Thomas2011
New Member
I frequently travel as a foot passenger from County Down to London by ferry, train and bus because it is cheaper than flying. However the commercial connections are frustratingly bad and County Down is poorly served because takes at least 12 hours from one end to the other because of inconvenient and incoherent train, bus and ferry timetables. I then discovered there is a daily Steam Packet rail/sail ticket you can get at 3pm from Douglas on the Isle of Man that takes only 6 hours to London via Liverpool - a massive improvement on the journey from Belfast Port or Dublin Port. Considering the Isle of Man if actually visible across the water from where I live in County Down, I looked at travelling to the Isle of Man to get the connection, but lo and behold I would have to leave 7 hours before (at 8am) to get there and the crossing from Belfast is only twice a week.
Does anyone know of any other private or alternative way that you could get across the short distance to the Isle of Man from the County Down coast, maybe from Newcastle, which is most convenient for me, or anywhere nearby such as Ardglass or Strangford to, say, Peel?
I'm convinced there could be a market for a convenient and fast shuttle for foot passengers as I'm sure there are plenty of people who would prefer this route than the current rail/sail options or even flying, which still takes 8 hours door to door because of getting to airports.
I'd be very interested to hear from anyone if they know of or would be able to provide such a service.
Does anyone know of any other private or alternative way that you could get across the short distance to the Isle of Man from the County Down coast, maybe from Newcastle, which is most convenient for me, or anywhere nearby such as Ardglass or Strangford to, say, Peel?
I'm convinced there could be a market for a convenient and fast shuttle for foot passengers as I'm sure there are plenty of people who would prefer this route than the current rail/sail options or even flying, which still takes 8 hours door to door because of getting to airports.
I'd be very interested to hear from anyone if they know of or would be able to provide such a service.
