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Stena Line Dublin - New Bus Service

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danm14

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The Morton's Ferrylink service which formerly operated from Westmoreland Street to Dublin Port and from Dublin Port to Connolly and Heuston stations has now ceased operation permanently, having been temporarily suspended in March 2020.

Stena Line have introduced a new bus service, which operates only between Dublin Port and The Point Luas stop (7 mins by Luas from Busáras + 2 mins walk to Connolly; 20 mins from Heuston).

The bus leaves The Point Luas stop 1 hour and 15 minutes before ferry departure (15 minutes earlier for the morning sailing), and leaves Dublin Port 45 minutes after ferry arrival.

All sailings have a bus connection except the midnight arrival and early-morning (c. 2am) departure. However, note that there is no Luas to The Point early enough for the bus to the morning sailing on Sunday; and on Saturday the connection is so tight that to even attempt it would be utter lunacy. Monday to Friday are fine, though.

The fare is £3 each way, and tickets must be pre-purchased on board the ferry, online or in the ferry terminal - they cannot be purchased on the bus. Children are free up to age 3, but those aged 4 and over pay full adult fare. The fare does not include the Luas transfer to Dublin (€2.80 to Busaras, €3.20 to Heuston; 80c discount with Leap Card).

This represents a very significant increase in cost in exchange for a massive reduction in convenience. Unless you are a solo traveller with minimal luggage, a taxi (or Irish Ferries) is the now the only real option.

There is no longer a dedicated bus for Irish Ferries, their passengers must now use the public Dublin Bus Route 53 service which operates from Dublin City Centre to the Irish Ferries terminal. This service does not serve the Stena Line terminal.
 
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Ianno87

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At least walking to The Point from Central Dublin/Connolly/Busaras is considerably more pleasant than attempting to walk the whole way to the ferry terminal, so it's better than nothing!
 

Con

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This really snuck out. First time I heard of this was here. The National Transport Authority’s draft strategy document for 2022-2042 out on 9th November only refers to facilitating road freight to the Dublin Port Terminals so foot pax aren’t on Official Ireland’s radar at all in spite of COP26.
 

krus_aragon

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Thanks for the info. I have a trip to plan for next summer, and was wondering what was going on with bus connections.
 

Roast Veg

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How do prices compare for Stena Line+Bus+Luas as opposed to Irish Ferries+Bus 53?
 

ferry

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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. To make it even more ridiculous it only goes halfway to The Point and you then have to change there for a tram or another bus to get in to the city centre.

A much better idea would have been to stop the 53 bus at the Stena Line terminal as well. Then they would not need to have this extra bus. Although if you use Stena Line then you can also simply walk to the Irish Ferries terminal and take the 53 bus from there. This is much cheaper and simpler and is on a direct bus. So that is what i would recommend.

So the costs are:

• Bus 53 from the Ferry Terminal to the City Centre (to any bus stop): EUR2.15 Single

• Stena Bus to The Point then Bus to the City Centre (to any bus stop): EUR5.15 (EUR3.00 for Stena Bus plus EUR2.15 for the Dublin Bus)

• Stena Bus to The Point then Tram to the City Centre (Busaras or Connolly): EUR5.10 (EUR3.00 for Stena Bus plus EUR2.10 for the Luas Tram)

• Stena Bus to The Point then Tram to the City Centre (Abbey St or Heuston): EUR5.80 (EUR3.00 for Stena Bus plus EUR2.80 for the Luas Tram)

So the bus 53 is the cheapest and simplest option.

You can also walk from the Irish Ferries and Stena Line terminals in to the city centre which takes around 45 to 60 minutes. If you do not have much heavy luggage and the weather is good then the walk is not that bad to do.
 

danm14

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How do prices compare for Stena Line+Bus+Luas as opposed to Irish Ferries+Bus 53?
£3 extra per person.

Stena Line and Irish Ferries are extremely similar, usually identical, in price.

