Connolly Station to Dublin Port?

JHMEG · 16-01-2010 06:19PM #1

Why the bloody hell didn't they build the Luas as far as the Port!?!:mad:

Can someone tell me the best way to get from Connolly to Dublin Port (Irish Ferries to Holyhead)?

Thanks.

Victor · 16-01-2010 06:27PM

Walk across to Busáras. There is a bus that meets ferry connections.

Alternatively, routes 53 (some) 53a (all) from Eden Quay / Liberty Hall operates to the docks.

http://www.dublinbus.ie/en/Your-Journey1/Timetables/Ferry-Connections/
http://www.dublinbus.ie/en/Your-Journey1/Timetables/All-Timetables/53/
http://www.dublinbus.ie/en/Your-Journey1/Timetables/All-Timetables/53a/

JHMEG · 16-01-2010 06:42PM

Victor wrote: »

Walk across to Busáras. There is a bus that meets ferry connections.

Fortunately I happen to be travelling Irish Ferries as the Busaras service only meets Irish Ferries connections, not Stena. What is that about?

53a departure times are rare/don't exist and don't meet any ferries. Again, what's that about.

Judgement Day · 16-01-2010 06:52PM

A taxi?

JHMEG · 16-01-2010 06:58PM

Judgement Day wrote: »

A taxi?

What's the fare?

noelfirl · 16-01-2010 07:19PM

JHMEG wrote: »

Why the bloody hell didn't they build the Luas as far as the Port!?!:mad:

What would be the point in more then doubling the length of the line down amongst nothing but containers only to reach one extra stop used by 4-5 ferries a day?

I was under the impression that the 53a is for the Irish Ferry connections, I'd be surprised if there wasn't a correspondence between most of the sailings. What time are you sailing at? The Irish Ferries FAQ seems to think there is a bus, in some form at least.

http://faqs.irishferries.com/faq/if/1303.asp

dowlingm · 16-01-2010 07:28PM

how far is it from the LUAS terminus to the passenger facility at the Port?

Back Prince · 16-01-2010 07:36PM

your best option would be a taxi. 53 bus doesnt go all the way down to the port and youll be lucky to get a 53a. Taxi fare would be under a tenner

tallpaul04 · 16-01-2010 07:45PM

get the luas to the point and walk across to ferry terminal if you don't have too many bags. its about a 10-15 min walk

howiya · 16-01-2010 07:51PM

this leaves westmoreland street

http://www.stenaline.ie/ferry/rail-and-sail/holyhead/itinerarycomplimentarybus

JHMEG · 16-01-2010 07:53PM

According to google maps it's a 30 minute walk from the last Luas stop down to Terminal 2. From memory there are no footpaths either.

The existing mishmash of some Dublin Bus/some Mortons, half but not quite by rail, is all very banana-republic I must say. Holyhead is the other end of the same crossing and has a train station in the port with regular departures.

Ham'nd'egger · 16-01-2010 07:59PM

JHMEG wrote: »

Fortunately I happen to be travelling Irish Ferries as the Busaras service only meets Irish Ferries connections, not Stena. What is that about?

53a departure times are rare/don't exist and don't meet any ferries. Again, what's that about.

The Stena boat is more aimed at Ro-Ro traffic than foot passengers and it's coming in close to rush hour.

Ham'nd'egger · 16-01-2010 08:12PM

JHMEG wrote: »

According to google maps it's a 30 minute walk from the last Luas stop down to Terminal 2. From memory there are no footpaths either.

The existing mishmash of some Dublin Bus/some Mortons, half but not quite by rail, is all very banana-republic I must say. Holyhead is the other end of the same crossing and has a train station in the port with regular departures.

While Rosslare and Dun Laoghaire have direct rail links at the port with regular departures and Rosslare has a regular bus link

Dublin Port had rail links to some passenger services back in the 1920's by one of the UK railway companies (Think it was the London and North West) but they never did business and didn't last long; it's station still survived until the last few years and was located beside Price Waterhouse Coopers building, the red brick frontage still stands to this day. What is now Dublin Port was intended as a container port with Dun Laoghaire the passenger terminal. There are train tracks that run beyond the current Irish Ferries passenger terminal but unless the Port sticks with one dedicated passenger terminal for the long haul then there is no point investing in a station or line only to move it in the near future, be it LUAS or Railway. There is also the problem of no direct way to link into Connolly from the Port.

