Rail & Sail

[ThomasJ]

update on rte re irish ferries

15:51 Irish Ferries says there are plenty of places available on the Ulyssess car ferry for sailings from Dublin to Holyhead at 20:55 tonight and at 08:05 tomorrow morning.

It says foot spaces are limited for the Swift ferry sailings at 08:45 and 14:30 tomorrow.

The company also 'plenty' of space for foot and car passengers on the Rosslare to Pembroke services at 20:45 and 08:45 tomorrow.

[Eddie]

Originally Posted by Mark Gleeson

They don't have a proper gangway from the sea cat in DL you have to board via the car deck on foot!

It really is very slow embarking and disembarking, with foot passengers having to use the same singular exit route as vehicles. Not a patch on the HSSs dual entry and exit routes for cars and separate gangway for foot passengers.

[Mark Gleeson]

It only left 10 minutes late anyways

They let the foot passengers off first this evening, never seen that number in my life get off a single ferry in DL

[ThomasJ]

Originally Posted by Mark Gleeson

It only left 10 minutes late anyways

They let the foot passengers off first this evening, never seen that number in my life get off a single ferry in DL

really? Any guesstimate mark? Did many head for the dart?

I wonder how rosslare is fairing

[Mark Gleeson]

I'd guess upwards of 250 on foot, plus a full load of cars

[Eddie]

That was my guess too, but it's a small boat really, only can take about 550 passengers.

Hundreds came through Dun Laoghaire back in 2008 for the Ireland vs Wales rugby match at Croke Park. This year the fast ferry to Dun Laoghaire hadn't started by that weekend.

I overheard one bloke down there this evening saying that his friend was coming into DL on the incoming 6.10pm by car and he was driving it back on the 9.15pm from the port because neither could get foot passenger fares as they were full for foot passengers (but not for cars).

How daft is that?

[Thomas Ralph]

Not as daft as Dunkerque, where last night they had space for bicycle passengers but not foot passengers. Cue a very good evening's business for bike shops.

[Mark Gleeson]

I was on the up morning train from Rosslare, not noticeably busier than last Saturday, not a single suitcase to be seen in the first coach

No problems getting a seat from DL

Plently arriving into DL with suitcases heading for the terminal

[ThomasJ]

irish ferries saying all of its ferry sailings with the exception of the dublin sailing tonight FULLY BOOKED

Stena line says there is some room for foot passengers on its rosslare sailing.

[dowlingm]

Rosslare Connolly deferred to 1335 today. According to a post on Boards Ciaran Cuffe is supposed to have had something to do with this. Nothing on irishrail.ie, or on Irish Ferries (who would be the beneficiaries of this service)

There are days when Irish transport seems like Saipan 2002.

[Mark Gleeson]

Curious that the ferries in Rosslare all arrive early morning and again 12 hours later in the evening, there are no lunchtime arrivals. No ferry due from France either.

Could be due to engineering works, the ferry story doesn't match the timetable. As I posted, there was no sign of any noticeable increase in demand on the up train from Rosslare this morning, which does connect with one of the ferries

Edit nothing on Cuffe's twitter or blog about it

[Eddie]

Looks like the 4.20pm Lynx (and therefore the 7.25pm) is cancelled again due to technical problems according to Stena's website.

[dowlingm]

Interestingly the original post disappeared from IRN so it sounds like they let their imagination run away with them.

[ThomasJ]

Originally Posted by dowlingm

Interestingly the original post disappeared from IRN so it sounds like they let their imagination run away with them.

the 12.30pm is a pembroke arrival time! The website doesnt clearly explain that!

[Thomas Ralph]

There are posters up in Connolly saying they are inable to sell Rail&Sail tickets until further notice and to contact the ferry companies instead.

[purplepanda]

Rosslare Fishguard needs more frequent train services from London, a train to connect with the summer fast ferry like the Dublin route would be perfect.

I did the Euston to Dublin Port journey in 7 & 1/4 hours just before Xmas with the fast ferry, 07.20 train out of London Euston when over for a funeral in Longford & the airports were closed due to the bad weather.

Ryanair wanted me to book an expensive last minute flight but refused to give me a promise, that I could take the following plane if my initial flight was grounded due to the weather!

Ferry & Train companies need to sync their timetables to achieve faster journeys, because there are increasing numbers of people fed up with all the problems involved with air travel which seem to be getting worse over time.

Meanwhile the ferries are doing a great trade on foot passengers across the English Channel with Eurostar fully booked up. With the new Kings X St Pancras high speed 1hour 10mins trains to Dover the best cheaper option to the coast @ £35 Off Peak Return for anyone who needs to get to Continental Europe at short notice

[dowlingm]

Originally Posted by Thomas Ralph

There are posters up in Connolly saying they are inable to sell Rail&Sail tickets until further notice and to contact the ferry companies instead.

I would LOVE to know who made that call and why. It makes no sense for the railway (unless they want to exit the business) and while the ferry companies might make a few more bob selling sail-only this volcano won't last forever and when it does it will go back to tumbleweed through the passenger lounge much of the time and they might be glad of the sailrailers then.

The reason could be purely technical - a fear of overselling because the sailrailer tickets don't show up in the ferry computers maybe, but the appearance is terrible. Instead stories are surfacing of cars being shuttled back and forth to the UK because the ferry companies are accepting car but not foot passenger bookings.

[Mark Gleeson]

Rail Sail worked on the assumption that there was always space on the ferry, so once IE didn't sell more than a nominal number for each ferry there was no problem.

That no longer applies as the ferries are sold out for the next few days, and there is no room on the train out of Holyhead either. The booking systems of Irish Ferries and Stena Line where unusable yesterday which resulted in 90+ minute queue in Dun Laoghaire for tickets for next week. Stena can still sell Rail and Sail tickets I understand and can be booked online but only if you book several days ahead and are traveling to/from a selected set of destination/origin pairs

[Thomas Ralph]

Stena only offers Rail&Sail bookings online if originating in the UK.

Rail&Sail is, or has been, available as a walk-up ticket at UK stations. All Irish stations have a code on the National Rail computer systems.

[plant43]

Originally Posted by Thomas Ralph

Stena only offers Rail&Sail bookings online if originating in the UK.

And if you have a UK billing address for your credit card.