SailRail tickets

[Traincustomer]

I wasn't aware of that - never followed through to book beyond checking a fare the odd time. Agree with you about Bahn - got one of their european timetable cds in 2007 and find it an invaluable reference.

[Ronald Binge]

I hate flying. Specifically, I hate all the fannying around in particular at Dublin Airport and there is a special place in Hell for Terminal One Heathrow and all its miserable baggage handling. We are rapidly getting to the stage where we will have to strip naked to get through security and/or be in place two hours plus in advance of flights. The vaunted time advantage starts looking threadbare when all the extra time factors city centre to city centre get factored in.

This is my choice as a rational consumer. If I need to get to London for a weekend, I fly. Anything not much longer than that, I get the boat and the train. However, there are problems which have been inflicted by Stena Line, Irish Rail and the railways in Britain that reduce the potential ability of the combined service to really be an effective transport solution. Five and a half hours Dublin to London if the will was there, which it isn't right now.

Now, in flight obsessed Ireland, getting the boat and train takes effort. Not the journey, but the booking side. It hasn't been helped by Stena's apparent spat with the Dun Laoghaire Harbour Authority, where the HSS has taken an extended break since Christmas and on its return it will only sail once daily at 1.30pm.

Irish Rail have closed the public office in Dublin, and the only way to get SailRail tickets through them is to ring. Like the good old 1980s, you get a handwritten paper ticket which obviously can't go through ticket barriers on either side of the Irish Sea. I am going to contact SailRail in the UK and attempt to get a ticket through them when I'm due to travel overland from Dublin to Berlin in April, meeting my brother in London.

[Traincustomer]

I agree with you fully - things have deteriorated markedly with the duo of the new UK rail timetable since December and the HSS sailing schedule amendment. There is no longer the overnight connection ex Holyhead circa 2am. Also a lot more connections involve Holyhead to Chester, Chester to Crewe, Crewe on to Euston.Weekdays (Mon to Fri) there are four direct Virgin Trains services Holyhead to Euston and vice versa - averaging 3hrs 45mins end to end. Very good if they link up with the ferries.

There needs to be, I feel, more co-operation on this issue between the rail and ferry companies. Also as you say with barriers now at many stations - it is more covenient for all if the SailRail tickets can be issued on standard ticket cards.

The internet is great so are sales lines where one can book with a credit card. But a variety of ways of booking ticket products needs to be offered. The new plus the traditional. To my mind it's less than helpful to assume everyone will book by one particular method and provide no alternatives.
I say that in general for all travel modes.

Eurostar now has the facility to book a through ticket from Bangor (but not Holyhead) to certain destinations in Europe.

Short haul aviation to the extent that exists between our island and Great Britain is not sustainable. Better rail-ferry integration needs to be achieved Éire-Britain.

[Mark Gleeson]

Folks its all good complaining but foot passenger traffic is a tiny fraction of what it was decades ago (as in before Ryanair broke the duopoly) capacity by air has at least tripled since while prices have reduced in real terms by anything up to a factor of 10

Stena Line has cut back as a result of high fuel prices and reduced demand

Tickets are available from a wide number of sources, in fact we are under estimating the number of stations which can issue the tickets. The timetables and fares are advertised in the published timetable as well. It most certainly needs to be more effectively promoted

The ticket barrier issue, is not a problem all the Irish Rail gates are staffed, any gate I've seen on the mainline network in the UK is staffed as well

Air travel is unsustainable where an alternative option exists, EU will not OK a PSO if there is a direct train service taking less than 3 hours. Dublin London is one of the busiest air routes in the world, the sea option is 8 hours at least, even with perfect connections its 7 hours

Where the rail option wins is something like Waterford to south Wales or Dublin to north Wales where there is not alternative really

[Ronald Binge]

But here's the catch with flying.

Dublin City Centre - Dublin Airport - say 45 minutes.
Check in Dublin - Allow an hour and a half.
Flight Dublin - Heathrow: An hour and a quarter.
Heathrow collecting bags: Allow another 45 minutes. Minimum, in my experience.
Heathrow to London Underground: Another 15 minutes.
Underground to central London - say an hour.

Adding all this time up comes to five and a half hours.

Not so attractive then, is it?

[Thomas Ralph]

Or, if travelling off-peak with no luggage

Dublin City Centre - Dublin Airport - 25 minutes
Check in Dublin - 1 hour
Flight Dublin - Heathrow: 55 minutes
Heathrow collecting bags: Zero.
Heathrow to Heathrow Express: Another 15 minutes.
Heathrow Express to central London: 25 minutes.

That's under three hours, and those numbers aren't pie in the sky; I've done the lot.

[Mark Gleeson]

Done that in both directions, online check in is your friend