Stena Line Dublin - New Bus Service

[danm14]

Irish ferries and CIE are linked in together. They wont advertise a competitors service

When I (reluctantly) travelled with Irish Ferries last month, they were encouraging passengers who enquired at the information desk to use Nolan Coaches over Dublin Bus, telling passengers outright lies about the service - claiming that Nolan Coaches "stops closer to Connolly Station"*, "is roughly the same price"† and "is faster"‡ than Dublin Bus - so I don't think this is true.

* Nolan Coaches moved to a bus stop on the other side of the Liffey in September, ten minutes' walk from Connolly Station. Dublin Bus still stops directly outside.

† Nolan Coaches charge both adults and children €3; and (through a government subsidy scheme that was actually intended for services used by students to commute to college) holders of young adult/student Leap Cards €1.50. Dublin Bus charge adults €1.70 and children 90c (€1.30 and 65c if paid by Leap Card) and holders of young adult/student Leap Cards 65c.

‡ Admittedly this might be true in strict terms of terminus-to-terminus journey time, but fails to take into account the walk from George's Quay to Connolly Station, and the fact that Dublin Bus will probably be half way to the city before Nolan Coaches leaves the port, because it inexplicably takes nearly a minute per passenger to take payment and issue tickets.

 

[Julia]

...Despite being an ex-Dublin Bus vehicle, complete with an exact fare coinbox...

And no alterations from its former life as a vehicle designed to pack in urban travellers, leading to delays getting people on board - as unsurprisingly, most have at least one suitcase which ends up in the aisle

 

[Bungle965]

There is still a bus transfer ticket available:
https://www.brfares.com/!fares?orig=DPS&dest=M490

I have to say though I have absolutely no idea if it is valid on board now or if it is one of them things that has forgotten to be deleted.

 

[FormerBritInMe]

Unless you are a solo traveller with minimal luggage, a taxi (or Irish Ferries) is the now the only real option.

Concerning taxis at the ferry port. When we arrived last September on Stena, we waited for quite a while but no Nolan Bus appeared. There were no taxis at the taxi rank. When I asked the ferry people about taxis they replied that we would have to call for one and it might take an hour or more for one to arrive. Then it turned out that another couple had called one from the boat, which had arrived and they agreed to share it with us. Of course as soon as we did that the Nolan bus showed up

I only say this to warn, don't arrive on the ferry and expect to see taxis waiting at the rank, you have to call ahead for them and it may take a while.

 

[Flying Snail]

Irish ferries and CIE are linked in together. They wont advertise a competitors service.

They aren't. There is no link whatsoever between them

Concerning taxis at the ferry port. When we arrived last September on Stena, we waited for quite a while but no Nolan Bus appeared. There were no taxis at the taxi rank. When I asked the ferry people about taxis they replied that we would have to call for one and it might take an hour or more for one to arrive. Then it turned out that another couple had called one from the boat, which had arrived and they agreed to share it with us. Of course as soon as we did that the Nolan bus showed up

I only say this to warn, don't arrive on the ferry and expect to see taxis waiting at the rank, you have to call ahead for them and it may take a while.

No, generally there won't be taxis waiting on spec, not enough chance of random custom for any to go to the port on the offchance.

The best option to get a taxi in Dublin is the "Freenow" app, it is the most used locally. Uber is also active but far less used. Both will always be registered taxis run on meter as the sort of Uber operation that is common in many other countries is not allowed under Irish law.

 

[Bletchleyite]

What a ridiculous idea to only sell tickets onboard the ferry and in the terminal and online. What about people who are travelling to the ferry terminal. How are they meant to buy one

Online, when they book their ferry. Or if they're old fashioned, I'm sure their travel agent can book them one for cash when they go in to book the ferry for cash.

Presumably this is because buses in Ireland are regulated so a private "pay on board" service would not be permissible?

 

[danm14]

Presumably this is because buses in Ireland are regulated so a private "pay on board" service would not be permissible?

