Daytrip to Dunkirk From London
Aug 5, 2018, 2:49 pm
#31
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Nov 2003
Location: Wesley Chapel, FL
Programs: American Airlines
Posts: 30,005
Ramsgate had the Ostend ferries, but only after the Jetfoil service from Dover ended. It traditionally only had the Dunkirk service.
Dover Western Docks, after Eastern Docks opened, had the boat trains and the fast ferries, including a separate hovercraft site. Otherwise, Dover Eastern docks and Folkestone (also with a boat train via a very awkward line at Folkestone Harbour) both competed for both Calais and Boulogne traffic(
Newhaven served Dieppe.
Dover Western Docks, after Eastern Docks opened, had the boat trains and the fast ferries, including a separate hovercraft site. Otherwise, Dover Eastern docks and Folkestone (also with a boat train via a very awkward line at Folkestone Harbour) both competed for both Calais and Boulogne traffic(
Newhaven served Dieppe.
when I come into Dover from Smeeth on the M20 and it comes into downtown Dover and at the 2nd roundabout I see all the big (P&O etc) ferries before I make my way up the hill. Is that the eastern dock?
Aug 5, 2018, 4:38 pm
#32
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Feb 2000
Location: London, UK and Southern France
Posts: 18,364
It still does, ferrywise, and even the harbour train station itself seems still to work. Great route for cycling to Paris, incidentally, as it puts you on the Dieppe-Forges cycle-only "voie verte" for about 50km, so not far from a third of the Dieppe-Paris distance.
Aug 6, 2018, 9:15 pm
#33
Moderator: UK and Ireland & Europe
Join Date: Jan 2003
Location: Biggleswade
Programs: SK*G, Lots of Blue Elsewhere
Posts: 13,611
The boat train for Newhaven actually used to go from a station even closer to the ferry terminal, Newhaven Marine. This had passenger service withdrawn a number of years ago, but is still technically open, with one train calling there each day. The station was recently demolished as it was an unsafe structure (which was also the reason it was kept closed before.
If you buy a ticket to/from Newhaven Marine, the train company will pay for a taxi to come and take you to Harbour, although it's quicker to walk. You'll have a job getting the call centre to understand what you're on about, though.
If you buy a ticket to/from Newhaven Marine, the train company will pay for a taxi to come and take you to Harbour, although it's quicker to walk. You'll have a job getting the call centre to understand what you're on about, though.
Aug 7, 2018, 3:53 am
#34
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Feb 2000
Location: London, UK and Southern France
Posts: 18,364
I remember it feeling different when I took it a couple of years ago compared to some 30 years ago but could not quite put my finger on it. Now, you mention it, I seem to recall the train pulling up more or less alongside the boat (similar to Dover WD/Calais Maritime) and occasionally have long waits at rather unsocial hours for night services.