Irish Interrail plans

[mikeg]

I'm planning of perhaps doing an interrail one country pass of Ireland, but have a few questions:

How would I have proof of residency? It mentions government issued documents, naturally I have a UK passport and I am also a UK-born, UK citizen, but I understand I have to have proof I'm normally resident here. Also is there any way to get it with free/cheaper postage than myinterrail?

I believe the pass is normally valid in Northern Ireland, but would I be ineligible for this given that I have UK citizenship? Is Enterprise included? I know NIR are so I assume it is but can't seem to find a definite answer. Also if it is, is any advance booking or reservation required? It says that many international trains require reservations, but I can't seem to find whether reservations are compulsory for Enterprise. Then is first class worth it given the smallish price difference? I know Enterprise and the Dublin to Cork service have first class and was thinking of going for a first class pass for this reason but can't decide whether it'd be worth the additional cost.

One final question: How large is the Travel Diary for a one country pass? I imagine most tourists won't need to fill in that many trains but if bashing around Ireland could become full quite quickly. Would manually prepared continuation sheets be accepted?

Apologies for all the questions, have done some research but can't seem to find the answers to these questions!

 

[Capybara]

One final question: How large is the Travel Diary for a one country pass? I imagine most tourists won't need to fill in that many trains but if bashing around Ireland could become full quite quickly. Would manually prepared continuation sheets be accepted?

I can't answer most of the questions. specifically those related to Northern Ireland, but the Interrail site has continuation sheets that you can print out. The Interrail pass these days does not have a large travel diary - enough for 22 entries - so I would suggest you print out a couple of extra sheets before departure.

I've never had a problem with my home address. You just give it when ordering a pass and that's it in my experience.

 

[Quakkerillo]

You should be able to buy an Interrail with your valid ID. I've not heard of them actually checking where you live. I myself am Dutch, but live in Brussels. I've used both my Belgian Residency Permit ID Card and my Dutch passport to buy Belgian and Dutch interrail passes since, just to be able to get validity where I need it.
Enterprise is not a separate Enterprise, but a joint venture between NIR and the Irish Rail company which both accept Interrail. So it is included, and a reservation is not necessary, but possible. When I last traveled on them without a reservation, it was a scramble for the last few free seats, with many standing until Newry at least.
Interrail does provide a link to print off extra sheets where needed.

 

[Elwyn]

The Enterprise Service does have a reservation system but reservations are not compulsory. 1st class on the Enterprise is quite comfortable. 2 seats on one side and one on the other. There's a bit more space around each seat than in 2nd. There are 2 1st class coaches, normally positioned at the Dublin end of the train. You get a free paper and a soft drink, and are served at your table for other drinks and food. I often go 1st class and think it’s worth it, especially if the rest of the train is busy, as it often is at peak times. 2nd class is fine though.

 

[Flying Snail]

Have you compared the interrail pass prices to locally bought tickets? Interrail might be easier but depending on your plans you could save a few quid using IE and Translink tickets.

IE do a 4 day ticket for €110 or a 5 day out of 15 for €160, they would have to be bought at a station.

http://www.irishrail.ie/fares-and-tickets/tickets-explained#type-tourist

For NIR a one day all services (NIR, Ulsterbus, Metro) is £17 on an ilink smartcard, you can buy online and get it posted to you.

That would not include 1st class obviously. There used to be internal rail tickets covering both countries and even one covering all Translink and CIE bus and rail across the island but they have been withdrawn. The only all-Ireland tickets now is the cross border free travel scheme for Pensioners.

For interrail the whole of Ireland is considered a separate country so no issues with using it in NI for a GB resident.

TBH I wouldn't be worrying too much about the diary or ID, a passport will be more than enough in the unlikely event any staff asks for any of that at all. Most staff here are reasonably relaxed and won't be needling tourists over the letter of the law, if indeed they know them as interrail use would be fairly uncommon here, expect curious looks at the ticket more than demands for resident documentation.