Nolan Coaches have a licence to operate the service, just as Morton's Coaches were licensed to operate its predecessor.

They are completely free to accept cash on board, they just don't want to.

They do actually accept payment on board in any case, but only in the form of a contactless credit/debit card.

 

[Starmill]

Online, when they book their ferry. Or if they're old fashioned, I'm sure their travel agent can book them one for cash when they go in to book the ferry for cash.

Presumably this is because buses in Ireland are regulated so a private "pay on board" service would not be permissible?

For the avoidence of doubt, that info is out of date now, as they do have a card machine. I imagine it was just while they were getting a machine for the bus. As the post after yours clarifies they don't want to accept cash, presumably because of the hassle of handling it, which is of course relatively common nowadays. They have now updated their website.

Customers whose earnings are mainly in GPB are better off buying the ticket on the bus, because the fare is EUR3. If you book in advance or onboard the ferry, the charge is GPB3.

 

[Con]

I've just had the miserable experience of Nolan Coaches dropping my wife and I at Georges Quay and hoofing it with luggage to Busaras. Coupled with a replacement bus service off the last train to Derry/Londonderry from Belfast that doesn't connect with the train from Dublin, we will never do Sail Rail via Dublin to London again.

 

[berneyarms]

I've just had the miserable experience of Nolan Coaches dropping my wife and I at Georges Quay and hoofing it with luggage to Busaras. Coupled with a replacement bus service off the last train to Derry/Londonderry from Belfast that doesn't connect with the train from Dublin, we will never do Sail Rail via Dublin to London again.

The Dublin Bus route 53 service is a better option for either Busaras or Connolly as it drops you to a Talbot Street, a very short walk away.

 

[Flying Snail]

I've just had the miserable experience of Nolan Coaches dropping my wife and I at Georges Quay and hoofing it with luggage to Busaras. Coupled with a replacement bus service off the last train to Derry/Londonderry from Belfast that doesn't connect with the train from Dublin, we will never do Sail Rail via Dublin to London again.

The stop in both directions for the ferrylink bus is now Georges Quay which is at most a 5 minute walk from Busaras or Connolly.

The stop at Connolly was congested with other routes and the ferrylink bus ended up blocking them or double-parking so it was moved to Georges Quay.

No idea about the NI rail issue but it is always a good idea to confirm schedules, particularly around the Christmas/New Year period, it is typically used as a time for major engineering work in NI as well as Britain.

It is worth remembering that NI Rail and Ulsterbus/Goldline tickets can be used interchangeably for evening journeys.

 

[Con]

So making a service poorer (and downright confusing for a lot of the passengers, not all of which were young) deserves just a shrug of the shoulders. Decision to avoid Dublin for ferries reinforced.

 

[danm14]

Decision to avoid Dublin for ferries reinforced.

The alternatives are Cairnryan-Belfast, Birkenhead-Belfast and Fishguard-Rosslare - all of which are considerably more inconvenient than walking from George's Quay to Connolly Station.

Via Cairnryan-Belfast, unless you buy an ordinary train ticket between London and Glasgow and use the Ulsterbus service between Glasgow and Belfast - at considerably higher cost and with no protection whatsoever in the event of a missed connection - you must leave London on the 5:31am train (although in the opposite direction it's a much more reasonable 11:30am departure from Belfast)

Via Birkenhead-Belfast, you have no choice but to buy separate tickets with no protection whatsoever in the event of a missed connection, and you have no choice but to stay a night in Liverpool or use the more expensive overnight sailing because there's no early enough train from London for the morning sailing (although, again, in the opposite direction the 10:30am departure from Belfast makes a very safe connection with the last train of the evening from Liverpool to London)

Via Fishguard-Rosslare, a very minor delay to the train (which arrives four minutes before check-in closes - admittedly there will be some leniency here, but I wouldn't expect more than 10-15 minutes) will result in you missing the ferry and having to wait till the next departure almost 11 hours later; if you do make it, you have an hour to wait at Rosslare for the train to Dublin; and you arrive in Dublin nearly two hours later than via Holyhead after leaving London over an hour earlier.

