SailRail (again!) - London, Dublin, Belfast, Glasgow

[daniel78]

Hello, I'm considering a week travelling around the UK, taking in Dublin, Belfast and Glasgow (starting and finishing in London). Sorry to start another SailRail thread, but I find the ticket validity of these really confusing, and there seems to be a lot of conflicting info when people ask for advice. I'm hoping somebody can help with my specific itinery.


Friday day 1: Travel London to Dublin. Most likely route is Euston (0910) - Holyhead, then ferry to Dublin

Sunday day 3: Travel Dublin to Belfast. Intercity train

Tuesday day 5: Travel Belfast to Glasgow. Ferry Belfast to Cairnryan, bus to Ayr, train to Glasgow

Friday day 8: Travel Glasgow to London. Virgin train


I could book it as single journeys for each leg. If I do this I'll need to act quickly on the last leg. The trip would be in June and the Glasgow to London train is already over £40. I found this thread which refers to anytime return Sailrail fares. I can't find these online anywhere. The ideal ticket would be an anytime return that allows me to go to Dublin via Holyhead on the way out. Dublin to Belfast I could live with buying an extra ticket if I can't do BoJ for a couple of days. Then on the return go to Glasgow via Cairnryan, BoJ for a few days then a train to London. Maybe all of that is a bit ambitious, but if anyone here is experienced with these tickets and can weigh in with some advice I'd love to hear from you

 

[gpb_croppers63]

I would ring Stena Line as they do sail-rail on the Holyhead to Dublin and Belfast to Cairnryan routes so would quite possibly be able to sell you one ticket for the whole trip. They're normally really helpful and knowledgeable.

Their phone number is 08447 70 70 70 (I think I've also used the 01407 606666 number listed on saynoto0870.co.uk but I can't be sure).

You can normally get Dublin to Belfast fares on irishrail.ie for around €15 if you book 28 days in advance (reservations only open then). These tickets have the same terms and conditions as British Advance fares. You can only travel on the booked train and change fees apply.

Hope that helps!

 

[Lrd]

In the past, before all this Advance tickets for sail rail malarky, I just bought two singles to Belfast. One via Holyhead, Dublin then Enterprise to Belfast, then another via Stranraer (as it was) Glasgow, Sleeper to London. I was able to do this online and have reservations for each leg.

 

[bkhtele]

Have a look at seat61 n.ireland he explains the lot. However rather than buying online I would go to London Euston & buy the ticket in advance they are really used to selling both.
Your plan is fine,
Outbound: if you want more flexibility spend £5 extra & ask for a standby (flexible/standard) outbound ticket £43 you can then travel by any train only the ferry is fixed.

Back
Single Belfast to Glasgow £29

I would buy the Dublin to Belfast ticket online with Irish Rail, collect ticket in Dublin Connelly- cheaper!

If you are buying single tickets Stenaline.co.uk/rail will send you the tickets & post them to you.

Ps the Liverpool/Belfast/Liverpool new sail rail is also a good trip £72 from London plus berth c £40extra

There is also a new Stena line sail rail leaflet 2013 edition one that should be available from your local station

 

[Goatboy]

Sailrail Standby on the way out gets you to Dublin.

On the way back, the Sailrail ticket from Belfast to London is sold as an Anytime Single with 5 day validity. The Scotrail website specifically advertises that break of journey (ie, in Glasgow for a few days) is permitted despite the fact the ticket has a 1X restriction code which is ambiguously worded but suggests it isn't. A printout of the Scotail website might therefore be prudent.

 

[daniel78]

Thanks for all the feedback. I'm going into London today, I'll try to get to the ticket office in Euston to ask them more about tickets.

I can't find any sign of any return tickets (I managed to find the ones the OP in the other thread I linked was referring to), but I thought that was a bit ambitious anyway. I'm set on going to Dublin, Belfast and Glasgow on specific days (here's why) so I need to SailRail different routes anyway.

If I can't find a better option I think I'll do this now:

Fri 7 Jun: London - Holyhead - Dublin. £38 (I think this is just as good as the flexi ticket really, I'll have to be in Holyhead in time for the ferry about 2pm)

Mon 10 Jun: Dublin - Belfast. ~£15 (A day later now, I found out about something else in Dublin on Sunday night)

Tue 11 Jun: Belfast - Cairnryan - Glasgow. £29

Thu 13 Jun: Glasgow - London. £27 (Scotrail overnight train, saves me a night in a hotel, and leaves late enough after I've been out on Thursday)

Total £109, which is about what SailRail singles London to Belfast are anyway. The only thing I'm missing is a bit of flexibility, which seems to be disappearing from SailRail.

On the way back, the Sailrail ticket from Belfast to London is sold as an Anytime Single with 5 day validity. The Scotrail website specifically advertises that break of journey (ie, in Glasgow for a few days) is permitted despite the fact the ticket has a 1X restriction code which is ambiguously worded but suggests it isn't. A printout of the Scotail website might therefore be prudent.

Thanks, I've tried looking on the Scotrail website and all the terms and conditions on the tickets refer to "Anytime Day Single". I do see where it says BoJ is allowed, but in the context I'd have thought that just meant during the day of travel. I'm sure you know your stuff but I'm not sure I'd be confident standing my ground if a train manager told me my ticket was invalid.

 

[bkhtele]

Yes I can confirm that the single is an anytime day single and on the ticket it says validityn day shown.

The return via Cairnryan is an anytime return & is much more flexible - I can't find any reference to it in the literature so it may have been phased out? Does anyone know if it still exists?

 

[Goatboy]

Yes I can confirm that the single is an anytime day single and on the ticket it says validityn day shown.

Odd. Mine says 'Validity: 5 days' but its the outward portion of an Anytime Return.

 

[bkhtele]

Confusing isn't it! The return ticket via Cairnryan is great, it is issued as an anytime return ticket and yes the outward portion says 5 days while the return portion is one month from the date of the return portion!

I hope it is still available as it is so flexible.

 

[reb0118]

On the way back, the Sailrail ticket from Belfast to London is sold as an Anytime Single with 5 day validity.

I think you are confusing a single with the outward portion of an anytime return. Not the same.

Odd. Mine says 'Validity: 5 days' but its the outward portion of an Anytime Return.

You are confusing the two. AFAIA the single is set as a SDS but that said if you can't complete your journey in one day then it will be valid on the following day.

Total £109, which is about what SailRail singles London to Belfast are anyway. The only thing I'm missing is a bit of flexibility, which seems to be disappearing from SailRail.

The single from Belfast to London via Cairnryan is £52 with the anytime return double that at £104. Prices from brfares. I think that open return does give flexibility but conversely restricts you to that route only both ways.

That said the standby tickets for the other routes are only a few pounds more than the advance tickets and in my opinion do other value at short notice.

You have got a good price though. Enjoy your trip & I hope you get some great weather ~ make sure you are on the coastal side for the Enterprise service as there are stunning views both south to the Wicklows and north to the Mountains of Mourne.

Once again enjoy the journey.

Slainte!

 

[Goatboy]

You are confusing the two. AFAIA the single is set as a SDS but that said if you can't complete your journey in one day then it will be valid on the following day.

Indeed, I wrongly assumed that as its exactly half the price of the return it was simply an Anytime Single not an Anytime Day Single.

 

[reb0118]

Indeed, I wrongly assumed that as its exactly half the price of the return it was simply an Anytime Single not an Anytime Day Single.

Easily done. There are not many singles that are exactly half the relevant return.