bike train

From the Bike Train website:

We are excited to announce a new pilot project that introduces twice daily Bike Train service between Montreal and Toronto offering bike racks onboard. The pilot will run from August 24 to October 8 allowing cyclists to take the train with their bikes - no box or disassembly required!

Awesome! This is something that Justin and the Bike Train crew have been working towards ever since it was just an idea. If this keeps up, I can imagine all VIA trains accepting bikes, and not just a few special "bike trains".

A few more details from the announcement email:

Two trains in each direction per day, initially being offered for direct Montreal and Toronto passengers only. In the coming weeks, additional stops en route may be added.

There will be 6 bike racks available on each train. Although Bike Train staff will not be onboard the train, a host of information on the destination cities can be found on the new Bike Train website www.biketrain.ca/montrealtoronto

* $109 each way, including passenger ticket, bike transport, and all taxes and fees.
* Twice daily service in each direction (one train in each direction on weekends)
* Tickets must be bought through the Bike Train website.

With a push to promote cycle tourism in North Bay, you can now take the Bike Train there with a pilot starting August 7-10. It could be that the area is actually quite nice for some cycle touring, I don't know. The best person to ask is Justin Lafontaine who helped get the original Bike Train running to Niagara Falls (with over 1000 passengers so far). The North Bay-bound train will start in Toronto and take the Ontario Northland's Northlander rail service, winding through the scenic back country of Muskoka and the Algonquin Highlands.

The details:

- Adults $153 return; capacity 56
- 1 weekend: August 7-10
- Bike Train welcome event, group rides and cocktail party
- Special hotel packages starting at $120 including breakfasts and boxed lunches
- Partnership with Toronto Bike Union offers 15% off Green Travel Rewards for members

And there's more:

Through the journey to North Bay, passengers can win great prizes via an onboard trivia twitter competition. The Bike Train Twitter account will be awash with tips from passengers and locals alike on great cycling routes, refreshing swimming spots, fun attractions, and delicious dinner locales. Upon arrival in North Bay, the Honourable Monique Smith, Minister of Tourism and MPP for Nippissing will be on hand to personally greet the Bike Train in North Bay.

Load up your bike and GO touring!
It seems that for the last couple of years, the GTA has seen a huge amount of planned and actual transit service expansion. Some of it has even been exceptionally bike-friendly, though there is also some significant community opposition in certain cases.

Yesterday, GO Transit and Minister of Transportation Jim Bradley announced that there will GO Train service to Niagara on holidays and weekends this summer.

This service will offer four trips daily on weekends and holidays in each direction between Toronto and Niagara Falls, stopping at Port Credit GO Station, Oakville GO Station, Burlington GO Station, St. Catharines rail station, and Niagara Falls rail station.

Visitors from the Niagara region will also be able to take the train to Toronto, making it a great summer travel option for people from across the region.

While this isn't a cycling-specific improvement, it definitely makes car-free travel in Southern Ontario even more accessible, especially since bicycles are allowed on board GO trains. Being a weekend- and holiday-only service, this pretty much limits it to non-commuting travel. However, this adds another exciting option for bike touring, day-trips to Niagara, and more.

Hold on a second though. What about the Bike Train? Doesn't this new GO service conflict with Justin Lafontaine's award-winning multi-modal cycle-tourism project? GO Transit service tends to be cheaper and more frequent than VIA Rail service, so will this have a negative impact on the Bike Train project? I asked Justin for his thoughts today, and here's what he had to say:

We just found out some good news about the Bike Train. Read on and have a great Thanksgiving! Get in some cycling while the weather is good:

The Bike Train Initiative has won two awards for its contributions to the Ontario tourism industry and its innovative approach to capturing an emerging market. The Bike Train was honoured with the Ontario Tourism Marketing Partnership Corporation's Best Tourism Marketing Partnership, and the Tourism Industry Association of Ontario's Excellence Award for Tourism Innovation.

These awards recognize the successful development and launch of this collaborative project, and the growing cycle tourism market opportunities and economic benefits for the Province of Ontario.

CELEBRATE WITH US!
The Bike Train service has been extended for the weekend of October 17-19th. This weekend Niagara will play host to the Doors Open Niagara event, which will open a wealth of sites up to public viewing and exploration. Niagara's best visited on two wheels! Check out www.biketrain.ca for more details.

Peter Lipscombe
Marketing and Volunteer Coordinator
Bike Train Initiative
www.biketrain.ca

Phone: (416) 338-0499
Fax: (416) 392-0071
email: plipsco@toronto.ca

Over the last two weeks I have made a couple of trips to the Niagara Region taking photos for the fine folks at biketrain.ca

So, I made this little video to remind myself how lovely the Niagara Region is any time, with spring especially so. The First trip for the Bike Train this year will be June 27.

Could not be soon enough, I'd say.

Justin Lafontaine, project lead and founder of the Bike Train is looking for your support! Please take a few minutes to email him with a letter of support, whether you took the Bike Train this year or are hoping to in the future. The continued success of this initiative depends on positive support and feedback from cyclists. Letters should be sent by this Thursday, November 29th.

Here is Justin's latest communication on this:

Name / Occupation / Age:

Justin Lafontaine, Project Lead and Founder, Toronto-Niagara Bike Train Initiative, 32

What do you use your bike for?

I use my bikes for everyday commuting, recreation, tootin’ about town (my favourite pastime) and folding bike rallies. This past year, I have also done several long distance, multi-day rides in Maine, Massachusetts, California, Germany and Austria. Travelling by bike is a fantastic way to explore new places and get off the beaten track – and you can work off those large servings of bratwursts and decadent pastries. I highly recommend it!

How often do you ride?

Daily, year-round except for heavy snowfall days (on those days I work from home).

How long have you been commuting by bicycle and what made you decide to do it?

I began commuting regularly by bike after graduating from university, prior to that I cycled mostly for recreation. With no drivers license and tired of sardine-like rush hour on subways and buses, cycling seemed like a good option. My roommate at the time gave me her old bike, and after a few weeks of learning the ropes (ie. avoiding spills on streetcar tracks, several near-miss car door incidents, and finding the more bike friendly routes) I was hooked.

Justin LaFontaine loads Bike TrainI Bike TO blogger Tammy writes in the Toronto Star that the Bike Train from Union Station to Niagara has been a great success and may be expanded to other cities:

The pilot project took bikes onboard specially designated VIA luggage cars between Toronto's Union Station and Niagara Station. This is the first time that fully-assembled bikes were allowed on VIA trains.

The pilot was so successful it is expected not only to expand service to Niagara next year, but also to extend to other cities. Although he can't say for sure, Lafontaine says the cities that make sense for immediate Bike Train expansion are Ottawa, Montreal, Kingston and Windsor.

The report on the pilot will be completed in October and will include information from 300 surveyed passengers. He says he was most surprised to see that many of the cyclists departing from Toronto actually came from nearby cities. The Bike Train also received high marks regarding the ease with which cyclists were able to access the trails.