 

[Watershed]

The alternatives are Cairnryan-Belfast, Birkenhead-Belfast and Fishguard-Rosslare - all of which are considerably more inconvenient than walking from George's Quay to Connolly Station.

Via Cairnryan-Belfast, unless you buy an ordinary train ticket between London and Glasgow and use the Ulsterbus service between Glasgow and Belfast - at considerably higher cost and with no protection whatsoever in the event of a missed connection - you must leave London on the 5:31am train (although in the opposite direction it's a much more reasonable 11:30am departure from Belfast)

Via Birkenhead-Belfast, you have no choice but to buy separate tickets with no protection whatsoever in the event of a missed connection, and you have no choice but to stay a night in Liverpool or use the more expensive overnight sailing because there's no early enough train from London for the morning sailing (although, again, in the opposite direction the 10:30am departure from Belfast makes a very safe connection with the last train of the evening from Liverpool to London)

Via Fishguard-Rosslare, a very minor delay to the train (which arrives four minutes before check-in closes - admittedly there will be some leniency here, but I wouldn't expect more than 10-15 minutes) will result in you missing the ferry and having to wait till the next departure almost 11 hours later; if you do make it, you have an hour to wait at Rosslare for the train to Dublin; and you arrive in Dublin nearly two hours later than via Holyhead after leaving London over an hour earlier.

Frankly, as inconvenient as it is getting to Heathrow/Stansted/Gatwick etc., and particularly getting from Dublin airport to the city, flying beats the ferry palaver any day of the week. The fares are also usually much cheaper, even though the SailRail fares are generally quite reasonably priced.

Of course if you're environmentally conscious then the ferry may still appeal. But if so, then you could still fly from somewhere like Manchester or Liverpool to reduce the emissions.

 

[berneyarms]

So making a service poorer (and downright confusing for a lot of the passengers, not all of which were young) deserves just a shrug of the shoulders. Decision to avoid Dublin for ferries reinforced.

As someone who uses that bus stop at Connolly every day, I can assure you that it is far too congested as it is - the city buses have problems serving it alongside the regional commuter services that depart from there.

The problem is that the Ferrylink bus needs somewhere to stop where it can have a long dwell time to allow people with cases to board and exit. That stop was not suitable for this, and there isn’t another suitable location to do it immediately around Connolly.

To be honest this sounds like an information problem more than anything else.

The Dublin Bus route 53 services the Ferryport with buses fitted with luggage racks and serves Talbot Street which is right beside Connolly and Busaras.

The George’s Quay stop for the Ferrylink bus is right beside Tara Street DART Station where you can catch a train back to Connolly if you don’t want to walk, and the C-Spine buses stop around the corner on Tara Street going to Heuston Station.

 

[Con]

As someone who uses that bus stop at Connolly every day, I can assure you that it is far too congested as it is - the city buses have problems serving it alongside the regional commuter services that depart from there.

The problem is that the Ferrylink bus needs somewhere to stop where it can have a long dwell time to allow people with cases to board and exit. That stop was not suitable for this, and there isn’t another suitable location to do it immediately around Connolly.

To be honest this sounds like an information problem more than anything else.

The Dublin Bus route 53 services the Ferryport with buses fitted with luggage racks and serves Talbot Street which is right beside Connolly and Busaras.

The George’s Quay stop for the Ferrylink bus is right beside Tara Street DART Station where you can catch a train back to Connolly if you don’t want to walk, and the C-Spine buses stop around the corner on Tara Street going to Heuston Station.

By the time we got out of the terminal the 53 had gone. No taxis, and the bus had a long dwell time at the Stena Terminal as well. But hey-ho. Sure we can take Ryanair instead and just bring a change of pants with us.