JHMEG · 16-01-2010 08:41PM

A very simple, integrated solution would have been to extend the Luas another couple of miles. Logisitically it probably would have been a doddle too.

howiya · 16-01-2010 08:55PM

JHMEG wrote: »

A very simple, integrated solution would have been to extend the Luas another couple of miles. Logisitically it probably would have been a doddle too.

Would be a complete waste of money

noelfirl · 16-01-2010 08:56PM

JHMEG wrote: »

A very simple, integrated solution would have been to extend the Luas another couple of miles. Logisitically it probably would have been a doddle too.

Again, what would be the point of spending maybe another €50 million or more when there is only one location to be served which would have low levels of usage. Buses are perfectly sufficient.

JHMEG · 16-01-2010 09:17PM

noelfirl wrote: »

Again, what would be the point of spending maybe another €50 million or more when there is only one location to be served which would have low levels of usage. Buses are perfectly sufficient.

Rail is preferable. Could have been done easily and cost effectively same time as the Point extension. In fact the additional levels of traffic from port workers and the travelling public may have justified the original line to the Point, which I'm not sure was justified in the first place.

noelfirl · 16-01-2010 09:38PM

JHMEG wrote: »

Rail is preferable.

Obviously, but buses are sufficient. This isn't some tramway jaunt through the small cobblestone streets, or long rail trip from Holyhead to Chester/Liverpool/London, it's a short transfer via an industrial heartland, so the rail impact factor is minimal.

Could have been done easily and cost effectively same time as the Point extension.

Except it would presumably, have to go along Alexandra road, with all the HGVs, and the Irish Rail line, in situ, but useless, due to the gauge difference. Even before that, going up or along East Wall Road would have significant disruption for port and tunnel traffic during construction.

In fact the additional levels of traffic from port workers and the travelling public may have justified the original line to the Point, which I'm not sure was justified in the first place.

May have. However, seeing as most people tend to drive to ferries, and that single buses are sufficient to transfer foot passengers to Busaras/city centre, then I'm extremely dubious that the numbers are there to sustain one or more 40m trams with ~300 person capacity. Someone can correct me if I am wrong, but I would also assume that most jobs down in the port involve driving in one way or another, and doubt there are that many public transport using port workers. Again, maybe enough administrative for a couple of buses, but not for high capacity trams. Even if a large number of ferry travelling public were to use the Luas once or twice a day, or port workers at peak times, it would still be a massive waste of money having empty trams going back and forth the rest of the time.

Moreover, even if in the economic depression the Point Luas line doesn't have as much demand as initially thought of, it will over time as the area develops further and the office blocks become occupied.

L1011 · 16-01-2010 09:46PM

If the lack of being able to do it by rail all the way is irritating you so much, why not just go via Dun Laoghaire?

JHMEG · 16-01-2010 10:01PM

MYOB wrote: »

If the lack of being able to do it by rail all the way is irritating you so much, why not just go via Dun Laoghaire?

The lack of efficiency and convenience on the 13-mile leg of the Irish side of the journey is irritating, especially with the near-misses like the Luas. The UK side of the same journey is 290 miles, takes me from the port by rail and drops me across the street from the hotel in London.

In addition the ferry services from Dun Laoghaire aren't as frequent or at times that suit. I get the impression Dun Laoghaire as a ferry port is dying a slow death. Wasn't the rail spur recently pulled up? Stena have reduced their fast service to just one crossing a day, and Irish Ferries don't do Dun Laoghaire, only Dublin Port.

GerardKeating · 16-01-2010 10:18PM

JHMEG wrote: »

Wasn't the rail spur recently pulled up? .

It was disconnected from the mainline more that 25 years ago, during the DART construction...

JHMEG · 16-01-2010 10:23PM

Very good blog entry about SailRail, with some interesting tips

http://thisispop.wordpress.com/2009/12/12/how-to-take-the-train-to-ireland/

howiya · 16-01-2010 10:34PM

JHMEG wrote: »

Very good blog entry about SailRail, with some interesting tips

http://thisispop.wordpress.com/2009/12/12/how-to-take-the-train-to-ireland/

Another example of rip-off Ireland. €44 or £29. Can i pay with sterling in Dublin Port please

monument · 16-01-2010 10:45PM

dowlingm wrote: »

how far is it from the LUAS terminus to the passenger facility at the Port?

It's about 2km as the crow flies, but you're talking about about 3km plus of track.

