Planning a holiday by train and bike? Beware. I have just been told by National Express East Coast that it will be unable to carry our bikes on a bus replacement service on the weekend of 28-29 June between Newark and Peterborough.
NXEC website boasts:
National Express East Coast welcomes cycles on its services and conveys them free of charge, provided it is safe to do. Standard Bicycles Space is limited and there is a maximum number of bikes we can carry on each service. Cycle reservations are compulsory on all of our trains: they are free of charge and should be made 24 hours before travel. Folding bicycles are welcome on all National Express East Coast services and should be stowed in the luggage racks at the end of each coach. They must be folded before boarding and must not be reassembled until you have left the train. For more information and to make cycle reservations please contact us.
Yeah, yeah. So here's the challenge:
National Express better known as a bus company, than a train operating company:
1) purchase cycle/baggage trailer (hint go here or here to satisfy yourselves they are available)
2) fit tow bars to small fleet of rail replacement buses
3) inaugurate by 28 June 2008
4) redeploy fleet on popular routes likely to be patronised by cyclists (bus 'n bike, for example, London to the New Forest for a fraction of the price of South West Trains)
5) Don't even think of offering excuses - if these people can do it - so can you.
Looking forward to an invitation to cut the ribbon, with Holly Bruce from Customer Relations who thinks its a good idea and has promised to escalate inside NX. if you are a cyclist and support the challenge, let NX know at [email protected]