From any stage on the Belfast - Downpatrick route, transfer tickets are available to any stage on the routes between Downpatrick and Ballyhornan (via Ardglass), Strangford and Ballykinlar I think. The new ticketing system has a problem with issuing these through tickets, specifically at the moment: On boarding an Express bus in Belfast, only the main stops of Carryduff, Saintfield, Crossgar and Downpatrick are available to the driver to issue a ticket to and he cannot (easily?) issue a transfer ticket to anywhere beyond Downpatrick. This was easily possible with the old system and I have bought such a ticket on an express bus many times. I know of someone who is very annoyed about this as the driver refused to issue a transfer ticket and they had to pay a separate single fare on boarding the bus they transferred to in Downpatrick.
Did the driver just not know how to do this or is it an oversight in the system?
I would imagine the same problem would exist buying a transfer ticket from Downpatrick to anywhere between Newcastle and Kilkeel on a 240 Newry Express bus leaving Downpatrick.
Does anybody know what the correct procedure should be?