And the Tolka Road would likely have to be used as the closer Alexandra Rd looks to be split by a container yard and it has railway tracks with a different gauge down part of it. And before anybody even tries to suggest the it: Any more direct route, like along the docks, would be ruled out -- even if you could somehow get over the danger of a working port, you still have a ton of at-surface pipes.

There could also be problems with this: But *could* moving the passenger terminal / Holyhead services to the area of the port right next to the Point be more realistic? Then the Luas stop would be within walking distance of the terminal, no new track would be needed, and no trams in the port or on roads with heavy HGV use.

Or maybe the bus connections currently are ok?

JHMEG · 16-01-2010 10:50PM

monument wrote: »

But moving the passenger terminal / Holyhead services to the area of the port right next to the Point could be more realistic? Then the Luas stop would be within walking distance of the terminal, no new track would be needed, and no trams in the port or on roads with heavy HGV use.

That would make sense. I can remember getting the ferry from there when I was a child. Anyone know the reason passenger traffic was moved to Terminal 2? What goes on at Terminal 3 now?

EDIT: looking at Google maps, it looks like Dublin/Liverpool services use Terminal 3, and as such are within walking distance of the Luas.

L1011 · 16-01-2010 10:55PM

monument wrote: »

IBut *could* moving the passenger terminal / Holyhead services to the area of the port right next to the Point be more realistic? Then the Luas stop would be within walking distance of the terminal, no new track would be needed, and no trams in the port or on roads with heavy HGV use.

Or maybe the bus connections currently are ok?

The bus connections are absolutely grand - for Irish Ferries. The other three operators can't be arsed.

Moving the ferries would require moving existing users of the land, new terminals, new road access, new linkspans... it'd be cheaper to extend the sodding Luas than that!

Foot passenger usage is miniscule anyway, and badly catered for both sides - the passenger gangway in Holyhead fails so often that the IF Ulysses has a pre-recorded announcement apologising for its failure! The tiny amount of passengers are taken off by bus. The Irish Ferries terminal in Holyhead never seems to have its cafe open either.

JHMEG · 16-01-2010 11:01PM

I'm not so sure the amount of foot passengers is that tiny. 200,000 people use the train station in Holyhead port a year. Some have had to have come off the ferry.

Irish Ferries also said there was a marked increase in foot passengers in 2009.

L1011 · 16-01-2010 11:05PM

If they all fit on one port bus (~40 seats) off a relatively loaded Ulysses, they're making up a tiny proportion of the passengers. Theres not enough to make running proper facilities for them viable; and that of course creates a self-fulfilling problem - people aren't going to use if it they have to sit in a cold terminal at 2am with no food on offer...

The only time I've done a ferry on foot (Fishguard-Rosslare, when Rosslare Europort train station was in the ferry terminal and there was a rail connection for the night boat to Dublin AND Limerick) there was about 15 foot passengers on the Stena Europe. I was just 17 and the horror of the train journey on the Welsh side - Pacer on poor tracks with drunk Swansea men for company part of the way - was the main impetus in passing my driving test!

monument · 16-01-2010 11:14PM

MYOB wrote: »

... it'd be cheaper to extend the sodding Luas than that!

Then both of the options currently seem unrealistic due to cost alone.

MYOB wrote: »

...and that of course creates a self-fulfilling problem.

That's the problem with trying to improve the service sail / rail service in any way, you would have to improve a whole load of linked things on both sides of the Irish Sea.

KC61 · 17-01-2010 12:01AM

Every Irish Ferries service is connected into/out of by the Dublin Bus service that specifically operates to/from Busaras for the ferry.

The Stena Line ferry that carries foot passengers is met by Mortons bus service that operates to/from Westmoreland Street.

That is more than sufficient for the passenger traffic.

Dublin Bus times are at http://www.dublinbus.ie/en/Your-Journey1/Timetables/Ferry-Connections/

Ham'nd'egger · 17-01-2010 12:05AM

JHMEG wrote: »

I'm not so sure the amount of foot passengers is that tiny. 200,000 people use the train station in Holyhead port a year. Some have had to have come off the ferry.

Irish Ferries also said there was a marked increase in foot passengers in 2009.

200,000 into Holyhead station are going onwards via rail to and from most of England; that's about 4,000 a week. Honestly, that's not a lot. Of those that are using the boat (there is some local passengers to and from Holyhead), they could be going to either Dun Laoghaire or Dublin.

Connolly Station to Dublin Port?

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