Bikes on East Midlands Trains

I'm on a five car train, with my bike. There is space for one other bike in the single cycle storage area but luckily I appear to be the only cyclist travelling today.

Reserving the space was easy - you just email the customer service team (it's unclear why you can't reserve a bike space when booking a ticket). Getting your bike to the platform at St Pancras is easy.

Getting onto the train is more difficult because the door is narrow, the train is much higher than the platform and there's a fair-sized gap between train and platform. I suspect many people, especially those with limited strength or heavy panniers, would struggle.

Manoeuvring on the train is very tricky - there's very little space - but securing the bike is straightforward using the straps provided. There isn't a rack the straps are the only things holding the bike in place. Getting your bike out at the other end is similarly tricky.

Overall: 7/10, could do better