Old Noob.

[Stevejaz]

Other than a bit of school holiday bike touring round the Nth Island of NZ in school holidays in the 1960's (before bike touring was a thing) I'm new to all this. Been doing a lot of 'Grey Nomad' motorhome touring since retirement 5 years ago and carrying a mountain bike with fold up trailer for fishing trips ex motorhome the last couple of years. Nothing more than 5 or so kms. After my bike was stollen a while ago (and yes I will post in the appropriate forum) I lashed out on a fat e-bike. Looking into appropriate trailer and maybe second battery, folding solar panel etc. My biggest initial question is.. Do people use rail to cover long haul distances. Adelaide-Sydney etc and is it viable cost wise with a fat bike and trailer? My idea of bike touring would be mainly fishing based with not too many kms/day and long periods during the day fishing beaches and estuaries, a fold out solar panel doing the hard work for me.

[baabaa]

Howdo Steve
Short answer is yes but travel by train with a bike is not an easy thing to do simply because it has been made difficult - you need bikes and bits bagged or boxed up on most NSW, ACT and Vic long country trains ( not sure about Sth Aust but the cost from Adel to Syd is so high that you would be better off with a one way car hire set up... ).
Some regional bus companies take bikes - look at Murrays coaches and Premier Motor Service for the NSW and Qld east coast travel

https://premierms.com.au/faqs/

Can I bring along my bike or surfboard?
Yes, you can bring along a bike, surfboard and other non-standard luggage items subject to approval and room on the coach. All non-standard luggage incurs additional fees, and can be booked with credit card prior to travel.

Not sure what they would say about an e bike ???
This may help give you some background on trains....
https://aboutregional.com.au/political- ... slow-rail/

Happy to help with more thoughts if you have more questions and a better idea of locos you wish to visit just by bike
And yes see plenty of bikes on the back of motor homes up and down the east coast - some even on the racks of the cars they are towing behind the motor home....

[Stevejaz]

Thanks baabaa. Really only looking for roll on roll off with loaded panniers and trailer. Something similar to vehicle service. Quick look at van hire suggests cost over $4000 one way fuel included. Not that I'm set on Adelaide-Sydney. Just using that as an example. Will stick to loading everything in the Motorhome for the annual haul to North Queensland for the moment.

[baabaa]

Guess kinda on topic - could/ should do so much better with trains in and around Australia

'Cycle train' services taking off across Japan
https://www.japantimes.co.jp/life/2023/ ... opularity/

OSAKA – So-called cycle trains, or trains on which passengers can carry their bicycles without having to fold or disassemble them, are spreading across Japan.

Faced with a decline in passengers due to the COVID-19 pandemic in addition to a rapidly aging population, railway operators in the country hope to attract more users by utilizing the popularity of cycling and taking advantage of tourism resources along their train lines.

East Japan Railway, or JR East, has been operating a cycle train connecting Tokyo’s Ryogoku Station with stations along the Pacific coast in Chiba Prefecture since January 2018. Reflecting its good reputation among cyclists, the 99-seater train used for the service is sometimes fully booked.

West Japan Railway Co., or JR West, started a cycle train service on a section of the Kisei Line in December 2021. It also added a train car for bicycles to its Kuroshio express train last October. The company does not charge an extra fee for taking bicycles onboard.

The Kisei Line section, which links Shingu and Shirahama stations in Wakayama Prefecture, is one of the lines that JR West has revealed to be unprofitable.

“We hope that many customers will use the service, leading to the revitalization of areas along the line,” a JR West public relations official said.

Kintetsu Railway introduced a cycle train service on its lines, including the Shima Line in Mie Prefecture, last September, with no extra charge for bringing bicycles onboard. With the service making it easier for passengers to visit sightseeing spots that are far from stations, Kintetsu gets more than 60 users per day on busy days.

Keio launched a trial cycle train service in January to attract tourists to areas around Mount Takao in Hachioji, western Tokyo. It is currently conducting a second trial.

Shikoku Railway, or JR Shikoku, launched a cycle train service on an irregular basis on a section of its Yosan Line in 2009. The service was a pioneer for train services targeting cyclists, taking advantage of a bicycle path that crosses the Seto Inland Sea near the line. Passengers are currently allowed to bring their bicycles onto certain regular trains on JR Shikoku’s Yosan and Yodo lines during weekends and on holidays.

