[drunkmonkey]

Originally Posted by Run_to_da_hills

Most of these job losses will more than likely be from over counter ticket sales.

NFC phone & Smart cards will no doubt take over paper tickets soon, these can be topped up on line or on the move once registered.

Great news for fattys, much easier to get tickets, no effort involved. Hopefully technology will replace all jobs someday so we can all live in fatty bliss on the internet.

[Terrontress]

Originally Posted by drunkmonkey

Great news for fattys, much easier to get tickets, no effort involved. Hopefully technology will replace all jobs someday so we can all live in fatty bliss on the internet.

You may have a point with some other industries but I'd hardly think of queueing for 5 minutes to buy a ticket from the sole open window as a good workout.

The decline of the railway due to high car ownership and a modern and uncongested motorway network is inevitable. I suppose staff are one of the easiest ways to cut a few million costs off your P&L without much effort.

Hopefully everyone who goes will be delighted with their opportunity.

Do IÉ pensioners continue to get free travel?

[gsxr1]

Originally Posted by BlueCam

I'm sorry? "Investment" is not piling €45m per year in subsidies into a company that is so chronically/comically inefficient that it can get rid of 450 staff with little impact on its actual services to customers. If "austerity" would finally lead to the privatisation of CIE, it can't come soon enough.

You may eat those words if it happens. Anyway. Who would buy it?
The network still needs massive amounts of money each year on track maintenance. No point buying a fleet of rolling stock and then halving the budget on Per-way and bridge works. Which I believe would happen.

There has been massive cost cutting exercises in the last year already. I hate to think what more will do . Just because ticket sales are down(because less people are going to work), we should not abandon our railway system. We will need it more as things get better.

[Forest Demon]

Most of the ticket inspectors and staff in I come into contact with are ignorant pigs. I have seen them being really rude to old people and women with prams and children etc.

In my local station here would not be anybody in the station around lunch time or on the weekends and the ticket machine is not working half the time. Then some ignorant fug ticket inspector would come up and that giving grief to all the people who had not got tickets. It has happened a few times. The last time he was so rude to a girl with a baby. I told him to have some manors in dealing with the people who are paying his wages and he threatened to throw me off the train. I complained about it and never even got a reply.

I hope some of them get the boot. They should be sacked, never mind redundancy.

[foggy_lad]

Originally Posted by Forest Demon

Most of the ticket inspectors and staff in I come into contact with are ignorant pigs. I have seen them being really rude to old people and women with prams and children etc.

In my local station here would not be anybody in the station around lunch time or on the weekends and the ticket machine is not working half the time. Then some ignorant fug ticket inspector would come up and that giving grief to all the people who had not got tickets. It has happened a few times. The last time he was so rude to a girl with a baby. I told him to have some manors in dealing with the people who are paying his wages and he threatened to throw me off the train. I complained about it and never even got a reply.

I hope some of them get the boot. They should be sacked, never mind redundancy.

Most of the Inspectors and staff of all the CIE group of companies are the exact opposite to what you claim. But as with all sections of the community and society there are always going to be a certain Quota of ignorant bone idle time crunchers who bring their trade/job/profession into disrepute. they are just there to pass the time as they know they cant be sacked or made redundant because of the strength of their unions.

[liger]

BE Next in to be told about cuts and then DB at the end of next week.

[corktina]

It makes me wonder how IE can cut 450 jobs without cutting services.

IF THEY CAN, then it just goes to prove what a bloated waste of money they have always been.

[dowlingm]

This has been a charming thread so far. Even if you can't stomach your hatred of the IE workers (and shortly the rest of CIE) consider the effect on the shops and businesses that will now have a customer on severance window-shopping wistfully and wondering will it last as government benefits are pushed out to older age eligibilities.

It's a sad commentary on how the Irish electorate operates that the government has to sell a treaty with "jobs" but force deferral of cuts - not the first time. In this once again we see how CIE are just political tools without the freedom of action enjoyed by the privateers - how many thousands would the CIE companies have saved if they had been able to announce cuts on their schedule and not deferred at the behest of a Minister (and I don't blame Varadkar - ANY minister would have done likewise, they are prisoners of their Humphreys, I'm merely noting that when the rubber hit the road despite his "straight talking" persona he is just like Dempsey et al before him)

As for the 450 - there's several jobs to be found in either closing or automating Limerick Junction-Waterford, Waterford Yard and Killonan Cabin-Ballybrophy but surely there isn't 450. The rest of the lines are mostly central control with the odd manual LC like Buttevant. So either massive cuts in service are coming or what's going to happen is IE are going to contractorise more PerWay, reducing their own headcount which makes the media vultures happy but which doesn't make much change to the net. As it stands who will bet against some head office folks being severed and then hired back as consultants?

[Ben D Bus]

Originally Posted by SMASH THE UNIONS

The company is notoriously difficult to break into, especially for educated college graduates.

Sorry but that's total garbage.

[SMASH THE UNIONS]

Originally Posted by Ben D Bus

Sorry but that's total garbage.

Like I said, it's my personal experience. In my local station it's been the same group of hagged, grumpy faces behind the ticket counter and on the platforms for donkey's years. If you can link to graduate positions being advertised for IE I will retract my statement.

[Judgement Day]

Originally Posted by SMASH THE UNIONS

Like I said, it's my personal experience. In my local station it's been the same group of hagged, grumpy faces behind the ticket counter and on the platforms for donkey's years. If you can link to graduate positions being advertised for IE I will retract my statement.

Why on earth would CIE/IE need to employ graduates as station staff?

[gsxr1]

Originally Posted by dowlingm

So either massive cuts in service are coming or what's going to happen is IE are going to contractorise more PerWay, reducing their own headcount which makes the media vultures happy but which doesn't make much change to the net. As it stands who will bet against some head office folks being severed and then hired back as consultants?

This is simply not true. Contractors, who can lose there job in a second, out- preform by far most staff who cant be sacked.
Result equals much more productivity.
Contractors with IR supervision is whats happening now.

Im guessing there is going to be more of it in the future.

[n97 mini]

Are these real job losses or early retirements/voluntary redundancies where people leave by choice as they will be better off elsewhere?

[The_Wrecker]

Originally Posted by n97 mini

Are these real job losses or early retirements/voluntary redundancies where people leave by choice as they will be better off elsewhere?

It starts off as Job losses, then they discuss and 'Tweek' it (that word again!) to guys that want out with a lump. Many who want to go early and have been a credit to the company and a few who have done the customers no favours and wont be missed.

[The_Wrecker]

Originally Posted by corktina

It makes me wonder how IE can cut 450 jobs without cutting services.

IF THEY CAN, then it just goes to prove what a bloated waste of money they have always been.

They need to balance things out more, 5 lads in Dun laoghaire doing their bit. 0 in Killiney 0 in Shankill...........Because of shortages to cover Holidays or meal breaks.
But this shows again the auto ticket system can work!