Irish Ferries to France axed.

kneemos

From next year.

https://wexfordtoday.com/2018/12/18/anger-in-rosslare-as-service-to-france-axed/

invara

I feared this would happen.... the huge government-backed EIB loans was specifically to fund ships that serve Dublin.

man98

Very bad news for Wexford, this county is in dire straits and most of our TDs don't seem to care

road_high

Terrible decision. The south east needs more access not less. If this was up west there’s d be uproar

kneemos

Easier to get to Dublin apparently, according to their customer feedback.

https://www.independent.ie/life/travel/ireland/absolute-disaster-for-the-southeast-as-irish-ferries-unlikely-to-operate-france-service-next-year-from-rosslare-37639011.html

nim1bdeh38l2cw

Great move...

the kelt

Is it not under review?

I would suggest it’s a kite flying expertise to see what might be in offer from the government here in terms of subsidies etc

I mean in the case of a hard brexit the country will need as many bridges to France as possible so could be a ploy to see what comes from threatening to pull it, the language of saying may not and under review suggests this.

I mean only this morning there was talk of the government already investigating the potential of Rosslare to take extra freight traffic being assessed whilst also there has been another approach from a different shipping company to consider another post brexit route through Rosslare.

This was all reported this morning in the times.

goldenhoarde

kneemos wrote: »

Easier to get to Dublin apparently, according to their customer feedback.

Sure is easier to get to Dublin and just an extra 12/13 euro in tolls (M50 and port tunnel)

Also that's just to the outskirts it can be a job and a half getting from there to the port!!! At anytime of the day!!!

Irish Ferries is a business. If their customers want Dublin to Cherbourg instead of Wexford to Cherbourg, that’s where the capacity should go. And it makes sense no matter what anyone thinks Wexford/Rosslare should have. Less time on the road, less fuel, more rest and all the convenience a city location offers, never mind the sheer convenience for commercial traffic with the risks of disruption to continental services using the landbridge routes through the UK with Brexit/customs border control headaches (still quite real). It should come as no surprise. Any time I went to the continent via Rosslare, I never spent a cent in Wexford either. It’s a blow locally, but the absolutely correct decision for anyone without a vested local interest.

juneg

Well the road to Wexford from Limerick is no fun. It's a long hard drive with a car load of kids to make the ferry. The road to Cork port is also mostly regional roads but shorter. It's what comes of not developing infrastructure.

kneemos

goldenhoarde wrote: »

Sure is easier to get to Dublin and just an extra 12/13 euro in tolls (M50 and port tunnel)

Also that's just to the outskirts it can be a job and a half getting from there to the port!!! At anytime of the day!!!

Try getting to Rosslare from anywhere beyond Wexford.
Dublin quickly becomes a better alternative.

Eric Cartman

goldenhoarde wrote: »

Sure is easier to get to Dublin and just an extra 12/13 euro in tolls (M50 and port tunnel)

Also that's just to the outskirts it can be a job and a half getting from there to the port!!! At anytime of the day!!!

if you were coming from the same side of the country that would make sense of rosslare , then taking the N11 up and paying 1.90 for the east link toll is your easiest option.
Also outside of 7-10am monday to friday, you would end up paying a 5er in tolls if you did go the m50 way.

road_high

JayZeus wrote: »

Irish Ferries is a business. If their customers want Dublin to Cherbourg instead of Wexford to Cherbourg, that’s where the capacity should go. And it makes sense no matter what anyone thinks Wexford/Rosslare should have. Less time on the road, less fuel, more rest and all the convenience a city location offers, never mind the sheer convenience for commercial traffic with the risks of disruption to continental services using the landbridge routes through the UK with Brexit/customs border control headaches (still quite real). It should come as no surprise. Any time I went to the continent via Rosslare, I never spent a cent in Wexford either. It’s a blow locally, but the absolutely correct decision for anyone without a vested local interest.

You do realise the two hours saved driving will be eaten up by more time spent on the ship? Land travel is a lot faster than sea, hence why Rosslare port is located where it is as it's the fastest crossing point from the island to the continent.
I've always found Dublin port a terrible location. You have to endure all the city traffic for very little gain.

Eric Cartman

Theyve already updated the image but the google thumbnail cache still has the old routes.

road_high

road_high wrote: »

You do realise the two hours saved driving will be eaten up by more time spent on the ship? Land travel is a lot faster than sea, hence why Rosslare port is located where it is as it's the fastest crossing point from the island to the continent.
I've always found Dublin port a terrible location. You have to endure all the city traffic for very little gain.

