I get the impression from talking to rail/ ferry staff on my sailrail journeys that the whole sailrail market is tiny and of what there is 99% of that is from major cities (London, Manchester etc)to Dublin or Belfast. Id imagine it only still exists because of political considerations rather than making a business case for the operators. Certainly on my trips across the Irish Sea foot passengers on the terminal bus at Holyhead rarely make it much above double figures and Ive never seen a full bus. My last return trip three of us got on the early morning Voyager at Holyhead.
When I used to be a guard at a TOC that was an integral part of the Rail and Sail scheme, certainly those were the most common destinations!
However, before I worked on the railways I used to buy rail and sail tickets quite frequently between various local stations in South Yorkshire and Ireland. If the journey was starting in the UK, I used to buy them in advance, normally at a large station like Sheffield or Doncaster but even then trying to get the right ticket issued was usually a long process, often involving supervisors or other staff being summoned to provide assistance to try and make computer find the right fare. On at least one occasion I was sold a ticket to Dublin via Irish Ferries rather then my requested Stena Line (I avoid travel on the former as much as possible for various reasons, not least of which being my disapproval of the way they've treated their onboard staff but that's a separate rant in itself!) and I went with it as it wasn't worth any further argument.
By contrast, buying a ticket at Dublin Ferry port (or in the days of yore, Dun Laoighaire) was never an issue.
Dublin to Harwich International is £50.00 for a SailRail Advance, or £55.50 for SailRail Standby.
vs.
Holyhead to Harwich International is £95.00 for the Any Permitted Off-Peak Single, or £119.00 (Not Via London) / £215.00 (Any Permitted) for the Anytime Day Single
Thanks, as suspected that is indeed quite a saving even before you throw in a ferry ticket on top! I would expect the SailRail to be valid via London too, it's normally treated as an Any permitted to the best of my knowledge.
Ferries are only really a viable transport choice in four situations:
- You need to take your car with you.
- Your origin and destination are near ferry ports.
- You can travel overnight on the ferry and use it as a replacement for a night's hotel stay.
- You are really not in a rush.
Beyond that, ferries are of limited passenger use compared to flying. Take London-Dublin. 2-3 hours on the plane (including faff to airport, etc) or 8 hours+ on sailrail.
That depends. DFDS have a decent share of the LADSLADSLADS market on Newcastle-Amsterdam, even though KLM fly it in under an hour. Getting hammered on the boat is part of the fun.
5. You are travelling with a pet.
6: it's a last minute trip where often the plane fares are extortionate
7: you don't have a passport or driving licence (you need one of those to fly, but if you're an Irish or British citizen you can travel between the two countries by ferry with a less formal form of ID
8: You work for the railway and are availing of your staff discount. Granted in this instance you're not buying a through Rail and Sail ticket but two separate tickets, but you can still make great savings over flying in this scenario.
All three of the above reasons have applied to me at some point.