Under the new fare system being introduced in Dublin the Monday after next, the Luas to The Point and Bus 53 to Irish Ferries will both cost the same - €1.60 with Leap Card. (As a private service, the Stena Line bus will not be included in this system)
 
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Flying Snail

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This really snuck out. First time I heard of this was here. The National Transport Authority’s draft strategy document for 2022-2042 out on 9th November only refers to facilitating road freight to the Dublin Port Terminals so foot pax aren’t on Official Ireland’s radar at all in spite of COP26.
I am not sure what the financial arrangements for the discontinued Mortons service was between them and the ferry companies, either way this is a significant setback for the usefulness of the ferries for foot passengers and is really not acceptable.

This private link (and the Irish Ferries contracted Dublin Bus service that preceded it) was a handy excuse for the NTA to not have to bother, this is effectively gone now and they should be obliged to provide a useable service to facilitate this transport link.
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. To make it even more ridiculous it only goes halfway to The Point and you then have to change there for a tram or another bus to get in to the city centre.

A much better idea would have been to stop the 53 bus at the Stena Line terminal as well. Then they would not need to have this extra bus. Although if you use Stena Line then you can also simply walk to the Irish Ferries terminal and take the 53 bus from there. This is much cheaper and simpler and is on a direct bus. So that is what i would recommend.

So the costs are:

• Bus 53 from the Ferry Terminal to the City Centre (to any bus stop): EUR2.15 Single

• Stena Bus to The Point then Bus to the City Centre (to any bus stop): EUR5.15 (EUR3.00 for Stena Bus plus EUR2.15 for the Dublin Bus)

• Stena Bus to The Point then Tram to the City Centre (Busaras or Connolly): EUR5.10 (EUR3.00 for Stena Bus plus EUR2.10 for the Luas Tram)

• Stena Bus to The Point then Tram to the City Centre (Abbey St or Heuston): EUR5.80 (EUR3.00 for Stena Bus plus EUR2.80 for the Luas Tram)

So the bus 53 is the cheapest and simplest option.

You can also walk from the Irish Ferries and Stena Line terminals in to the city centre which takes around 45 to 60 minutes. If you do not have much heavy luggage and the weather is good then the walk is not that bad to do.

The walk through the port complex in particular is rather intimidating, very industrial and almost entirely devoid of pedestrians, I wouldn't recommend it for anyone, particularly lone travellers.

For those wanting to use the 53 from the Stena terminal it is a bit closer to walk to the next stop on Alexandra Road than to the IF terminal, It was not uncommon to have passengers waiting here from the Stena ferry even when the Mortons service was running.

The 3 issues with the 53 for Irish Ferries sailings are that it only takes exact change € coin or Leap card payment, it will not wait for a late ferry arrival and it is too late for the 08.05 departure Sunday - Friday as well as the last bus being too early for the 17.25 arrival on Sundays.

The 53 really is a poor service in general, it currently uses 2 buses to provide an hourly service on weekdays but just 1 bus on the weekends. An extra bus would allow a half-hourly service and installing stops near to the Stena terminal would be a trivial but useful improvement.

There is a strong argument for improving the 53 to a useable frequency with longer service hours for the already poorly served local area it serves, with the added benefit of providing a decent link for ferry passengers.
 

Con

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The reason why the NTA gave the 153 to Mortons was that apparently they did what amounted to a compliance raid on the Dublin Bus 53B service, which wasn’t a public service under the NTA’s remit, but a long standing arrangement to meet Irish Ferries - since cash fares were available it apparently was a public service but not one authorised by the NTA. So now, there is no public service that links the city centre to either boat. Who this is a win for is entirely unclear.
 

Ianno87

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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 on your phone whilst you're on the tram. Or as the bus pulls up and the driver says "buy it on your phone and I'll wait" (because that's the done thing in Ireland)

It's the future now.
 

