Best Bike-Friendly Trains In Europe - Belgian And Swiss Top Rankings
Belgian and Swiss national railways, followed by MÁV-START in Hungary, are the most cycle-friendly train companies in Europe. Each garnered an 'excellent' rating.Another 18 companies, including Deutsche Bahn in Germany, ÖBB in Austria, the NS in the Netherlands, PKP Intercity in Poland, and the SNCF in France, were ranked 'good.'
Snälltåget (Sweden) was rated 'very poor.'
Those are a few highlights of a new report that evaluated and ranked 67 long-distance train companies in Europe for the quality of infrastructure and services they provide to make bicycle-friendly travel a reality for more cyclists across the continent.
'Cyclists Love Trains 2025: An analysis of the bicycle friendliness of European railway operators,' was released on Tuesday by the European Cyclists' Federation (ECF), a Brussels-based nonprofit umbrella group with more than 70 member organizations in over 40 countries.
For leisure travelers planning to enjoy Europe's cities and countryside from the seat of a bicycle in combination with rail journeys, and for local commuters who use both modes of transport to get to and from work, the ease of combined bike-and-train travel is important, according to the ECF, which advocates to improve cycling and promote it as a sustainable, healthy and cost-effective way to get around.
Companies received one of five overall ratings, from the top 'excellent' to 'very poor,' based on six criteria: number of dedicated bike storage or carriage spaces; ease of booking; cost of transport; access to information in a number of languages; functionality of website; and availability of bike sharing programs.
In Belgium, NMBS/SNCB was cited for expanding its bike carriage capacity by 20% since 2021 and for developing the accessibility app BikeOnTrain.
In Switzerland, SBB/CFF/FFS was noted for providing ample capacity for bicycle carriage, and for booking channels and website/ app functionality. In 2023, the railway carried some 1.7 million bicycles on its entire train network.
Hungary's MÁV-START 'particularly excels in providing generous bicycle carriage capacity on routes to popular tourist destinations. It also performs well on affordability and software functionality,' according to the updated report, first published in 2021. The second edition was released as Velo-city was set to begin in Gdansk, Poland. The annual cycling planning and promotion conference is co-organized by the ECF and a different city every year.
Other key findings from the report:
'Despite these challenges,' the report noted, 'ECF is optimistic about the momentum towards greater bicycle-train integration.' The cycling group said that new wagon acquisitions by train operators since 2021 have largely incorporated bicycle-friendly features, and a new EU regulation on rail passengers' rights that became effective on June 7 2025, 'will establish a legal minimum for bicycle spaces on trains.'
The ECF's recommends that train operators adopt the following measures to improve bicycle-carriage on trains:
For more information about the European Cyclists' Federation, click here. To read the full report, click here.
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