Hi,

We're preparing a trip to explore a bit of both Irish railways. Outward
journey will be Brussels - London - Newcastle - Stranraer - Belfast on 6
Sept; return journey Dublin - Belfast - Stranraer - Glasgow (11 Sept)
and next day Glasgow - London - Brussels.

We'll buy an "Irish Rover Rail Only (All Ireland)" when we get to
Belfast (GBP 133). One of us has FIP facilities and that raises a few
questions:
- How can we make an online booking (e.g. through NXEC website) for our
travel through GB and reserve one extra seat for our friend with FIP
coupons?
- There are FIP coupons for Stenaline Stranraer - Belfast. Are there any
supplements to pay there? Harbour tax maybe? The HSS ferries are the
same price as the normal ferries, so I presume there's no fast boat
supplement to pay?
- Who is the operator of the Dublin - Belfast Enterprise services and
which FIP coupon would then be needed, IE or both IE and NIR? Funny
thing is, IE have a TCV series Dublin - Belfast, which might mean they
are the operator all the way to Belfast.
- We'll arrive in the harbour of Belfast at 21:45 on Saturday and want
to start on Sunday morning at 8:33 at Belfast Central. We're probably
staying somewhere close to the station. Would there be an open ticket
desk at Belfast Central during that time or where would be a suitable
place to but our Irish Rovers? The NIR website only says "Tickets are
available to purchase from most main Translink bus or rail stations"
<http://www.translink.co.uk/exploreireland200708.asp> and
I haven't been able to find opening hours.

Regards,

          Rian

-- 
Rian van der Borgt, Leuven, Belgium.
e-mail: rvdborgt+@evonet.be  www: http://www.evonet.be/~rvdborgt/

On Jun 29, 2:32 pm, Rian van der Borgt  wrote:
...
> - There are FIP coupons for Stenaline Stranraer - Belfast. Are there any
> supplements to pay there? Harbour tax maybe? The HSS ferries are the
> same price as the normal ferries, so I presume there's no fast boat
> supplement to pay?

As of mid-June, there is a fuel surcharge of £2 each way charged by
Stena Lines.

> - Who is the operator of the Dublin - Belfast Enterprise services and
> which FIP coupon would then be needed, IE or both IE and NIR? Funny
> thing is, IE have a TCV series Dublin - Belfast, which might mean they
> are the operator all the way to Belfast.

Each railway operates its own trains as part of the Enterprise service
(at least, it used to be that way).

Someone else will have to answer the other questions.
...
>
> Regards,
>
>           Rian
>
> --
> Rian van der Borgt, Leuven, Belgium.
> e-mail: rvdbor...@evonet.be  www:http://www.evonet.be/~rvdborgt/


BrianN

On Sun, 29 Jun 2008 11:45:50 -0700 (PDT), brian.nettlefold@gmail.com wrote:
>On Jun 29, 2:32 pm, Rian van der Borgt  wrote:
>>- There are FIP coupons for Stenaline Stranraer - Belfast. Are there any
>>supplements to pay there? Harbour tax maybe? The HSS ferries are the
>>same price as the normal ferries, so I presume there's no fast boat
>>supplement to pay?
>
>As of mid-June, there is a fuel surcharge of £2 each way charged by
>Stena Lines.

Ah, well, that'll probably also explain the 2 pound difference you see
between step 3 and step 5 when booking a ferry on stenaline.com.

>>- Who is the operator of the Dublin - Belfast Enterprise services and
>>which FIP coupon would then be needed, IE or both IE and NIR? Funny
>>thing is, IE have a TCV series Dublin - Belfast, which might mean they
>>are the operator all the way to Belfast.
>
>Each railway operates its own trains as part of the Enterprise service
>(at least, it used to be that way).

So, does that mean then that we have to work out exacltly which one of
them runs the train we want to take?

