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Confused about Sail Rail pass with Irish Ferries

I'm looking at getting from Dublin to Penrith using the Irish Ferries Sail/Rail pass but how does the rail portion work? Is the price of the ticket including the rail portion? When I look online for a ticket from Holyhead to Penrith it's 79 pounds but for this "apparent" combo ticket on Irish Ferrie's website it's 43 euros. Plus, the website doesn't ask about times for the connecting train which makes me think there isn't a ticket? How would I collect my rail ticket? Any clarification would be greatly appreciated!

Posted by
521 posts

Jessica, most of your questions are covered in the FAQs on this page on the Irish Ferries website: http://www.irishferries.com/uk-en/offers/sail-rail/ Holyhead to Penrith with an ordinary 'Anytime' rail ticket is £79.50. However, the £46 / €43 cost is a promotional fare that can only be obtained as a package deal because Irish Ferries have an arrangement with the rail companies, and it really is as cheap as it says. Connecting trains - see the FAQs. To see all the ferry and train options, go back to the journey planner on www.nationalrail.co.uk and specify Dublin Ferry Port and Penrith as your start and finish points. When the results appear, click on the link called "Details" and it will show you the train connections you will be taking. National Rail won't let you search dates more than 3 months ahead, but it's a standard price anyway. When I searched it showed me afternoon ferries on the results page, so I used the "Earlier trains" button to see morning departures. The 08.45 fast ferry from Dublin looks good. Where to collect your tickets - see the Irish Ferries FAQs.

Posted by
8700 posts

Another good source for information on SailRail is The Man in Seat 61 site.

Posted by
10 posts

Thank you both so much for the information. It looks like the only option in order to catch the train would be to take the Swift ferry, do you have any idea of the chance of cancellation in April? I'm not sure how the weather is on the water that time of year.

Posted by
521 posts

If the weather is bad then the swift ferry would be the first to be cancelled and passengers would be accommodated on the conventional ferry later that day. The sea would have to be very rough indeed for the conventional ferry to be prevented from running. It's impossible to predict the chances of there being a problem. In your other post I think you said you would be travelling in April, which traditionally is wet and/or windy, but several times in the last decade has actually had a week or two of warm, sunny weather. The problem with being on the edge of the North Atlantic is you can never tell... One option could be to use the other ferry company which has a SailRail offer, Stena. Its conventional ferry leaves Dublin at 08.20 and the cost for the combined ticket all the way from Dublin to Penrith would be £41 with Off-peak rail tickets. You can see this and the relevant rail connections if you use the journey planner on www.nationalrail.co.uk and this time put "Dublin Port - Stena" as the start point. A conventional ferry is slower and it's a slightly earlier departure than Irish Ferries' swift service, but you could still be in Penrith by 16.45. Here's the relevant page on the Stena website: http://www.stenaline.ie/ferry/routes/dublin-holyhead/timetable/