181

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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 on your phone whilst you're on the tram. Or as the bus pulls up and the driver says "buy it on your phone and I'll wait" (because that's the done thing in Ireland)

It's the future now.
Leaving aside the debate about whether we've reached the point where transport providers can reasonably tell anyone without a working smartphone to get lost, the wording on the Stena website is 'Tickets may be pre-purchased when making your booking online or also purchased at the Holyhead & Dublin Travel Centres and Guest Services desk onboard.'. This reads to me as if you can only buy the bus ticket at the same time as booking your sea crossing on the Stena website, and a quick look at the site doesn't reveal any obvious way to buy the bus ticket separately. SailRail tickets can't be booked on the Stena site (they link you out to the Trainline), so it seems that it is indeed as user-unfriendly as it appears to be.
 

Con

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Leaving aside the debate about whether we've reached the point where transport providers can reasonably tell anyone without a working smartphone to get lost, the wording on the Stena website is 'Tickets may be pre-purchased when making your booking online or also purchased at the Holyhead & Dublin Travel Centres and Guest Services desk onboard.'. This reads to me as if you can only buy the bus ticket at the same time as booking your sea crossing on the Stena website, and a quick look at the site doesn't reveal any obvious way to buy the bus ticket separately. SailRail tickets can't be booked on the Stena site (they link you out to the Trainline), so it seems that it is indeed as user-unfriendly as it appears to be.
From the Republic there isn’t an online option - it’s done over the telephone so the bus link is booked then. They seem to have gone out of their way not to have it seen as a public service.
 

danm14

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Online on your phone whilst you're on the tram. Or as the bus pulls up and the driver says "buy it on your phone and I'll wait" (because that's the done thing in Ireland)

It's the future now.
You can't buy the ticket online separately from a ferry ticket, where the option is hidden away under "Get great deals on entry tickets to museums and events"
 

Ianno87

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Leaving aside the debate about whether we've reached the point where transport providers can reasonably tell anyone without a working smartphone to get lost, the wording on the Stena website is 'Tickets may be pre-purchased when making your booking online or also purchased at the Holyhead & Dublin Travel Centres and Guest Services desk onboard.'. This reads to me as if you can only buy the bus ticket at the same time as booking your sea crossing on the Stena website, and a quick look at the site doesn't reveal any obvious way to buy the bus ticket separately. SailRail tickets can't be booked on the Stena site (they link you out to the Trainline), so it seems that it is indeed as user-unfriendly as it appears to be.
You can't buy the ticket online separately from a ferry ticket, where the option is hidden away under "Get great deals on entry tickets to museums and events"

I which case, prospective travellers would just book their bus ticket with their ferry ticket (with a clear warning it is the only opportunity to do so).

Otherwise it's walk or taxi.
 

181

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I which case, prospective travellers would just book their bus ticket with their ferry ticket (with a clear warning it is the only opportunity to do so).

That's all very well if you just want to get from one side of the Irish Sea to the other, but many people will be travelling on from Holyhead by train and so using SailRail tickets, which can't be booked on the Stena website.

From the Republic there isn’t an online option - it’s done over the telephone so the bus link is booked then. They seem to have gone out of their way not to have it seen as a public service.
This suggests that the solution is to book eastbound journeys by phone, but in that case the website is misleading as it doesn't mention that option. (And does it require the ticket to be sent to an Irish address? -- presumably you can't board the bus by telling the driver that you'll be picking up a ticket at the terminal. If you're based in the UK, though, you might be able to buy the eastbound bus ticket on the boat on the way out).

They do seem to be making things unnecessarily awkward just to avoid equipping the bus with a card reader or flat-fare coinbox.
 

danm14

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This suggests that the solution is to book eastbound journeys by phone, but in that case the website is misleading as it doesn't mention that option. (And does it require the ticket to be sent to an Irish address? -- presumably you can't board the bus by telling the driver that you'll be picking up a ticket at the terminal. If you're based in the UK, though, you might be able to buy the eastbound bus ticket on the boat on the way out).
Eastbound SailRail tickets (unless they include Irish Rail travel) are collected at Dublin Port on presentation of the booking confirmation email. I would imagine the booking confirmation email contains a note to say that an eastbound bus ticket has been purchased, and any booking confirmation with such an endorsement is accepted on trust.