Regards,

          Rian

-- 
Rian van der Borgt, Leuven, Belgium.
e-mail: rvdborgt+@evonet.be  www: http://www.evonet.be/~rvdborgt/

On Sun, 2008-06-29 at 18:32 퍍, Rian van der Borgt wrote:
> Hi,
> 
> We're preparing a trip to explore a bit of both Irish railways. Outward
> journey will be Brussels - London - Newcastle - Stranraer - Belfast on 6
> Sept; return journey Dublin - Belfast - Stranraer - Glasgow (11 Sept)
> and next day Glasgow - London - Brussels.
> 
> We'll buy an "Irish Rover Rail Only (All Ireland)" when we get to
> Belfast (GBP 133). One of us has FIP facilities and that raises a few
> questions:
> - How can we make an online booking (e.g. through NXEC website) for our
> travel through GB and reserve one extra seat for our friend with FIP
> coupons?
The cheapest ticket is probably the through ticket from London to
Belfast, but the Trainline-powered sites can't book these. See
http://www.seat61.com/NorthernIreland.htm#via%20Stranraer .

The oprn ticket is only £3 more than the Apex each way, and can be
bought on the day of travel, so this may be the easiest option. On a
Saturday the trains aren't likey to be full, so you should get a seat
without a reservation.


> - Who is the operator of the Dublin - Belfast Enterprise services and
> which FIP coupon would then be needed, IE or both IE and NIR? Funny
> thing is, IE have a TCV series Dublin - Belfast, which might mean they
> are the operator all the way to Belfast.

It's a joint service. No idea how that works for your FIP ticketing.

> - We'll arrive in the harbour of Belfast at 21:45 on Saturday and want
> to start on Sunday morning at 8:33 at Belfast Central. We're probably
> staying somewhere close to the station. Would there be an open ticket
> desk at Belfast Central during that time or where would be a suitable
> place to but our Irish Rovers? The NIR website only says "Tickets are
> available to purchase from most main Translink bus or rail stations"
> <http://www.translink.co.uk/exploreireland200708.asp> and
> I haven't been able to find opening hours.

I'm pretty sure the ticket office is open whenever the station is.
Central station is a little out of town (about a mile from the City
Hall).

On Jun 29, 7:32 pm, Rian van der Borgt  wrote:

> - Who is the operator of the Dublin - Belfast Enterprise
> services and which FIP coupon would then be needed, IE
> or both IE and NIR? Funny thing is, IE have a TCV series
> Dublin - Belfast, which might mean they are the operator
> all the way to Belfast.

It doesn't matter who operates your particular service, you must have
coupons for both NIR and CIE to travel between Dublin and Belfast. If
tickets are checked while in Northern Ireland, present your NIR
coupon; south of the border, show the CIE coupon.

On Sun, 29 Jun 2008 21:11:21 +0100, Mike Humphrey wrote:
> On Sun, 2008-06-29 at 18:32 +0000, Rian van der Borgt wrote:
>> We're preparing a trip to explore a bit of both Irish railways. Outward
>> journey will be Brussels - London - Newcastle - Stranraer - Belfast on 6
>> Sept; return journey Dublin - Belfast - Stranraer - Glasgow (11 Sept)
>> and next day Glasgow - London - Brussels.
>> 
>> - How can we make an online booking (e.g. through NXEC website) for our
>> travel through GB and reserve one extra seat for our friend with FIP
>> coupons?
>
> The cheapest ticket is probably the through ticket from London to
> Belfast, but the Trainline-powered sites can't book these. See
> http://www.seat61.com/NorthernIreland.htm#via%20Stranraer .

Thanks, I hadn't seen that one yet. This seems like a good deal indeed.
Valid for one month presumably also means we can break our journey in
Glasgow on the return trip? And we don't need to book the ferry then?
Hm, now that you mention through tickets, I see we can buy a TCV return
London - Belfast with Railplus reduction for EUR 99.50 = appr. GBP 79.
Very interesting. I suppose this would then also include the ferry?
Although TCV London - Belfast is a combination of London - Bangor and
Bangor - Belfast. Did the ferry from Belfast once go to Bangor maybe?

> The oprn ticket is only £3 more than the Apex each way, and can be
> bought on the day of travel, so this may be the easiest option. On a
> Saturday the trains aren't likey to be full, so you should get a seat
> without a reservation.

Thanks.

