Sail & Rail

[zag]

I took Sail & Rail back from London during the week in an attempt to avoid some of the chaos involved in taking a flight these days. I'm unlikely to repeat the experiment in a hurry. Having the option of an extended cabin stay would help though.

The train journey was fine, direct with Virgin from Euston. However, there was a major Ryanair-like scrum in Euston which was a pity. There was a train to Liverpool and my train to Holyhead within 10 minutes of each other. Both were relatively late to board and both were packed. Despite having ~20 platforms to board, they managed to get both trains to board from adjacent platforms. The scrum was unbelievable. By way of contrast, other trains which had departed earlier just had a normal looking queue to board.

The trip itself was uneventful, although I was a little annoyed at going backwards all the way to Holyhead. I could have sworn I had booked a forward facing seat.

Once we got to Holyhead though, the experience went rapidly downhill. The walk from the train to the terminal was badly signposted, poorly lit, indirect, and generally not very friendly to someone who didn't know the route. Then when you get to the door at the end of the platform, looking in to the terminal it's locked and there's a sign saying something like "Please use the main door". Of course, there is no arrow indicating which way to go for the main door - is it back the way we came, is it to the left, is it to the right ? We just followed people and hoped we would get there. It really is pretty poor from a user experience point of view.

The boats were both late due to the storms on Tuesday night/Wednesday morning, but despite Irish Ferries having 3 staff on who were doing nothing apparent, it was down to each passenger to keep walking up to them to ask "what's the story, how long will it be, has it even departed Dublin yet, etc . . ." It was very poor customer service. How hard is it to write up a summary on a flip chart with an update. The overhead displays just said "delayed".

The terminal was *freezing*. I know it was unusually cold on Tuesday night, but there was no heating on at all other than in the loos and I don't think too many people were going to hang out in the loos for a few hours. The only seating available was metal and as you can imagine (on a cold night) it was pretty uncomfortable.

Stena boarded without any sort of announcement. I wouldn't like to have been waiting for it and missed it.

Irish Ferries boarded a while later. Again, no announcement, nothing. I know people (those who were awake) would have noticed the rest of the people shuffling along into a queue, but an announcement wouldn't have gone amiss.

We went through into the waiting area for the bus and waited, and waited, and waited. Some genius at the top of the queue kept setting off the sliding doors to outside which resulted in major gales (no, I'm not exaggerating) blowing through the hall and freezing everyone. All this time, no communication from Irish Ferries or port staff. People had no idea if they were going to be here for 5 minutes, an hour, an indefinite period while the ferry tried to dock, etc . . .

Eventually someone arrived and we were let on to the bus. At last there was a friendly staff member (port staff I think) who explained what the story was, how long the delay was likely to be, etc . . . The bus ended up driving on to the ferry and we walked up the stairs as the pedestrian link was out of action due to the weather. I'm actually glad of that as that walk would have been huge.

On the ferry - generally fine, captain explained expected arrival time, food was available and hot and not surprisingly there was plenty of space for all the passengers.

Arrival in Dublin showed up poor service again. Foot passengers gathered around the reception area. There was no communication from staff, no marshalling, no information. It took forever for the link to be fitted and all this time a very cold breeze was blowing through the reception area, presumably because the car doors were open. I'm a fit, relatively healthy, relatively young male and I can take most conditions, but this was almost too much for me - being frozen inside the ship. I wouldn't like to think how the grannies and kids who were travelling managed - they must have been blue by the end. Again, all this time, no communication from the staff. There were reception staff nearby and all they did when asked by the various customers was say "yes, it will be here". After 10 minutes of waiting in the freezing cold people were getting pretty angry. Eventually the gates opened and we trundled off.

All in all, a very unimpressive experience. I didn't care about the delay - it meant I got home at a more reasonable time. What I objected to was the freezing cold station, the uninviting environment on arrival into Holyhead, the lack of active communication from the staff everywhere, and basically the feeling that the foot passengers were regarded as less than human - they just weren't regarded at all.

z

[Traincustomer]

Thanks for posting that interesting account.

I'm puzzled about the door being locked at Holyhead - it sounds very bad form - I assume it was the door at the top of Platform 2. Did it involve walking out of the station onto the approach road, over the bridge and back in again?

Plan of Holyhead station here which may be of help:
http://www.nationalrail.co.uk/statio...Overview.xhtml

Virgin Trains often use platform 1 away over the far side of the station beside the old ferry terminal (it's possible to walk through the old terminal - totally empty - to get from platform 1 to platform 2).

Last time I was through Holyhead at night there was a door in the waiting area constantly banging open and closed - with people going out to smoke. A right nuisance to say the least.

I can't recall ever hearing a public address announcement at Holyhead - seems to be all screens.

Adequate heating, occasional announcements (update when most train passengers have arrived/ notification of check-in commencing etc...), signage - very basic issues - I think these are exactly the kind of issues that management need to walk through themselves if they want to see the Sailrail product via Holyhead do well.

Arriva Trains Wales are in charge of the railway station; Stena Line in charge of the ferry terminal building.

[Mark Gleeson]

Facilities at Holyhead are basic unless you are on the HSS which has a nice lounge upstairs and direct walk on/off ship without need for buses and other hassle

If you arrive by Arriva Trains Wales its normally a quick 20m walk to check in. The direct Virgin service does dump you on the town side platform which requires a bit of a walk back to the link to the other platforms. But regardless of platform you never have to go outside to get to the terminal.

