Rail & Sail validity (+ Cal Sleeper seats maybe?)

[Ant1966]

Hi all. Wondering if anyone can advise. The 'Rail & Sail' via Cairnryan tickets are shown as 'Anytime' and available to buy from the TfW website. But I cant get any sensible itineraries from the TfW journey planner from anywhere South of London. (Just ones involving long overnight waits on stations that are going to be closed in e.g. London, Wolves etc.) Ideally I'd like to us CS seats overnight to GLC.
The Stena line website makes it clear the R&S tickets are only valid on one sailing, (with connecting train from GLC and coach) https://www.stenaline.co.uk/rail-and-sail/to-ireland#accordion-55c04c4e77-item-b6599a5d49
but I'd have thought an Anytime ticket would be valid on any sensible train from the South. How can I find out when the journey planners wont show me the journey?
Thanks!

 

[Merseysider]

I got trainsplit to offer a leg on the CS - though for some reason it returned this pair of tickets from Euston - try playing around with the include/exclude TOC and go via / avoid options.

 

[bangor-toad]

Hi there,
SailRail tickets to/from Belfast are always a bit harder to get to work than you'd like!

Where are you looking to book from? I can get an itinerary on the CS sleeper on the TfW site with a starting point of Haywards Heath picking a random date of Tuesday 9th Jan:
Haywards Heath: dep 10:22pm
London Victoria: arr 22:59
London Euston: dep 23:30
Carlisle: arr 5:07am, dep 8:09am
To Ayr via a short change at Kilmarnock.

For as long as I can remember the various systems have always tried to get you off the northbound Sleeper at Carlisle for a slow trip via Kilmarnock. Fortunately you can force it to let you stay on the sleeper by adding a via point of Glasgow Central.


Part of the challenge of SailRail is that it is often not possible to book a ticket to stations south of London on the return trip as the timetabled train from Glasgow arrives into Euston at 23:40. There are then very few places you can get to in the same day as most of the last services have already gone. Stations along the Brighton main line are some the few where you can get to.
A SailRail single does not show next day services to the last bit and so it simple doesn't offer the ticket.

Prior to the Ayr station fire it was usually possible to run off the Cairnryan bus at Ayr and dive into an earlier then timetabled service to Glasgow. Then with the Anytime ticket you could get the next next service to London without fuss if you could run to it. I have saved literally hours by running like this in the past.
However, at the moment you need a bus between Ayr and Troon so this is less likely to work out...


A way to avoid some of the restrictions is to make sure you book a return ticket. These don't seem to exist from all stations so you may have to be a bit flexible. These tickets do let you travel back over a number of days and it offers up more flexible options.

Good luck finding what you need!
Mr Toad

 

[Flying Snail]

It's not an advance so except for the ferry and coach from Ayr you are not restricted to the itinerary you buy it against, even if you can't force your desired journey from a planner you can still take it.

You are getting the journeys like that as the first Avanti gets to Glasgow early enough to make the connection.

If you would rather a daytime journey then XXX to Belfast can be done via Holyhead - Dublin although as the Dublin - Belfast times are often missing from planners they will not always show an itinerary for that route.

Part of the challenge of SailRail is that it is often not possible to book a ticket to stations south of London on the return trip as the timetabled train from Glasgow arrives into Euston at 23:40. There are then very few places you can get to in the same day as most of the last services have already gone. Stations along the Brighton main line are some the few where you can get to.
A SailRail single does not show next day services to the last bit and so it simple doesn't offer the ticket.

Prior to the Ayr station fire it was usually possible to run off the Cairnryan bus at Ayr and dive into an earlier then timetabled service to Glasgow. Then with the Anytime ticket you could get the next next service to London without fuss if you could run to it. I have saved literally hours by running like this in the past.
However, at the moment you need a bus between Ayr and Troon so this is less likely to work out...


A way to avoid some of the restrictions is to make sure you book a return ticket. These don't seem to exist from all stations so you may have to be a bit flexible. These tickets do let you travel back over a number of days and it offers up more flexible options.

Would buying from Stena in Belfast (in person or by phone) not be the easier option for the "return" trip?

I guess it depends on how they issue the tickets, certainly the handwritten paper tickets issued in Dublin or Rosslare come with no restrictions or need for a journey planner to provide the correct itinerary. They are no good for cross-London by tube though.

 

[bangor-toad]

Be careful with the tickets via Cairnryan. There are Anytime tickets and Advance tickets which confusingly are exactly the same price! The Anytime ticket is as versatile as you'd expect except with a specific break of journey restriction and the Advance is as fixed as you'd expect.
I've no idea why it's like this - this make no sense at all.

For a while now I haven't seen any Sailrail tickets available to Belfast via Dublin. I've heard it's because the Enterprise services details between Dublin and Belfast haven't been entered into a database but I don't know.
The times work out quite nicely but you need two tickets - SailRail to Dublin and then a separate Dublin to Belfast ticket.

Cheers,
Mr Toad

 

[Ant1966]

Thanks all, really useful. Trainsplit worked a treat, avoiding AWC. On TfW I think the intereraries via Carlise on CS only come up in Jan (something to do with engineering works on eh Ayr line maybe?) but looks like as long as I get an 'Anytime' ticket all should be fine. Collective wisdom on this fourm never fails to impress. Happy New Year all!

 

[Porty]

Not directly relevant to this query but over 60 or under 23 Scottish bus pass holders may find it quicker and easier to use the Citylink coach from Glasgow Buchanan direct to the door of the Stena terminal whilst Ayr station is closed.

Travelling from eastern Scotland the RailSail (with railcard) fare to Belfast was the same as just being a foot passenger on the ferry.

I used the train to Glasgow Queen Street. Then the Citylink coach for free (a ticket to Cairnryan only, not Belfast). I had booked in advance (for £1) the bus journey to Cairnryan. Then used the RailSail ticket to get on the boat. Worked very smoothly.