They are concerned about plans to increase capacity on new trains bound for some regional lines, with fears 14 extra seats will come at the expense of other features including space for bikes.

Related: More seats but fewer toilets on new look V/Line trains

Bicycle Network CEO Craig Richards said the changes fed into broader concerns about using the network.

“Usually the amount (of bikes) is two per carriage and it is completely discretionary, depending on what else is happening,” he said.

Mr Richards said new trains are being rolled out at a time when cycling tourists are treated “very poorly”.

“They can’t book a space for their bike. They have to turn up to the platform, hope they can get on and know they may not,” he said.

“Obviously, that deters a lot of people across the regions from coming with their tourist dollars.”

Bike Bendigo president Nicola Dunnicliff-Wells expressed concerns about commuters travelling to Bendigo from places like Castlemaine for work.

“The difficulty is that, if you are not getting on at the start of the line, you are taking pot-luck as to whether anyone else on the train will have a bike,” Ms Dunnicliff-Wells said.

“If you are heading to work with your bike and they say you can’t get on, what are you going to do? … People are going to say ‘I’ll just have to drive because I can’t be sure I’m going to get my bike on the train’.”

Public transport minister and member for Bendigo East Jacinta Allan said that as part of a contract with Bombardier a range of options were being offered with the new fleet, including more luggage space for long haul services.

“This change will only impact a small percentage of our fleet,” Ms Allan said.

A V/Line spokesperson said the organisation always tried to accommodate bikes on board trains as long as there was space available.

Space is generally available on reserved, locomotive-hauled Albury, Shepparton, Swan Hill and Warrnambool services as well as some Bairnsdale services.

However it is often limited on some Sprinter and VLocity trains to and from Bendigo, as well as Ararat, Ballarat, Echuca, Geelong, Maryborough, Seymour and Traralgon.

Bendigo East Liberal candidate Ian Ellis said there should be enough space to put bikes, but that passengers’ needs had to take priority.

He could not see why cyclists should not be able to store them in other areas of carriages if there was sufficient room.

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