A new report has revealed the most cycle-friendly rail operators in Europe, naming Belgium and Switzerland as the best places to take one’s bike on the train. The findings, from the European Cyclists’ Federation, rank 67 rail firms according to six criteria, including bicycle carriage capacity, affordability, and ease of booking. The report also specifies a range of measures to improve cycle access.
The update to Cyclists Love Trains gives three providers an “excellent” service rating. The number one, perhaps unsurprisingly in a nation of bike enthusiasts, is Belgium’s NMBS/SNCB, with a score of 88 points. The operator was praised for “expanding its bike carriage capacity by 20% since 2021 as well as for developing the accessibility app BikeOnTrain.”
Belgium, Switzerland, and Hungary ahead of the group
The Belgians hold that the position is joint with Switzerland’s SBB/CFF/FFS, which was found to provide “ample capacity for bicycle carriage” as well as standing out with regards to booking channels and website/ app functionality. In 2023, the report notes, SBB carried approximately 1.7 million bicycles on its entire train network.
Pulling into second place is Hungary’s MÁV-START which managed 82 points and again was notable for its “generous bicycle carriage capacity” especially “on routes to popular tourist destinations.” It also performs well on affordability and software functionality.
The rest of the “peleton”
A further 18 (26.9%) operators are ranked as “good,” including operators such as Deutsche Bahn (Germany), ÖBB (Austria), the NS (Netherlands), PKP Intercity (Poland) and the SNCF (France).
But the bad news is that on average, European train operators provide just four spaces for bicycles per train. The report acknowledges that this number varies significantly across operators but points out that 31 operators (46.3%) provide fewer than four spaces per train.
A total of 13 operators (19.4%) still do not allow bicycles on long-distance trains at all, the press release notes, with highs-speed trains slammed as “particularly underdeveloped, with 9 out of 14 operators (64.3%) not providing carriage at all, and the average number of spaces being just one.” Deutsche Bahn and ÖBB were found to be the most cycle-friendly high-speed operators.
Taking bikes on night trains is also an issue, with a majority (76.2%) of operators scoring less than 60/100 points. Polish PKP Intercity occupied the first spot in the sleeper category.
Named and shamed
Spain and Sweden remain the countries with the fewest bicycle-friendly operators (both national and private). In addition, EU candidate member countries and the United Kingdom were condemned for generally poor performance.
If they want to improve, operators are called upon to accept non-foldable, non-dismantled bicycles on all train services, including high-speed and night trains. Other recommendations include anticipating the growth in demand for bike carriage when commissioning and renovating rolling stock.
Policies and information about taking bikes on trains should be clearly available in multiple languages, with ticketing options on multiple channels at “reasonable prices”, the report says. In addition, websites and apps should “feature user-friendly tools such as bicycle connection search tools, real-time information on train compositions and unified journey planners,” according to the Federation, which claims to be the largest and most influential cycling advocate in Europe.
