New Eurostar bike transport rules irk London mayor

London Mayor Boris Johnson has added his voice to the thousands of people complaining about railway operator Eurostar's new policy on traveling with a bicycle. Eurostar is a high speed operator that provides services between London and Amsterdam, Schiphol and Rotterdam via Brussels. The company recently announced that those who want to travel on its cross-Channel trains with their bicycles, will have to dismantle and box up their bikes. Currently cyclists can take their complete bikes on the train via a registered luggage system by paying 30 pounds, about 41 euros. With this new policy, which takes effect on November 1st, travelers make use of the same service, with the same cost, but with the added hassle of having to dismantle and box up their bicycles. "I am writing to Eurostar asking them not to end their simple, effective bike carriage service used by thousands a year", the London Mayor said to English newspaper The Guardian. "It's a backwards step, which undermines Eurostar's green pretensions." Hereby the mayor has joined the ranks of more than 7,300 people who have already written to Eurostar to complain about the policy. A spokesperson for the company told the newspaper that thy intend to press ahead with the change. The new policy is designed to make more efficient use of the space on the trains, according to the company. "By changing our policy slightly we can continue to meet the needs of cyclists, whilst also helping other passengers with their registered luggage requirements."