Rosslare ferry connections

[gm101]

Question Did the rosslare train ever connect in with the ferry in rosslare if yes is the answer when??

[ACustomer]

"Question Did the rosslare train ever connect in with the ferry in rosslare if yes is the answer when??" (Emphasis added).

Rosslare Harbour was built as a rail-ferry connecting point, so originally the only reason for trains going near the place was to connect with ferries. From the late '70s the development of roll-on/roll-off car ferries and more recently the advent of cheap air fares lead to changes. Gradually. fewer train-ferry connections were assured, and the latest situation is that there is almost no connectivity.

On balance, I would guess that the lack of connectivity is a consequence of other developments, rather than a cause of fewer people wanting to make connections.

[dermo88]

Its not really feasible as a travel option to use the Train-Ferry combination unless its for points within a 60km radius of the Ports at each end. Thats why its been dying for the past 30 years. South East Ireland - South Wales, fair enough. There are Airports at Cardiff and Bristol.

I think that the Ferry will end up losing its rail connection eventually, and the terminal point for the line will be Wexford. That looks like the long term plan. The fact that it still survives in 2009 is a miracle in itself.

[Mark Gleeson]

Dermo has captured the nature of the problem perfectly.

Foot passenger traffic has collapsed, the reasons are many and varied Ryanair breaking the duopoly of Aer Lingus and British Airways, the increased level of affluence more people with cars and the Irish economy improving meaning virtual elimination of emigration, the end of duty free the list goes on.

Back in the day Dun Laoghaire had 4 sailings a day a special express DART from the city for the early departure and the platform would be stuffed at 10:45 each morning with people arrived from Holyhead, its only a single sailing now

Times are set by operational needs at Dublin, the need to meet morning and rush hour demands, where the majority of passengers are going to/from

Irish Rail seem to have realised that a need exists to provide a local service which makes sense, as usual its a less than impressive attempt

[PLUMB LOCO]

If foot passenger traffic has collapsed how come Bus Eireann have increased their Dublin/Rosslare service to 20 times a day? Presumably these buses don't have car carrying capacity too.

[PLUMB LOCO]

Originally Posted by dermo88

Its not really feasible as a travel option to use the Train-Ferry combination unless its for points within a 60km radius of the Ports at each end. Thats why its been dying for the past 30 years. South East Ireland - South Wales, fair enough. There are Airports at Cardiff and Bristol.

I think that the Ferry will end up losing its rail connection eventually, and the terminal point for the line will be Wexford. That looks like the long term plan. The fact that it still survives in 2009 is a miracle in itself.

How could you call terminating the line at Wexford a 'plan' ? Anyway the fools in CIE would be much happier to terminate the line in Arklow or, better still, in Bray. I'm sure I read somewhere recently (sorry I can't remember where) that foot passenger numbers have begun to increase again on the ferries so CIE/IE will no doubt remove the link in the nick of time. Fighting for the passenger business like they fought for the freight business.

[Traincustomer]

I'm very surprised by some of the comments posted here considering there has been a marked rise in people availing of SailRail, as highlighted publically by Irish Ferries earlier this year. Not only on the Irish Sea but if one looks to Stena Line on the Harwich to Hook of Holland service they have this year recorded a stunning 39% increase in carryings SailRail - it's known as the DutchFlyer there.

Having used the connection over the years I plan to continue doing so as a matter of personal choice. I respect others who don't see the merit of this option and prefer the air at all times but there are two sides to every story.
I fully support good rail links to airports and go by air to places further afield than the UK.

Hopefully the current timetable is a mere "bad" one - I honestly hope it is not part of a more sinister plan to dismantle services altogether. Anyone setting out to deliberately dismantle the service at this time when the economy is so bad should be very ashamed and be aware that their ill-conceived actions could put many out of work including themselves. No business can take their customers for granted in this climate and things I feel are set to become much worse yet economy-wise. Every customer counts; the orgainisation that forgets that in 2009 Ireland does that at their peril.