Amtrak has expanded its Carry-on bike program for most Northeast Regional departures, beginning Tuesday, Sept. 8, allowing customers to store their bike inside of the passenger coach in a designated space. In addition, Amtrak has worked with its various Northeast state partners to offer the program on its State-Supported trains. This includes working with the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation (PennDOT) for Keystone Service, the Northern New England Passenger Rail Authority (NNEPRA) for Downeaster trains and the Connecticut Department of Transportation (CTDOT) for Amtrak Hartford Line trains beginning Tuesday, Sept. 15.

“Bringing your bicycle onboard a train is part of the journey, as it allows our customers to explore the cities they are visiting,” said Amtrak Executive Vice President, Chief Marketing and Commercial Officer Roger Harris. “To coincide with the increased popularity of biking in this country, we also wanted to provide our customers with the option of bringing their bike on more trains.”

Utilizing newly installed luggage racks that convert to bike racks, the expanded bike program will allow Amtrak to provide storage space for up to two bikes per departure, with additional spaces being added as the rest of the fleet receives these modifications. Standard full-size bicycles may be carried on, as long as the front wheel is removed, and stored onboard in bicycle racks and specific reservations are required.

For Carry-On bicycle service, customers are encouraged to arrive at the station at least 30 minutes prior to departure. All panniers and bags attached to your bicycle need to be removed and consolidated before boarding. After entering the origin and destination when booking a ticket on Amtrak.com or via the Amtrak app, an icon with a number of spaces available will display if bike service is available. Customers should proceed ‘Add Ons’ step to add bikes to a reservation. Customers can also call 1-800-USA-RAIL to add a bike reservation to an existing reservation.

Amtrak continues its enhanced cleaning protocols at stations and on trains and has implemented new measures to deliver a New Standard of Travel, including:

• Requiring face coverings: For your well-being and ours, Amtrak requires that all customers and employees wear a face mask or covering that fully covers the entire mouth and nose while onboard and in stations.
• Limiting bookings: We are limiting bookings on most trains to allow for more physical distancing in seating areas. Individuals traveling alone may use the seat next to them for personal belongings, while friends and family members will easily find seats together.
• Air Quality: All of our trains are equipped with onboard filtration systems with a fresh air exchange rate every 4-5 minutes.
• Physical distancing: Signage has been displayed at our busiest stations to indicate safe distances in high traffic areas. In addition, protective plastic barriers have been installed at customer counters at our busiest stations.

More than 232,953 bikes have traveled around the country since the program launched in October 2015. The program has also generated more than $1 million in revenue since its inception. For more information about Amtrak’s Bike policy, visit Amtrak.com.

(Source: Amtrak)