Season Tickets Only

Chiltern Railways supposed commitment to cyclists doesn’t extend to actually allowing you to travel with you bike at any time other than alternate Wednesdays after 9 pm. Refusing to be beaten by such a forward thinking policy, I’ve adopted a two bike approach leaving the ratty one overnight at Marylebone station.

Marylebone has about a hundred secure stands each taking two bikes. To be allowed overnight usage of a stand, unsurprisingly a bit of form filling is required. Having chased a number of grumpy railwaymen, wearing 2ndhand Butlins uniforms, around the platform, I secured and completed said form. The following is a verbatim conversation taking 15 minutes and attracting an ever larger and more incredulous audience.

Here’s my form for an overnight tag so I can leave my bike at the station
Very good sir, may I see your season ticket?
I don’t have a season ticket
Ah, sorry sir, season ticket holders only
Why is that?
Policy sir?
Yes well but why?
(some heaving breathing and stroking of chin)
Don’t quote me sir, but I think it’s because they are concerned about abuse
Abuse of what?
Abuse of the privilege sir?

No I’m sorry, I’m clearly being stupid, how could you abuse the privilege of leaving your bike in a station overnight?
Ah well sir, you could be leaving it for another reason

Like what? Selling drugs out of the seat tube? Or have bikes been categorised as weapons of mass destruction by this bloody nanny state? And come to that why are season ticket holders more trustworthy? Do you have them positively vetted?

Very droll sir, but it’s season tickets only
(time to change tack), me

Is there a space problem then? Aren’t there enough racks for everyone?
Oh no, there is loads of space
(jaw drops)
Sorry there is loads of space but I can’t have one?
Season ticket holders only sir

But look if there’s space and I’m saving the environment by riding and it’s going to make me a happier person, doesn’t that make you a happier person too?
If it were up to me sir but..

YES SEASON TICKET HOLDERS ONLY. Well that’s bollocks, bring me the head of the station master.
(now there is a mildly amused crowd gathered round, fella runs off and comes back with uber jobsworth the station manager)
I calm myself and explain the situation. I explain that any system which doesn’t allow you to bring a bike and doesn’t allow you to store one is not really cycle friendly or sensible. He replies:

I agree with you sir but it’s season ticket holders only.
How much is a season ticket from Haddenham?
(rustling of timetables)
£2,850 sir

Right well I spend£65 a week, that’s£250 a month so that’s about the same as a season ticket. So when I’m here can I leave the bike and when I’m not then I won’t?

Sorry sir, we’d like to help but it’s..

¦ yes I think you’ve made that clear but can you make an exception, I mean I promise not to explode it on the platform, throw it in front of a train, allow it to sexually harass the customers, etc.

Well sir, if we made an exception for you, we’d have to do it for everyone
(crowd is now about 20 people, I turn round to face them)

HANDS UP everyone who’d like an overnight bike pass?
(laughter)

GO ON, DON’T BE SHY
(no hands go up)

Me:
That’s a pretty representative sample, so I don’t think you’re going to be flooded with applications.
(shuffling of feet and only a laser like glare from me stops them trotting out the season ticket line again. They are now looking nervously at the crowd and about 5 railway guys are standing behind the increasingly uncomfortable station master. It puts me in mind of the bash street kids. One pipes up:)
Considered a folding bike sir? We’ll take those anytime

(I robustly articulate my argument re:folders)
Young man, do I have the countenance of a cheese making, beard owning, clothes knitting, nut cutlet eating person to you? I would rather repeatedly slam my testicles in a desk drawer than ride that parody of a bicycle. Please leave me with what little dignity I have left.

(with comic timing, a folder, er, unfolds behind the mass of grinning punters who are enjoying the free street theatre. Better still, he’s a fully paid up member of the scraggly beard and cheese knitting society. He attempts to haughtily rise above the extreme pointing and giggling of the crowd but frankly I don’t think he pulls it off)

(me again)
So we’re agreed, it’s a dumb policy that’s not in line with your published support for cyclists nor backed up by any problems of space so may I have a tag please?

