sale-to-net-british-taxpayers-more-than-750m

The French wouldn't flog off their own rail services.

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/business/news/revealed-how-the-world-gets-rich-from-privatising-british-public-services-9874048.html

They clearly give zero fucks

That's pretty much it.

Campaign: http://e-activist.com/ea-action/action?ea.client.id=1689&ea.campaign.id=43067&ea.tracking.id=EF

This removes any reason not to simply fly to your destination, surely?

I can get the train to Gatwick directly from Forest Hill, with my bike in it's (wheeled) bag, it's actually easier than getting to St Pancras.

Plus BA take bikes for free.

Cost? One way trips? If I ride to Paris and don't want to ride back I've got to source a bike box and get it to the airport rather than cycle to Gare du Nord.

You still have to find a box and get it to gare du nord now?

This removes any reason not to simply drive to your destination, surely?

I'm so driving to the Alps next year.

Well allegedly they're going to provide them. Whether that happens...

It's shit. It was hassle enough with their stupid booking system and now it's totally fucked the service for anyone who wanted to ride to St Pancras, Eurostar to France/Belgium and then cycle away from the train station at the other end, like I did for PBP. I used their stupid service because it was easier and better than flying, now I may as well fly over. Idiots.

If "any bike box within reason" was a full-size bike box that only needed you to turn the handlebars 90 degrees to fit in, and Eurostar are "happy to provide" said boxes, couldn't they just have a stack of these boxes at the stations? Big, rigid, heavy-duty and re-usable, with hinged end panels?

You cycle to the luggage depot at the station.
Eurostar bring you out a box.
You twist your bars, wheel it into the box, close the box.
Eurostar take the boxes away, stack them next to each other on the train.
You take the train.
You go to the luggage depot at the destination station.
You open your box, wheel your bike out, twist and tighten the bars back up, and cycle away.
Eurostar store the empty boxes.

They won't though, will they.

Course not. Cause that would cost money. And the reason they are doing this it to squeeze more people on, to make more...

Fuck it, flying is cheaper anyway.

You're not wrong.

It was once cheap, fast, convenient and energy efficient (regardless of whether or not it maximised profit) and you could ride off in Brussels.

Sad times.

All non-folding bikes or those over 85cm long will need to travel with our registered luggage service, Eurodespatch, in either London, Paris, Lille or Brussels. They’ll also need to be dismantled and placed in a bike box or bike bag. We can provide a box for you, which is included in the service price.

http://www.eurostar.com/uk-en/travel-info/travel-planning/luggage/bikes

Is that news to you, as it is to me?!

^ http://www.lfgss.com/comments/12567013/

No no, I meant the bit about them providing boxes included in the price

Yes, someone mentioned it in this thread, no pics though, would be interested to see what they are like if you're going through.

http://www.theguardian.com/business/2015/nov/13/plan-forcing-cyclists-to-dismantle-bikes-before-using-channel-service-ditched

I didn't expect that. Good news.