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Just a little too much schralp can get you banned in Austria.


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Innsbruck Bans Downhill Bikes from Public Transport


Tirol ORF reports that according to Thomas Schroll, managing director of the Nordketten-Bahn, "Up to 500 downhillers want to be transported to the Hungerburg Trail every day." Schroll has found that in recent years the number of incidents involving cyclists has risen and that downhillers have "no understanding" if they are refused access to the funicular. He said, "the problem of limits and lack of capacities in the spring and the usage conflicts with other guests has finally led us to take off downhill bikers for May."

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It is one of those things where you ask if the single incident was to blame or if it was a build up over time of poor behavior followed by an outbreak of violence.  To some extent, it looks like "design" is the biggest problem with the funicular.  DH bikes are BIG.  Looking at the bahn, it has no external storage for bikes, so it likely means DH'ers must board with them in the passenger cabin.  On a nice weekend, that would surely be a mess with folks waiting in line with their bikes mixed in with parents and kids.  I'd think a dedicated car for the bikes & riders (with a capacity limit), plus a separate boarding/exit line, and perhaps a significant surcharge would be a good approach.  On the plus side, anyone with a "normal" MTB could readily ride to the top (via trails or the road) and not be forced to take the funicular.

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Innsbruck's public transport authorities have banned anyone riding a bike with a dual crown fork or using a full face helmet from using all public transport.
A ban against downhillers in the city first came after a violent incident involving a rider and a member of staff on the Nordketten-Bahn cable car that ended with the member of staff having to go to hospital. 
Initially, the ban was only placed on the Nordketten-Bahn itself for the month of May, allowing riders with downhill bikes to use the rest of the public transport in the area, but recently IVB, the company that operates the trams, trains and buses, began to enforce the same ban across all of their own system of transportation as well. The ban at the moment specifically applies to downhill riders with other mountain bikers able to use the transportation as normal.
Riders in Innsbruck rely on the Hungerburgbahn funicular to access the Anzer Alm and Hungerburg trails and the Norketten-Bahn to access the infamous Nordkette singletrail. Some riders will also use public transport to get to the nearby Innsbruck Bike Park, which actually lies 6km out of the city centre in Mutters.

 

 

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