Irish Rail giving priority seating online?

mickger

I was travelling by train to Dublin from Waterford yesterday with my wife. It was the 3pm train and was fairly full leaving Waterford. At the stop in Kilkenny a guy tapped me on the shoulder and said i was sitting in his seat and he showed me a letter with the seat number on it. I was pissed off to say the least as it looked like i would have to stand for the rest of the journey. My wife did'nt have to move so she was ok. Luckily i found one seat free on the carriage but i was fuming for a while afterwards as it was embarrasing for me to have to move.
All the seats look like there numbered so in theory if i sit in a seat the next time i'm travelling to Dublin could the same thing happen and i have to move if someone has pre booked the ticket online? There is no way of knowing when you get onto the train if the seat has been pre booked so its just a case of Russian roulette at every stop? Are there carriages without numbered seats so people can rest easy and not worry about having to move? Any views would be welcome.

paulm17781

If you book online you can book seats. I would suggest booking online to ensure this doesn't happen.

markpb

IR staff are supposed to put cards on reserved seats to avoid embarassing situations like that. Needless to say, it rarely happens.

dmeehan

Dont the carriages with reserved seating have letters on the doors A-D or something like that? But I dont think that the individual seats are numbered/marked as reserved??

I got a train before (ovwer a year ago now) from dublin. i had seats reserved and we were on the train fairly early. the only seats taken in the whole carriage were the seats i had reserved! I asked the people there too move and they did no bother. the wife was a bit embarassed, she said we should just sit somewhere else, but if we sat in someone elses seat they same thing would happen again, and there might be no seats available if that did happen later on

i cant see why irish rail cannot mark seats as reserved, and if they wont, then stop offering the option to book your seats online

testicle

The new carriages have a digital display over the seat with your name on it.

Mint Sauce

can you be fined if found sitting in a reserved seat that isn't yours by the inspecter, even if you do have a ticket for your journey, i ask because i have noticed some of the rail companies in the UK doing this

mickger

dmeehan wrote: »

Dont the carriages with reserved seating have letters on the doors A-D or something like that? But I dont think that the individual seats are numbered/marked as reserved??

I got a train before (ovwer a year ago now) from dublin. i had seats reserved and we were on the train fairly early. the only seats taken in the whole carriage were the seats i had reserved! I asked the people there too move and they did no bother. the wife was a bit embarassed, she said we should just sit somewhere else, but if we sat in someone elses seat they same thing would happen again, and there might be no seats available if that did happen later on

i cant see why irish rail cannot mark seats as reserved, and if they wont, then stop offering the option to book your seats online

I agree with you 100%. If their going to offer this service they should mark the seats or don't do it at all.

Quatre Mains

after last weeks shennanigans is it any surprise they don't put cards on the seats - they'd probabaly want to negotiate a pay rise for it as it would detract from the time they spend smoking in groups of 10 on the platform

Colonel Sanders

Johnnycabs wrote: »

after last weeks shennanigans is it any surprise they don't put cards on the seats - they'd probabaly want to negotiate a pay rise for it as it would detract from the time they spend smoking in groups of 10 on the platform

Unfortunately this funny because its true.

I use trains only as a complete last resort but have noticed gangs of employees standing around doing eff all in just about every station I stop in.

L1011

irish-stew wrote: »

can you be fined if found sitting in a reserved seat that isn't yours by the inspecter, even if you do have a ticket for your journey, i ask because i have noticed some of the rail companies in the UK doing this

You can be fined for removing the little card they put on Enterprise services marking a seat as reserved, thats for sure - think its the standard €500 fine for most offenses on a train. I don't know if anything applies if the seats not marked, I'd hope not as how are you to know?

Polar101

mickger wrote: »

I Luckily i found one seat free on the carriage but i was fuming for a while afterwards as it was embarrasing for me to have to move.

It's also not very nice to have to ask people to move, when they are sitting in your reserved seat. It is embarassing for both parties.

If the seat is marked by the little card or on the digital display, then I will ask the person sitting on the seat to move. Otherwise I'd rather not.

For the record, whenever I've reserved a seat online (I don't think it's possible to buy a ticket online and not reserve a seat) - my "reserved" seat has ALWAYS been occupied by someone else. Very inconvenient.

trap4

I hadn't taken a train in years until I recently did Charleville->Dublin return. I booked online beforehand and was disappointed to find some gent sitting in my seat when I got on in Charleville. But there were a few free seats nearby so I didn't say anything. Anyway, it was the old train so I wasn't bothered.

However, on the return leg I finally got to see what the new trains are like and really wanted to get the seat I'd reserved. As quite as the carriage was when I got on, you guessed it, the seat was taken.... even though my name was on the digital display over head. I politely pointed out that it was my seat and he didn't seem too bothered about moving. But he definitely was a little embarrased and me too. In fairness though, the digital 'ticker tape' display at the front of the carriage does regularly remind people not to take reserved seats so there isn't much more they can do there.

paulm17781

trap4 wrote: »

In fairness though, the digital 'ticker tape' display at the front of the carriage does regularly remind people not to take reserved seats so there isn't much more they can do there.

They could have the train managers inspect this and ensure the person who reserved the seat is in their seat.

Calina

Yes, or we could grow up and have the courtesy to see if a seat is reserved and wait to see if there's a no show.

But in the meantime, nanny statism required.

L1011

Polar101 wrote: »

It's also not very nice to have to ask people to move, when they are sitting in your reserved seat. It is embarassing for both parties.

This is why I always travel First Plus to Belfast, the train manager won't let that happen. And some of them are quite cute, too

cyclopath2001

But this is Ireland. Last time I boarded a train where I had reserved a seat, I found a well-dressed business woman, sitting in my seat, feet up on the opposite seat, watching pirated videos on her Mac.