Restoration of rail connection at Rosslare out of afternoon sailing from Fishguard:

[Eire Sprinter]

The detail:
From Tuesday 4th June, 2013 (next Monday is the June Bank Holiday here) the current 17.55hrs. M-S Rosslare Europort to Dublin Connolly InterCity train will be deferred to 19.15hrs thereby providing an onward rail service for foot passengers arriving on the 14.30 Stena Line sailing from Fishguard Harbour (arrives Rosslare 18.00).

From Sunday 9th June the present 17.40hrs. Rosslare Europort to Dublin Connolly InterCity will be deferred to 19.00hrs and operate to Bray, with an onward DART connection available to Dublin Connolly.

Both the weekdays and Sundays trains will serve all the usual stations i.e. all stations Rosslare Europort to Bray Daly except Kilcoole.

Full timings may be viewed in the Irish Rail Journey Planner.

Have heard unconfirmed reports that this service is on a trial until the end of August.

Other info:

* It will now be possible to complete a journey from England/Wales to Ireland via Fishguard-Rosslare by rail, sea and rail again all in the same day. In fact in high summer in daylight hours throughout! A much more user-friendly than the current overnight connections.

* The overnight connections are: ex Wales: out of 02.45 sailing from Fishguard (arr. Rosslare 06.15): 07.20 train ex Rosslare Europort M-S.
ex Ireland: M-F 16.37 Dublin Connolly-Rosslare Europort (arr. 19.25) connecting into the 21.00 Rosslare - Fishguard sailing.

* Ticketing: through ticketing is available from stations in Ireland to stations in Wales/England/Scotland via Rosslare-Fishguard. Through ticketing is not available ex Britain i.e. buy to Rosslare Harbour. The exception is if one is using a return/single issued in Ireland.

* The rail journey from Rosslare to Dublin is very scenic and worth experiencing. Along the coast and through slobs to Wexford town. A streetside run through Wexford town. Along a river to Enniscorthy. Countryside to Arklow. Woods around Rathdrum. Back to the coast at Wicklow and through the Bray Head tunnels north of Greystones into Bray (Brunel was involved). Killiney Bay - then past Dun Laoghaire, under Aviva Stadium and into Dublin.

* For passengers using the train through to Dublin arrival in Dublin is in time to connect with penultimate/ last trains to Drogheda/Dundalk/Maynooth/ buses and LUAS trams to various destinations.

 

[steamybrian]

It is a shame that the new Rosslare Europort station gives passengers a very long walk from the ferry terminal across the car park and the main Europort access road to the station. It is not very customer friendly if you have heavy luggage or it is inclement weather.

 

[MidnightFlyer]

Agreed. Went there in summer (by train both ways), and had 75 mins to wait before heading back to Dublin. The walking route to the terminal isn't obvious (you basically walk across a huge but not open [expanse] car park), and it's more than easy to miss the building altogether. Inside there's enough to see you OK for the wait (vending machine and toilets basically!), but it's deserted and the only access to civilisation is via a road back up to Rosslare town (2 or 3 miles) or up a cliff to a newsagent... Certainly one of the more boring waits I've had whilst line bashing! I think the station's moved about a good few times, progressively closer to Rosslare Strand, from what I can tell the last move was very recent (late 90s / early 00s at a guess), and with that went all rail facilities (booking office, building etc) to the desolate platform that now awaits.

I'll be back one day though, I didn't see what was so fantastic about the scenery so I'll try again. Hopefully I'll get a 22000 this time, and not the 27xx (I think) I had then...

 

[MidnightFlyer]

The walk at Rosslare, with pictures from halfway up the cliff-thingy that leads to civilisation. The first pic is of the platform, you then walk down the tarmac path in the mid-ground as shown in picture 2 (the two images are basically dead next to each other), across the line, round the roundabout, then through the car entrance to the harbour and into the terminal in the distance... Please ignore my awful photography skills

 

[Greenback]

The ride from Dublin down to Rosslare is pleasant enough, I particularly enjoyed the run through Wexford. Rosslare Strand seemed quite busy the day we passed through!

As I understand it, the relocation of Rosslare Harbour was done in order to make access easier for lorries. It meant that one level crossing could be eliminated! The downside is, as has been pointed out, that it is far less convenient for passengers (as if they matter!) compared to the old one which was accessed through the fery terminal.