The Ulsterbus/CityLink Belfast-Glasgow service operates in exactly this manner - the driver of the Ulsterbus to Belfast Port has no way of verifying whether the booking confirmation is genuine and must take passengers on trust; but Stena Line and the CityLink bus driver in Scotland can validate them electronically.

They do seem to be making things unnecessarily awkward just to avoid equipping the bus with a card reader or flat-fare coinbox.
I wonder if the service is actually licensed. The payment arrangements seem like the actions of someone trying to keep up the illusion that the service is actually a perfectly legal private hire coach and not an illegal unlicensed bus service.
 

danm14

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The new Stena Line bus service to Dublin Port has now been amended to serve Connolly Station, providing a useful service similar to the old Morton's Ferrylink service, rather than abandoning passengers at the edge of the city.

Note that unlike the old Morton's Ferrylink service, buses to Dublin Port depart from Connolly Station and not Westmoreland Street, and buses from Dublin Port do not extend to Heuston Station. Passengers for Heuston Station must use the Luas service from Connolly or Busaras at their own expense.

The bus stop used at Connolly is the (very) long one that runs parallel to the Luas line from the bottom of the station steps to where the line turns towards Busaras. It is the same stop as is used by the Dublin Bus 14 and 15 southbound as well as the various Bus Eireann and Go-Ahead services to Co. Kildare.

All sailings except the 11:45pm arrival from Holyhead and the 2:15am departure from Dublin have a connecting bus, seven days a week. Departures from Connolly Station are at 6:45am for the 8:15am sailing, 1:30pm for the 2:45pm sailing and 7:15pm for the 8:30pm sailing. Departures from Dublin Port are 45 minutes after ferry arrival, journey time 15-20 minutes.

Tickets must still be purchased in advance and are not available on the bus. They cost £3 each way if purchased on the UK website while booking your sailing, in Holyhead Port or on board; and €3 each way if purchased on the Irish website while booking your sailing or in Dublin Port. Children under 4 are free, children over 4 are charged full adult fare.

There is still no bus service for Irish Ferries sailings other than the public Dublin Bus 53.
 
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krus_aragon

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Thanks for the updates. I hope to have a visit with family in the summer, and you're helping me keep track of options.
 

Flying Snail

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Just to update this topic.

It appears the shuttle is serving both Stena and Irish Ferries terminals.

Although there is currently no mention of this on the IF website, the operator of the shuttle themselves advertise the connection.


As they apparently only accept pre-bought tickets it may be an issue using it with IF if they deny it's existence and don't sell tickets.

It of course remains an issue for those using it from Ireland who only intend to buy or collect tickets on departure from the Ferry terminal.
 

danm14

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Just to update this topic.

It appears the shuttle is serving both Stena and Irish Ferries terminals.

Although there is currently no mention of this on the IF website, the operator of the shuttle themselves advertise the connection.


As they apparently only accept pre-bought tickets it may be an issue using it with IF if they deny it's existence and don't sell tickets.

It of course remains an issue for those using it from Ireland who only intend to buy or collect tickets on departure from the Ferry terminal.
Irish Ferries now acknowledges the existence of the Nolan Coaches service on their website.
 
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Just to confirm from my Irish Ferries crossing on Tuesday, the staff on the ferry have no knowledge of the Nolan bus connection, and said point blank we don't sell bus tickets on the ferry...
The good news was that a Nolan bus met the ferry, and took foot passengers into Dublin Connolly at no charge.
The driver said he would be going back to meet the Stenna ferry in the same way.
A bit more integration and sharing of knowledge with the ship information staff on board would be a great help.

Anyone interested can read a short trip report here: https://www.amtraktrains.com/threads/my-24-hour-visit-to-dublin….81358/
 
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krus_aragon

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Nolan Coaches have now got an online facility for buying tickets (which is linked from their website), at https://nolancoaches.palisis.com

They have also produced separate pdf timetables for Stena and Irish Ferries connections, but the PDFs aren't thr most straightforward things to follow. (Ferry times are always of the far right, whether arrival or departure, and the labels for the Connoly times on the left don't tell you whether it's a bus to or from the ferry, you have to look at the right hand column to try to work that out).

