P&O Ferries Stranraer

[paddington]

Can someone who has taken the Larne-Cairnryan ferry comment on whether the following itinerary would be doable (as a foot passenger):


1030-1230 larne-cairnryan ferry
1245-1255 350 bus to stranraer
1304- train from stranraer

(on a weekday)


The 350 bus appears to not really be connected to the ferry at other times, and here, 15 minutes seems too short.

I've been on ferries where it may take at least 20 minutes for everyone to disembark and another 10 minutes to find your way to the bus stop, however I don't know what this ferry is like; maybe it actually arrives at 1220 and everyone would easily have walked off by 1230?

Is 9 minutes enough to get from the bus stop to the station at Stranraer?

Yes I do know that you're "supposed" to take the bus to Ayr and not Stranraer, but I want to travel on this train line and also it's not the end of the world if I need to wander around the town for 90 minutes (there is also a 358 bus which departs from the P&O terminal at 1310 and the next train is at 1500)

Thanks.

 

[Huntergreed]

From what I've seen, the railway station is at the end of a pier next to the old Stena Line ferry terminal. The Port Rodie bus terminal is at the other end of the terminal, near the old entrance. If you run, you may make the sprinter, but I personally recommend having lunch at "The Custom House" and then catching the 15:00 sprinter, the food is lovely and the views over the sea are lovely.

 

[paddington]

Having now travelled this, I shall report my experience.


You are supposed to "check-in" for the ferry 45 minutes before departure, but you could arrive as late as 30 minutes. No ID is needed to check in despite what the website says, just quote the number and they give you a card ticket like older card-style airline boarding passes.

Departing Cairnryan, police may want to see ID (which is allowed by law despite being domestic travel). All baggage is scanned and but I don't really know what they are looking for. I won't elaborate further but it's impossible to see the contents of my bag on x-ray which means when going through airport security I always take everything out, and they still want to hand search it half the time. Yet at the port, they just waved the bag through.

Departing Larne I was allowed to bypass security for some reason even though other passengers weren't.

At about 15 minutes before departure, you board a bus which drives you onto the ferry. The bus stays on the ferry during the crossing, but the driver walks off. The bus is treated like a regular paying vehicle so can be directed to park anywhere. A different driver picks up the bus on arrival but you'll have to wait for the vehicles in front to drive off first. You should be into the terminal 5-10 minutes after scheduled arrival time. (This is unlike e.g. Harwich-Hoek where there is a separate foot passenger entrance to the ferry, although a bus is used at Harwich to drive you there)



The 350 bus is one of those things which are used to transport old people from their care home to go shopping or day trips or something.

The fare is currently £1.80 each way and I was the only passenger.

According to the driver, a local taxi firm was the previous operator of the 350 bus and the railway station was part of the route. But when they lost the contract, they were allowed to prohibit the current operator from picking up passengers at the station, so you have to walk to the town centre (about 10 minutes) to get the bus to the port.

On the way back, the driver said he was allowed to drop me off at the station, so he did. But even though he knew the train timetable by heart, he seemed surprised that I wanted to catch the train as though it had never occurred to him that anyone would plan such an itinerary. Anyway it was perfect as the train pulled in just as we turned into the road to the station. So even if he dropped me at the bus stop outside (not gone all the way to the town), I would have easily caught the train without hurrying.