Irish Rail: A FINE mess

Lasers-Pew-Pew

I've never been a big fan of Irish Rail, in fact I despise them, but this morning I just got a letter back from an appeal I lodged against a fine saying: 'After careful deliberations we have decided not to accept your appeal'.

50 quid fine!

I'd lost my ticket, tried to explain this to the worker at the gates (instead of just skipping out which I should have done) and have been fined... I've used the shoddy service every day for the last 6 years, lose my ticket once, and this is what happens...

:mad:

bmaxi

While I sympathise with your loss, put yourself in the same situation with say, Ryanair and try to imagine a different result but without the option to skip out the gate.

StopNotWorking

Sh*te happens man, if anything I would consider this a complement to them that in all of 6 years you only lost one ticket and they managed to sting you for it.

Lasers-Pew-Pew

StopNotWorking wrote: »

Sh*te happens man, if anything I would consider this a complement to them that in all of 6 years you only lost one ticket and they managed to sting you for it.

Well I did approach them while every second person skipped through the gates. Most mornings I put in my ticket I have someone in my slipstream!

StopNotWorking

Which station did this happen at? I assume not one of the big ones with the new gates, I'm 6" tall with legs as wide as a tree trunks and I wouldnt be able to jump those things..

Lasers-Pew-Pew

StopNotWorking wrote: »

Which station did this happen at? I assume not one of the big ones with the new gates, I'm 6" tall with legs as wide as a tree trunks and I wouldnt be able to jump those things..

It was at Pearse.

People don't jump them, as one person goes through you usually see another person right behind them taking advantage of the open gate. Perhaps if they used the same kind of gates as on the London underground, rather than the fancy sideways sliding gates, they'd avoid this.

Anyway, I just always seem to have drama with Irish Rail. I'll stop my ranting!

StopNotWorking

Rant away! Theres even a section dedicated to it. I would never go through the gates at pearse like that, I would be creeped out if someone got that close to me.. benefits of working nights, I get to see the crowds swarming off the southbound platform while I sit on the empty northbound one.(half asleep mind you..)

I think they are bringing in smart cards soon though, so you should be able stuff that in your wallet or sew it into your underwear to make sure you don't lose it

meanmachine3

Lasers-Pew-Pew wrote: »

I'd lost my ticket, tried to explain this to the worker at the gates (instead of just skipping out which I should have done) and have been fined.

unfortunately O.P. this is the most common excuse used nowadays. O.P. it's nearly impossible to distinguish the genuine person from the chancers. there have been lots of threads about this issuse and in another 12 months time we'll still have more and new threads about it.
at the end of the day genuine or not you didn't have a valid ticket.

Lasers-Pew-Pew wrote: »

It was at Pearse.

People don't jump them, as one person goes through you usually see another person right behind them taking advantage of the open gate.

people will try anything to avoid paying for a service. look at the m50 before it was barrier free. cars were tailgating genuine cars that paid the toll. it's the same in pearse. it happens everyday to people i know. they put their ticket in and as they're walking through someone runs right up behind them hoping to make the same gate. some get through some get caught.
same on buses. fare evasion is rife. i recently confiscated a ticket from someone who looked extremely genuine.

Pineapple stu

Why didnt you just pay the fare again when you couldnt find your ticket?
It was your fault so dont blame irish rail for you loosing your ticket

Run_to_da_hills

Efficient, not shoddy, If it was shoddy they would be letting any tom dick and harry off the hook and running at a huge financial loss,

You should have waited around until night time and then told the inspectoor that the there was no attendant at the ticket macine in the station where you gou on.

Heisenberg1

Run_to_da_hills wrote: »

Efficient, not shoddy, If it was shoddy they would be letting any tom dick and harry off the hook and running at a huge financial loss,

You should have waited around until night time and then told the inspectoor that the there was no attendant at the ticket macine in the station where you gou on.

no longer a vaild excuse with the Ticket vending machines

Bluetonic

luzon wrote: »

no longer a vaild excuse with the Ticket vending machines

Your not obliged to use the ticket vending machines (it has been covered in depth here before).

Alun

Bluetonic wrote: »

Your not obliged to use the ticket vending machines (it has been covered in depth here before).

Why, as a matter of interest?

Bluetonic

Alun wrote: »

Why, as a matter of interest?