>> - Who is the operator of the Dublin - Belfast Enterprise services and
>> which FIP coupon would then be needed, IE or both IE and NIR? Funny
>> thing is, IE have a TCV series Dublin - Belfast, which might mean they
>> are the operator all the way to Belfast.
>
> It's a joint service. No idea how that works for your FIP ticketing.

Then you normally need both coupons.

Regards,

          Rian

-- 
Rian van der Borgt, Leuven, Belgium.
e-mail: rvdborgt+@evonet.be  www: http://www.evonet.be/~rvdborgt/

On Sun, 29 Jun 2008 11:45:50 -0700 (PDT), brian.nettlefold@gmail.com
wrote:

>As of mid-June, there is a fuel surcharge of =A32 each way charged by
>Stena Lines.

What is this nonsense with fuel surcharges, I can't help but wonder?
Why don't they just plain and simple *increase the fare*.

Neil

-- 
Neil Williams
Put my first name before the at to reply.

On 29 Jun, 23:33, wensleyd...@pacersplace.org.uk (Neil Williams)
wrote:
> On Sun, 29 Jun 2008 11:45:50 -0700 (PDT), brian.nettlef...@gmail.com
> wrote:
>
> >As of mid-June, there is a fuel surcharge of =A32 each way charged by
> >Stena Lines.
>
> What is this nonsense with fuel surcharges, I can't help but wonder?
> Why don't they just plain and simple *increase the fare*.

Quite. Been my gripe with the airlines surcharge for some time....

Their line is that they'll remove the surcharge should the fuel price
drop back to the cost when the fare was set....

I say 'Oh yeah?', and 'Oh yeah?' again. Twaddle. Include the surcharge
in the headline price.

On Mon, 30 Jun 2008 01:51:58 -0700 (PDT), Chris
 wrote:

>Their line is that they'll remove the surcharge should the fuel price
>drop back to the cost when the fare was set....
>
>I say 'Oh yeah?', and 'Oh yeah?' again. Twaddle. Include the surcharge
>in the headline price.

Indeed.  Then if they do drop it (fat chance), they can gain the
promotional benefit of a fare cut!

Neil

-- 
Neil Williams
Put my first name before the at to reply.

On 29 Jun 2008 18:32:38 GMT, Rian van der Borgt wrote:

> Hi,
> 
> We're preparing a trip to explore a bit of both Irish railways. 

<snip>

> - There are FIP coupons for Stenaline Stranraer - Belfast. Are there any
> supplements to pay there? Harbour tax maybe? The HSS ferries are the
> same price as the normal ferries, so I presume there's no fast boat
> supplement to pay?

When I book with Stena (HSS, Holyhead - Dun Laoghaire) using my BR
facilities (not FIP), all I pay is port tax of GBP 5 each way.  Last time I
went (earlier this year), there was no mention of a fuel surcharge, however,
I don't know whether this is because it doesn't apply to 'priv' travel, or
is a recent introduction and applies to all.


-- 
WZR

Rian van der Borgt <rvdborgt+@evonet.be> wrote:
> Thanks, I hadn't seen that one yet. This seems like a good deal indeed.
> Valid for one month presumably also means we can break our journey in
> Glasgow on the return trip? And we don't need to book the ferry then?

You need to make a ferry reservation before travelling, but presumably you
can do this with minimal notice (if you can book on day of travel, making
the ferry reservation can't be that complicated - perhaps it's because the
ferry staff can't cope with open-dated tickets).

> Hm, now that you mention through tickets, I see we can buy a TCV return
> London - Belfast with Railplus reduction for EUR 99.50 = appr. GBP 79.
> Very interesting. I suppose this would then also include the ferry?

I'd assume so - it sounds like the TCV version of the BR rail+sea ticket.

> Although TCV London - Belfast is a combination of London - Bangor and
> Bangor - Belfast. Did the ferry from Belfast once go to Bangor maybe?

Are you sure that's Bangor (NI) not Bangor (Wales)? 
London-Bangor (Wales)-Holyhead-Dublin/Dun Laoghaire-Belfast might also be a
plausible routing for London-Belfast.