Only complaint is the lack of seating in the terminal area, plus the pinch point as you pass the ferry ticket desks on the right towards check in. The coffee shop/news agent is pretty decent and has departure information screens on the wall

Its a whole lot better than the barren and cold Fishguard.

[Jamie2k9]

Don't blame the staff for lack of info on the delayed sailing. From having worked for one of the above operators and current in aviation 99% of the time passengers know what staff know although most of the time people don't believe it. All the staff in Hollyhead would know is its being delayed due to weather and an ETA of next update as that is all that staff in Dublin would of put into the system. However the screens in Hollyhead should of said delayed - Next Update @ .....

[Traincustomer]

There's also a café in the terminal at Fishguard, albeit not open at night.

[zag]

Originally Posted by Mark Gleeson

But regardless of platform you never have to go outside to get to the terminal.

You obviously weren't there on Tuesday night Mark. Perhaps you should lay off the absolute comments when talking about a journey you didn't take.

We had to go outside twice before getting in to the terminal. Using the map linked by Traincustomer, here's an outline of the route we had to take. We arrived in to Platform 1. The access concourse was closed (or else not visibly or obviously open). Given the wind situation, the fact that the other doors into the terminal were locked and none of the people who passed through the station seemed to use it, I can well believe that it was locked. This meant we had to go outside and across the Access Road. This was poorly lit. Then we had to walk down the length of Platform 2 to the ramp and the doors to the ferry terminal. These were definitely locked - I checked them both. These are the doors that had the note on them indicating we should use the main doors. At this stage there were three options for finding the 'main' doors - left over the bridge, back along platform 2, or right through a set of doors and out to the car park. The correct route was to the right and *outside*. As you can see, we did in fact have to go outside.

Traincustomer - yep, it was the sliding doors at the end of platform 2 that were locked.

Jamie2k9 - while it may have been the case that the staff knew nothing more than we did, it's all about perception in the end. The perception of the people waiting in the terminal was that the staff didn't give a damn about the customers, their comfort, or keeping them up to date. In the time we had to wait there I ended up talking to a good few of them and everyone was unhappy with the information flow. Remember the bit about the customer being the person who pays the wages, etc . . . Customers who don't come back don't pay wages.

z

[Traincustomer]

I had suspected it had been necessary to go outside from your previous account (i.e. approach road etc...).

Wonder is this a regular happening or just a once off for some reason. Have used Holyhead homebound at night twice in the last 6 months or so and the door was open (but the trains I used pulled into Platforms 2 and 3 respectively - so I couldn't comment on the egress from P1 arrangement).

Way down platform 1 (towards the road bridge) there was (maybe still is) an arch (under the approach road embankment) leading to Platform 2 (at ground level).

To illustrate - on a country bus route a bus broke down a few years ago and the driver kept us posted about the replacement bus coming. His announcements weren't in flowery language or formal (and didn't need to be in a bus context) and while nobody was over the moon about being delayed the best part of an hour everyone could relax now that they were "in the picture". Everyone appreciated his handling of a situation outside of his control. In contrast in the last year or two a bus on the same route stopped at one of the main stops for twenty minutes or so for no apparent reason (it wasn't early and everyone had got off/on) - in the end it was seen that a new driver was taking over the bus. But there was no communication of the fact and this uncertainty understandably annoyed passengers.

[Traincustomer]

The Dublin Bus website mentions that route 53A is being discontinued as of its last journey this Saturday and that route 53 will have an amended routeing and timetable from this Sunday. Route 53 will no longer serve the Point (where most journeys currently start/terminate) but will serve Dublin Ferryport. All journeys will go via East Wall which in reasonable traffic conditions suggests a 20 to 25 minute journey from Talbot Street terminus to the Ferryport.

Cash fare €1.40 adult single or €1.25 with LEAP.

Timetable:http://www.dublinbus.ie/en/Your-Jour...metables/5321/

Route 53 also stops outside Busáras (the Dublin Bus stop with the shelter on the "main road") and at Gandon House on Amiens Street - diagonally opposite Connolly.

A welcome and progressive development for passengers, workers etc...There is no bus to get to the port for either the 08.05 Irish Ferries sailing to Holyhead (the only Irish Ferries morning sailing if the weather is inclement and the Jonathan Swift is cancelled) or to/from Isle of Man sailings.

There is, of course, also the complimentary bus run by Mortons available to/from certain Stena Line (Holyhead) sailings at the separate Stena Line Terminal.

[Colm Moore]

Originally Posted by Traincustomer

A welcome and progressive development for passengers, workers etc...There is no bus to get to the port for either the 08.05 Irish Ferries sailing to Holyhead (the only Irish Ferries morning sailing if the weather is inclement and the Jonathan Swift is cancelled) or to/from Isle of Man sailings.

There is, of course, also the complimentary bus run by Mortons available to/from certain Stena Line (Holyhead) sailings at the separate Stena Line Terminal.

There is also the Irish Ferries bus provided by Dublin Bus under the name "53b"

http://www.dublinbus.ie/en/Your-Jour...y-Connections/

[Eddie]

Originally Posted by Traincustomer

Route 53 will no longer serve the Point (where most journeys currently start/terminate) but will serve Dublin Ferryport.

There is, of course, also the complimentary bus run by Mortons available to/from certain Stena Line (Holyhead) sailings at the separate Stena Line Terminal.

That sounds like a step in the right direction. However, from recollection, the terminal buildings of IF and Stena are quite separate. How close is the bus terminus to these buildings?

Note that the Stena line coach is no longer complimentary (since 1 April).