Trekker ticket -- suggest a journey

n97 mini

An American colleague will be in Ireland in September and wants to buy a Trekker Four Day ticket and basically traverse the rail network. When I say network the Sligo, Rosslare and Belfast lines are out as they're really branch lines (sort of).

Anyway, the only bits of the network that are sort of optional are Athenry-Galway and Thurles-Templemore. The Cork suburban is sort of optional too though I reckon he should try to get to Cobh.

What route would you suggest that could be done in 4 days (or even 3), starting and ending in Dublin, and overnighting in the nicer spots along the way?

flyingsnail

Ok I am assuming he your colleague wants to traverse as much of the network as possible rather than visit a lot of places for the day.

Day 1: Dublin to Waterford, take evening service to Limerick Junction and then onto cork (overnight cork)
Day2 : Cork to Tralee, Tralee to Ballybrophy, Ballybrophy to Limerick via Nenagh (Overnight Limerick)

Day3: Limerick to Galway, Galway to Westport via athlone(overnight Westport)
Day 4: Westport to Ballina, Ballina to Dublin.
Day 4 Option B: Westport to Ballina, Bus to sligo, Train sligo to Dublin

n97 mini

Yeah he's a bit of a rail nut and wants to see all of the network. Thanks for the suggestion.

roundymac

When he's in Cork he can do a fast Cork-Cobh, Cobh -Glountaune, connect there with a Midleton service return to Cork and catch the Kerry service.

LXFlyer

I'd suggest something like the itinerary below (only on weekdays!), which covers the entire Heuston network and the Sligo line, and, given how you say your friend is a "rail nut", allows him to see the unusual reversals at Killarney from the platform, the two sets splitting at Nenagh in the morning on day 3, and a nice wait at Manulla Junction as well!!

It does require one bus journey from Ballina to Sligo.

I've allowed time for a break in Cork on day 1, Waterford and Dublin on day 2, and Galway on day 3.

There might be some freight in Ballina while he is there.

DAY 1 :
Dublin Heuston 07:00 Limerick Junction 08:33
Limerick Junction 08:38 Limerick 09:07
Limerick 09:45 Limerick Junction 10:12
Limerick Junction 10:36 Cork 11:45
Cork 12:15 Midleton 12:38
Midleton 12:45 Glounthaune 12:57
Glounthaune 13:10 Cobh 13:24
Cobh 13:30 Cork 13:54
Cork 16:20 Mallow 16:41
Mallow 17:25 Tralee 18:57
Tralee 19:05 Killarney 19:38

Overnight Killarney

DAY 2 :
Killarney 07:36 Limerick Junction 09:15
Limerick Junction 09:45 Waterford 11:26
Waterford 13:05 Kildare 14:41
Kildare 14:46 Dublin Heuston 15:35
Dublin Heuston 18:00 Ballybrophy 18:54
Ballybrophy 19:00 Nenagh 20:02

Overnight in Nenagh (Abbey Court Hotel is a 10 minute walk from the station).

DAY 3:
Nenagh 07:45 Limerick 08:45
Limerick 09:20 Galway 11:10
Galway 13:05 Portarlington 15:05
Portarlington 15:22 Westport 17:55

Overnight in Westport

DAY 4:
Westport 09:45 Manulla Jctn 10:04
Manulla Jctn 10:33 Ballina 11:01

Bus Eireann Bus 458:
Ballina Bus Station 12:45 Sligo Bus Station 14:15

Sligo 15:00 Dublin Connolly 18:03

cml387

n97 mini wrote: »

An American colleague will be in Ireland in September and wants to buy a Trekker Four Day ticket and basically traverse the rail network. When I say network the Sligo, Rosslare and Belfast lines are out as they're really branch lines (sort of).

Anyway, the only bits of the network that are sort of optional are Athenry-Galway and Thurles-Templemore. The Cork suburban is sort of optional too though I reckon he should try to get to Cobh.

What route would you suggest that could be done in 4 days (or even 3), starting and ending in Dublin, and overnighting in the nicer spots along the way?

In what alternative universe are the Dublin Sligo and Dublin Belfast lines branch lines?

flyingsnail

cml387 wrote: »

In what alternative universe are the Dublin Sligo and Dublin Belfast lines branch lines?

as in they dont really connect with any other lines on the network, I know the enterprise does connect with NIR but trekker tickets are not valid north of Dundalk.

cml387

Well it seems a bit odd to exclude over a hundred miles of railway line on the basis of it being a branch, but each to his own I suppose.

n97 mini

cml387 wrote: »

Well it seems a bit odd to exclude over a hundred miles of railway line on the basis of it being a branch, but each to his own I suppose.

Its to do with the 4 day limitation. Eg travel to Rosslare and there is nowhere to go apart from all the way back to Connolly.

LXFlyer

n97 mini wrote: »

Its to do with the 4 day limitation. Eg travel to Rosslare and there is nowhere to go apart from all the way back to Connolly.

If that line were to be included you'd have to include some bus travel from Rosslare to Waterford and perhaps onto Cork.

Going back to Dublin would be a waste of time!

BonkeyDonker

lxflyer wrote: »

If that line were to be included you'd have to include some bus travel from Rosslare to Waterford and perhaps onto Cork.

Going back to Dublin would be a waste of time!

