The point that Greenback and others are trying to instil, feline1, is that Stena are not catering for your business. If you choose to fly, it's really no skin of their back, as you are not in any way the majority market.
when calling them 'rubbish' I was comparing them to the other trains I'd been on for that journey. In terms of passenger comfort, they hardly compare very favourably with the carriages on Virgin trains Euston to Glasgow, with the Enterprise service Dublin to Belfast, or with the Gatwick Express on the Brighton mainline. Even Southern's bog-standard carriages on that line are better. The trains to Ayr seemed more designed for short urban hops, rather than national or international journeys between Scotland's biggest city and an airport and ferryport (where passengers will typically have several kilos of luggage).
Well done, you get the point. If Stena don't see you as the key business, ScotRail don't either. The majority of people who use this service are not in fact travelling to/from Prestwick or Cairnryan, but commuting to Glasgow for business or leisure. It is not an express intercity service, so the kinds of trains you will get will not be the likes of 390s, HSTs, etc.
but I do think these carriages are less than ideal of the route and kind of journeys.
I'm not sure you understand completely. As I said, the majority of people using this route and others on the western coast which use the same trains are those making the short journey to/from Glasgow for business or leisure. Running the line with any more luxurious trains as I think you wish would, in a word, be extravagant.
What I find exasperating is that the total SailRail time can be close to 16 hours, and about half that extra time compared to flying comes from dicking about getting between Glasgow and the ferryport, because both the road and rail links between Glasgow and the ferryport are orders of magnitude worse than the other legs.
Have you ever considered why that might be the case? The railway from London to Glasgow is a principle express line. The line from Glasgow to Ayr is not. As I said before, I'm grateful even that the journey can be completed in 50 minutes. Likewise, the road from Ayr to Cairnryan is not the M6, and over that terrain you shouldn't expect that it should be. Accept it, or fly.
Also, be grateful that a coach journey from Carlisle to Cairnryan is not an option, then I think you really would have reason to complain.
The what?
Fundamentally, because it is daftly brainwrong to obliterate the rail connection to the ferry port whilst claiming you are "upgrading it" for "faster sailings"
Just to clarify, did you ever make a journey through Stranraer?
and the shambolic inability for sail and rail companies to schedule connecting services turns what should be a cheap alternative to flying (approaching 1/3rd of the price but only taking about twice as long) into something that takes 3 or 4 times as long.
I'm not sure you did. As you can see, your journey to Glasgow would take a lot longer if ferries still ran to Stranraer.
Also, it's worth commending Stena that in my view, the current timetable of a regular sailing every 4 hours, compared with an irregular timetable of 2 slower ships plus the HSS is a lot more favourable.
There is something fundamentally broken about a national transport system which means it is cheaper and quicker for me to fly to, say, Istanbul or Latvia than it is for me to get home to bloody Belfast at Xmas to see my folks.
You admitted yourself that it can be quicker to fly than get the train.
Basically: price, reliability and ludicrous security arrangements.
At Christmas, "budget" airlines are often charging close to £300 for a return trip to Belfast. I could fly someone considerably nicer that Belfast for that.
Reliability: because all their flights are full, if adverse weather, staff shortages or anything else means a flight is cancelled, you are basically screwed. I've been in the situation where, flying about 3 days before Xmas, I've already checked in for a flight only for it to come up on the display that it's "cancelled due to fog" and I then have to queue for another 90 mins to get my checked-in bags back, and then have a "Computer Says No" Flybe staff member tell me "Well, we can offer you a seat on a flight to Liverpool the day after Boxing Day"... in my experience, if a train or ferry is cancelled, there is (usually) more chance you can get on the next one, as it won't be full.
In fairness, I can sympathise with this, especially at Christmas. Though, you probably stand less chance of disruption (unfortunately) at other times of the year.
These days you have to go through all this nonsense about liquids and shoes and taking your belt off...
Do you not feel any safer that security is a lot more thorough?
All ferry passengers have to get off at Ayr, and stand around for 20 mins / half a hour until the coach arrives... we then have to stand in the carpark and spend another 20 mins slinging our bags in the boot and clambering on one at a time.
I'm not quite sure what kind of connections you've had but when ever I have made this journey, the coach has always been waiting for me when I've arrived - either in Ayr or Cairnryan. No waiting for it to arrive, no waiting to leave while everyone gets on. Easy!
By price alone, the difference isn't very much - combined SailRail Brighton - Belfast was only about £9 cheaper than SailRail Brighton to Dublin Port, then separate Dublin to Belfast ticket.
(NB - the cost of the shuttlebus from Dublin Port to Dublin Connolly station is not included in either method!
)
BUT - consider this: Irish Ferries decide it is too stormy to sail, or they've crashed into the harbour again, or whatever, and cancel their sailings. So you have to fly instead.
A through ticket (one-way) from Brighton - Belfast via Cairnryan is £52, similarly via Holyhead costs from £52. Irish Ferries allow you on their website to include the transfer bus cost with your rail ticket.
It is incredibly rare that Stena or IF will cancel their ferry sailings (i.e. the slower ones). HSS & Swift are more susceptible to the weather.
nationalrail.co.uk still didn't have access to it.
One final tip: don't use nationalrail.co.uk for your SR bookings. Your best bet is websites such as Arriva's, ScotRail's, or even book in person at a rail station. That way, you know you're getting exactly what you ask for. You can also use the likes of Irish Ferries' website for journeys originating in Ireland if you're travelling via Dublin, although they will charge you in euro so you pay slightly more.
It's OK but a pretty long sailing in comparison with the other routes.