Sail & Rail

[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/

[Traincustomer]

On the subject of this Irish Ferries private hire ("route 53B") service drivers will also accept payment in sterling but this fact isn't mentioned anywhere and no exchange rate is applied i.e. Stg. £2.50. (€ fare 2.50).

[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).

[Colm Moore]

Bus Stop No. 2270 is right outside the Irish ferries terminal. http://maps.google.ie/maps?q=Dublin+....0 8,,0,-7.73