Irish Rail Belfast fare

aquascrotum

Just thought I'd flag this up - theres a web-only fare promotion on Intercity routes including the Belfast line, especially after the reopening of the Malahide viaduct. Standard single is E10.

Standard single web-fare on Translink.co.uk (who co-operate the line with IE) as part of a similar promotion because the line is reopened is.....£4.99.

Just the 45% ish difference there...

Le King

Wow, that's insane. Nothing new in the rip-off Republic

snubbleste

Gets better
Iarnrod Eireann are charging €20 for a day return from Dublin to Belfast
Translink £7.50 (€8.50) for the same product from Belfast to Dublin


Translink require purchase 3 days in advance though

ScouseMouse

Send this to Mary Coughlans office who keeps advocating buying in the republic, and let her investigate it. Someone will have some serious explaining to do.

mcaul

Is it not a case of one company's special offer is better than the other's? - Rather than a rip-off.

In the case of rail travel, people usually travel outwards in morning times and return int he evenings. So due to the extra traffic from the south and very few people from the north travelling to Dublin, the trains were probably empty leaving Belfast in the mornings & empty leaving dublin in the evening.

therefore in order to gain some revenue from otherwise empty seats, translink are selling under £5.

Ever tried to get a peak time seat in the UK? London to Birmingham £132!!:eek: - Not even Irish Rail would try this level of pricing!


Just checked - Translink promotional fare for morning departures only. Regular fare = £30 return.
Irish rail fare €20 return no restrictions on day or time of travel. Not web only, available in stations & vending machines.

amcalester

Whats the price difference if both tickets are bought at the station on the day?

Train fares in the UK are normally a lot cheaper if bought in advance.

Its still a big difference though.

BendiBus

snubbleste wrote: »

Iarnrod Eireann are charging €20 for a day return from Dublin to Belfast
Translink £7.50 (€8.50) for the same product from Belfast to Dublin

Not the same product at all. Direction of travel has a huge bearing on demand, and therefore on promotional fares.

As everyone is travelling North to shop, Dublin-Belfast-Dublin is in much more demand than Belfast-Dublin-Belfast.

Terrontress

It is more difficult to compare the regular price between the two, given the recent shifts in currency.

These promotional fares are easier to compare though. Same trains, same line, same staff, same times. The cost of Birmingham to London or God knows where else has nothing to do with it.

It's a rip off. Pure and simple. They reckon that people in the Republic will pay more so they charge more.

Euro_Kraut

BendiBus wrote: »

Not the same product at all. Direction of travel has a huge bearing on demand, and therefore on promotional fares.

As everyone is travelling North to shop, Dublin-Belfast-Dublin is in much more demand than Belfast-Dublin-Belfast.

Thats true. Even within the Republic.

For example: Dublin - Tralee €72
Tralee - Dublin €56

mcaul

Terrontress wrote: »

It is more difficult to compare the regular price between the two, given the recent shifts in currency.

These promotional fares are easier to compare though. Same trains, same line, same staff, same times. The cost of Birmingham to London or God knows where else has nothing to do with it.

It's a rip off. Pure and simple. They reckon that people in the Republic will pay more so they charge more.

If you wanted to leave belfast at 1.30 and return at 8pm, the fare will be £30

If you wanted to leave dublin at 1pm and return from belfast at 8pm the fare is €20
surely a case of northern ireland rip off when you look at it that way.

Rose tinted glasses can be bad for people! - The grass is not greener on the other side. - i know, I lived there and paid higher taxes & council taxes & water rates!!!

monkeypants

mcaul wrote: »

Ever tried to get a peak time seat in the UK? London to Birmingham £132!!:eek: - Not even Irish Rail would try this level of pricing!

Could be worse -> Linky

eth0_

Sure they need to pay for that viaduct in Malaide somehow :-)

Victor

mcaul wrote: »

The grass is not greener on the other side.

Its a bit more orange, isn't it? :pac:

foggy_lad

seen two lads paying €14.90 each from newbridge to carlow the other night one way on the train. afaik hueston-carlow return is cheaper!

monkeypants

Irish Rail have it sown up. You can't even buy a cheaper ticket for a longer journey, ie. buying a Dublin - Kilkenny ticket and getting off in Carlow.

10. Using tickets from any other stations

10.1 Subject to Condition 8, any passenger using a ticket for any station, either beyond or short of that for which the ticket is valid will be liable to pay the full ordinary single fare for the journey made and he or she may be liable to prosecution.

Victor

foggy_lad wrote: »

seen two lads paying €14.90 each from newbridge to carlow the other night one way on the train. afaik hueston-carlow return is cheaper!

They were paying on the train.

foggy_lad

Victor wrote: »

They were paying on the train.

why should that make a difference? especially if the ticket office is closed as so many are these days?

LizT

mcaul wrote: »

Is it not a case of one company's special offer is better than the other's? - Rather than a rip-off.

In the case of rail travel, people usually travel outwards in morning times and return int he evenings. So due to the extra traffic from the south and very few people from the north travelling to Dublin, the trains were probably empty leaving Belfast in the mornings & empty leaving dublin in the evening.

therefore in order to gain some revenue from otherwise empty seats, translink are selling under £5.

Lol. You have obviously never travelled on the enterprise. I get it every week, at varying times, and it is nearly always almost full! And that's even before Translink introduced their offer.

LizT

Euro_Kraut wrote: »

Thats true. Even within the Republic.

For example: Dublin - Tralee €72
Tralee - Dublin €56

Also Dublin - Tullamore €26
Tullamore - Dublin €19

monkeypants

lizt wrote: »

Also Dublin - Tullamore €26
Tullamore - Dublin €19

That's just because it's a more attractive proposition.

Ticket Seller to man in Tullamore: "Would you like to go to Dublin?"
Man in Tullamore: "Yes please!"

Ticket Seller to man in Dublin: "Would you like to go to Tullamore?"
Man in Dublin: "Not so much."

And many variations thereof.