Theo

On 01 Jul 2008 10:31:26 +0100 (BST), Theo Markettos wrote:
>Rian van der Borgt <rvdborgt+@evonet.be> wrote:
>>Thanks, I hadn't seen that one yet. This seems like a good deal indeed.
>>Valid for one month presumably also means we can break our journey in
>>Glasgow on the return trip? And we don't need to book the ferry then?
>
>You need to make a ferry reservation before travelling, but presumably you
>can do this with minimal notice (if you can book on day of travel, making
>the ferry reservation can't be that complicated - perhaps it's because the
>ferry staff can't cope with open-dated tickets).

We're going to give Stenaline a call. seat61.com says they'll also send
the tickets abroad and maybe we can still get an Apex. Further, we can
do the reservations for our friend on FIP coupons.

>>Hm, now that you mention through tickets, I see we can buy a TCV return
>>London - Belfast with Railplus reduction for EUR 99.50 = appr. GBP 79.
>>Very interesting. I suppose this would then also include the ferry?
>
>I'd assume so - it sounds like the TCV version of the BR rail+sea ticket.

I was hoping that, but ...

>>Although TCV London - Belfast is a combination of London - Bangor and
>>Bangor - Belfast. Did the ferry from Belfast once go to Bangor maybe?
>
>Are you sure that's Bangor (NI) not Bangor (Wales)? 
>London-Bangor (Wales)-Holyhead-Dublin/Dun Laoghaire-Belfast might also be a
>plausible routing for London-Belfast.

... it seems tickets like these can't be used at all. I was a bit
suspicious, so I sent ATOC a mail. They mailed me back the same day and
said any ticket via the ferry should mention the ferry operator (which
is correct indeed AFAIK) and it's not possible to travel via Bangor
(Northern Ireland). Bangor in Wales in the TCV is "Bangor(Wales)". So,
effectively, there's no way to buy TCV tickets from Great Britain to
Northern Ireland via Stranrear (AFAIK the Stenaline ferry isn't included
in the TCV) and the ATOC TCV relations to Bangor that exist are useless.
I'm going to write back they should revise their TCV series to avoid
that people can buy useless tickets.

The complete (as it seems) ATOC TCV table can be found at:
http://dijszabas.uw.hu/dijszabas/Nagy-Britannia_ATOC/ATOC.xls
and also be queried via:
http://jizdenka.cz/it.aspx
(click on the UK flag if you don't understand Czech)

Regards,

          Rian

-- 
Rian van der Borgt, Leuven, Belgium.
e-mail: rvdborgt+@evonet.be  www: http://www.evonet.be/~rvdborgt/

Rian van der Borgt <rvdborgt+@evonet.be> wrote:
> ... it seems tickets like these can't be used at all. I was a bit
> suspicious, so I sent ATOC a mail. They mailed me back the same day and
> said any ticket via the ferry should mention the ferry operator (which
> is correct indeed AFAIK) and it's not possible to travel via Bangor
> (Northern Ireland). Bangor in Wales in the TCV is "Bangor(Wales)". So,
> effectively, there's no way to buy TCV tickets from Great Britain to
> Northern Ireland via Stranrear (AFAIK the Stenaline ferry isn't included
> in the TCV) and the ATOC TCV relations to Bangor that exist are useless.

Bangor (NI) is at the end of a branch from Belfast, so perhaps you can use
a London-Bangor ticket and ignore the Belfast-Bangor bit?  I don't quite
know how TCV works but isn't it zonal fares?  So quoting fares to Bangor
just means you get a free trip on the Bangor branch.

But if Stena isn't in TCV that's a problem, and possibly means the only
routings are via the Republic.

Theo
(who doesn't actually know any hard facts, but is just trying to work it
out)

On 01 Jul 2008 11:45:23 +0100 (BST), Theo Markettos wrote:
>Rian van der Borgt <rvdborgt+@evonet.be> wrote:
>>... it seems tickets like these can't be used at all. I was a bit
>>suspicious, so I sent ATOC a mail. They mailed me back the same day and
>>said any ticket via the ferry should mention the ferry operator (which
>>is correct indeed AFAIK) and it's not possible to travel via Bangor
>>(Northern Ireland). Bangor in Wales in the TCV is "Bangor(Wales)". So,
>>effectively, there's no way to buy TCV tickets from Great Britain to
>>Northern Ireland via Stranrear (AFAIK the Stenaline ferry isn't included
>>in the TCV) and the ATOC TCV relations to Bangor that exist are useless.
>
>Bangor (NI) is at the end of a branch from Belfast, so perhaps you can use
>a London-Bangor ticket and ignore the Belfast-Bangor bit?