 

[berneyarms]

By the time we got out of the terminal the 53 had gone. No taxis, and the bus had a long dwell time at the Stena Terminal as well. But hey-ho. Sure we can take Ryanair instead and just bring a change of pants with us.

With due respect, unless you’ve a complete aversion to flying, using Sail/Rail for a trip from London to Donegal sounds arduous to put it mildly.

The coaches to Donegal and Derry all serve Dublin Airport.

There are two other airlines flying from London to Dublin too.

 

[Con]

With due respect, unless you’ve a complete aversion to flying, using Sail/Rail for a trip from London to Donegal sounds arduous to put it mildly.

The coaches to Donegal and Derry all serve Dublin Airport.

There are two other airlines flying from London to Dublin too.

Yeah. We knew all that. We have the internet and everything here in Donegal. We were visiting family for Christmas and had a lot of stuff with us going both ways. But why should I make excuses on a rail forum for travelling by rail? At least we weren't the autistic man being made fun of by two Busaras staff after he complained to them about missing his connection there after the Nolan Coaches shenanigans.

 

[Flying Snail]

By the time we got out of the terminal the 53 had gone. No taxis, and the bus had a long dwell time at the Stena Terminal as well. But hey-ho. Sure we can take Ryanair instead and just bring a change of pants with us.

You should be careful with that as the walk from the end of the pier in Dublin Airport that Ryanair use to the immigration desks is easily as long as that in the the city which is currently bothering you so much.

I will agree with berneyarms that using sailrail to get to Donegal is hardly the best or cheapest and certainly not the quickest option.

 

[berneyarms]

Yeah. We knew all that. We have the internet and everything here in Donegal. We were visiting family for Christmas and had a lot of stuff with us going both ways. But why should I make excuses on a rail forum for travelling by rail? At least we weren't the autistic man being made fun of by two Busaras staff after he complained to them about missing his connection there after the Nolan Coaches shenanigans.

Look you’ve made a load of complaints here - why don’t you contact the NTA directly about it.

They manage public transport in Ireland now and they can only improve things by making them aware of the issues.

I made the suggestion about flying for the simple reason that you made a smart comment about using Ryanair, and because the Donegal buses directly serve the Airport which makes it a much easier trip connections wise.

As for the staff behaviour at Busaras, did you contact Bus Éireann directly? Insulting behaviour is not acceptable in any situation. I’m not sure what answer you expect anyone here to give in that regard.

I get that you have an issue with where the bus terminates in Dublin, but believe me the issues that it caused for a far greater number of regular city bus passengers at Connolly LUAS stop were worse. It wasn’t a suitable place for it to terminate.

I really think that you should get onto the NTA and make them aware of the issues as you see it.

 

[Flying Snail]

Yeah. We knew all that. We have the internet and everything here in Donegal. We were visiting family for Christmas and had a lot of stuff with us going both ways. But why should I make excuses on a rail forum for travelling by rail? At least we weren't the autistic man being made fun of by two Busaras staff after he complained to them about missing his connection there after the Nolan Coaches shenanigans.

Berneyarms is only trying to be helpful, there is no need for the attitude. I could also add that there are numerous options such as

Flying to Dublin and Bus Eireann to Donegal Town or Letterkenny or Ulsterbus to Derry (Aircoach are also due to start Dublin - Derry early next year)
Of if the times suit the 2 daily Dublin - Donegal Are Lingus flights
Or Fly to Belfast city/International and bus to Derry, either Ulsterbus via the city or Airporter (soon to be the new Aircoach service) direct.
Or Fly direct to Derry airport from London/Manchester/Edinburgh/Glasgow.

I have no idea why you or anyone else was complaining to someone in Busaras as they will have nothing to do with any sailrail or Nolan Coaches issues and any bus from there will not be an official connection with anything other than the 2/week 871 London - Dublin Expressway coach service.