The railway operators’ respective cycle train services have been well-received, with requests to expand them to more routes.

Whether companies can make investments on equipment such as specialized train cars and get cyclists to travel on trains together smoothly with ordinary passengers is likely to be key to the success of cycle trains.

Yuko Yamamoto, chief of the nonprofit CycloTourisme Shimanami, which was involved in the Yosan Line cycle train, said that growing awareness of health and environmentally friendly values has been behind the expansion of cycle train services across the country.

“(The services) can serve as the core of regional branding, and promote tourism trips to visit multiple sites,” she said.

[brumby33]

Guess kinda on topic - could/ should do so much better with trains in and around Australia

'Cycle train' services taking off across Japan
https://www.japantimes.co.jp/life/2023/ ... opularity/

OSAKA – So-called cycle trains, or trains on which passengers can carry their bicycles without having to fold or disassemble them, are spreading across Japan.

Faced with a decline in passengers due to the COVID-19 pandemic in addition to a rapidly aging population, railway operators in the country hope to attract more users by utilizing the popularity of cycling and taking advantage of tourism resources along their train lines.

East Japan Railway, or JR East, has been operating a cycle train connecting Tokyo’s Ryogoku Station with stations along the Pacific coast in Chiba Prefecture since January 2018. Reflecting its good reputation among cyclists, the 99-seater train used for the service is sometimes fully booked.

West Japan Railway Co., or JR West, started a cycle train service on a section of the Kisei Line in December 2021. It also added a train car for bicycles to its Kuroshio express train last October. The company does not charge an extra fee for taking bicycles onboard.

The Kisei Line section, which links Shingu and Shirahama stations in Wakayama Prefecture, is one of the lines that JR West has revealed to be unprofitable.

“We hope that many customers will use the service, leading to the revitalization of areas along the line,” a JR West public relations official said.

Kintetsu Railway introduced a cycle train service on its lines, including the Shima Line in Mie Prefecture, last September, with no extra charge for bringing bicycles onboard. With the service making it easier for passengers to visit sightseeing spots that are far from stations, Kintetsu gets more than 60 users per day on busy days.

Keio launched a trial cycle train service in January to attract tourists to areas around Mount Takao in Hachioji, western Tokyo. It is currently conducting a second trial.

Shikoku Railway, or JR Shikoku, launched a cycle train service on an irregular basis on a section of its Yosan Line in 2009. The service was a pioneer for train services targeting cyclists, taking advantage of a bicycle path that crosses the Seto Inland Sea near the line. Passengers are currently allowed to bring their bicycles onto certain regular trains on JR Shikoku’s Yosan and Yodo lines during weekends and on holidays.

The railway operators’ respective cycle train services have been well-received, with requests to expand them to more routes.

Whether companies can make investments on equipment such as specialized train cars and get cyclists to travel on trains together smoothly with ordinary passengers is likely to be key to the success of cycle trains.

Yuko Yamamoto, chief of the nonprofit CycloTourisme Shimanami, which was involved in the Yosan Line cycle train, said that growing awareness of health and environmentally friendly values has been behind the expansion of cycle train services across the country.

“(The services) can serve as the core of regional branding, and promote tourism trips to visit multiple sites,” she said.

Yes the cycle trains in Japan are getting popular but getting to these main stations can be tricky as if you're using an ordinary JR service to get to a Cycle train station, you need to take off the front wheel and put your bike in 'Rinko' Bicycle bag. Some people make up their own Rinko as many of the bike shop ones are a bit small for a full sized touring bike.

Bit it's Australia that travelling on trains is a right pain in the ar$e, you've got to bag or box your bike up like if you're travelling overseas, it's ridiculous. Trains are huge vehicles, why in the hell can't you put on a bike, panniers and all without all the packing up garbage. In NSW alone, there's trains to Armidale, Casino, Albury, Dubbo, Broken Hill and towns in between. In QLD you've got trains all the way to Cairns with lots of major places in between to start tours, in Victoria on most regional towns you can carry your bike unboxed (pls correct me if I'm wrong)
One thing I did enjoy about living in Sydney is anywhere the electric network went, from Sydney, South of Wollongong, Maitland and Katoomba and anywhere in between, you could take your bike free of charge to ride anywhere in that region.

I hope that when NSW begins to make their own trains as promised before this last election, that commonsense prevails and they are designed to carry unboxed bikes.