That did cross my mind too for a moment ...

>I don't quite
>know how TCV works but isn't it zonal fares?  So quoting fares to Bangor
>just means you get a free trip on the Bangor branch.

The fares are kind of zonal for GB, although you will need a ticket with
the correct origin and destination (but you can break your journey
anywhere and anytime on the route). For example, from London to any
destination in Cornwall is the same fare.

>But if Stena isn't in TCV that's a problem, and possibly means the only
>routings are via the Republic.

Stena not being in the TCV (anymore?) is definitely the problem here. A
ticket London - Bangor (NI) would only list the operator "1070" (= ATOC)
which definitely doesn't include Stena.

It would be a very good deal, though, EUR 118,40 for a return (or even
EUR 88,80 with railplus reduction)...

>(who doesn't actually know any hard facts, but is just trying to work it
>out)

One thing I haven't yet worked out is how one could use such a through
ticket to Bangor (NI). Note that it doesn't include CIE either, only
ATOC.

Regards,

          Rian

-- 
Rian van der Borgt, Leuven, Belgium.
e-mail: rvdborgt+@evonet.be  www: http://www.evonet.be/~rvdborgt/

Rian van der Borgt wrote:

> .... it seems tickets like these can't be used at all. I was a bit
> suspicious, so I sent ATOC a mail. They mailed me back the same day and
> said any ticket via the ferry should mention the ferry operator (which
> is correct indeed AFAIK) and it's not possible to travel via Bangor
> (Northern Ireland). 

When I did London - Holyhead - Dublin - Belfast last year, my friend 
with a UK staff "priv" ticket was issued a ticket on the "wrong" ferry, 
which didn't actually exist. The staff at Holyhead were used to this 
happening, and corrected it.


-- 
Arthur Figgis               Surrey, UK

Hope this helps.

See answers below.




"Rian van der Borgt" <rvdborgt+@evonet.be> wrote in message 
news:slrng6fl99.dl.rvdborgt+@xs1.xs4all.be...
> Hi,
>
> We're preparing a trip to explore a bit of both Irish railways. Outward
> journey will be Brussels - London - Newcastle - Stranraer - Belfast on 6
> Sept; return journey Dublin - Belfast - Stranraer - Glasgow (11 Sept)
> and next day Glasgow - London - Brussels.
>
> We'll buy an "Irish Rover Rail Only (All Ireland)" when we get to
> Belfast (GBP 133). One of us has FIP facilities and that raises a few
> questions:
> - How can we make an online booking (e.g. through NXEC website) for our
> travel through GB and reserve one extra seat for our friend with FIP
> coupons?

Through Irish Fares cannot be booked online. The only place you can get them 
is the Stena Line call centre or any staffed station but that is difficult 
in Belgium.

> - There are FIP coupons for Stenaline Stranraer - Belfast. Are there any
> supplements to pay there? Harbour tax maybe? The HSS ferries are the
> same price as the normal ferries, so I presume there's no fast boat
> supplement to pay?

Included in the price and no fuel supplement on through Rail and Ship 
tickets. Returns are double singles so you could come back a different route 
for virtually the same cost i.e. out Stranraer return Holyhead by buying two 
singles.

> - Who is the operator of the Dublin - Belfast Enterprise services and
> which FIP coupon would then be needed, IE or both IE and NIR? Funny
> thing is, IE have a TCV series Dublin - Belfast, which might mean they
> are the operator all the way to Belfast.

Joint operation. Both FIP free coupons are required one for IE and one for 
NIR. It is the geography that matters in this case and not the operator.

> - We'll arrive in the harbour of Belfast at 21:45 on Saturday and want
> to start on Sunday morning at 8:33 at Belfast Central. We're probably
> staying somewhere close to the station. Would there be an open ticket
> desk at Belfast Central during that time or where would be a suitable
> place to but our Irish Rovers?