 

[Mag_seven]

Can I remind everyone of the forum rules requirement that we be respectful and polite to one another when posting. Please also refrain from making unsubstantiated claims about other posters.

Thanks.

 

[berneyarms]

Berneyarms is only trying to be helpful, there is no need for the attitude. I could also add that there are numerous options such as

Flying to Dublin and Bus Eireann to Donegal Town or Letterkenny or Ulsterbus to Derry (Aircoach are also due to start Dublin - Derry early next year)
Of if the times suit the 2 daily Dublin - Donegal Are Lingus flights
Or Fly to Belfast city/International and bus to Derry, either Ulsterbus via the city or Airporter (soon to be the new Aircoach service) direct.
Or Fly direct to Derry airport from London/Manchester/Edinburgh/Glasgow.

I have no idea why you or anyone else was complaining to someone in Busaras as they will have nothing to do with any sailrail or Nolan Coaches issues and any bus from there will not be an official connection with anything other than the 2/week 871 London - Dublin Expressway coach service.

You make a good point about connections. There are no guaranteed connections out of the Nolan Coaches service. Assuming that we are talking about the early afternoon ferry sailings from Holyhead, I certainly would not expect to make a connection into any departing bus or train departure from Busaras, Connolly or Heuston until 19:00. Otherwise, you just cause yourself a lot of unnecessary stress.

That being said, on a normal weekday the 18:00 route 53 departure from the Port would offer a perfect connection into departures at 19:00 from Connolly or Busaras, and probably the 18:45 bus departure to Letterkenny as well. This week a Saturday service is running on all Dublin City buses, including the 53, which meant it left the Ferryport at 17:30 and 18:30, which isn't ideal for the ferry arrivals.

This is something that the NTA, Dublin Port Authority and the ferry companies should be making clear - what transport connections are possible from the Ferryport. There is plenty of excellent information at Dublin Airport, but the information at the Port is seemingly woeful. The NTA are also the people to get onto about adding a stop on the 53 at the Stena Terminal.

[email protected] is the contact email address.

 

[Flying Snail]

You make a good point about connections. There are no guaranteed connections out of the Nolan Coaches service. Assuming that we are talking about the early afternoon ferry sailings from Holyhead, I certainly would not expect to make a connection into any departing bus or train departure from Busaras, Connolly or Heuston until 19:00. Otherwise, you just cause yourself a lot of unnecessary stress.

That being said, on a normal weekday the 18:00 route 53 departure from the Port would offer a perfect connection into departures at 19:00 from Connolly or Busaras, and probably the 18:45 bus departure to Letterkenny as well. This week a Saturday service is running on all Dublin City buses, including the 53, which meant it left the Ferryport at 17:30 and 18:30, which isn't ideal for the ferry arrivals.

This is something that the NTA, Dublin Port Authority and the ferry companies should be making clear - what transport connections are possible from the Ferryport. There is plenty of excellent information at Dublin Airport, but the information at the Port is seemingly woeful. The NTA are also the people to get onto about adding a stop on the 53 at the Stena Terminal.

[email protected] is the contact email address.

The continuing lack of a bus stop for the 53 anywhere near the Stena terminal tells you all you need to know about how little the NTA care about transport connections outside their narrow PSO islands.

Dublin city services have no connection with regional PSO, rural Bus Eireann has no connections with Local Link, commercial bus operations are all entirely separate from each other and anything else.... good luck getting them to do anything about something so esoteric as a ferry connection.

Back to our Donegal friend, I missed it first but reading again his issues were primarily caused by Nolan Coaches using one bus for both Irish Ferries 17.25 and Stena 18.00 arrivals, effectively delaying him by well over half an hour.

A complaint to Nolan and NTA wpuld be warranted but I wouldn't expect any joy from either.

NTA provide no oversight or reprimands for commercial operators that provide bad service or fail to adhere to published timetables or run defective vehicles or anything else as far as I can tell.