At least one of the reasons is the amount of change you get if you were to use a €50 not, I think the legal max allowed is 21 coins but I stand correct.

Stark

bmaxi wrote: »

While I sympathise with your loss, put yourself in the same situation with say, Ryanair and try to imagine a different result but without the option to skip out the gate.

Has happened to me before (lost my boarding card before getting on the plane). I just showed them my ID and they were fine with that.

Of course Irish Rail don't have a passenger list to determine if you're honest or not and €50 isn't exactly a massive fine. Less than the cost of getting your name/date changed on an airline ticket.

bmaxi

Stark wrote: »

Has happened to me before (lost my boarding card before getting on the plane). I just showed them my ID and they were fine with that.

Of course Irish Rail don't have a passenger list to determine if you're honest or not and €50 isn't exactly a massive fine. Less than the cost of getting your name/date changed on an airline ticket.

The fact you had a boarding card and could establish your identity proved that you had paid your fare, slightly different scenario here. Try showing up without a ticket or I.D. and see how far you get.

Cathmandooo

meanmachine3 wrote: »

people will try anything to avoid paying for a service. look at the m50 before it was barrier free. cars were tailgating genuine cars that paid the toll. it's the same in pearse. it happens everyday to people i know. they put their ticket in and as they're walking through someone runs right up behind them hoping to make the same gate. some get through some get caught.
same on buses. fare evasion is rife. i recently confiscated a ticket from someone who looked extremely genuine.

I used to jump in behind people in pearse and get through the barriers with their ticket because my weekly ticket more often than not didn't work. I wasn't evading any fare so I wouldn't assume everyone you see doing it is either.

cymro wrote: »

Why didnt you just pay the fare again when you couldnt find your ticket?
It was your fault so dont blame irish rail for you loosing your ticket

Do you mean after your journey? If you mean before then yeah you should buy another ticket but if you realise on your journey that you can't find it you can't buy a new one. They check before you get to any ticket machines.

Heisenberg1

Bluetonic wrote: »

Your not obliged to use the ticket vending machines (it has been covered in depth here before).

But does not go against rule number 1 you must have vaild
ticket before travel

Heisenberg1

Bluetonic wrote: »

At least one of the reasons is the amount of change you get if you were to use a €50 not, I think the legal max allowed is 21 coins but I stand correct.

Are you not obilged to have exact fare as change may not
always be available?????

Terrontress

Cathooo wrote: »

I used to jump in behind people in pearse and get through the barriers with their ticket because my weekly ticket more often than not didn't work.

I do it at Lansdowne because I can't be bothered to take my ticket out of my wallet.

Bluetonic

luzon wrote: »

But does not go against rule number 1 you must have vaild
ticket before travel

You do not have to have a valid ticket before travel if the station building is closed, or there in no IR employee selling tickets. As I said above you don't have to use the machines but you have to buy a ticket when you reach your destination or if there is a ticket seller on board.

luzon wrote: »

Are you not obilged to have exact fare as change may not
always be available?????

No.

Pineapple stu

Cathooo wrote: »

I used to jump in behind people in pearse and get through the barriers with their ticket because my weekly ticket more often than not didn't work. I wasn't evading any fare so I wouldn't assume everyone you see doing it is either.




Do you mean after your journey? If you mean before then yeah you should buy another ticket but if you realise on your journey that you can't find it you can't buy a new one. They check before you get to any ticket machines.

When he was stopped for the ticket he should have just said that he lost it and where he got on and pay the journey cost if asked . Its simple and no need for over reaction hence why he must have got the fine in the first place.

karlr42

Cathooo wrote: »

I used to jump in behind people in pearse and get through the barriers with their ticket because my weekly ticket more often than not didn't work.

How did you know your weekly ticket didn't work if you never used it?

MOH

meanmachine3 wrote: »

unfortunately O.P. this is the most common excuse used nowadays. O.P. it's nearly impossible to distinguish the genuine person from the chancers.

Expect that the chancers just tailgate through the barriers while the genuine people seek out someone to explain the situation to.

Alun wrote: »

Why, as a matter of interest?

I think because the bye-laws predate the TVMs and haven't been updated. Contrary to what Irish Rail would like, just sticking things on a poster (like "no ticket, no excuse") doesn't actually make it legally binding unless the bye-laws cover it.
Don't think it's ever gone to court though - some people here reckon the bye-laws might cover this one.