Not sure. I would check out one country Inter-Rail tickets these could be 
better value for Ireland and can only be purchased in another EU than the 
one you are travelling in. The British one looks expensive but the Irish one 
looks good value. You have buy these in the country you are resident and not 
the one you are travelling in. Also looks as though loads of belgian 
stations sell them, unlike the UK see below.

http://www.b-rail.be/int/F/offers/interrail/onecountry/index.php


The NIR website only says "Tickets are
> available to purchase from most main Translink bus or rail stations"
> <http://www.translink.co.uk/exploreireland200708.asp> and
> I haven't been able to find opening hours.
>
> Regards,
>
>          Rian
>
> -- 
> Rian van der Borgt, Leuven, Belgium.
> e-mail: rvdborgt+@evonet.be  www: http://www.evonet.be/~rvdborgt/

Radio Highland wrote:
> "Rian van der Borgt" <rvdborgt+@evonet.be> wrote in message 
> news:slrng6fl99.dl.rvdborgt+@xs1.xs4all.be...
>> Hi,
>>
>> We're preparing a trip to explore a bit of both Irish railways. Outward
>> journey will be Brussels - London - Newcastle - Stranraer - Belfast on 6
>> Sept; return journey Dublin - Belfast - Stranraer - Glasgow (11 Sept)
>> and next day Glasgow - London - Brussels.
>>
>> We'll buy an "Irish Rover Rail Only (All Ireland)" when we get to
>> Belfast (GBP 133). One of us has FIP facilities and that raises a few
>> questions:

> Not sure. I would check out one country Inter-Rail tickets these could 
> be better value for Ireland and can only be purchased in another EU than 
> the one you are travelling in. 

Inter Rail One Country Passes aren't valid in Northern Ireland. The OP 
is going via Belfast both ways so will not be covered north of Dundalk.

> The British one looks expensive but the Irish one looks good value. 

Britain falls into a higher pricing zone, but bear in mind the size of 
the network and the cost of fares. If applicable (not in this case) is 
to compare IR One Country Pass against the BritRail Pass.

> You have buy these in the country you are  resident and not the one you
> are travelling in. 

Not quite. You can buy one in any country and as you state they are not 
valid in your own country of residence.

-- 
Phil Richards, London, UK
3,600+ railway photos since 1980 at:
http://europeanrail.fotopic.net
http://britishrail.fotopic.net

On Tue, 1 Jul 2008 19:54:02 +0100, Radio Highland wrote:
>"Rian van der Borgt" <rvdborgt+@evonet.be> wrote in message 
>>We're preparing a trip to explore a bit of both Irish railways. Outward
>>journey will be Brussels - London - Newcastle - Stranraer - Belfast on 6
>>Sept; return journey Dublin - Belfast - Stranraer - Glasgow (11 Sept)
>>and next day Glasgow - London - Brussels.
>>
>>We'll buy an "Irish Rover Rail Only (All Ireland)" when we get to
>>Belfast (GBP 133). One of us has FIP facilities and that raises a few
>>questions:
>>- How can we make an online booking (e.g. through NXEC website) for our
>>travel through GB and reserve one extra seat for our friend with FIP
>>coupons?
>
>Through Irish Fares cannot be booked online.

seat61.com suggests raileasy.co.uk can, however, it doesn't give me any
bookable tickets for Kx - Newcastle - Stranraer - Belfast op 6
September. That's a shame, because they also offer ticket-on-depature at
a number of stations.

>The only place you can get them 
>is the Stena Line call centre or any staffed station but that is difficult 
>in Belgium.

A friend of mine called Stena line today: yes, you can book, but no,
they don't send tickets abroad, and no, we can't pick them up in London
when we arrive... (I'll probably ask a British friend to forward them to
me...)