The NTA won't even divulge what if any conditions the operators licences impose on them, the public have no way of knowing if or how they are abiding or not with their licence.
It's nearly 2023 and there are no requirements to provide any disabled access for commercial bus operations in the state.

 

[berneyarms]

The continuing lack of a bus stop for the 53 anywhere near the Stena terminal tells you all you need to know about how little the NTA care about transport connections outside their narrow PSO islands.

Dublin city services have no connection with regional PSO, rural Bus Eireann has no connections with Local Link, commercial bus operations are all entirely separate from each other and anything else.... good luck getting them to do anything about something so esoteric as a ferry connection.

Back to our Donegal friend, I missed it first but reading again his issues were primarily caused by Nolan Coaches using one bus for both Irish Ferries 17.25 and Stena 18.00 arrivals, effectively delaying him by well over half an hour.

A complaint to Nolan and NTA wpuld be warranted but I wouldn't expect any joy from either.

NTA provide no oversight or reprimands for commercial operators that provide bad service or fail to adhere to published timetables or run defective vehicles or anything else as far as I can tell.

The NTA won't even divulge what if any conditions the operators licences impose on them, the public have no way of knowing if or how they are abiding or not with their licence.
It's nearly 2023 and there are no requirements to provide any disabled access for commercial bus operations in the state.

A proper timetable showing that the 853 connects with both ferries would be a start and showing the scheduled arrival time into the city centre. I still would have allowed 90 minutes regardless of it serving both terminals from the time the ferry docks to get into town and to bus and rail stations.

Serving both terminals is the norm as far as I can tell so it’s not necessarily something that’s wrong - it’s just not explained properly.

The rollout of the Connect Ireland project (https://www.nationaltransport.ie/connecting-ireland/) is addressing some of the issues you raise, but that’s for a different thread. Suffice to say most Local Link routes now finally accept LEAP and they are very cheap, especially with the 20% cut in all public transport fares in 2022.

Where I am coming from is adding more information about how to get to places - they have done it with the airports and in the railway stations. The port terminals are the next logical addition.

They certainly are improving that side of things, but the port is an outlier.

The 53 is due to be replaced by a new route under BusConnects which will pass by Heuston Station.

 

[danm14]

Serving both terminals is the norm as far as I can tell so it’s not necessarily something that’s wrong - it’s just not explained properly.

No, it's actively lied about.

They claim that the bus from the Irish Ferries terminal leaves at 6pm and arrives in Dublin at 6:30pm; and that the bus from the Stena terminal leaves at 6:45pm and arrives in Dublin at 7pm.

In actual fact, as far as I'm aware, the bus leaves the Irish Ferries terminal when all the passengers are loaded, the Irish Ferries passengers are then dragged down to the Stena terminal to sit and wait for a good half hour or more, then when all the Stena passengers are loaded, both lots of passengers are brought into Dublin together for an arrival time of "you'll get there when you get there"

One bus for two ferries made sense when the two ferries arrived within 10 minutes of each other like they did for years - it doesn't now when they arrive 35 minutes apart.

In fact, I'd go so far as to question whether Irish Ferries are aware of this arrangement, as it's very good advertisement for their competitor.

 

[Flying Snail]

A proper timetable showing that the 853 connects with both ferries would be a start and showing the scheduled arrival time into the city centre. I still would have allowed 90 minutes regardless of it serving both terminals from the time the ferry docks to get into town and to bus and rail stations.

Serving both terminals is the norm as far as I can tell so it’s not necessarily something that’s wrong - it’s just not explained properly.

The rollout of the Connect Ireland project (https://www.nationaltransport.ie/connecting-ireland/) is addressing some of the issues you raise, but that’s for a different thread. Suffice to say most Local Link routes now finally accept LEAP and they are very cheap, especially with the 20% cut in all public transport fares in 2022.

Where I am coming from is adding more information about how to get to places - they have done it with the airports and in the railway stations. The port terminals are the next logical addition.

They certainly are improving that side of things, but the port is an outlier.

