Last Remaining HSSes For sale?

The_Wrecker

Can anyone shed any light on this link?

http://www.frankshipbrokers.com/PassengerandFerries.html

Scroll down 4 pages.

Losty Dublin

The_Wrecker wrote: »

Can anyone shed any light on this link?

http://www.frankshipbrokers.com/PassengerandFerries.html

Scroll down 4 pages.

Stena reckon that the boats don't make money anymore. They can't carry as many trucks as a cruise ship while their speedy crossings mean that truckers are inclined to take slower boats so they can hire berths to catch up on some sleep; freight trucks would make up the majority of their income so the less they carry of them the less business they do. Add to that they savage competition on the route, their thirsty engines and the general recession and their future was numbered.

Vic_08

Stena Voyager will cease operating out of Belfast later this year when Stena's new facilities at Cairnryan are completed. They are due to transfer all their NI-Scotland traffic then with two large conventional ferries replacing the HSS and current smaller ferries on the route.

Stena Explorer is back on a one a day service from Dun Laoghaire for the summer but it is a far cry from the near round the clock operation of up to 5 return sailings that she once provided. It is likely that the smaller Lynx III will switch to the Dun Laoghaire run meaning the loss of it from Rosslare permanently.

I have heard talk that one or both may be close to being sold. It is no secret that Stena have wanted rid of them for some time and it is now a good bet that 2011 will see the final HSS service from Ireland.

L1011

Is Dun Laoighaire even worth keeping if its down to the Lynx during the summer?

purplepanda

All Sail Rail from London to Dublin sold out by at least Thursday Morning onwards, no tickets available from Euston or online .:(

Know many people who wanted to go to Ireland for the Easter break who couldn't go over.:mad:

With the increases in airline prices you would have thought the train & ferry companies would be interested in increasing customer numbers? And not cutting back on rail & ferry services.

How is Ireland supposed to attract visitors & tourists when travel is not available?

Losty Dublin

purplepanda wrote: »

All Sail Rail from London to Dublin sold out by at least Thursday Morning onwards, no tickets available from Euston or online .:(

Know many people who wanted to go to Ireland for the Easter break who couldn't go over.:mad:

With the increases in airline prices you would have thought the train & ferry companies would be interested in increasing customer numbers? And not cutting back on rail & ferry services.

How is Ireland supposed to attract visitors & tourists when travel is not available?

There is plenty of travel available, though; just because Sail and Rail isn't offering any more tickets at a peak travel time doesn't mean that they won't take your booking.

Something to add; if you are booking a Sail Rail online to depart from certain stations it won't let you book less than seven days before your outward trip for some baffling reason; maybe this is what happened your friends.

The_Wrecker

They need to go back to basics and attract the foot passenger again. That was the bread and butter of the Sealink days, tourist or day tripper. Three hours in Holyhead (enough) then return with a show in the showbar.

Losty Dublin

The_Wrecker wrote: »

They need to go back to basics and attract the foot passenger again. That was the bread and butter of the Sealink days, tourist or day tripper. Three hours in Holyhead (enough) then return with a show in the showbar.

Actually trucks and commercial vans are the bread and butter of the ferry companies and have been now for years.

Cookie_Monster

Don't forget Carisma, the HSS 900, still operating and not on that list

purplepanda

A lot of people I know have been using the Sail Rail option over the last few years as air travel becomes more expensive & with the recent security concerns & resultant delays / canceled flights / volcano disruptions influencing their eventual choice of travel.

The fast ferry with decent train connections can get you from central London to central Dublin in less than 7 & 1/2 hours so that's why this journey has become more attractive for some, and for those that need to go at short notice the ticket price difference over air is considerable.

The ferry & rail companies should be making the most of this potential market & tourist agencies should be marketing the Sail Rail option.

It's not inconceivable that Sail Rail could become more popular in the future, especially when using faster ferry craft for the journey & integrated rail services.

Rock Steady Edy

purplepanda wrote: »

All Sail Rail from London to Dublin sold out by at least Thursday Morning onwards, no tickets available from Euston or online .:(

Know many people who wanted to go to Ireland for the Easter break who couldn't go over.:mad:

With the Stena Fastferry having no connections from London due to its 10am sailing time (unless you're happy to break your journey overnight somewhere in North Wales and B&B it; you could find somewhere pretty close to the stations at Llandudno Junction, Conwy*, Bangor or Holyhead), it is down to the to two 2pm slow boats and the two sailings of the Swift to take everyone on the daytime sailings on Good Friday. It's not inconceivable that these sailings would have been full the day before, when combined with vehicle traffic. I doubt you'd have had a problem if you didn't mind travelling overnight.

