Cyclist slams “pure discrimination against people on bikes” after being refused entry to ferry and left stranded – despite paying for motorcycle ticket

A cyclist has criticised what she believes is the “pure discrimination” faced by people on bikes using ferry services, after she was refused entry by Irish Ferries – despite booking a motorcycle ticket – and left stranded at night and forced to take a lengthy, complicated detour to make it home a day later.

Tipperary-based Elaine Baker was heading home to Ireland after attending a work meeting in Birmingham and visiting friends in South Wales when she attempted to board a late-night Irish Ferries crossing from Pembroke to Rosslare – only to be refused entry and told by staff that “push bikes were not allowed, only motorcycles”.

After spending the night on the rainy, deserted streets of Pembroke, Baker eventually made it to Holyhead, where she was again told by Irish Ferries that cyclists would not be allowed on the crossing, before eventually managing to return home through Stena Line, a day later than planned and after paying for three separate tickets.

Baker, whose attempts to arrange a meeting with Irish Ferries have so far amounted to nothing, has since launched a petition calling on Irish Ferries and other Irish Sea ferry companies to “stop discrimination against cyclists and foot passengers”, along with the tendency to prioritise passengers with motor vehicles, and to ensure that “all passenger ferry services which take motorised vehicles and motorcycles should also allow non-motorised cyclists and foot passengers”.

“They have silly, arbitrary rules… Cyclists are an afterthought”

“I travel by ferry quite a bit, because I gave up flying three years ago for environmental reasons,” Elaine tells road.cc of her stressful trip home back to Ireland on 17 and 18 February, after travelling in England and Wales via train and her bike.

“I have a job in Manchester, and obviously in Ireland we have to go by sea. For people who don’t fly, we’re completely dependent on ferries.

“I had a meeting in Birmingham, then I went to visit friends in south Wales. And I thought ‘oh, instead of travelling to North Wales, I’ll take the ferry from South Wales’, because there’s ferries from Pembroke and Fishguard, and the public transport links from South to North Wales are quite bad.”

However, after being unable to book a place for her bike on Irish Ferries’ 2.45am crossing to Rosslare on its economy Norbay ferry, Baker rang the company’s office, where she was told that only motorists and motorcycle riders – and not cyclists and foot passengers – would be able to board.

“And they couldn’t really give me any good reason,” she says. “They said, ‘Oh it’s a different ferry called the Norbay and we can’t get you on the ferry’. But I can get on the ferry the same way a motorbike can get on. It doesn’t make any sense! So, I told them it was a bit ridiculous.”

Then, knowing that this particular plan would be “risky” – but safe in the knowledge it would highlight the absurdity of the ferry company’s restrictions – Elaine booked a spot as a motorbike rider, complete with the registration number ‘Bicycle’ (which she says at least it made it clear that she wasn’t attempting to deceive the company).

“My plan was to just get on the ferry like a motorcyclist, and if they asked I would just say ‘that’s my motorbike’,” she tells road.cc. “I rang up the office again, and told them I’d be riding a bicycle instead of a motorbike, and a different person said that it’d be fine.

“But on the bus, about half an hour from Pembroke, I got an email asking to clarify if I’d be riding a bicycle and that, if so, I wouldn’t be let on.”

Intending at this point to carry on with her journey to Pembroke from Newport, and at the very least “make a point”, Elaine decided to film her experience of attempting to board the ferry with a bike, in a series of video logs which she has since posted online.

“There’s the ferry I’m supposed to be on,” Baker said during one of her video logs

After a five-hour wait at Pembroke Port, Baker was told by otherwise “understanding” staff that she could not board the ferry, because foot passengers are not permitted for ‘health and safety reasons’ – while also being informed that “push bikes are not allowed, only motorcycles” – and that her motorcycle ticket could not be used, despite those earlier assurances by a member of staff.

“Ferries are very much designed for trucks and cars, and I believe they see that as their core business. And foot passengers and cyclists are a bit of an afterthought,” she tells us.

“They have very silly, arbitrary rules – I’m as perfectly capable of riding my bike onto the ferry as a motorbike rider. So, they couldn’t even give me a good reason as to why they couldn’t let me on the ferry.”