As others have said Enterprise is just a brand name for the Dublin - Belfast service, it carries passengers between all stops and has no special validity restrictions. Reservations are possible on Enterprise and most IE inter-city services but are not compulsory. (with the exception of a handful of services per year carrying heavy loadings to Dublin for big GAA sporting events)

Similar to everywhere else to ensure seats best avoid the peaks, Friday afternoon/evenings from Dublin and Sundays to Dublin are the busiest times, as well as the usual weekday peaks.

1st class is only available on Enterprise, Dublin - Cork and one Tralee - Dublin return. To upgrade a Std class ticket is €25 per train on Enterprise and Loco-Hauled Dublin- Cork or €12.50 on the Railcars on Cork and Tralee. Seat reservations in Std can be purchased online for €4 per train as can the 1st upgrades.

For a 4 day interrail the difference is about €50 from Std to 1st, work out how many trains with 1st you are going to be on and figure out if it is worth it.

It might be worth looking at using some bus routes to avoid a lot of doubling back, the routes through the midlands are a bit dull so a return trip on the same line taking up most of a day may stretch the patience.

Useful bus routes to connect remote rail lines would include Galway-Westport/Ballina, Ballina - Sligo, Sligo - Derry, Rosslare/Wexford - Waterford. These are coach operated but don't need any pre-booking

 

[mikeg]

Thanks, Flying Snail for the useful info. I did look for the IE €110 ticket, as I'm sure I saw something about it on my day trip a couple of years ago but found IE's website quite hard to navigate in this respect. May well go for locally bought tickets, wanted to ideally do Enterprise and Dublin-Cork in first but I'll see what itineraries I can come up with. May book the odd advance/online low fare for travel in Ireland. The only question is if using the €110 ticket: I understand split ticketing is banned on Irish Rail (or always was: Is this still the case?) so presumably I couldn't combine a NIR and IE ticket?

Either way will work out if any of these tickets are of use to me... may actually go for relevant walk-up tickets.

Also working out whether sailrail or overnight coach from Leeds would be the best option. Was thinking of the latter to maximise time in Ireland and save on hotel ching given I have a week's holiday to make the best use of, that said the former involves trains.

 

[Flying Snail]

Bear in mind that the Eurolines 880 from Leeds now only runs on Fri, Sat, Sun, Mon nights and Thu, Fri, Sat, Sun from Dublin.

You can go sailrail on both Stena and Irish Ferries overnight sailings, there is an 1-1h30 wait at Holyhead on this and you have to pay extra in cash for the bus from the ferry terminal to Dublin city.

In the other direction using the evening sailings from Dublin is not a good idea, there is a wait of over 4 hours for the first train out of HHD. The 02.15 Stena sailing has good connections in HHD but there is no public transport to the port for that departure.

I don't know what the official situation regarding splitting an Enterprise trip with IE and NIR tickets would be, would I try it; possibly, would I recommend it; probably not. If you do get the urge to find out the official line I'd contact Translink in preference to Irish Rail.

Buying single tickets is going to quickly add up, the lowest fare on Dublin - Cork is €20 one way, Dublin - Belfast is €18 from Irish Rail. Translink do offer cheaper fares than Irish Rail on Belfast - Dublin, lowest is £9 but they only sell tickets starting in NI, singles and returns.
On Sailrail via Holyhead a through fare to Belfast (not including bus transfer in Dublin) is around £15 more than Dublin Port.

Another good fare that may be of interest is the Sunday Day Tracker for £7.50 for NI http://www.translink.co.uk/Find-The-Right-Ticket/tickets/sunday-day-tracker/ You could easily cover the whole network on a Sunday with that. There is also cross-acceptance of paper tickets after 6.30pm so it could also be used for an Ulsterbus/Goldline journey.

Having said all that the Interrail may still be the best option, certainly less complex and unlikely to be a huge saving with local tickets.

