Truckers fear ‘greatly improved' Holyhead ferry timetable introduced after Storm Darragh is about to be scrapped

Irish Independent

18-05-2025

They say the new timetable greatly improved ferry services on the Irish Sea and even reduced congestion on Dublin's M50.
Now, the two main haulage industry groups on both sides of the Irish Sea have lobbied both governments to ensure the retention of the temporary post-storm timetable because of fears that the ferry companies are set to go back to their old schedule.
'The current schedules should be kept in the interests of efficiency, competitiveness, connectivity and environment,' said a joint letter to Transport Minister Darragh O'Brien from the Irish Road Haulage Association (IRHA) and the UK's Road Haulage Association.
'The more dispersed sailing schedules also provides more competition and choice on the key routes and reduces the potential impacts of the increased dominance of any one carrier or port,' said the letter, which was also sent to Tánaiste Simon Harris and Junior Minister Sean Canney, who has responsibility for ports and logistics at the Department of Transport.
Prior to Storm Darragh in December, Stena and Irish Ferries crossings ran at almost the same time. Hauliers had previously lobbied for the timetables to be staggered, without success.
But after the storm caused extensive damage to a berth at the port of Holyhead, it left just one berth available for Irish Sea services.
Following the initial closure of the port a staggered timetable was introduced to allow both ferry companies to continue to operate their ferries while repairs were under way to one of two ramps at the port that trucks use to access ferries.
The new schedule means that there is currently a roll-on roll-off ferry sailing to Ireland every 3.5 hours.
The repairs are scheduled to be completed in July 2025 and haulier associations are demanding the timetable does not revert to what was in place before the storm.
Asked to comment, a spokesman for Stena Line said it 'welcomes the news that with the planned reopening of Terminal 3 at Holyhead Port it will be able to revert to its normal sailing schedule from July 1, 2025.'
An Irish Ferries spokesperson said the 'adapted timetable' was in place to allow for a berth-sharing arrangement and that it 'is currently finalising its freight schedule from July 1'.
But the hauliers claim this new schedule has worked very well and reduced congestion at the ports. They have also said it has led to more competition and better prices for sailings – which ultimately means better prices for the consumer,
'The new schedule has had a transformative and positive impact on the flow of trade,' said the letter.
'Instead of two ferries leaving at broadly the same time, as happened prior to the storm damage, we now have seven spaced sailings a day leaving both Dublin and Holyhead.
'The more dispersed sailing frequency has led to less congestion at both Holyhead and Dublin Ports, with improved outcomes for traffic flow and customs processing or other regulatory compliance easier to deal with," it added.
The increased variety of sailing times between Dublin and Holyhead leads to far better 24-hour connectivity between both Ireland and Britain, they argued.
The new timetable has also had big environmental benefits with reduced congestion at the ports – and on the wider road network in Dublin in particular – meaning fewer emissions, they wrote.
'With the sailings from Dublin leaving now at 4am and 8am we have all the HGV traffic off the M50 and the Port Road before rush hour in the morning and likewise with sailings early in the afternoon the HGV traffic is off the M50 before rush hour going home,' said the letter.