We would sir but as we may have explained it’s season ticket holders only
(I successfully fight the not unreasonable urge to beat the station master to death with his pug like colleagues and go for broke)

Okay, here’s how it going to go. I’m going to write to the head of Chiltern railways, The Department of Transport, all the major papers, the CTC, Sustrans and bloody Women and Baby if I so please explaining exactly what a bunch of mindless jobworths consider to be a coherent transport policy. Let’s have a list of your names then, I’d hate to misrepresent you.

(bit of a Chiltern Railway group hug goes on as they consider their options. Much heckling from the crowd now blocking one of the platforms. The brits never fail to join a queue just in the spirit of enquiry). The spokes-idiot is pushed forward by his colleagues:

Right sir, in your case we’ll make an exception but please (and I kid you not, this is exactly what he said), “don’t tell anyone

I may have giggled. I dunno if it was the murderous glint in my eye, the restlessness of the crowd or the threat of a damning review in mother and baby but I am now in possession of the rarest of the rare, a non season ticket holders right to park tag.

There was cheering in the crowd. Put me in mind of the VE celebrations. I was about to embark on a Churchillian address “Never in the field of cycling conflict, have so many been irritated so much by so few”. but unfortunately “ once they realised the chance of violence had diminished- everyone left.

I’m thinking that maybe my bike may be in for a bit of special treatment from the railway guys but hey sometimes you have to make a stand. And I’d rather be riding than standing on the sweaty grimy tube.

13 thoughts on “Season Tickets Only

  1. Pingback: I want my life back » Blog Archive » The power of three

  2. Instantwin

    You really are a sanctomonious prat and reflects the current state of he world today. Cant get what you want so make everyone out to be a jobsworth. You are not saving the planet you are helping to achieve in its destruction. Grow up and get a grip stick your bike and yourself somewhere else is anyone really interested in your abusive jibes and personal attacks on the service industry.

  3. Alex

    Gee thanks. I set out to amuse and annoy. And in this case, I have more than achieved both 🙂 Couple of points:

    1. Too much of the UK service industry is shit. Virtually every other country I have visited is better.

    2. You may want to look up humour in a dictionary. It’s close to hubris and not that far from nutter.

    Cheers for your advice tho. Grow up? No ta.

  4. Pingback: I want my life back » Blog Archive » You can’t please all the people, all of the time.

  5. Very good, though I have to express mild disappointment with your successful resolution to the situation as I was rather hoping for an opportunity to further irritate you with the suggestion of buying my Dahon.

  6. Victor

    In answer to Instantwin, I for one am interested in your “abusive jibes”, especially until such time as this countries “service industries” actually start serving, rather than treating their customers as a encumbrance rather than a privilege.

    Rock on Hedgehog!

  7. Doug

    Classic 😮

    I always loved the “trains cancelled due to leaves on the railway lines” from Chiltern! But when I took the Metropolitan line from 5 miles down the road, it never seemed to bother them!

  8. SarfLondonCyclist

    Haha just noticed the date on this, 2008! Sorry… found it via googling why Chiltern Railways’ cycle policy was so crap. Trying to get a cheap advance ticket and every time I find a slot, then I have to lick three times to check if there’s a cycle space available. NONE so far. Then realised that you can’t book seats nor bike spaces and have to chance it – EVEN THOUGH the site design makes it seem like you should book a bike space (you have to read some pretty small print to work this out, for starters). Why can’t the idiot, obviously non-cycling web designers and Chiltern Railways put the simple explanation on their page dedicated to the issue?
    Put in big letters: ‘ON MOST TRAINS YOU CANNOT BOOK A SEAT NOR A BICYCLE SPACE SO IGNORE THE WEBSITE OPTION’. Or just remove the website option, unless I’m missing something…

  9. ellie jefferson

    Nooo! I’ve just had the same problem! I don’t have your quick wit and I’d stumble over funny lines how am I going to get a bike pass!? How can a place be so ridiculous! I found your post because I actually was searching to see if anyone was willing to sell their pass to me!

  10. Alex

    Oh God is this still going on, I wrote that years ago. If I still had my pass you’d be welcome to it but it’s long gone. Good luck with beating the stupidity – the only advice I can offer is to shout loudly at someone in authority…

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