European Parliament backs eight spaces for bicycles on trains

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09 Oct, 2018

On Tuesday 9^th October, the members of the European Parliament’s Transport and Tourism (TRAN) Committee voted to support a proposal to introduce a minimum of eight bicycle spaces on all new and refurbished European trains. If, as expected, the proposal is also backed in the Parliament’ Plenary in the coming weeks, then it will become their official position in the discussions with the Member States (the Council of the European Union) that follow.

Ed Lancaster, Senior Policy Officer at ECF, welcomed the support from the Parliament: “We are aware that there are still plenty of hurdles to come but this is undoubtedly an important step towards increasing levels of multimodality in Europe. It was important to have a strong position on bicycle carriage from the European Parliament leading into the discussions with the Council that await.”

The wording of the TRAN Committee adopted today says: “Passengers shall be entitled to take bicycles on board the train, including on high speed, long distance, cross-border and local services. All new or refurbished passenger rolling stock shall, at the latest two years after the entry into force of this regulation, include a well indicated designated space for the carriage of assembled bicycles with a minimum of 8 spaces. Railway undertakings, ticket vendors, tour operators and, where appropriate, station managers shall inform passengers at the latest when purchasing the ticket of the conditions for bicycle carriage on all services in accordance with Regulation (EU) No 454/2011.”

European Cyclists’ Federation (ECF) and its members have long been campaigning for stronger wording in the EU regulation that relates to the carriage of bicycles on trains: Regulation on Rail Passengers’ Rights and Obligations. The current wording, which dates back to 2007, only states the conditions under which bicycles might be carried and does not encourage railway undertakings to implement measures designed to combine these modes. Consequently there are numerous rail connections across Europe where there is no existing provision for the carriage of assembled bicycles.

Many cyclists, particularly cycle tourists, prefer to use their own bicycle at the beginning and the end of their journey for reasons of comfort, convenience and cost. “This will finally take into account the boom in cycle tourism. It has been growing at an annual rate of 20% for more than two decades, generating an annual volume of more than 40 billion euros in the EU”, said long term supporter of bicycle issues in the European Parliament Michael Cramer MEP (Greens/European Free Alliance).

The MEP who led on preparing the TRAN Committee’s position, Vice-President Bogusław Liberadski (S&D), commented "I am very happy about the outcome of today's vote. Especially for EU Citizens who like to live multimodally, as they will be soon able to board any train of the European Union with their bicycles."

Following the Plenary Meeting, the European Parliament will enter into discussions with the Council of the European Union (the Member States) to agree the final wording of the regulation.