Irish Rail and Single Tickets

joerules

Hi,

Some of my friends came to visit me (in Longford) for the weekend. They got a lift up and so they had to take the train home. When they went to buy a single ticket the man at the counter said that was not possible. They could only buy a return which cost €25 each. That is completely ridiculous. No other transport industry MAKES you buy a return ticket when all you need is a single . This was not an isolated incident because it happened to my Dad. Does anyone know if they can actually do this? It is completely ripping people off.

Joe

dmeehan

i heard from a friend of mine that a return from dublin to killarney costs €53 but a single costs €51

go figure that one

voodoo

Yeah, certainly singles can be as expensive as returns! I know that a single from Portarlington is actually more expensive than from Portlaoise, even though the latter is further from Dublin....make sense out of that!!!!

Epitaph

More people get on in Portarlington, probably, so they hiked the prices up.

Victor

Originally posted by joerules
When they went to buy a single ticket the man at the counter said that was not possible. They could only buy a return which cost €25 each. That is completely ridiculous. No other transport industry MAKES you buy a return ticket when all you need is a single

Actuall quite a few operators do it. I don't know why. There was a post here about one of the ferry companies doing it.

They should just call it an expensive single....

joerules

Is it an Irish problem then? I spent a year in Austria and they had a different system. I won't compare the service of the OeBB and Irish Rail because it depresses people when they hear how service should be :-) All (inland anyway) are sold as singles. A return is simply two single tickets. I.e: a return is exactly double the price of a single. That may sound bad but it is a much more flexible system. Oh, Prices are determined by distance (ie: by KM).

On a side point. I'm sure you have all noticed the new automated ticket machines. Well I've never really noticed many people use them. In Asutria you get a 5% discount on your ticket if you use an automated machine rather than a (human) ticket seller. An interesting idea which seemed to reduce queues. Maybe IE should try it out.

Joe

Our man in Havana

Yep. Just like airline tickets where it is cheaper to book a phantom return ticket and just use the outward trip.

KilOit

a return from dublin to sligo is 30 which is alright but a single is like 25 or something which is plane wrong irish rail suck it's preastoric way out of date it said there gettin new trains but i dought it.

Imposter

Originally posted by joerules
On a side point. I'm sure you have all noticed the new automated ticket machines. Well I've never really noticed many people use them. In Asutria you get a 5% discount on your ticket if you use an automated machine rather than a (human) ticket seller. An interesting idea which seemed to reduce queues. Maybe IE should try it out.

And don't forget to mention the VorteilsCard (Advantage Card).
This is an under 26 card (like EYC in Ireland) for those under 26 and costs just less than 20€. For those over 26 they can buy this card for 85€ for the year but it entitles you to 45% off your ticket. (Use machines and you get more off). Now in Ireland that would equate to 3 trips from Dublin to Cork in a year and you're saving money. It also might encourage people to use trains regularly. But then of course decent service would be required!

joerules

Oh, someone else knows about the OeBB ;-) The card is actually only 16 or 19 euro if you're under 26. €85 or there abouts is the normal price for adults. I had one myself. You can "technically" use it here. If you say it's a railplus card then you can get really big discounts on tickets. The prices are even cheaper than student fares with a travelsave stamp (eg: my normal student ticket costs 14.50 but I only had to pay 12). Although you might get caught out if the ticketseller speaks german and can see it's not such a card. It worked for me for over a month till the card expired (and was hence useless when I went back for a break to Vienna).

Joe

laoisfan

hi....while Irish Rail are crap (come on they are)...i must say my experience of Bus Eireann is better (not much but still better).

i work in clontarf, dublin, but commute daily from portlaoise to dublin everyday. i used to get the train, but then you more than likely would get to heuston station later than scheduled, have to wait for no. 90/91 bus which was always late, then get a dart out to clontarf from tara street. what i hear you say? is this person mad.

well, maybe...yes......nothing against dublin.....just do not like living up there.

instead, now i get bus eireann now, it is cheaper, gets me into the city around 8:10am each morning (Irish Rail beat that) and I still have time to walk from city out to clontarf in about 25mins (getting exercise now...feeling slimmer).

anyway, that is my 2cents worth, but i do agree Irish Rail prices are crap. i mean, they presented a report the other day which showed them making a loss yet again, their service is crap. they way they treated the wexford fans after the leinster hurling final and the limerick fans after the munster football final just shows you their priorities.

i wonder how they will treat the laois/kildare fans who will be travelling up to croker on sunday ?

yours, laoisfan

eddhorse

Well i normally get a return ticket from tullamore to dublin and it costs me €20 , but one day i had to get a ticket from dublin to tulamore , which cost me €25.50 , how does that work???
an extra 5.50 cos i buy the ticket the opposite direction....

dmeehan

that'll be the "Dublin Tax"
it applies to everything from a pint to housing, even train tickets:D