Rail & Sail ferry service to Belfast ‘set up to fail'
Freedom of Information figures obtained by The Times reveal the 'Rail & Sail' service carried 4,400 passengers in the year to 2025, compared with 15,000 passengers five years previously.
A drastic cut in service levels has been blamed for the 71 per cent drop in annual passenger numbers since 2019.
Services were curtailed during the Covid-19 lockdowns, with tickets valid only on a single train, coach and ferry combination each day. This system remains in place.
Before the pandemic, several options were available daily.
Colin Smyth, Labour's MSP for South Scotland, accused SNP ministers of allowing the service to be 'set up to fail' and called for a direct rail link to Cairnryan port, which replaced Stranraer as Scotland's ferry gateway to Belfast.
Currently, passengers must take a coach from Ayr to the port, a transfer that a rail expert says is the root of the problem.
'The rot set in when Stena Line moved operations from Stranraer, where the port directly adjoined the railway station, to the remote Cairnryan,' said Mark Smith, who founded the travel website The Man in Seat 61.
He said the service 'appears to have reneged on the promise to provide a bus connection, reducing service to one per day'.
Colin Smyth said the once-popular 'boat train' was no longer viable for most travellers owing to its inflexibility.
'By cutting the connection back to a single daily coach, the journey has been made so awkward and inflexible that it's no longer a viable option for most travellers,' he said.
He believes the service is being intentionally run down so it can be written off due to 'lack of demand', a move that he says goes against the Scottish government's commitment to promote public transport and reduce transport emissions.
Despite the low usage, some travellers have complained that the service was often sold out when they try to book online, with some opting for direct coach transfers from Glasgow instead.
The low numbers have also led to instances of the bus leaving Cairnryan with a single passenger onboard.
Transport Scotland said that a rail link to the port had been considered in 2022 as part of a strategic transport review but the idea was rejected because it 'was not expected to provide value for money'.
Campaigners argue that the current situation goes against Scotland's national transport strategy, which prioritises public transport over cars.
Ellie Harrison, a transport campaigner, said this strategy needs to be 'reflected in the cost of the different transport modes, so that the lower-carbon journeys are always cheaper.' She added that with ScotRail now in public ownership, it should be a priority for the government to promote the service and help reduce short-haul flights.
In response, ScotRail's commercial director, Claire Dickie, said the company was 'committed to supporting the Rail & Sail route and encouraging sustainable travel options'.
She said that ScotRail was working with Stena Line to make the service more 'appealing and reliable for customers' and that ticket sales to Belfast via Cairnryan were 'up 35 per cent so far in 2025'.
Stena Line echoed this sentiment, calling the Rail & Sail service 'a key part of the Stena Line travel offer' and stating that the company 'would welcome improvements in rail services and products'.
A Transport Scotland spokesman said any commercial decisions related to ticket initiatives would be for Stena Line to decide, in liaison with other operators such as ScotRail.
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