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Bicyclists throughout Europe enjoy widespread access to an extensive network of railways that includes local commuter services and long distance international trains (including the Eurostar trains serving the Channel Tunnel). In the United States, bicycle access to Amtrak is quite limited and subject to stringent boxing and other constraints, and until quite recently bicycle access to urban transit systems was rare and often required a special pass and fee even where it was allowed.
However, since 1992, the Caltrain commuter rail system connecting San Francisco with the Silicon Valley has boasted one of the most successful bike on rail programs in the world with more than 2,000 cyclist boardings each weekday on their 70-mile network. Each train now has capacity for between 24 and 48 bikes. The Altamount Commuter Express has followed Caltrain's lead.
The success of this program, and a growing acceptance of the effectiveness of combining bikes with trains, is bringing down other barriers. The Washington DC metro system recently abolished the need for bicyclists to have a special pass to gain access to the system and relaxed the hours in which riders may bring bicycles on board.
Most light rail systems in U.S. cities allow bicycle access to the trains. The Sound Transit agency in the Seattle metropolitan area recently adopted a set of policies ensuring full bicycle access to existing and proposed bus, express bus, light rail and heavy rail services. Many of the policies were drawn from existing programs in the United States.