CHICAGO, Aug. 29 (UPI) – The South Shore Line has agreed to reimburse a Chicago man who was forced to take a $150 taxi cab ride home after he and his bike were not allowed on a train.
Alan Forester said he took the South Shore Line to South Bend, Ind., on Sunday with his bicycle in tow, but later in the day he was forced to leave a train headed back to Chicago by a crew member who said the bicycle was against the commuter railroad’s rules, the Chicago Tribune reported Tuesday.
The line said Monday it would reimburse Forester for his $9 one-way ticket to Chicago and his $150 cab fare from northern Indiana to Chicago.
“Our mistake was at the front end of his trip on permitting him to ride because it (the bicycle) wasn’t stowed in a bag specifically designed for that and part of his frame was exposed,” said John Parsons, a spokesman for the rail line. “Our crew made an error when he first came out in the afternoon, so we are going to reimburse him.”
Here In Qld it’s fine if you have your bike with you on Trains as long as you don’t block the exits etc… is it just a policy to protect the operator from being sued?
There is a disease running in pandemic proportins here: Sue them-itis! Lawyers encourage this like crazy, and a bunch of em are rich as a result! The South Shore is just plain scared, and too cheap to put in bike racks! BTW bicycles are very dangerous, considering how badly they are ridden by most people I see! BAN THE BIKES![:(!] It’s for your own good.[V][soapbox][wow][yeah][swg]
It’s time we got with the rest of the world regarding this issue.
We always hear how there should be alternatives to driving, but then you get silly restrictions like this. It is the 21st century. Just about every new bus delivered near here has a bike rack. Time for the rails to catch up.
Oh yeah I fogot, in this country we’d rather drive our SUV and complain to the McDonald’s drive-thru person about the price of gas as we get that triple decker burger.
One reason corporations should have someone from the PR Dept. proofread statements before they are given to the press:
“Our mistake was at the front end of his trip on permitting him to ride because it (the bicycle) wasn’t stowed in a bag specifically designed for that and part of his frame was exposed,” said John Parsons, a spokesman for the rail line. “Our crew made an error when he first came out in the afternoon, so we are going to reimburse him.”
Over here bikes are banned during peak times in the morning and afternoon… They take up a lot of room for payin passengers and jerk cyclists always block the doorway with them (well of course they do, there’s nowhere else to put them)
OH MY GOD!!! Cover the wimmin’s eyes… part of his frame is exposed!!!
Bikes are banned on Metro in DC and I think on MARC (MD) and VRE (VA) commuter rail as well. You can bring a bike on Metro on the weekends and off peak (non-rush hour) times, but they limit them to 4 per car and they have to use the end doors (where there is more space to put the bikes). Amtrak only allows bikes on baggage car equiped trains.
