With the Rugby World Cup 2023 that has officially started in France, Ireland and France have decided to take another step towards the launch of a combined “Sail and Rail” ticket between the two countries in 2024.
As announced by the President of France and the then Taoiseach in November 2022, the combined tickets will simplify booking as well as travelling between the two countries from next year.
Moreover, the combined tickets will also promote eco-friendly transportation options at an attractive fare.
As the Irish Department of Transport explains, from early September, people who travel between France and Ireland and who use both the ferry and the train to start or continue their journey will be able to book the train ticket from the website of Brittany Ferries and Irish Ferries.
“What’s more is that this new Sail-Rail facility gives passengers access to discounted fares to encourage passengers to avail of this initiative,” the Irish Department of Transport said.
Moreover, it has been noted that getting to the relevant train stations at either end is now easier, as well as included in the Sail-Rail package.
The Department of Justice of Ireland said that port transfers from the station to the ferry terminal are also now facilitated by buses in four cities – Dublin, Cork, Cherbourg and Roscoff.
Reservations for the above-mentioned ferry-train combination are possible from the online booking platforms Trailine, Rail-Europe, and other participating operators.
With the mutual plans of Ireland and France, the arrangements will be simplified even more in 2024 as soon as the “Sail and Rail” tickets get launched. With the launch, a single booking will permit for the use during the entire rail and sea journey.
The decision of the two countries to launch such a ticket was taken since trains and ferries are the most energy-efficient transport modes. Moreover, trains and ferries are a much more sustainable alternative to air travel.
For the same distance, the ferry emits only one per cent of that the plane emits in terms of carbon dioxide per tonne-km, and the train stands at eight per cent.
The EU countries are consistently trying to make changes to push more people to use more eco-friendly transport modes.
France said earlier in August that it wants to increase airline ticket taxes and lower the price of train tickets instead. The Minister of Transport of France said that the higher taxes are expected to be implemented next year as part of the new budget.