 

[Eire Sprinter]

With respect, could I mention that the pedestrian route from the ferry terminal to the station is along a dedicated path which is reasonably well signposted. Exiting the terminal walk down the ramp (not the steps) and keep straight. It's essentially a walk initially past a few car parks then around the perimeter of the complex with the beach/dunes one side and an internal road the other. This leads to the roundabout at the bottom of Delap's Hill. Then cross the road and into the station.

What seems to be happening is that when people are directed to the terminal people point out its location (straight ahead from the front doors of the terminal i.e. beyond the car/vehicle areas) but forget to clarify that the actual walk to it is not straight ahead.

In the terminal there's a cafe open at ship times plus free to use left luggage lockers.

If one follows the road up Delap's Hill out of the port (footpath throughout - in fact the paths have been improved in conjunction with the port authority) the large village of Rosslare Harbour is found at the top. There's a small shopping centre with a supermarket, post office, pharmacy, cafe. Nearby there's a bank, hotel, guesthouses, a charity shop and a maritime heritage centre was opened last year. There's a takeaway near the shop-newsagents near the cliff top.

Rosslare Strand is a popular seaside resort five minutes away by rail (the next station) and has a similar amount of facilities. Quite a lot travel there by rail from Dublin for breaks.

The grey building in the middle right of Matt's first photo is where the old Rosslare Harbour Mainland station was (until 1989). There was also a station on the pier until 1989. In 1989 the two stations were closed and replaced with one station - at the terminal itself - known as Rosslare Harbour and in latter years as Rosslare Europort. In April 2008 the station at the ferry terminal was closed and the basic station we have today opened (numerous reasons abound for the relocation and it's hard to know which are the actual reasons ranging from the port's secure area being compromised to worries of the port being sold and delays at level crossings).

There's also a load of changes and history surrounding the stations pre-1989! For anyone interested in books on the local area I'd suggest a visit to The Book Centre in Wexford Town.

 

[gordonthemoron]

the timetable change is only until 2/9/13

 

[Eire Sprinter]

True, but hopefully the service will see sufficient usage that it is retained.

There has been much chopping and changing of rail timetables to/from Rosslare over the years - totally the reverse of the generally user-friendly consistency at Fishguard.

Like sea routes elsewhere the cheap airlines took many passengers and that is not at issue but in Rosslare's case even more passengers seem to have been lost through a lack of consistency and issues with connections. People have understandably lost confidence and taken their custom elsewhere.

 

[shotayo]

Just a quick question,

Does this mean that I can get a rail and sail from Arklow to London Via Rosslare?

 

[Eire Sprinter]

Arklow to Paddington via Rosslare has always been available and remains available for purchase from Irish Rail.

It's just for tickets purchased at stations/online in Wales/ England/ Scotland that it's not possible any longer to buy beyond Rosslare.

Arklow to Paddington is 56 euro advance single or 62 euro on day of travel (returns are double those amounts).
Can be bought in person from the stations listed here:http://www.irishrail.ie/index.jsp?p=118&n=249#SailRail

Or by phone (paying by card) at least a week ahead of travel. Tickets posted out.

 

[bkhtele]

Highly recommended scenic route I bought my ticket to Rosslare & then a web fare on Irish rail web site, Rosslare to Dublin €12.99, 1/2 price of an on the day purchase, collect ticket from train manager, there is no ticket office. Refreshments on train from Wexford, not bad coffee & bacon roll available from ferry terminal shop.
10 minute clearly signposted walk to station, yes you do cross the road at the zebra crossing following the sign into what looks like a layby rather than a station.
Last Thursday morning only 3 passengers compare to my last visit of c 30 passenges!
The berth was worth the €32 as we boarded c 1.30am, Fishguard terminal is beside the rail station.

 

[Eire Sprinter]

That was a very quiet morning. Numbers do fluctuate quite a lot but even on the night crossings are predominantly in double digits.

Unfortunately there's a height barrier at the car park at Rosslare Europort station so even if one of the ferry operators wanted to run a shuttle bus they couldn't!

 

[GM078]

It's worth noting that Bus Éireann cut back their Route 2 service to terminate in Wexford town rather than Rosslare last year. There are limited connections available at Wexford to the 40 service from Waterford to Rosslare but far from ideal. The private bus operator also only goes as far as Wexford town, so if IÉ do their homework there may be a captive audience now as far as foot traffic is concerned (whether there is enough of foot traffic to sustain it is open to debate).

A welcome development though.