The 53 is due to be replaced by a new route under BusConnects which will pass by Heuston Station.

No. the timetables clearly show the 2 as separate buses with different arrival times.

https://nolancoaches.ie/wp-content/uploads/2022/09/Stena-Line-Shuttle-Bus-Timetable-01.10.2022.pdf

https://nolancoaches.ie/wp-content/...-Ferries-Shuttle-Bus-Timetable-01.11.2022.pdf


As for the rest, yeah a bit off topic but suffice to say none of it comes close to anything like a proper integrated network and sadly I see no sign of that changing.

No, it's actively lied about.

They claim that the bus from the Irish Ferries terminal leaves at 6pm and arrives in Dublin at 6:30pm; and that the bus from the Stena terminal leaves at 6:45pm and arrives in Dublin at 7pm.

In actual fact, as far as I'm aware, the bus leaves the Irish Ferries terminal when all the passengers are loaded, the Irish Ferries passengers are then dragged down to the Stena terminal to sit and wait for a good half hour or more, then when all the Stena passengers are loaded, both lots of passengers are brought into Dublin together for an arrival time of "you'll get there when you get there"

One bus for two ferries made sense when the two ferries arrived within 10 minutes of each other like they did for years - it doesn't now when they arrive 35 minutes apart.

In fact, I'd go so far as to question whether Irish Ferries are aware of this arrangement, as it's very good advertisement for their competitor.

Are they now charging IF passengers? It was free last time i used it from T1. TBH even for free I'd be absolutely livid with this nonsense.

No doubt it is to just use the one bus/driver, it would be tight to drop off the IF passengers and get back for the Stena in weekday traffic, no problem on weekends though.

 

[berneyarms]

No, it's actively lied about.

They claim that the bus from the Irish Ferries terminal leaves at 6pm and arrives in Dublin at 6:30pm; and that the bus from the Stena terminal leaves at 6:45pm and arrives in Dublin at 7pm.

In actual fact, as far as I'm aware, the bus leaves the Irish Ferries terminal when all the passengers are loaded, the Irish Ferries passengers are then dragged down to the Stena terminal to sit and wait for a good half hour or more, then when all the Stena passengers are loaded, both lots of passengers are brought into Dublin together for an arrival time of "you'll get there when you get there"

One bus for two ferries made sense when the two ferries arrived within 10 minutes of each other like they did for years - it doesn't now when they arrive 35 minutes apart.

In fact, I'd go so far as to question whether Irish Ferries are aware of this arrangement, as it's very good advertisement for their competitor.

No. the timetables clearly show the 2 as separate buses with different arrival times.

https://nolancoaches.ie/wp-content/uploads/2022/09/Stena-Line-Shuttle-Bus-Timetable-01.10.2022.pdf

https://nolancoaches.ie/wp-content/...-Ferries-Shuttle-Bus-Timetable-01.11.2022.pdf


As for the rest, yeah a bit off topic but suffice to say none of it comes close to anything like a proper integrated network and sadly I see no sign of that changing.



Are they now charging IF passengers? It was free last time i used it from T1. TBH even for free I'd be absolutely livid with this nonsense.

No doubt it is to just use the one bus/driver, it would be tight to drop off the IF passengers and get back for the Stena in weekday traffic, no problem on weekends though.

Just to be clear here, this bus is a commercially licensed service by the NTA. As such it should operate to the advertised timetable. If it isn't then people should complain in the first instance to Nolan Coaches, and in the second the NTA. If people don't complain, nothing will change. It isn't down to the ferry companies any more, as it isn't a private hire any more, and as such yes they do charge all customers now.

Again, on a normal weekday, people off the Irish Ferries sailing really should just get the Dublin Bus route 53 as it leaves at 18:00 and will be on Talbot Street by 18:30. It's cheaper and people using a LEAP card can avail of the LEAP 90 fare for EUR 2 which allows 90 minutes travel on all city buses, DART, suburban rail and LUAS trams.

