Anytime Day Single Overnight BOJ

[Goatboy]

Hi guys,

I potentially need to travel to Belfast at short notice and the rail fare is considerably cheaper than flying, as I'm sure you all know. The single fare is, bizarrely, an Anytime Day Single.

There is massive engineering work on the WCML this weekend and as a result it does not look possible to complete the journey in one day (It usually is, just).

Would the ticket be valid for onward travel the next day given it's an Anytime Day Single?

Annoyingly I don't need to come back via public transport so the otherwise entirely flexible Anytime Return is not an appropriate product choice.

 

[Hadders]

I've done a couple of these journeys and not had a problem continuing into day 2.

The first was Belfast to Kyle of Lochalsh. I couldn't get any further than Inverness and had to complete the next day (there is a trip report on it somewhere). The guard on the Invernss-Kyle train was fine.

More recently I took the Euston-Glasgow sleeper, continuing onto Belfast the following morning. Again, absolutely no issues continuing into day 2.

Remember that the ferry reservation is compulsory and you will need to have this issued for day 2 (even though the rail ticket is dated for day 1). Some clerks might struggle to do it (when I got mine I think the clerk had to find a workaround).

It was possible to get NRE to issue an itinerary from Euston to Belfast using the sleeper and continuing into day 2 using a SDS ticket. You have to play around with it and specify additional interchange time.

 

[CallySleeper]

This should be fine. Where are you travelling from?

Of course, you can ask for a late departure which forces your itinerary into day 2. Feel free to have a play on Scotrail's website (they also sell SR products online). Remember that any reservations you get don't need to be honoured with this ticket (except the ferry one!) As Hadders said, you may need to specify the interchange time to get the system to do start on day 1.

 

[bb21]

They are not actually Day tickets in a strict sense if you know what I mean. SailRail tickets are a whole different kettle of fish and you are absolutely fine continuing onto the second day, preferrably with such an itinerary as CallySleeper mentioned.

I used such a ticket on the sleeper dated for the Sunday last week, arrived at the Loch Ryan port Monday afternoon, and the ferry guys had no problem whatsoever with the ticket showing the previous day's date. Similarly with railway staff in the opposite direction sometimes.

 

[Hadders]

The annoying thing with using the lowland sleeper on a journey to Belfast is that it arrives at Glasgow Central at 0718 but doesn't officially connect into the 0730 departure to Ayr and the 1130 ferry because the minimum connection time at GLC is 15 minutes.

Officially you can't arrive in Belfast until 1745, and even if you could make the 0730 departure the compulsory ferry reservation presumably means you have to take the later ferry anyway.

It's a shame the arrival time of the sleeper can't be eased by a few minutes.

 

[bb21]

What I found stupid is that the coach is booked to leave Ayr at 0840. If it were scheduled to leave 20 minutes later at 0900, it would make a perfect connection with the 0745 from Glasgow Central, and still leave plenty of time at the other end to make the 1130 ferry.

I got so bored waiting for the 1530 ferry last week I ended up going via Stranraer just for the heck of it and to waste some time.

Ferry reservation is not actually compulsory on this route AFAIK. I have never been asked for my reservation by Stena Line staff.

 

[CallySleeper]

The annoying thing with using the lowland sleeper on a journey to Belfast is that it arrives at Glasgow Central at 0718 but doesn't officially connect into the 0730 departure to Ayr and the 1130 ferry because the minimum connection time at GLC is 15 minutes.

Officially you can't arrive in Belfast until 1745, and even if you could make the 0730 departure the compulsory ferry reservation presumably means you have to take the later ferry anyway.

It's a shame the arrival time of the sleeper can't be eased by a few minutes.

The workaround here is probably to specify the 1130 boat. Then, despite whatever itinerary you get given, you could still buy a seperate sleeper supplement with the ticket you hold (irregardless of the connection time). In theory, anyway. The downsides to this are I'm not sure you'd be protected in the case of a missed connection at Central - whether your boat reservation would still be upheld for the 1530.

 

[Hadders]

I wasn't sure how fussy Stena would be over getting the earlier ferry than the one I had a reservation for but I guessed there was more to do in Glasgow for a few hours than in Cairnryan!

After watching the 0730 depart I used the showers in the station then hot footed it to Weatherspoons for some breakfast before a couple of hours bashing round Glasgow

 

[bkhtele]

Agree you will have no problem with next day travel, have done this several times in both directions. Even the gate staff at Paddington had no problem with me having continued my journey at 10.30 after a nice breakfast in London.

So far I have always successfully caught the 7.30am Train in Glasgow for Ayr & had time to grab a coffee. Stena seem relaxed about which ferry you use.

Have looked at catching the P&O ferry if I missed my Stena ferry, sailings currently 10.30 or 13/13.30 or catching the Ulsterbus from Glasgow. (9.30 train ex Glasgow arrives Stranraer at 12.00. (Obviously ther would be extra cost)

Alternatively you use to be able to take the sleeper via Westerton arrive 0555 towards Fortwilliam and catch earlier train to Ayr, not sure if this is still valid!