Well, it's about 19 hours Dublin to Cherbourg with Irish Ferries, vs 18 1/2 hours (Irish Ferries, older ship) or 17 hours on Stenaline's Horizon, Rosslare to Cherbourg.

So leaving aside the fact that the new ferry is a good bit quicker and could have Irish Ferries matching Stena for Rosslare to Cherbourg crossings, I'd still much rather spend those two hours relaxing, having a couple of pints, watching a movie or getting a couple of hours extra sleep than to waste it driving down the N11 to Rosslare.

And Dublin Port these days is miles ahead of Rosslare in terms of accessibility and service availability for anyone who's travelling from other parts of the country in the first place. I've only ever been disappointed by the total lack of decent services in Rosslare. It's barely any better than Holyhead. And that's not saying much at all.

road_high

road_high wrote: »

You do realise the two hours saved driving will be eaten up by more time spent on the ship? Land travel is a lot faster than sea, hence why Rosslare port is located where it is as it's the fastest crossing point from the island to the continent.
I've always found Dublin port a terrible location. You have to endure all the city traffic for very little gain.

Oscar Wilde’s service speed slowed down the crossing time to that equal to the Dublin Crossing time. So you are still 2 hours up if you are a Dublin customer. Oscars speed was c17-18kts Epsilon and WB Yeats will be 21-22 kts over 18-19 hours that equals the distance from Rosslare to Dublin.

Just as an aside. With the sailing times being outside of Dublin’s peak road traffic times. The journey times from Dublin to Cork City is 15 mins longer than Rosslare. Galway is 1hr 20mins shorter, Killybegs is 2hrs 30mins shorter, Belfast is just under 2 hours shorter from Dublin. You’ll pay €5 in tolls but save a multiple of that in fuel etc. Yes there is traffic in and around Dublin but that is not unique to Dublin. Those times I gave were live traffic times.

Rosslare “May” have lost Irish Ferries but it still has Stena and the south has Brittany Ferries three sailings per week to France and Spain.

kneemos

The one thing I know about Ferries is that all times are theoretical.

FredFunk

If Stena put on a better ferry at Rosslare, we could have 3 decent services serving France. and everybody would be happy, I think the demand is there from May-Sep at least.

WicklowTiger

[Deleted User] wrote: »

Oscar Wilde’s service speed slowed down the crossing time to that equal to the Dublin Crossing time. So you are still 2 hours up if you are a Dublin customer. Oscars speed was c17-18kts Epsilon and WB Yeats will be 21-22 kts over 18-19 hours that equals the distance from Rosslare to Dublin.

I was on a ferry a couple of years ago from Cherbourg to Rosslare. Departure time was delayed for some reason by 3 hours. Yet we arrived on time. Go figure. Afterwards I had a look at the timetable. Strangely all of the weekend services had much shorter crossing times. Now isn't it convenient that you depart before dinner time and arrive after breakfast time, even if there's a delay? And when wages are more expensive the crossing time is shorter?

WicklowTiger

WicklowTiger wrote: »

....And when wages are more expensive the crossing time is shorter?

Crossing times have SFA to do with crew wages. They're not on an hourly rate.

WicklowTiger

JayZeus wrote: »

Crossing times have SFA to do with crew wages. They're not on an hourly rate.

Fair enough. They do seem to be able to speed up though when they need to make up time. The timetable certainly appears to be scheduled to maximise on board spending, which as a business model is fair enough, but the choice of ports can be biased as required...

man98

WicklowTiger wrote: »

Fair enough. They do seem to be able to speed up though when they need to make up time. The timetable certainly appears to be scheduled to maximise on board spending, which as a business model is fair enough, but the choice of ports can be biased as required...

Actually the reason for the shorter crossing time is to save fuel on quieter journeys. On the crossings popular with tourists (think Friday evening from Rosslare) it's 3 hours faster than the quieter services, ones which would be more popular with freight services. I was talking to a manager in Rosslare who said even at high season they have services which run at 20% of passenger capacity, though they make up for it with freight. Passengers are far more time sensitive than long distance hauliers, and a lot of the time drivers are only paid for time they spend on the road, so 3 hours isn't hugely important to them - especially if the fuel savings mean a lower fare for them.