Rail & Sail - traveling tonight but no printer

railpigeon · 30 Jun 2026

Hi,

I was affected by the Eurostar Rotterdam disruption and have this afternoon used a Rail & Sail ticket bought from the Stena website to get from Hook to Harwich. I will be disembarking in about half an hour.

The ferry leg had gone smoothly. In fact, I have been very impressed. And, of course, if they had objected to the ticket or the format of the ticket at Hook I would have been denied boarding.

For the rail leg down to London Liverpool Street I have only the eticket from Stena. Stena’s website says ‘print this out and use it as a rail ticket’, or words to that effect.

But I cannot print it.

I emailed Greater Anglia earlier to ask for an email confirming that my booking (I quoted the booking ref) would be valid for the train. I have had no reply.

It seems obvious to me that showing the ticket on screen is fine.

But is it?

If the booking office at Harwich International is open I will ask for some kind of written or printed confirmation.

Any thoughts are welcome?

I am not in the mood to be treated like a petty criminal by a GA jobsworth who decides to take against anything that is not a credit card size tangerine colour piece of card.

RailUK Forums

185143 · 30 Jun 2026

TLDR: Don't even give it a second thought. They're used to seeing them shown on screens.

I've never printed one and never had a problem.

Not even when I went to the gateline at Romford and pretty much (politely!) Said "let me in ASAP, I'm about to miss the train!".

I suspect few if any get printed really. Especially not when there's Eurostar/air disruption.

Last time I used one there was disruption to both Eurostar and flights back in January, I bought it on the concourse at Rotterdam. I used the day sailing, but the "first impression" from the UK railway really was second to none. Staff in the tunnel actively stopping people and directing them to trains, even made a point of telling me that the ex Norwich was late, so get the stopper to Manningtree, which I'd have never thought of at the time. GA seem to be very supportive of passengers using these tickets, they usually see the ticket and say "oh is it a Rail & Sail?", check the date and leave you alone.

If you really do want it printing, might be worth speaking to Guest Services onboard the ship? Stena crews are usually very helpful.

railpigeon · 30 Jun 2026

What does “typically not accepted” mean?

Typically, I don’t fly to the moon. But flying to the moon is not against any railway bye-laws.

MrJeeves · 30 Jun 2026

railpigeon said:
What does “typically not accepted” mean?

It means that "AI" produces nonsense, and you're better off relying on well-informed members of this forum instead.

Merseysider · 30 Jun 2026

railpigeon said:
What does “typically not accepted” mean?

Typically, I don’t fly to the moon. But flying to the moon is not against any railway bye-laws.

More AI slop - ignore it.

Gemini wanted me to drown myself by staying "completely submerged" for a month following a tattoo whilst also avoiding baths and oceans.

railpigeon · 30 Jun 2026

185143, Mr Jeeves, Merseysider, thank you all. Now safely back past the Liverpool Street gate line.

In order then:

I spoke to Stena’s man on the desk at Harwich. “Two things”. One was to thank him and all at Stena for an efficient, friendly alternative to Eurostar. The second was to mention my ticket and ask whether possible to get a print out. He reassured me it would not be necessary but offered to print it - and did print it - all the same. No fuss. No quibbling. He saw my point and printed it.

I changed at Manningtree and tickets were checked on both trains and at the Liverpool street gate. I showed the screen version each time. The two on train checks were happy with just a glance. At the gate “May I have a closer look?” But then let through, all within 10 seconds.

I know Eurostar will not be quaking at the potential loss of the Railpigeon pound, but Stena, Greater Anglia, RailSail and the passport checking teams on both sides have impressed me today on my first Hook/Harwich trip. I’m sure there will be more.

gray1404 · 30 Jun 2026

How much are these tickets?

A S Leib · 30 Jun 2026

gray1404 said:
How much are these tickets?

I think it's ~£70 each way at the very lowest, with cabins (mandatory for the overnight sailings) from ~£40 each way (possibly a higher starting point for night services).

saismee · 30 Jun 2026

I can say with certainty that I have not and will not ever challenge people who haven't printed one of these tickets if they appear at my the gateline I work. You'd have to get unbelievably unlucky to be challenged for it.

Nicholas43 · 1 Jul 2026

railpigeon said:
185143, Mr Jeeves, Merseysider, thank you all. Now safely back past the Liverpool Street gate line. ...

I know Eurostar will not be quaking at the potential loss of the Railpigeon pound, but Stena, Greater Anglia, RailSail and the passport checking teams on both sides have impressed me today on my first Hook/Harwich trip. I’m sure there will be more.

Kindly stop publicizing the only civilized way of travelling between England and mainland Europe. The fewer people know about it, the better choice of cabins I'll get next time I book.

saismee · 1 Jul 2026

Nicholas43 said:
Kindly stop publicizing the only civilized way of travelling between England and mainland Europe. The fewer people know about it, the better choice of cabins I'll get next time I book.

I will say that I have never seen a yob with a rail and sail ticket. It is always either polite Dutch people or posh-sounding British people. The kind of people you think of when you hear "Ladies and Gentlemen".

Haywain · 1 Jul 2026

Nicholas43 said:
Kindly stop publicizing the only civilized way of travelling between England and mainland Europe. The fewer people know about it, the better choice of cabins I'll get next time I book.

You might appreciate it being publicised if it prevents it going the way of the Portsmouth - Le Havre and Poole - Cherbourg routes.

ainsworth74 · 1 Jul 2026

Haywain said:
You might appreciate it being publicised if it prevents it going the way of the Portsmouth - Le Havre and Poole - Cherbourg routes.