Hi guys,

I potentially need to travel to Belfast at short notice and the rail fare is considerably cheaper than flying, as I'm sure you all know. The single fare is, bizarrely, an Anytime Day Single.

There is massive engineering work on the WCML this weekend and as a result it does not look possible to complete the journey in one day (It usually is, just).

Would the ticket be valid for onward travel the next day given it's an Anytime Day Single?

Annoyingly I don't need to come back via public transport so the otherwise entirely flexible Anytime Return is not an appropriate product choice.

 

[Hadders]

I've checked the FAQ's on Stena's website which says that if you miss your booked ferry they will try and get you on a later one subject to space being available. To be fair these are general FAQ's rather than specific sailrail ones but unless for some bizarre reason the ferry is sold out then it seems that you'd be alright on a later ferry than booked.

I see that you can get sailrail tickets using the Birkenhead-Belfast ferry. Has anyone used this route? I might give it a try next time.

 

[najaB]

I see that you can get sailrail tickets using the Birkenhead-Belfast ferry. Has anyone used this route? I might give it a try next time.

I've not done it yet, but I have tickets booked for the 17th. It's a longer ferry journey (8 hours) but that means the times are more friendly than the Dublin routes.

 

[CallySleeper]

Not sure re: Westerton, I'd say it was a valid move, though you'd have more trouble getting a booking engine to do it I suspect. Might be a case of my advice above, buy the ticket then a separate supplement.

The advantage of getting the 15.30 is of course time for a shower/'spoons in Glasgow, which you wouldn't ordinarily get. Re: reservations, in my experience it really depends I think on who you get on the desk/security..

Personally, I'm waiting for feline1 to wade into this thread... :roll:

 

[Goatboy]

Thanks chaps.

Next question, I can't seem to get Two Together Railcard discount on this ticket. Is there a reason?

Also I can't get the Scotrail website to offer the ticket at all - there is no destination of 'Belfast NI'. Any suggestions on how to buy online?

 

[yorkie]

Thanks chaps.

Next question, I can't seem to get Two Together Railcard discount on this ticket. Is there a reason?

Incompetence by the rail industry?

Also I can't get the Scotrail website to offer the ticket at all - there is no destination of 'Belfast NI'. Any suggestions on how to buy online?

Have you tried Loco2 or Raileasy?

I wasn't sure how fussy Stena would be over getting the earlier ferry than the one I had a reservation for ...

Not at all fussy, in my experience.

 

[CallySleeper]

Thanks chaps.

Next question, I can't seem to get Two Together Railcard discount on this ticket. Is there a reason?

Also I can't get the Scotrail website to offer the ticket at all - there is no destination of 'Belfast NI'. Any suggestions on how to buy online?

The booking form on the front page won't take it, so just type in any staton. The next page is http://tickets.scotrail.co.uk/sr/en/JourneyPlanning/MixingDeck, which does accept Belfast ni, so you can amend it then.

Hope that makes sense. You could just bookmark the page above for easier access in future.

 

[gordonthemoron]

I thought Two Together was not valid for Sailrail?

 

[CallySleeper]

No, it's not.

 

[bangor-toad]

Also I can't get the Scotrail website to offer the ticket at all - there is no destination of 'Belfast NI'. Any suggestions on how to buy online?

Hi there,
If you go to the Scotrail homepage you've got the "Plan my journey" section where you can click on "Book Tickets" and enter the start & destination of your trip. As you've discovered, you can't enter "Belfast" there.

The work around it simple:
From the home page just enter any journey, say your destination station to Glasgow. Enter the times and dates and click to book.
Once you get to the MixingDesk page just click "Amend Search" and you can enter Belfast in the destination box and book the ticket online.

Looks as if it's some sort of website bug but the work-around is easy enough.
Cheers,
Mr Toad

 

[Goatboy]

Further question - as this is an Anytime Day Single is it permissible to use it in First Class on Virgin Trains? I've searched back and the answer seems to be 'maybe'. Presumably worst-case scenario is 'no' and a £15 weekend First upgrade which is hardly the end of the world, so probably worth trying?

 

[bkhtele]

Have done the weekend first upgrade without difficulty, no week day 1st class.

The Belfast Liverpool is a good alternative, seat 61 recommends booking via Sealink so that you can secure a berth. I did the route both ways just over a year ago before the Liverpool sail rail was launched. They were spending a lot on upgrading the ferry which looks good. The terminals are very smart & I almost had security to myself last time I travelled. In Liverpool they let you board the ferry quite early so that you can have an evening meal (or a portion of chips & a beer) before the ferry sails. There is a utube video on seat 61.

Arrival in Belfasts is early, fine if you have an onward journey, or being met at the port. No bus though, I almost got on an army bus to Holywood barracks by mistake. You can get a breakfast or coffee if you get to the Great victoria St area of Belfast.