Swansea to Cork Ferry

[meic]

Is no more!

http://www.thisissouthwales.co.uk/BREAK ... story.html

[bogmyrtle]

That's a shame. It looks as though the small ferries on Lough Swinny and Lough Foyle in the North of Ireland might have bitten the dust as well.

[welshwoodsman]

Aw c##p. Was hoping to use that to get over to Ireland this year

[vjosullivan]

Again.

It's never really been a profitable route and only ever existed when subsidies were available, so some years it's on and some years it not. The route goes to the wrong side of Ireland to serve anywhere other than County Cork. Lorries prefer to cross into Rosslare - a quicker, shorter crossing that serves far more of south, central and east of the country. Foot passengers can fly to cork in a fraction of the time, without having to get to Swansea first and then endure a ten-hour crossing, from airports far more conveniently located. That just leaves passengers with cars. They're seasonal and there aren't enough of them.

The surprising thing is that that route ever ran at all.

[meic]

Welshwoodsman,

In case you dont know there is this option which is quite good from Swansea or Carmarthen

http://www.arrivatrainswales.co.uk/SailRail/

Sometimes the special offers have been a real bargain and you can take bikes, to the best of my knowledge.
Or just ride to Fishguard.

[johnb]

Welshwoodsman,

In case you dont know there is this option which is quite good from Swansea or Carmarthen

http://www.arrivatrainswales.co.uk/SailRail/

Sometimes the special offers have been a real bargain and you can take bikes, to the best of my knowledge.
Or just ride to Fishguard.

That offer is available from any UK train station, and they do include bikes at no extra charge

You may have to book and receive a ticket for your bike dependent on your location.

[Richard]

The train service to Fishguard has recently been upgraded with 5(?) more trains a day instead of the two which didn't always meet the boat. Travel west from Carmarthen can be a bit unreliable - particularly weekend evenings though.

[meic]

Doing some searches, I found the train from Swansea at £33, Carmarthen £31.
No mention of bike charges.

OR just the ferry from Fishguard £39 with a bike!

Seven trains a day (only two on Sunday)

[welshwoodsman]

Went over on the fishguard to rosslare service last year,with train from llanelli for £28. Just fancied going to cork and cycling west

[bikepacker]

Earlier in the year I booked a ticket on the Swansea to Cork ferry for May. A couple of weeks ago I received an email saying the sailing would not now go ahead and the money was repaid to my account.

Today I went into the local Railway Travel Centre to find out more about the SailRail tickets to Dublin. They quoted me £44 for the journey as a foot passenger and said there would be an additional £10 charge to take my bike on the Swift ferry,

[johnb]

Earlier in the year I booked a ticket on the Swansea to Cork ferry for May. A couple of weeks ago I received an email saying the sailing would not now go ahead and the money was repaid to my account.

Today I went into the local Railway Travel Centre to find out more about the SailRail tickets to Dublin. They quoted me £44 for the journey as a foot passenger and said there would be an additional £10 charge to take my bike on the Swift ferry,

Book online, book with Stenaline less than £40, bikes are free, have done it dozens of times.

£33 to be exact.Irish ferries

Stenaline

[johnb]

Just to add to the above, when booking your tickets in Ireland on either leg of your journey, from starting your journey you have one calendar month to complete that leg, meaning if you book from Dublin to Dover Priory you can stop over enroute for a night,week up to a month and vice versa.

Tickets bought in The UK must have either leg completed on the day of use.

[bikepacker]

johnb
The travel centre came up with similar prices to you but linking to ferries at awkward timing. The train leaving Worcester at 6.07 am linking with the fast ferry at Holyhead would be ideal timing for me and they quoted £44 to Dublin or £56 to Cork. There may be a discount for my senior railcard when I book. They also showed me their documents that stated a train reservation must be made for the bike on Arriva services and on the Swift ferry there would be a bike surcharge of £10 payable at the ferry.

Anyway even at the maximum price it is a lot cheaper than the Swansea to Cork ferry plus rail fare.

[johnb]

johnb
The travel centre came up with similar prices to you but linking to ferries at awkward timing. The train leaving Worcester at 6.07 am linking with the fast ferry at Holyhead would be ideal timing for me and they quoted £44 to Dublin or £56 to Cork. There may be a discount for my senior railcard when I book. They also showed me their documents that stated a train reservation must be made for the bike on Arriva services and on the Swift ferry there would be a bike surcharge of £10 payable at the ferry.

Anyway even at the maximum price it is a lot cheaper than the Swansea to Cork ferry plus rail fare.

If you travel on the swift ferry you will pay a premium, in your case £11 extra for your Train/Ferry ticket and £10 extra for a ticket for your bike to board the Ferry.

The swift ferry takes one hour less than the regular ferry for the crossing, however that is in optimum conditions, ie, perfectly calm sea. The reality is if the sea Is choppy the swift must travel a lot slower and in many instances the regular ferry is faster.

When the sea is very rough the swift ferry is cancelled, and there is no guarantee you will get a sailing on the regular ferry. I always use the regular ferry for these reasons.

I have never needed a ticket for the bike on arriva trains, but you must pick one up at the station for virgin trains, and they do check for them.

Your old age pensioners bus pass may get you discount on the ticket, I don't know.

[bikepacker]

Johnb
I take your point about the fast ferry as I have used them extensively to cross the Channel and Straits of Gibraltar. However the timing of arrival in Dublin early afternoon, make it worth taking a chance.

I didn’t want to use Virgin trains because I would have to change trains at Crewe. Also because of their strict bike booking policy, I come across it every time I use trains to go to Scotland. Arriva Wales told me on the phone this morning, whereas they don't insist on a bike reservation it is the only way to guarantee a bike place on a train.

It the Senior Railcard that will save me money. My bus pass is only valid for buses in England.

Thanks for your input though.