“You don’t have the same choice as motorists”

Ticket wasted, Elaine was then forced to wait around in Pembroke before embarking on a convoluted journey north to Holyhead – where she again faced similar barriers thanks to her bike.

“It was a bit scary, because at two o’clock in the morning I’m thinking that I haven’t booked a hotel,” she says. “After being refused entry to the ferry I had nowhere to go, and I was walking the deserted streets of Pembroke at two or three in the morning, pouring rain, no shelter, I was approached by a drunk guy, it was scary.

“In the early morning, I then got three buses and three trains from Pembroke to Holyhead. At Holyhead, I asked Irish Ferries when the next sailing would be, and they said 8pm – but that they couldn’t take cyclists. So, it was the same issue.”

She continued: “It’s not as if you can’t get across from Holyhead to Dublin as a foot passenger or cyclist, you can, but you don’t have the same choice of timetable as motorists have.”

Fortunately, Elaine discovered that Stena Line also operated an 8pm service to Dublin, enabling her – after “paying for three tickets” and organising additional childcare during the day-long detour – to finally make it home.

Upon her return, she requested a meeting, alongside members of the Irish Cycling Campaign, with the management of Irish Ferries, who duly responded by contacting Elaine to ask for details of the phone call that appeared to assure her that cycles would be allowed on the Norbay crossing. Since then, she has not heard anything else from Irish Ferries, and no meeting has been arranged.

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Regardless, Baker has launched a petition calling for changes to Irish Ferries and other ferry companies’ “nonsensical” policies discriminating against cyclists and foot passengers, and prioritising people with motor vehicles.

The petition, which has so far attracted over 560 signatures, calls on “ferry companies operating from Ireland to provide services to cyclists and foot passengers on every ferry service on which they provide services to motorised cars and motorcycles” and on the National Transport Authority to “make passenger ferry licenses conditional on non-discrimination against cyclists and foot passengers”.

“The aim of my campaign is to make sure cyclists, foot passengers, and people in wheelchairs have the same access to routes and timetables as motorists do,” she tells road.cc.

“If you’re running a ferry and providing a service that motorists and motorbikes can access, then that route and timetable option should be made available to foot passengers and cyclists. They shouldn’t have more limited options, and the price should definitely not be higher.”

Cycling and ferries – a whole new market?

Baker also notes that her Pembroke debacle isn’t the only example of cyclists losing out when it comes to sea travel compared to motorists.

“Friends of mine wanted to go to Spain with Brittany Ferries – because they don’t fly as well for environmental reason – and they went to book as foot passengers,” she says. “And they were allowed, but the price was very high, and much higher than if they’d all been in a car. Which doesn’t make sense at all.”

According to Baker’s friend, the journey to Bilbao was set to cost €590 if the family of four had travelled by car, €719 if they had boarded as foot passengers, and €883 if they had cycled.

When questioned about the price differences, in an email seen by road.cc, a Brittany Ferries staff member said that the company was aiming to “promote” families travelling by car, in order “to see more of the country”.

“So, in that case they can get across, but it’s €300 more expensive than if they’d had a car,” Elaine adds. “They almost decided to book a car, but thought that was ridiculous. The environmental impact of hauling the piece of metal across the ocean for no reason at all is just ridiculous, just to save €300.”

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She also explained that another group of touring cyclists told her that they were once instructed to remain on the ferry until a bus came to take their bikes, before “busing them 50 metres down the ramp”.

“It’s just nonsensical, why can’t cyclists cycle down the ramp? Saying that foot passengers and cyclists are incapable of walking or cycling up this ramp, it’s ridiculous. It’s just a ramp, there’s no reason for it at all,” she says.

Nevertheless, despite her and others’ chastening experiences, Elaine believes that ferry companies should recognise the potential in tapping into the climate-conscious cyclist market.

“Ferry companies need to see this as the future,” she tells road.cc. “We can’t sustain this level of flying. Ferries also burn fuel, of course, but a loss less per passenger than planes.

“So ferry companies need to see this as an opportunity. There’s this whole new market of people who are going to be taking ferries instead of flying – environmentalists, people who care about climate change – so let’s encourage and support them.

“Instead of this attitude of supporting and encouraging them – but only if you have a car.”

road.cc has contacted Irish Ferries for comment.