 

[181]

I hope people don't mind me reviving this thread to ask a few questions about my planned journey.

It seems that arriving at Dublin on Irish Ferries on a weekday afternoon, the best option is to get the 18.00 Dublin Bus 53 (which appears not yet to hve been replaced by a new route as mentioned above) into the city (a fairly recent YouTube video reports that the Nolan bus is still delayed by serving both ferry terminals, as reported in another post above). Is it easy to find the bus stop, and what payment methods can be used? Unfortunately on Saturdays the buses appear to be at 17.30 and 18.30; with 2 hours before the latest possible train from Heuston, I might be tempted to walk to the tram stop at The Point.

If I were to pre-book a taxi, would I have a realistic chance of getting to Heuston in time for the 18.15 Westport train? (It's not essential that I do, but it would save my friends in Roscommon having to drive to Athlone to meet me). It will be either a Friday or a Saturday, which presumably might make a difference to the traffic. Apologies if this is a silly question, but how does one identify one's booked taxi if there is more than one -- do they have numbers on the outside or anything?

Coming back, I will probably spend the night in Dublin and catch one of the morning boats; it appears that there's a Nolan bus leaving George's Quay (across the river from the Custom House) at 06.45. Or if I went for the 02.15 Stena sailing, somewhat surprisingly that also appears to have a bus leaving at 00.40. Is using the Nolan bus in this direction likely to be reliable and trouble-free? (Mind you, if catching the night boat I might prefer to get a taxi and wait in the terminal rather than hanging around in central Dublin until past midnight).

Thankyou for any information anyone can provide; I will aim to report on what I find if it seems likely to be of interest.

 

[185143]

I hope people don't mind me reviving this thread to ask a few questions about my planned journey.

It seems that arriving at Dublin on Irish Ferries on a weekday afternoon, the best option is to get the 18.00 Dublin Bus 53 (which appears not yet to hve been replaced by a new route as mentioned above) into the city (a fairly recent YouTube video reports that the Nolan bus is still delayed by serving both ferry terminals, as reported in another post above). Is it easy to find the bus stop, and what payment methods can be used? Unfortunately on Saturdays the buses appear to be at 17.30 and 18.30; with 2 hours before the latest possible train from Heuston, I might be tempted to walk to the tram stop at The Point.

If I were to pre-book a taxi, would I have a realistic chance of getting to Heuston in time for the 18.15 Westport train? (It's not essential that I do, but it would save my friends in Roscommon having to drive to Athlone to meet me). It will be either a Friday or a Saturday, which presumably might make a difference to the traffic. Apologies if this is a silly question, but how does one identify one's booked taxi if there is more than one -- do they have numbers on the outside or anything?

Coming back, I will probably spend the night in Dublin and catch one of the morning boats; it appears that there's a Nolan bus leaving George's Quay (across the river from the Custom House) at 06.45. Or if I went for the 02.15 Stena sailing, somewhat surprisingly that also appears to have a bus leaving at 00.40. Is using the Nolan bus in this direction likely to be reliable and trouble-free? (Mind you, if catching the night boat I might prefer to get a taxi and wait in the terminal rather than hanging around in central Dublin until past midnight).

Thankyou for any information anyone can provide; I will aim to report on what I find if it seems likely to be of interest.

Done it plenty of times and never had an issue.

I'm on the 02:15 Stena sailing in a couple of weeks, so I'll post back with how it goes.

With regards to aiming for the Westport train, I've never used Irish Ferries so not sure what time their ship arrives. But Stena certainly don't rush at getting foot passengers off, though it's a quick process once you start moving. No idea if IF are the same.

FWIW if it's any help, I caught a DART from Tara Street at 13:02 after using the morning Stena sailing a couple of months ago, but the ship was deserted. That was using using the Nolan bus service, but be warned if it's busy loading takes ages as the card reader they use is extremely inefficient-and it's card only.