Harbourline Ferry Terminal Winter Sailing Notes

These notes are for passengers using the north pier terminal between November and March, when the weather and the shorter days change how the ferries run. They are reviewed each autumn with the harbour master and the two ferry operators, and a printed copy sits at the ticket desk for anyone who asks.

Before you travel

Buy your ticket before you reach the pier if you can. The ticket desk opens at six in the morning and closes after the last sailing, but the queue at the desk can reach the end of the building on a wet morning, and the machines on the pier accept cards only.

Allow twenty minutes between arriving at the terminal and boarding. The walk from the station is about eight minutes on a dry day and rather longer when the path along the seawall is closed by spray. Bicycles are carried free outside the morning and evening peaks, and a bike needs its own space on the car deck.

Passengers who need help boarding should tell a member of staff at the gate. The ramp to the north pier boat is steep at low water, and the crew will bring a portable ramp if they know in advance.

Timetable changes

The published timetable is a guide rather than a promise in December and January. Sailings may leave a few minutes early when the tide is running hard, and a sailing can be held at the pier for a late connection from the railway station.

Two sailings a day, the mid-morning crossing and the early afternoon crossing, are the ones most often changed. On weekdays the mid-morning boat usually runs, but on Sundays it is replaced by a single crossing at midday, which the crew confirm on the morning of the sailing.

If a sailing is cancelled, the next crossing usually leaves within two hours. The terminal's screens update within ten minutes of a decision, and the ticket desk will move a passenger to a later boat at no charge.

Terminal facilities

The waiting room on the first floor is heated between seven in the morning and eight in the evening. It has forty seats, a water fountain, two charging points for phones and a noticeboard with the day's sailing cards.

The café on the ground floor serves hot drinks and sandwiches from seven until four. It closes earlier in January, when the terminal is quieter, and it does not open at all on the two days after the new year.

There are toilets beside the ticket desk and on the first floor. The lift to the first floor is checked each morning before the first sailing, and a member of staff will help anyone who finds it out of order.

Left luggage is not available at the terminal. Passengers with large bags should use the lockers at the railway station, which are a short walk from the pier.

Freight and vehicles

Vehicles board through the south gate, which opens forty minutes before a sailing and closes ten minutes before it. Drivers should follow the signs on the approach road rather than the directions on a phone, because the last turn into the terminal is closed to traffic on market days.

A car and its passengers need one ticket. A van under three and a half tonnes pays the car rate; anything larger is charged by length and must be booked a day ahead. Motorcycles board with the bicycles at the front of the queue.

Freight is loaded after the cars on the morning sailings and before them on the evening ones, so a van driver may be asked to wait on the quay for twenty minutes. The freight office beside the south gate can confirm the order for a particular day.

Winter timetable

The seasonal timetable begins on the second Monday of November and ends on the last Sunday of March. Sailings run every day except the two days after the new year, when the terminal is closed for maintenance.

The first sailing leaves the north pier at 07:10, and the last sailing returns to the terminal at 18:40. The first boat carries the morning commuters and the school crossing, so passengers with bicycles should arrive early.

Between the first and last sailings the boats run every forty minutes. The interval lengthens to an hour after six in the evening, when the terminal café has closed and the waiting room is the only warm place on the pier.

The seasonal timetable is printed at the ticket desk and pinned to the noticeboard beside the north gate. Passengers who travel weekly can ask for a card that lists the sailings for the whole season.

Summer timetable

The first sailing leaves the north pier at 06:40, and the last sailing returns to the terminal at 20:10.

If sailings are cancelled

High winds stop the boats more often than fog. The harbour master closes the pier when the wind reaches force seven on the exposed side, and the decision is made at least an hour before a sailing is due to leave.

A replacement bus runs from the terminal to the road bridge when the boats stop for more than three hours. The bus leaves from the coach bay outside the main doors and takes about fifty minutes to reach the far side.

Tickets remain valid for seven days after a cancelled sailing, and a passenger who cannot travel on another boat can ask for a refund at the ticket desk or by post. The refund form is on the counter beside the sailing cards.

Storm warnings are posted on the terminal screens and on the noticeboard. The ferry company cannot send a message to every passenger, so travellers should check the screens or the recorded line before setting out on a windy day.