 
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It was a free Nolan bus transfer when I used it a few weeks ago, maybe they were just getting it up to speed at that time?
 

berneyarms

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I suspect that the operator getting their backend systems in place was the issue. A friend arrived off the Ulysses on Friday into Dublin and it was free then too.
 

danm14

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The Nolan Coaches service has now commenced sale of tickets on board, but the only payment method available is a credit/debit card - neither cash nor Ireland's Leap card are accepted. Tickets can also be pre-booked online at https://nolancoaches.palisis.com/. The fare is the same whichever way you pay - €3.

It remains possible to purchase tickets from the ferry operators, including in cash, but as they charge £3 (sterling), it will usually be cheaper to book directly with Nolan Coaches who charge €3 (euro) unless your card provider charges excessive foreign exchange fees.

It appears that the requirement to purchase tickets from the ferry operators (which in any case seem to have gone unchecked) was a temporary arrangement to allow the bus to operate under the illusion of being a private hire coach contracted by the ferry operator, while waiting for the licence to operate it as a public service to be issued. It has now been licensed as route 853.
 

danm14

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Having now had the opportunity to use the Nolan Coaches service, I can only describe it as shambolic. While it is certainly an improvement on the Morton's Coaches service (which was notorious for its hot-tempered and ignorant drivers) in terms of customer service, in every other respect it is inferior.

Despite being the first foot passenger off the Stena Line ferry, when I boarded, the bus already had a significant number of extremely unhappy looking passengers already on board, leading me to believe that rather than being brought directly to Connolly Station as the timetable would suggest, passengers from the 5pm Irish Ferries arrival are actually (or at least were on this occasion) brought to the Stena terminal to await the 6pm arrival, arriving at Connolly Station around an hour late as a result.

The loading of passengers onto the service is painfully slow, taking around one minute each for the majority of customers who are paying using a contactless card, and around 45 seconds each for those who have booked their ticket online or from the ferry operator. This appears to be entirely down to a very slow ticket machine, from which everyone - even those who have booked online or with the ferry operator - must be issued a ticket.

Despite being an ex-Dublin Bus vehicle, complete with an exact fare coinbox, cash is not accepted, and passengers paying cash are instead directed back into the terminal to pay in cash, while everyone else waits for them. As this is now a licensed service, there is no reason for it not to handle cash other than the operator not wanting to.

There is also major confusion among the passengers, many of whom expect the service to bring them to Heuston Station like the old Morton's service did, leading to further delays while the driver explains to them how to get from Connolly to Heuston.

All in all, it took just over 20 minutes for 15-20 passengers to be loaded onto the bus, which is the slowest boarding I have ever seen, and for little to no reason.

Hopefully I was unlucky and this is not the regular standard of service, but it certainly does not look great.
 
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danm14

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A reduced €1.50 fare is now available to holders of Young Adult Leap Cards and Student Leap Cards on the Nolan Coaches Ferrylink service.

This is NOT a general youth/student discount, it is part of an Irish Government scheme, and as a result only those two cards are accepted, not all student cards (although - this being Ireland - whether drivers will turn a blind eye in practice is another matter).

The fare must be paid using the TFI Go app - the Leap Card itself is not accepted as a means of payment, and the reduced fare cannot be paid on board.

The fare remains at €3.00, payable only online or by credit/debit card, for all other passengers (including children).

As an aside, I think this may well now be the only bus service in Ireland - if not the entire British Isles - where adults (well, some of them) pay less than children (other than perhaps certain sightseeing trips aimed at children).
 

Starmill

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According to the Nolan Coaches website, it would appear that it is now possible to pay for your ticket onboard the bus:
Tickets are €3.00 each way and can be booked online. Payment can be made with Card onboard the bus. No Cash will be accepted as the service is strictly Cashless.

You can purchase tickets by clicking the link below:

nolancoaches.palisis.com
https://www.nolancoaches.ie/services/ferry-shuttle-bus/

Which is probably an improvement.
 

dubscottie

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