>Not sure. I would check out one country Inter-Rail tickets these could be 
>better value for Ireland

We've already done the maths :-)
We first though to use Interrail for Ireland indeed, but then we were
still planning to go via Holyhead on the outward journey. That isn't
feasible anymore due to engineering works (which ATOC still doesn't care
to communicate to MERITS, so the rest of the world doesn't know about
them), but now we also go via Stranraer on the outward journey, we can
"do" more NIR lines and the Irish Rover comes out cheaper.

Regards,

          Rian

-- 
Rian van der Borgt, Leuven, Belgium.
e-mail: rvdborgt+@evonet.be  www: http://www.evonet.be/~rvdborgt/

On 1 Jul, 22:44, Rian van der Borgt  wrote:
> On Tue, 1 Jul 2008 19:54:02 퍝, Radio Highland wrote:
> >"Rian van der Borgt"  wrote in message
> >>We're preparing a trip to explore a bit of both Irish railways. Outward
> >>journey will be Brussels - London - Newcastle - Stranraer - Belfast on 6
> >>Sept; return journey Dublin - Belfast - Stranraer - Glasgow (11 Sept)
> >>and next day Glasgow - London - Brussels.
>
> >>We'll buy an "Irish Rover Rail Only (All Ireland)" when we get to
> >>Belfast (GBP 133). One of us has FIP facilities and that raises a few
> >>questions:
> >>- How can we make an online booking (e.g. through NXEC website) for our
> >>travel through GB and reserve one extra seat for our friend with FIP
> >>coupons?
>
> >Through Irish Fares cannot be booked online.
>
> seat61.com suggests raileasy.co.uk can, however, it doesn't give me any
> bookable tickets for Kx - Newcastle - Stranraer - Belfast op 6
> September. That's a shame, because they also offer ticket-on-depature at
> a number of stations.
>
> >The only place you can get them
> >is the Stena Line call centre or any staffed station but that is difficult
> >in Belgium.
>
> A friend of mine called Stena line today: yes, you can book, but no,
> they don't send tickets abroad, and no, we can't pick them up in London
> when we arrive... (I'll probably ask a British friend to forward them to
> me...)
>
> >Not sure. I would check out one country Inter-Rail tickets these could be
> >better value for Ireland
>
> We've already done the maths :-)
> We first though to use Interrail for Ireland indeed, but then we were
> still planning to go via Holyhead on the outward journey. That isn't
> feasible anymore due to engineering works (which ATOC still doesn't care
> to communicate to MERITS, so the rest of the world doesn't know about
> them), but now we also go via Stranraer on the outward journey, we can
> "do" more NIR lines and the Irish Rover comes out cheaper.
>
> Regards,
>
>           Rian
>
> --
> Rian van der Borgt, Leuven, Belgium.
> e-mail: rvdbor...@evonet.be  www:http://www.evonet.be/~rvdborgt/

This page of Stena's website may be of help:-

http://www.stenaline.co.uk/ferry/rail-and-sail/belfast/

On Sun, 29 Jun 2008 21:11:21 +0100, Mike Humphrey wrote:
>On Sun, 2008-06-29 at 18:32 +0000, Rian van der Borgt wrote:
>>We're preparing a trip to explore a bit of both Irish railways. Outward
>>journey will be Brussels - London - Newcastle - Stranraer - Belfast on 6
>>Sept; return journey Dublin - Belfast - Stranraer - Glasgow (11 Sept)
>>and next day Glasgow - London - Brussels.
>
>The cheapest ticket is probably the through ticket from London to
>Belfast, but the Trainline-powered sites can't book these. See
>http://www.seat61.com/NorthernIreland.htm#via%20Stranraer .
>
>The oprn ticket is only £3 more than the Apex each way, and can be
>bought on the day of travel, so this may be the easiest option. On a
>Saturday the trains aren't likey to be full, so you should get a seat
>without a reservation.

I've now also found the fare details at:
http://www.atoc.org/retail/_downloads/NFM98/NFM98_RL_D.pdf

There it says about the open single:
"Valid to and from any port or station in Northern Ireland, on date
shown on ticket; and to and from any station in the Republic of Ireland
on any day within 2 calendar months."

Do I understand correctly that we can't travel from Belfast to Glasgow
on one day and then further to London the next day? Fortunately, there
are still some relatively cheap fares available from Glasgow to London.

