Let’s restore Rail & Sail to its former glory
Not so long ago, it was possible to purchase a single ticket and travel by rail and ferry to Ireland, the Netherlands, Boulogne and even Paris. While some of these services have disappeared, some remain, but they’ve become increasingly restricted, limiting options to travel sustainably and leaving people with little choice but to fly.
For those unfamiliar with this integrated ticket, Rail & Sail is a joint scheme between train and ferry operators, offering a fixed rate fare for travel primarily between Britain and Ireland. But over the past four years these tickets have become increasingly difficult to book, and alarmingly rail operators themselves don’t appear to know Rail & Sail exists.
Currently, Rail & Sail tickets go on sale five weeks before you can travel while standalone ferry tickets are released over six months in advance, and standard rail tickets are generally available up to 12 weeks ahead. When attempting to book a combined Rail & Sail ticket more than five weeks in advance, customers are met with ‘no fares available’ message with no indication that those fares will become available at a later date. Booked separately, rail and ferry are significantly more expensive than the combined option meaning passengers will opt to pay more or, perhaps more likely, fly instead. It’s worth noting here that when booking Rail & Sail in the opposite direction, from Ireland to Britain, tickets are ready to book months ahead.
This issue is another prime example of easily avoidable emissions coming from short haul flying. Rail & Sail carbon emissions are at least 73 per cent less than the equivalent flight from London to Dublin. We’ve long been campaigning to curb the volume of UK domestic flights; by reducing the most popular domestic flights by half, we could save 409,598 tonnes of carbon, the equivalent of taking 283,000 cars off the road. So it’s worrying that despite the existence of a sustainable alternative, the demand for air travel on this route is huge; Ireland and the UK consistently place on the list of the top 20 country pairs for international travel by seat number. By restricting the availability of Rail & Sail tickets, passengers are left with a choice between a very pricey two-ticket train and ferry option, or a cheaper one-ticket flight. As we’ve consistently shouted about through our campaign to expand the train ticket booking window, to compete with air travel, the sustainable option has to be more widely accessible and better value.
What’s especially frustrating about Rail & Sail is that the key components are there. It is good value, with tickets available from and stick at around £51.10, you don’t have any baggage restrictions or security faff and you can enjoy the view or easily get some work done while you travel. But most people, including concerningly rail operators themselves, aren’t even aware of it!
Restoring Rail & Sail was one of our key recommendations in our Fare Future for Rail report. This is why, along with four other NGOs, we’ve signed an open letter to ask Transport for Wales, Avanti West Coast, Irish Ferries and Stena Line to work together and restore the Rail & Sail to its former glory. A copy of this letter has also been sent to the Irish government and the UK Department for Transport. You can read the letter in full here.
