If you’re planning on taking the green route from Ireland to France, there’s a chance that, at the moment, you’ll have to book three different transport tickets. There’s one for the train in Ireland, one for the ferry and then another for the train in France. It’s all a bit of a faff – but that could be about to change.
The governments of Ireland and France have announced they’ll soon be offering combined train and ferry tickets, meaning that you’ll only need one ticket to use three different transport systems when travelling between the two countries. The idea behind the scheme is to encourage eco-friendly travel, especially among young people.
The new train-ferry combo ticket won’t just be convenient: it’ll be cheap, too. While exact details of the scheme haven’t yet been announced, a joint statement from the governments have said the ticket will be ‘green, simple and reasonably priced’. They’ve said it’ll come into effect sometime in summer 2023.
And this isn’t the only way that ferries are making a comeback between the British Isles and mainland Europe. A new ferry route is set to begin service between Scotland and Belgium in 2023, linking Rosyth (near Edinburgh) with Zeebrugge (near Bruges).
Just think: soon you’ll be able to get a train to an Irish port, hop on a ferry over to France and then catch another train somewhere else, all on one ticket! The exact details of the combo ticket are set to be released in January – watch this space for further updates.
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