Bagged. I’m sure you wouldn’t hve a problem with box though. Just a large piec eof luggage.
I’ve been doing a lot of reading around and I’m having a lot of trouble figuring out which trains I can take a bike on without putting it in a bag (i.e. as is). I saw a few photos in this thread of bikes on trains as is. Which trains are those?
If you have a big enough group, you can actually book an entire cabin, the local group that I ride with has done that multiple times in the past few months.
The trains that allow bikes on them, most of the time are local trains. Their aren’t that many running throughout the day, so make sure you check time tables and plan ahead.
If you can read some Chinese or get someone to translate for you, here’s a guy that did a blog on it
http://www.wahaha.com.tw/?p=4716
Here’s another
http://blog.xuite.net/echohung/blog/53732208-【宜蘭】雙鐵旅行運行腳踏車實記
I think your best bet is to call TRA and ask when those trains comes in at your nearest station. Do note that unbagged, the bike does require an extra fee. Whereas if it’s bagged, it’s no extra cost.
I’m still a bit confused. I’ve got a train trip all picked out. The icon indicating “bicycle bag available” is provided in the “Remarks” portion.
So assuming I can successfully book that ticket, I just show up at the station with my bicycle in a bag? And I will make sure that the particular station accepts bikes in bags (it will either be Songshan or Xizhi).
Thanks to anyone willing to answer this.
What is the process for shipping one day in advance? Thanks.
(Assuming you are in Taipei) Go to Wanhua or Songshan station baggage room and fill out a slip in Chinese telling them what station you want to go to. Needs to be a manned station but most in largish towns are fine. Make sure you get there before the daily baggage train leaves. Different times down east and west coast. It’s really easy although no English will be spoken.
Thanks for that. I’ll go to Songshan and ask the baggage room attendants about this. The trip is in the middle of May so there’s time to figure it all out. I’m lazy as hell about writing stuff out in Chinese so my writing has been slipping, but I should be okay (I’m good at the “I’m a foreigner, can you write this out for me?” game- and then I tell them the radical and the base character whenever they get stuck on a character for my address, or for my wife’s name, etc. that has them scratching their heads!)
Can anyone provide some confirmation on this? To clarify things, I usually book my train tickets by going to this website and finding my train:
https://twtraffic.tra.gov.tw/twrail/English/e_index.aspx
Assuming that the train I book for has the “bicycle bag available” icon in the “Remarks” portion (far right after you see the list of trains for the day and destination you have chosen), then you are all set and can bag your bicycle and bring on the train. Is that it? When does the bicycle have to go in the designated carriage (12?) and when can it go in the same car as your seat? Thanks.
This worked out very well. I went to a small town in Miaoli and the bicylce arrived safely and without a scratch. The same was true for the delivery back to Songshan. Thanks again.
I would like to add, though, that this service is a bit more selective than you would be led to be believe by this thread. Our bicycles had to be delivered one stop away from the train station closest to the race venue. It was only 6km but that was a bit tiring to do on the day after the race when all you want to do is have a beer and relax (it was that hot weekend two weeks back, too). I don’t think I would have done it differently for this particular trip, but I could imagine some situations when taking the bike with me would be preferred.
Did you put the bike inside a bag? do the staff cover it with something? my concern is that it could be easy to get the bike scratched… so… does anybody know how do they handle and protect the bikes? I would like to send mine and my gf’s to yilan some weekend… 
Did you put the bike inside a bag? do the staff cover it with something? my concern is that it could be easy to get the bike scratched… so… does anybody know how do they handle and protect the bikes? I would like to send mine and my gf’s to yilan some weekend…
No bag. I relied on the positive comments here and my Taiwanese friend who also used the service with me heard the same from his friends. It was convenient. And we’re both beginner cyclists so we liked the fact that we didn’t need to do any rear wheel removal!
Well, sounds cool. How much did you pay for the bike ticket? the same than a person’s?
I can’t remember. It seems it was under 200 NT for each way. We were so busy and had so many different things to pay for and remember during that hectic weekend, that I don’t remember. I definitely do remember our hotel was 600 NT and was the worst place I ever stayed in. I should have guessed it was going to be bad, really bad, from the price, but we didn’t have much choice in that small town. At least there was AC.
