Swiss Railways train in Zurich Station
IS IT TIME TO REVIVE RAIL/SEA/RAIL TRAVEL TO FRANCE ?
THEN WHY IS THE NEWHAVEN-DIEPPE FERRY UNDER THREAT ?
Up to now, our campaign has concentrated on developing better rail links with Europe through the Channel Tunnel & beyond. We have also decided to campaign for better Rail/Sea/Rail options between the UK and France. Rail/Sail/Rail is ideal for short breaks in North-East France, Normandy & Brittany. We want to encourage this more sustainable option as an alternative to flying or taking a car onto the ferry. We want to see proper through ticketing provided by train companies in the UK and France. The forthcoming creation of Great British Railways and strategic transport authorities in Kent & Sussex provide a good opportunity for this.
THE CURRENT SITUATION >>
Brittany Ferries sail from Portsmouth to Caen, Cherbourg, Le Havre and St Malo, from Poole to Cherbourg and from Plymouth to Roscoff. While their ferry terminals are not directly connected to rail stations, they will accept foot passengers on all their routes. Their website also offers foot passengers a Rail & Sail link where you can book train tickets with SNCF Connect or Rail Europe.
NEWHAVEN-DIEPPE FERRY UNDER THREAT >>
DFDS run the only rail connected service in the UK from Newhaven to Dieppe with a connecting bus service from Dieppe port to the station. Yet there is no through ticketing between GTR Thameslink stations and SNCF stations in Normandy. This useful service is now under threat due to the current legal action taken by Brittany Ferries against DFDS in France. Brittany Ferries are claiming that the subsidy paid by the Syndicat mixte transmanche (SMPAT) in Normandie to DFDS is ”Market Distortion” which has cost their business 125 Million Euros since 2013.
AND DOVER to CALAIS >>
This route has 3 ferry companies running about 10 daily crossings each on the shortest sea crossing between Britain & France. This route should be the one with the greatest potential for a Rail/Sea/Rail revival.
After Eurostar began direct services via the channel tunnel in 1994, the stations at the ports of Dover & Calais were closed when the connecting “boat trains” no longer ran. This route has around 30 daily crossings with a Monday-Saturday shuttle bus between the ferry terminal and the station in Calais. With the political will, it should also be possible to run connecting shuttle buses between the ferry terminal at Dover to Dover Priory station.
And remember, since the suspension of Eurostar services from Ashford and Ebbsfleet in 2020, there has been no direct public transport link between Kent and Northern France.
The current situation is virtually useless as both DFDS and Irish Ferries refuse to accept foot passengers onto their ferries. P & O are the only company who do accept foot passengers, though their offer is extremely unattractive. Only 3 daily sailings are available where you must book in advance, check in 90 minutes ahead and wait 30 minutes to leave the ship on arrival.
SUGGESTED ACTION >>
If you live on or near the South Coast in Sussex or Kent, you could use this as a template to write to your local MP.
RAIL/SEA/RAIL – WHY IS IT GETTING HARDER ?
I HAVE POSTED THIS FROM ALBERT BEALE:
I hadn’t realised the Newhaven-Dieppe link was under threat; I use it from time to time.
I remember when almost all the rail/ship/rail connections were seamless, with integrated port/station facilities. We still have that on the route from Harwich to Hook of Holland (though the later is now a metro station link, not mainline), and (give or take a few hundred yards’ walk) a rail-boat link at Newhaven … hence the importance of not losing that route.
Dieppe used to have trains on the quayside meeting the boats (some of the rails are still there; it was a bit like Weymouth used to be, with tracks along a road); but I presume that stopped partly at least because the main ferry dock moved to the other side of the harbour where there was no scope to reroute the tracks to. That crossing enabled a useful overnight London-Paris connection, with the integrated port/station on each side, and (then) direct Dieppe-Paris trains meeting the boats.
And as you say, the port stations closed in Calais and Dover. I imagine the Dover one would be difficult to reinstate, but – as you also say – there could at least be a dedicated shuttle-bus link (indeed there was for a while, years back, on both sides).
The other missing link is the route I used to use quite a lot for overnight London-Brussels journeys, via Ostend. Ostend still has an integrated terminal for the port and railway (and indeed for the trams and buses too – all highly convenient). The one snag, of course, is that Ostend no longer has any passenger ferry connections! A fast ferry or catamaran from a rail-connected port in south-east England, linking to Ostend, would be an option I’d certainly use (as a cheaper alternative to Eurostar at short notice) for London-Brussels (and onwards) journeys.
If we really achieve the switch from flights to surface travel that is desperately needed, then the Channel Tunnel will be insufficient, and then expanded – and more convenient and speedier – surface connections will be necessary.
I well remember years ago getting off a boat at, eg, Hook of Holland, or Ostend, and finding trains waiting alongside the ferry terminal with through carriages to destinations on the other side of Europe. For longer journeys incorporating a ferry, places that do still have a port/station connection (such as Ostend) are the obvious ones to develop services round.