France-Ireland combined train-ferry ticket to be available in 2024

France's transport minister, Clément Beaune said that the combined ticket - which would allow passengers to purchase one ticket for both ferry and train travel when going between France and Ireland - will become available in 2024.

Beaune said on social media, in a joint statement with the Irish government, that "from early September" passengers would be able to use the websites for Brittany Ferries and Irish Ferries to purchase a bundle of both ferry and train tickets, which will offer discounted rates and stand in until the single ticket becomes available.

#Irlande | On avance sur le billet combiné train/ferry franco-irlandais !

Déjà des réservations facilitées et des réductions... un peu court pour le match 🇫🇷-🇮🇪 ⚽️ ce soir, mais peut-être pour le match de rugby dans quelques semaines…

Avant un vrai billet combiné en 2024 ! pic.twitter.com/LhtVauTH0x

— Clement Beaune (@CBeaune) September 7, 2023

Dublin, Cork, Cherbourg and Roscoff have also set up regular bus services linking the port to the town train station, in order to make it easier to take both the train and the ferry.

From 2024, the idea is that passengers will be able to book a combined 'sail and rail' ticket via these sites.

For the moment, the bookings must be made separately via the relevant ferry operators and rail companies, but passengers who email the booking reference numbers for both the ferry and the train ticket to their ferry operator will benefit from a 10 percent discount on their ferry ticket.

When using Irish Ferries, once the rail ticket has been purchased, the passenger would email their reference numbers to address "sailrai[email protected]" to receive a refund on their ferry booking. 

For Brittany Ferries, you can find the relevant information at this link.

Before booking tickets, beware that 'foot passengers' cannot book tickets to bring pets on board Brittany Ferries - this option is only available to those travelling with a car.

The French and Irish governments first announced the plans for combined ferry and train travel between the countries in November 2022, with a joint statement that said their objective was "to allow, in particular our young people, to travel between our two countries thanks to a green, simple and reasonably priced deal."

Both governments have hailed the plan as offering "energy-efficient modes of transport" in comparison to air travel.

In the statement issued in September 2023, the French and Irish governments noted that "for the same distance travelled, the ferry emits one percent of what the plane emits in terms of CO2 per tonne-km, and the train eight percent."