 

[mikeg]

Many thanks for the suggestions. I have booked sail rail there and the overnight coach back. Spending three nights in Dublin and two in Belfast - did consider sail rail straight back from Belfast but for some reason I decided to go back to Dublin. The Cork service is not an absolute necessity, given that the enterprise uses loco hauled stock too. I could end up seeing more of the sights around Ireland. I have decided to do this on a budget so am going for standard class. I therefore think that interrail may not be the best option. I already have a visitor leap card but may be better getting a normal one for my travels around Dublin. The hotel I'm staying at isn't in the centre but is opposite a DART station. Also it appears that Dublin bus operate a service from a short walk outside the port to near the hotel so this would possibly be better than the transfer.

 

[Steddenm]

Many thanks for the suggestions. I have booked sail rail there and the overnight coach back. Spending three nights in Dublin and two in Belfast - did consider sail rail straight back from Belfast but for some reason I decided to go back to Dublin. The Cork service is not an absolute necessity, given that the enterprise uses loco hauled stock too. I could end up seeing more of the sights around Ireland. I have decided to do this on a budget so am going for standard class. I therefore think that interrail may not be the best option. I already have a visitor leap card but may be better getting a normal one for my travels around Dublin. The hotel I'm staying at isn't in the centre but is opposite a DART station. Also it appears that Dublin bus operate a service from a short walk outside the port to near the hotel so this would possibly be better than the transfer.

Be warned: Gardaí and the Dublin Port Authority don’t like you walking between the Port Terminal and the main entrance for “security reasons”.

I would take the Dublin Bus to Busárras and the DART from Connelly.

 

[Flying Snail]

Many thanks for the suggestions. I have booked sail rail there and the overnight coach back. Spending three nights in Dublin and two in Belfast - did consider sail rail straight back from Belfast but for some reason I decided to go back to Dublin. The Cork service is not an absolute necessity, given that the enterprise uses loco hauled stock too. I could end up seeing more of the sights around Ireland. I have decided to do this on a budget so am going for standard class. I therefore think that interrail may not be the best option. I already have a visitor leap card but may be better getting a normal one for my travels around Dublin. The hotel I'm staying at isn't in the centre but is opposite a DART station. Also it appears that Dublin bus operate a service from a short walk outside the port to near the hotel so this would possibly be better than the transfer.

If you are referring to the 53 route that departs from outside the Irish Ferries terminal, you will need a valid Leap card or exact fare €2.10 in coins. It doesn't stop outside the Stena Terminal, you'd have to walk to the terminus at the IF terminal.

Be aware that the Visitor Leap Card has a short shelf life, at most 1 year. If you bought it in person the receipt will have the validity date for the card and ticket, not sure about postal purchases. Even if it has an unused ticket loaded once the card validity date passes it will be unusable. If you have an Android phone with NFC you can check the card with the Leap Top-up App.

Be warned: Gardaí and the Dublin Port Authority don’t like you walking between the Port Terminal and the main entrance for “security reasons”.

I wouldn't be paying those any mind, if they have such a problem with people walking then they are free to offer them a lift.

Having said that I wouldn't recommend walking from the ferry terminal, it is a good 35-40 minutes to any other public transport and not the most hospitable place.

I would take the Dublin Bus to Busárras and the DART from Connelly.

The connecting service drops off outside Connolly and Westmoreland Street but only picks up at Westmoreland, it does not stop at Busaras or Heuston and it is no longer run by Dublin Bus. Mortons Coaches operate it on contract to both ferry companies, fare is €3 one way.

 

[dutchflyer]

There MAY be a snag though-the same applies to the ''1''country BeneLux Pass: as I am Dutch, I can buy it, but canNOT use it in my home-country NL! This may also thus be the case for British people travelling inside the UK. No idea how strictly this is enforced, if at all. And do look at the other options that IR and NIR also offer.

 

[nanstallon]

Having said that I wouldn't recommend walking from the ferry terminal, it is a good 35-40 minutes to any other public transport and not the most hospitable place.

Yes, I made that mistake a couple of years ago; happily taking LUAS to the terminus at The Point, feeling reassured by 'Spencer Dock' being the penultimate station, and thinking that the ferry would be just around the corner! I only just made it to catch my ferry.