That was what I was thinking - the line to Rosslare has some of the best scenery on the network - much better than Heuston to Waterford in my opinion - the trip as far as Bray alone is, to me, a must travel.

n97 mini

BonkeyDonker wrote: »

That was what I was thinking - the line to Rosslare has some of the best scenery on the network - much better than Heuston to Waterford in my opinion - the trip as far as Bray alone is, to me, a must travel.

Rosslare to Waterford by bus had occurred to me, and I don't doubt the scenery aspect, but I think we'll leave it for another time. The real value is in the rail scenery, if you know what I mean.

Along those routes anyone know (aside from Galway) what railway hotels are still open?

csd

This does the whole network except the bit between Dundalk and the border:

Day 1 East coast
7.50 Docklands - M3 Parkway 8.21
8.38 M3 Parkway - Clonsilla 8.47
8.57 Clonsilla - Connolly 9.23
9.40 Connolly - Rosslare 12.26
12.55 Rosslare - Connolly 15.45
16.50 Connolly - Dundalk 17.43
19.20 Dundalk - Connolly 20.15

Day 2 South
8.00 Heuston - Limerick Jn 9.33 (ICR T)
9.45 Limerick Jn - Waterford 11.26
13.05 Waterford - Heuston 15.15 (T)
16.00 Heuston - Cork 18.30 (ICR T)
18.45 Cork - Midleton 19.08
19.45 Midleton - Glounthane 19.57
20.10 Glounthane - Cobh 20.24
20.30 Cobh - Cork 20.54
20.55 Cork - Tralee 22.55

Day 3 West
5.55 Tralee - Mallow 7.18 (0555 Tralee - Cork)
7.21 Mallow - Limerick Jn 7.56 (0700 Cork - Heuston) (R1)
8.07 Limerick Jn - Limerick 8.35
9.20 Limerick - Galway 11.13
13.05 Galway - Athlone 14.02 (1305 Galway - Athlone) (T)
16.04 Athlone - Manulla 17.27 (1445 Heuston - Westport) (T)
17.30 Manulla - Ballina 17.58
20.22 Ballina - Manulla 20.50
20.52 Manulla - Westport 21.17 (1815 Heuston - Westport) (1B)

Day 4 Sligo
7.15 Westport - Heuston 10.30 (1B)
Luas
13.05 Connolly - Sligo 16.10 (T)
18.00 Sligo - Connolly 21.08 (T)
21.40 Connolly - Howth 22.04
22.15 Howth - Connolly 22.09

Fred Swanson

This post has been deleted.

flyingsnail

Fred Swanson wrote: »

This post has been deleted.

A four day trekker is €110 or an Explorer (allows 5 days unlimited travel out of 15 consecutive days) is €160

Victor

Fred Swanson wrote: »

This post has been deleted.

http://www.irishrail.ie/fares-and-tickets/tickets-explained#type-tourist

Trekker Four Day

Who is eligible for this ticket?

Adults

What are the conditions of travel?
Four consecutive days of unlimited travel on all Iarnród Éireann services in the Republic of Ireland from the date of issue on the ticket.

Price €110.

Where can I buy this ticket?

Online: No
Ticket Machines: No
Ticket Offices: Yes

Explorer

Who is eligible for this ticket?

Adults
Children

What are the conditions of travel?
Irish Explorer Rail Only offers customers 5 days unlimited travel out of 15 consecutive days on all Iarnród Éireann services in the Republic of Ireland for only €160*.

*Prices shown are standard class fares. Child fares are 50% of the adult fare shown.

Where can I buy this ticket?

Online: No
Ticket Machines: No
Ticket Offices: Yes

LXFlyer

csd wrote: »

This does the whole network except the bit between Dundalk and the border:

Day 1 East coast
7.50 Docklands - M3 Parkway 8.21
8.38 M3 Parkway - Clonsilla 8.47
8.57 Clonsilla - Connolly 9.23
9.40 Connolly - Rosslare 12.26
12.55 Rosslare - Connolly 15.45
16.50 Connolly - Dundalk 17.43
19.20 Dundalk - Connolly 20.15

Day 2 South
8.00 Heuston - Limerick Jn 9.33 (ICR T)
9.45 Limerick Jn - Waterford 11.26
13.05 Waterford - Heuston 15.15 (T)
16.00 Heuston - Cork 18.30 (ICR T)
18.45 Cork - Midleton 19.08
19.45 Midleton - Glounthane 19.57
20.10 Glounthane - Cobh 20.24
20.30 Cobh - Cork 20.54
20.55 Cork - Tralee 22.55

Day 3 West
5.55 Tralee - Mallow 7.18 (0555 Tralee - Cork)
7.21 Mallow - Limerick Jn 7.56 (0700 Cork - Heuston) (R1)
8.07 Limerick Jn - Limerick 8.35
9.20 Limerick - Galway 11.13
13.05 Galway - Athlone 14.02 (1305 Galway - Athlone) (T)
16.04 Athlone - Manulla 17.27 (1445 Heuston - Westport) (T)
17.30 Manulla - Ballina 17.58
20.22 Ballina - Manulla 20.50
20.52 Manulla - Westport 21.17 (1815 Heuston - Westport) (1B)

Day 4 Sligo
7.15 Westport - Heuston 10.30 (1B)
Luas
13.05 Connolly - Sligo 16.10 (T)
18.00 Sligo - Connolly 21.08 (T)
21.40 Connolly - Howth 22.04
22.15 Howth - Connolly 22.09

You've missed out the Nenagh branch which I imagine a rail nut would want to do!!