Riding The Bike Train

Service Allows Cyclists To Embrace Passenger Rail
by Larry Lagarde

Last summer, a young and energetic cyclist named Justin Lafontaine launched the Bike Train, a service that included the transportation of unboxed, fully assembled bicycles between Toronto and Niagara Falls on Canada's national passenger rail carrier (ViaRail). A pilot project that ran for just 4 weekends, the service was so popular that ViaRail plans to expand it to new destinations and over a longer season.

Bike Train Details
Essentially, the Bike Train piggybacked a baggage car containing racks for up to 56 bikes onto regularly scheduled ViaRail trains. For the low fee of $59 including taxes and bike rack reservation, cyclists received a round-trip ticket for the 2 hour journey between Toronto & Niagara. Over the 4 weekends that the pilot program took place, 300 cyclists participated. Many came from beyond Toronto to participate.

An Amtrak Bike Train
Although Amtrak currently offers checked baggage service that includes carrying bicycles, cyclists in the USA could also benefit from a Bike Train service. Amtrak serves over 900 communities but checked baggage service is not available everywhere. If Amtrak offered a Bike Train to destinations like Hattiesburg, MS or Anniston, AL, cyclists could take their bikes by train to popular, paved long distance bike trails such as the Longleaf Trace, Chief Ladiga and Silver Comet, boosting rail ridership while spurring tourism.

Given Amtrak's stated goal of increasing regional trains in corridors throughout the USA, an innovative program such as Bike Train service to select cycling destinations would be a smart move. Besides elevating the profile of passenger-train service among cyclists & rail to trail advocates, Amtrak would boost bicycle eco tourism initiatives, Amtrak ticket sales and regional partnerships with local governmental & tourism agencies all at the same time.

Labels: bike-train