There's surely a sweet spot to be found between being used enough to keep it going but not so much that @Nicholas43 can't have their preferred choice of cabin :lol:

185143 · 1 Jul 2026

saismee said:
I will say that I have never seen a yob with a rail and sail ticket. It is always either polite Dutch people or posh-sounding British people. The kind of people you think of when you hear "Ladies and Gentlemen".

I can assure you I'm not posh in any way!

saismee · 1 Jul 2026

185143 said:
I can assure you I'm not posh in any way!

Nor I but I still plan to use it soon!

styles · 1 Jul 2026

railpigeon said:
I spoke to Stena’s man on the desk at Harwich. “Two things”. One was to thank him and all at Stena for an efficient, friendly alternative to Eurostar. The second was to mention my ticket and ask whether possible to get a print out. He reassured me it would not be necessary but offered to print it - and did print it - all the same. No fuss. No quibbling. He saw my point and printed it.

This doesn't surprise me. While the rail industry seems to enjoy showing contempt for passengers not following their archaic rules (looking at you, Avanti, requiring me to print my bicycle reservation instead of seeing it on my phone), I've always found ferry company staff to be very flexible and use common sense. Printing off a ticket for a passenger onto a sheet of A4 will cost them what like 1p in paper, 1p in ink, 1p in maintenance they're already paying for? But it gives the customer peace of mind and a positive experience.

185143 · 1 Jul 2026

Haywain said:
You might appreciate it being publicised if it prevents it going the way of the Portsmouth - Le Havre and Poole - Cherbourg routes.

Off topic, but I'm coming home via the Le Havre-Portsmouth route on Saturday and there's no cabins left.

So it must be getting plenty of use, even though they intend to close it?

ricoblade · 2 Jul 2026

styles said:
This doesn't surprise me. While the rail industry seems to enjoy showing contempt for passengers not following their archaic rules (looking at you, Avanti, requiring me to print my bicycle reservation instead of seeing it on my phone), I've always found ferry company staff to be very flexible and use common sense. Printing off a ticket for a passenger onto a sheet of A4 will cost them what like 1p in paper, 1p in ink, 1p in maintenance they're already paying for? But it gives the customer peace of mind and a positive experience.

Haha - Reminds me of trying to get a bike reservation on LNER when out on a bike ride ,as only when I was near the end did I know which train I could get.

I called them up from the middle of nowhere but they insisted on me having to print it and couldn't offer any solutions.

Luckily the ticket office at York sorted me out when I got there.

AlexNL · 2 Jul 2026

Nicholas43 said:
Kindly stop publicizing the only civilized way of travelling between England and mainland Europe.

styles said:
I've always found ferry company staff to be very flexible and use common sense.

I live in the south west of the Netherlands, a good amount of my travels to GB are done by car. For that I don't use the Channel Tunnel, instead I drive to Calais/Dunkirk and take a ferry to Dover from there.

There's three operators so options aplenty, it's priced very competitively (even more so when you can nab a short stay ticket), I've only ever encountered very pleasant staff, and all my journeys have been excellent with lovely views of the White Cliffs and the Calais coastline. P&O's latest generation of ferries are really nice as well, I've never had a journey as smooth as on their "Fusion" class of ferries. When talking to friends, family and coworkers about going to the UK, I often recommend taking the ferry over the tunnel.

And I've never had a need for a print-out of anything, either.

BazingaTribe · 3 Jul 2026

Haywain said:
You might appreciate it being publicised if it prevents it going the way of the Portsmouth - Le Havre and Poole - Cherbourg routes.

All the more reason to take another trip to the Netherlands or Germany when my AL calendar resets. My friends live in southern Sweden and it would be an epic trip but if it's in any way threatened...

The difficulty might be getting from Basingstoke to Harwich and back but I'd imagine Rotterdam to Hamburg and Hamburg to Copenhagen (for Skåne) would be less difficult.

To get back on topic, I went by Eurostar to Brussels last December and ended up stopping at Rymans to print out everything. I needed nothing except the DB ICE tickets to Aachen, and even then I could probably have shown it from my phone.

marshlinker · 4 Jul 2026

Haywain said:
You might appreciate it being publicised if it prevents it going the way of the Portsmouth - Le Havre and Poole - Cherbourg routes.

The loss of the Brittany ferries routes is as a result of a decline in freight on those routes plus increased fuel costs. When i was on secondment at Portsmouth International Port 10 years ago it was the norm for foot passengers to be accommodated by one run in a minibus/ ambulance-on busy days it made two runs.

Sealink · 4 Jul 2026

railpigeon said:
185143, Mr Jeeves, Merseysider, thank you all. Now safely back past the Liverpool Street gate line.

In order then:

I spoke to Stena’s man on the desk at Harwich. “Two things”. One was to thank him and all at Stena for an efficient, friendly alternative to Eurostar. The second was to mention my ticket and ask whether possible to get a print out. He reassured me it would not be necessary but offered to print it - and did print it - all the same. No fuss. No quibbling. He saw my point and printed it.

I changed at Manningtree and tickets were checked on both trains and at the Liverpool street gate. I showed the screen version each time. The two on train checks were happy with just a glance. At the gate “May I have a closer look?” But then let through, all within 10 seconds.

I know Eurostar will not be quaking at the potential loss of the Railpigeon pound, but Stena, Greater Anglia, RailSail and the passport checking teams on both sides have impressed me today on my first Hook/Harwich trip. I’m sure there will be more.

I love that journey, and Stena Line are excellent.

Rail & Sail - traveling tonight but no printer

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