Regards,

          Rian

-- 
Rian van der Borgt, Leuven, Belgium.
e-mail: rvdborgt+@evonet.be  www: http://www.evonet.be/~rvdborgt/

Rian van der Borgt wrote:
> On Sun, 29 Jun 2008 21:11:21 +0100, Mike Humphrey wrote:
>> On Sun, 2008-06-29 at 18:32 +0000, Rian van der Borgt wrote:
>>> We're preparing a trip to explore a bit of both Irish railways. Outward
>>> journey will be Brussels - London - Newcastle - Stranraer - Belfast on 6
>>> Sept; return journey Dublin - Belfast - Stranraer - Glasgow (11 Sept)
>>> and next day Glasgow - London - Brussels.
>> The cheapest ticket is probably the through ticket from London to
>> Belfast, but the Trainline-powered sites can't book these. See
>> http://www.seat61.com/NorthernIreland.htm#via%20Stranraer .
>>
>> The oprn ticket is only £3 more than the Apex each way, and can be
>> bought on the day of travel, so this may be the easiest option. On a
>> Saturday the trains aren't likey to be full, so you should get a seat
>> without a reservation.
> 
> I've now also found the fare details at:
> http://www.atoc.org/retail/_downloads/NFM98/NFM98_RL_D.pdf
> 
> There it says about the open single:
> "Valid to and from any port or station in Northern Ireland, on date
> shown on ticket; and to and from any station in the Republic of Ireland
> on any day within 2 calendar months."
> 
> Do I understand correctly that we can't travel from Belfast to Glasgow
> on one day and then further to London the next day? Fortunately, there
> are still some relatively cheap fares available from Glasgow to London.

If it makes a difference, keep in mind that Belfast - Glasgow - London 
is not an international journey.  Apologies if that is obvious, but not 
everyone realises it :-)



[space provided below for Scottish nationalists to disagree]
:
:
:
:
:

-- 
Arthur Figgis               Surrey, UK

On Thu, 3 Jul 2008 23:12:08 +0100, Arthur Figgis wrote
> 
> If it makes a difference, keep in mind that Belfast - Glasgow - London 
> is not an international journey.  Apologies if that is obvious, but not 
> everyone realises it :-)

Luko will be along in a moment to argue with that :-)

On 01 Jul 2008 21:44:39 GMT, Rian van der Borgt wrote:
>On Tue, 1 Jul 2008 19:54:02 +0100, Radio Highland wrote:
>>"Rian van der Borgt" <rvdborgt+@evonet.be> wrote in message 
>>>We're preparing a trip to explore a bit of both Irish railways.

[booking rail±sail via Stena]

>>The only place you can get them 
>>is the Stena Line call centre or any staffed station but that is difficult 
>>in Belgium.
>
> A friend of mine called Stena line today: yes, you can book, but no,
> they don't send tickets abroad, and no, we can't pick them up in London
> when we arrive... (I'll probably ask a British friend to forward them to
> me...)

... which is what I did. It turns out:
- Stena have a 3 pound credit card charge per booking. A return is two
bookings. When one person in the group travels to another destination on
his return trip, then that is another separate booking.
- Stena's booking system doesn't really make life easy for staff and
passengers: I had to give all passenger names twice and credit card
details three times for the three bookings.
- Tickets are only sent out between 3 and 2 weeks before travel. I
didn't know that, so after about 2 weeks, I mailed Stena (no answer) and
after 1 month I called them.
- I had asked for reservations for the 4 of us, but we got none, at
least for London - Stranrear on September 6th (tickets for the return
trip have to be picked up in Belfast). Would that be a
problem on either the 8:30 or the 9:00 from Kings Cross to Newcastle?

Further, we noticed IÉ offer the possibility to make seat reservation
for some of their services, which raises the question: is this really
necessary? We'll be travelling by train in the republic Sunday -
Tuesday.
That being said, IÉ also say that on all trains from Dublin to Cork on
September 7th all seats have been taken...

Regards,

          Rian

-- 
Rian van der Borgt, Leuven, Belgium.
e-mail: rvdborgt@evonet.be  www: http://www.evonet.be/~rvdborgt/