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Kent - Belfast Sail Rail ticket via Glasgow
- Thread starter hkstudent
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Trainbike46
Established Member
you can buy sailrail tickets from ticket offices, however in my experience you may have to shop around; some ticket offices will refuse, usually claiming their TIS cannot offer the ticket
Would you be willing to share your starting station and approximate date so I can see if I can find it?
RailUK Tickets will sell these - though you may need to add Ayr as a via point.
Trainbike46
Established Member
I just did a dummy booking from Ashford International to Belfast port and I identified an issue: there is no early morning train early enough into london to make it to the ferry in time.
You can get around this in a few ways:
- Book a return ticket, and spend the night in london to take the 5:30 Euston-Glasgow train
- Book a return ticket, and call caledonian sleeper and ask for either a free seat reservation or a paid-for berth supplement, and use the caledonian sleeper to get from london to Glasgow
- Travel via Liverpool instead, using the overnight ferry from Birkenhead to Belfast
The reason you need a return ticket, is that the SailRail singles are day singles, so won't allow overnight break of journey. This is allowed on the anytime return tickets, which are £76.55 with a railcard
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you can book the return tickets online with a range of ticket selling websites, however some ticket websites will not sell tickets to/from belfast (a notable one that doesn't work is mixingdeck).
I managed to get the anytime returns to show up on both chilternrailways and railUK tickets, so either of those should definitely work
You can get around this in a few ways:
- Book a return ticket, and spend the night in london to take the 5:30 Euston-Glasgow train
- Book a return ticket, and call caledonian sleeper and ask for either a free seat reservation or a paid-for berth supplement, and use the caledonian sleeper to get from london to Glasgow
- Travel via Liverpool instead, using the overnight ferry from Birkenhead to Belfast
The reason you need a return ticket, is that the SailRail singles are day singles, so won't allow overnight break of journey. This is allowed on the anytime return tickets, which are £76.55 with a railcard
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it shouldn't for a single, as there are no itineraries from most kent stations to belfast within a single day. For a return, it should offer only the anytime return ticket
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you can book the return tickets online with a range of ticket selling websites, however some ticket websites will not sell tickets to/from belfast (a notable one that doesn't work is mixingdeck).
I managed to get the anytime returns to show up on both chilternrailways and railUK tickets, so either of those should definitely work
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I think that as there is only one connecting bus a day from Ayr to Cairnryan and with the current Avanti issues there is actually no connecting train from London as the 05.31 doesnt run in the reduced timetable.
Realistically if you want to go from Kent to Belfast the easy/ reasonably priced option is Easyjet from Gatwick, Luton or Stansted.
If you want to avoid flying its train to Birkenhead and overnight ferry from there but theres no sailrail through ticketing or a possibly very slow rail journey to Holyhead Ferry to Dublin Bus to Luas, Luas to Connoly and then train to Belfast.
Trainbike46
Established Member
I got a journey planner to produce the 05:31 euston to glasgow, so either the journey planners are wrong, or the 05:31 runs at least some days
In addition, with an anytime return ticket you are allowed to travel on the caledonian sleeper, if you get a reservation by calling them. So if you wanted to you could still travel via Cairnryan by using the sleeper to get from london to Glasgow.
Personally, I have mostly switched to going via liverpool/birkenhead, as it is more convenient, despite the higher price
Realistically if you are getting a berth on the Caledonian Sleeper you are better off getting a berth on the ferry and waking up in Belfast.
If you are thinking of the seats dont! Youll be awake all night chucked out in Glasgow at 7 in the morning. Hanging around until the connecting train leaves at 11.30 then the bus and ferry arriving in Belfast at 18.00
The real budget option (with much more sleep) would be overnight megabus to Glasgow, then Hanlon coach to Belfast via the ferry arriving in Belfast at 14.15.
If you are thinking of the seats dont! Youll be awake all night chucked out in Glasgow at 7 in the morning. Hanging around until the connecting train leaves at 11.30 then the bus and ferry arriving in Belfast at 18.00
The real budget option (with much more sleep) would be overnight megabus to Glasgow, then Hanlon coach to Belfast via the ferry arriving in Belfast at 14.15.
Trainbike46
Established Member
I agree that the most comfortable option is going via liverpool
Can the coach option, whether using citylink or hannon coaches for the glasgow-Belfast bit, beat £76.55 return? I doubt it to be honest!
London Victoria to Buchanan St to Donegal Sq Belfast coach fares on random dates Megabus/Hanon:
Fri 28th £24.99/£39.00 + booking fees £2 =£65.99
Mon 31st £14.99/£39.00 + £2 =£56.99
a Kent Coast to Victoria mid tier not hs1 advance late at night is usually around the £12 mark so yes Id say it has a good chance of beating it.
Yeah, and indeed, the new Caledonian Sleeper is just a sleep deprivation in any classes or berth or seats
Ulsterbus/CityLink is a fair bit cheaper than Hannon Coach, and has three departures per day seven days a week instead of one or two depending on the day
Ulsterbus/CityLink charge £30 single or £50 return if booked two days in advance; and a student fare of £24 single or £40 return is available if you register for a MyCityLink Student account. There used to be an over 60s discount too (same as student rate) but that seems to have died off. By contrast, Hannon Coach has a flat fare of £39 each way.
Your extra £9 single or £28 return (£15 single or £38 return if you're a student) gets you a journey that's about 15 minutes shorter, a slightly nicer coach, and not having to carry your luggage on and off the coach in the terminals. Perhaps worth it to some for a single journey (unless you're a student) - but certainly not for a return! The only significant selling point Hannon Coach has is the through service to Lisburn (Sprucefield) and Lurgan (Loughview).
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If we assume that @hkstudent is a student, yes - by almost £10, actually!
£26.98 return from London to Glasgow with Megabus (£12.99 each way + £1 booking fee)
£40 return from Glasgow to Belfast with Ulsterbus/CityLink (student fare)
If they aren't a student, it's 43p more expensive than Rail and Sail.
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RJ
Established Member
I did it earlier this year and it wasn’t that bad! Though on future occasions it’ll be hard to compete with 50p flights between London and Scotland with food and drinks included in that price.
As for ticket offices, SailRail tickets can definitely be issued where I am, journey opportunities and availability permitting!
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