The cost for shipping bikes as freight is shown on this overview under the heading “Shipping Bikes as Freight”. There is a lot of other great information as well. taiwanincycles.blogspot.tw/2011/ … cycle.html
(note this is the same page as linked to in the OP)
The cost for shipping bikes as freight is a flat fee of NT$32 plus a fee of NT$1.09/km.
That’s a good resource.
I’m trying to revive the bike sub-form because it just seems so gloomy as of late!
I’ll share my own, short-lived experience with bike on train.
After doing much research with Mobile01, Facebook groups and reading through the Op’s posted blog, without a bike bag of any sort in hand, I decided to jump on the local train from Hsin Chu to Song Shan station. I went to the counter to purchase my full ticket for me and half ticket for my bike and was stopped by the girl at the counter saying that, if it wasn’t bagged, it’s allowed on the local train. She then told me there’s a local train I can board that’s arriving in 4 hours. However, I have to register to get on. More bad news, she couldn’t guarantee it because it’s limited space.
At this point, I just felt let down. I couldn’t blame the girl behind the counter, she was just following protocol. A lot of people were saying that taking a full sized bike on the train, unfolded and unbagged is do-able. I’ve seen pictures of people bringing bike unbagged on local trains. I guess I was just unlucky?
I went back to my friend’s apartment afterwards and we discussed it’s probably because I was getting on and off at two major stations and it may also depend on the person behind the counter was having a good or bad day.
So how did it turn out, or did I miss that part of your post?
The only way I’ve sent a bike on a train without a bike bag (once only so far) is by using the “luggage” delivery service (or whatever it’s called). That works well, but you cannot expect same day service. Also, I think you can only pick up and drop off between 8:00 am and 8:00 pm.
On the vast majority of local trains, you can take a only bagged bike on the train.
There are a small minority of trains at inconvenient times that will allow you to take an unbagged bike on the train with you. You are supposed to apply in advance (an hour I think) but in practice you can usually persuade them to apply “in advance” on the spot. They just call to check if the train is too crowded. If it is not crowded, they will let you on the train with your bike but ONLY IF IT IS ONE OF THE SMALL NUMBER OF DESIGNATED TRAINS. I’m not sure if the designated trains are listed in English.
For these reasons, it is much more convenient to ship your bicycle by freight as explained here many times. It’s a great, inexpensive service and I have never heard of anyone having their bike stolen. I see expensive road bikes all the time in the luggage room having been shipped to Wanhua in Taipei. I have used this service for more than 20 years now and NEVER had a problem.
FYI, I recently took my bike to Yilan via the Kamela Bus leaving from Technology Building in Taipei. They actually provide big black plastic bags for you to use!
Last weekend I took my bike on the HSR to Hsinchu bagged in three big black plastic bags purchased at 7. No one batted an eyelash.
I’m planning a night ride to Jiaoxi some Friday and would like to return by train on Saturday or perhaps Sunday… with my bike in one piece, no bag, not separated from me (she would get nervous). Don’t tell me that this is not possible. … 
I’m planning a night ride to Jiaoxi some Friday and would like to return by train on Saturday or perhaps Sunday… with my bike in one piece, no bag, not separated from me (she would get nervous). Don’t tell me that this is not possible. …
Here are the designated local trains on Sunday between Jiaoxi and Songshan.
區間車 4137 – 蘇澳 至 樹林 09:36 11:30 1小時54分 [折疊自行車可置於攜車袋中隨身攜帶] [自行車運送服務]
區間車 4173 – 蘇澳 至 樹林 13:09 15:16 2小時07分 [折疊自行車可置於攜車袋中隨身攜帶] [自行車運送服務]
區間快 4027 – 花蓮 至 樹林 14:26 16:07 1小時41分 [折疊自行車可置於攜車袋中隨身攜帶] [自行車運送服務]
區間車 4193 – 蘇澳 至 楊梅 16:01 18:12 2小時11分 [折疊自行車可置於攜車袋中隨身攜帶] [自行車運送服務]
區間車 4221 – 蘇澳 至 桃園 19:05 21:25 2小時20分
However, I believe that because this is a holiday weekend, you will not be able to take your bikes on these trains this weekend.
The site is very unclear even in Chinese and there is no information in English that I can find.
This is just another example of why you should just forget about taking your bike on the train with you and just use the baggage service. Or learn to take your bike apart, put it in a bike bag ( or a plastic bag), and just take the bus home. Watch a video on Youtube. It’s really easy.