Here’s some good news.
Following a review by the Greater Welling ton Regional Council bikes will soon be allowed on trains on the Johnsonville line at all times, without restrictions.
Cr Daran Ponter says that the introduction of the new Matangi units on the Johnsonville line, scheduled for mid-March 2012 means that there will be greater capacity than currently provided by the English Electric units.
Cr Daran Ponter says “this means that we will be able to provide unrestricted access for cyclists wanting to take their bikes on the line. This is a very welcome move and a further step to integrating cycling and public transport use.
Councillor Ponter says that the revised policy should draw more people to take the train. It also provides a fall-back option for cyclists if the weather turns nasty.
The bikes on trains policy for the entire Wellington Metlink network will be reviewed again in April/May 2012, 12 months after it was introduced. Cr Ponter says that at this time he would like to see the Council start moving to relax the restrictions it currently has in place with respect to bikes on peak-hour services on other rail lines.
Cycle Wellington 
I certainly hope the Matangi trains are opened up to bikes full time. As it stands, if any of the peak morning trains through Tawa are Matangi units, I can’t take my bike.
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Hi Rob – it really all depends on the loadings of each service. If a service typically looks like Patrick’s photo above (with lots of space) then it will become available to cyclists. When we examined the laodings on the Kapiti line a year ago the peak services were all close to 100% of seated capacity. In April, we’ll find out if that has changed.
Restrictions on the carriage of bikes during the peak is fairly standard around the world – even in the Netherlands. Check out the audio from 2:42 on this clip:
http://cyclingwellington.co.nz/2011/09/cycling-for-everyone-how-its-done/
The positive side of the current situation is that our trains are proving very popular with thousands of people who might otherwise drive => more road space for cyclists.
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