*I'd recommend Conwy myself, really nice little town, with a station right in the centre, get a fast train from London in the late afternoon / early evening and get the direct train next morning from Conwy to Holyhead in time for the sailing of the fast Stena Explorer. You'll feel refreshed before you're even in Ireland.

purplepanda

Virgin ticket staff told my friends on Wednesday morning that unless you had a ferry boarding pass which they would not sell as all their allocation was sold out, that you would have to pay £100 fare to Holyhead & then pay separately for the ferry tickets. :eek: Although a visit to North Wales is a great idea:cool:

Seems like they are trying to rip off passengers during busy periods, same as happened during last years volcano disruptions when they stopped selling through rail sail tickets from Paddington & Euston!!

shamwari

I remember a radio piece around 5 years ago where it was claimed that HSS ferries would be uneconomic to run if the price of oil exceeded $90 a barrel. Well the price of oil been that way for some time now, and rather than withdraw these ships, it looks like frequencies have been cut and journey times extended as the boats appear to be taking it slower on the crossings.

I used the HSS from Belfast to Stranraer last year, but this year I'll be using the P&O fastcraft from Larne to Cairnryan. It's a slightly longer drive to Larne than Belfast, but the crossing time is half that of Stena, and its nearly €70 cheaper. No brainer here...

Rock Steady Edy

The first thing I would have done is try a medium sized station rather than Paddington or Euston. The large stations might just inform all their staff that tickets were sold out because they sell a lot of tickets, and not even bother trying. A medium sized station would have to actually try to book the ticket, and maybe give you the sailrail ticket with or without actual confirmation of a ferry place. Once you're at Holyhead, if you don't have a ferry place, just say where you bought the ticket and they'll probably say "well they should have booked you on the ferry too". They'll know if you book the ticket at Euston, they should know all the rules. If you buy at a station where these tickets are sold infrequently, they know the staff will not be so knowledgable and will therefore be more accommodating to you. If you aimed for the Irish Ferries sailing at 2.10pm, then at least you have the 5.15pm Swift to fall back on. You might find, as I did at New Year, that the ferry companies keep a few places back from sale, even if it appears to be a full sailing on the website.

Given the situation is now in the past, if it were me, I would write a short letter addressed to Stena and IF and Virgin and point out the problems. I'm sure each might blame each other (though they might be slightly less inclined to if you have clearly copied in the others). Write, don't email - complaints that are emailed are too easy to dismiss.

If you do nothing and nothing changes in future, you shouldn't be surprised. If it does, then you can feel you might have had a part in it. Either way, you feel better for having raised the issue. By the sound of it, a good few would have been affected if they were turning people away 2 days before, and a few others of these will make their dis-satisfaction known.

penexpers

purplepanda wrote: »

With the increases in airline prices you would have thought the train & ferry companies would be interested in increasing customer numbers? And not cutting back on rail & ferry services.

How much do you think Stena would get per foot passenger travelling with Sail'n'Rail? I would think that freight/car traffic is worth much more to them.

Losty Dublin

penexpers wrote: »

How much do you think Stena would get per foot passenger travelling with Sail'n'Rail? I would think that freight/car traffic is worth much more to them.

Bugger all, I'd guess. Sail and Rail tickets are dirt cheap and yet rail operator/s and the ferry have to share in the price, the margin on them has to be hair tight.

Rock Steady Edy

40% Ferry company / 60% Rail company?

Run_to_da_hills

The_Wrecker wrote: »

They need to go back to basics and attract the foot passenger again. That was the bread and butter of the Sealink days, tourist or day tripper. Three hours in Holyhead (enough) then return with a show in the showbar.

The Common Market killing off duty free sales was responsible for falling numbers of day trip foot passengers, I couldn't see this ever returning to the old days again.

Losty Dublin

Rock Steady Edy wrote: »

40% Ferry company / 60% Rail company?

I'd not be sure but either way it's a fraction of what they'd charge for a conventional return trip. Plus in the UK, your rail trip may be with several carriers who'd all have to split up an already meagre share of a low fare; little wonder they don't plug these fares half as much.