Adventure travel: Wheels on wheels

It's not rocket science - it's more complicated than that. Simon Calder tries to unravel the arcane rules for cyclists hoping to take their bikes by train

One sunny July morning in 1978, British Rail unexpectedly announced that the natural alliance between trains and bikes should be consummated forthwith. With a generous gesture, BR decreed that bicycles could travel free with their owners on all trains. As cyclists know to their cost, railways have been backpedalling on that decision for the past 20 years.

First commuter and high-speed trains were restricted, then a charge was imposed for travel on InterCity services. New train designs seemed intended to thwart attempts to carry a cycle aboard.

Untangling the rules in the aftermath of privatisation is even more complicated than the Rocket science applied by Stephenson. People planning to let the train take the bike have to plan well in advance and quite possibly pay for the privilege. From the tangle of restrictions afflicting cyclists, these are the most important links in the chain.

Bikes go free on North Western Trains, Regional Railways North East and - from this summer - ScotRail. But as anyone who has tried to get a bike space on the Glasgow-Inverness line in summer will know, you must book in advance on long-distance services.

The other good guys are local and commuter trains operated by Cardiff Railways, Chiltern, Connex, Great Eastern, LTS, Silverlink, Thameslink, Thames Trains and WAGN. Bikes go free off-peak, with no need to reserve space. The same applies on South West Trains, except for a few diesel services.

Most long-distance trains, including all services operated by GNER, Midland Mainline and Virgin Trains, insist that you book in advance in and pay pounds 3 for the privilege. A trick here is to use alternative services where no charge is made: North Western between Sheffield and Chesterfield, Silverlink or Chiltern from Birmingham to London, ScotRail between Glasgow and Carlisle.

A couple of oddities: on Anglia Railways, local services cost pounds 1, while InterCity trains cost pounds 3 - and for these you must book in advance. Central Trains accepts bikes free on lines sponsored by local authorities (around Birmingham, and in Nottinghamshire), but charges pounds 3 elsewhere. Great Western and Wales & West charge pounds 1 if you book in advance, but pounds 3 if you just turn up with your bike (and space is available).

On the London Underground, the calculations get really complex and involve the method of construction (which affects the size of trains). There is no charge for bikes, but there are lots of restrictions on times and lines.

On cut-and-cover lines (Circle, District, Metropolitan), cycles are allowed off-peak. On the remaining tube lines, bikes are allowed outside rush- hour on trains between surface stations: Hammersmith to Acton Town is fine, Victoria to Euston isn't.

The real heroes and villains in the bikes-on-trains saga are all railways serving airports in the London area. The Gatwick and Heathrow Expresses carry cycles free any time. But on the Stansted SkyTrain from Liverpool Street station to the Essex airport, bikes are banned.

The easy way to long and winding series of rules is to buy a folding bike. I invested pounds 400 in the remarkable Brompton bicycle, which compresses to the size of a briefcase (OK, a quite-large briefcase, but modest enough to have been taken it as hand luggage on a KLM flight). We have travelled happily everywhere together - until one morning at King's Cross when I approached the 7.30am to Newcastle a few minutes before departure with the bijou Brompton.

"Have you got a ticket for that bike?"

"No, I didn't think I needed one."

"Well you do."

As the minutes ticked away, and we stood discussing the matter beside the completely empty guard's van, I proffered pounds 3 to buy one.

"No, you have to reserve a space at the ticket office."

I duly booked a space, missed the train, and have managed to avoid travelling on GNER ever since.

A brighter attitude to cycling was demonstrated this week by Connex South Eastern, which on Wednesday launched a new initiative on its trains between London and Kent. The "Ticket to Ride" combination allows daytrippers simultaneously to book a train ticket and reserve a bike from any station in the region to Tonbridge and Canterbury, where the cycle will be waiting.