Irish Rail seat booking farce

Duke Leonal Felmet

Hello, has anyone noticed that when you book a ticket and seat online (€2 charge) you get to the train to find that the seat notices are switched off and people are in your seat? Or even worse, they are off to begin with, and are switched on after the journey begins? I find this happens in about 50% of journeys I make.

ebbsy

Yeah I have. Thats why I d'ont book with the train anymore.

Does'nt happen with Germany / Switz etc.

But then again they can do simple things right.

Kensington

I booked onto the Galway train last weekend, seat displays were off but they had placed a large reserved sign on the seat itself.

shannon_tek

Is it not printed on the ticket that your to sit there. if its not an old couple i would kick up a fuss.

But stop wasting €2. just turn up early. :pac:

Duke Leonal Felmet

shannon_tek wrote: »

Is it not printed on the ticket that your to sit there. if its not an old couple i would kick up a fuss.

But stop wasting €2. just turn up early. :pac:

Don't get me wrong, I would **** anyone but an old couple/child out of the seat. But I would rather not have the inconvenience of doing that, especially given that I paid €2 for the ****ing seat.

But yeah, I should turn up early.

shannon_tek

Duke Leonal Felmet wrote: »

Don't get me wrong, I would **** anyone but an old couple/child out of the seat. But I would rather not have the inconvenience of doing that, especially given that I paid €2 for the ****ing seat.

But yeah, I should turn up early.

Well next time grab one of the boys on the train and point out that thats your seat. Only other alternative is bring IR to small claims court

Duke Leonal Felmet

shannon_tek wrote: »

Well next time grab one of the boys on the train and point out that thats your seat. Only other alternative is bring IR to small claims court

As I said, I already remove them from the seat myself.

BrianD

They should move to a completely reserved seating system whether online or over the counter it shouldn't be optional.

If the train seating is sold out then have "standing" on the ticket for whatever (if any) the legal standing room for a train is.

MyKeyG

BrianD wrote: »

They should move to a completely reserved seating system whether online or over the counter it shouldn't be optional.

If the train seating is sold out then have "standing" on the ticket for whatever (if any) the legal standing room for a train is.

It would make sense in a way as there would be no messing about with where people sit but then you lose the convenience of open tickets. The five day open return ticket is the handiest thing in the world.

shannon_tek

I've been watching London Trains all morning still trying to figure out what im trying to say but i think
1) Irish rail should move to electricity(Better Speeds)
2) They should invest in in Standard Trains of high Quality not go over board, maybe they could use these Southern 1/ 2 South Eastern there standard commuter in my eyes no fanciness and yet they are comfortable have WiFi and achieve great speeds. Irish rail(boring)

Ireland in my opinion is way too small for Intercity. Ok i see the point of the cork line. But i dont at the same time. If your going to have an intercity. Just have it Cork - Dublin no inbetween stops and cut out Limerick Junction. Have the Euro star model going every half our from dublin to the Suburbs and other Counties. Cut out this reserve your seat. If the train is full dont get on it wait half hour. Wheres the First class.

3) Ireland may be tiny but there should be investors. Maybe IR can keep the Intercity and get private company to take over the commuter lines. In and around Dublin, The Limerick to Ennis section. so on so on.

There just some of my dreams.

shannon_tek

MyKeyG wrote: »

It would make sense in a way as there would be no messing about with where people sit but then you lose the convenience of open tickets. The five day open return ticket is the handiest thing in the world.

Related but not . Ryanair are trying this system out on their Dublin Flights. Keep an eye on that and see how it works out. There charging €10/20 + u get priority boarding.

Also we have to take into account those who will have the leap card.

headmaster

Why not have a carraige that is for booked seats only, if a 2nd one is needed, so be it. Have the rest of the train as hop on and take your chance.

mikemac

They used to have teenagers in T shirts working as ushers when they introduced it

Why not bring them back?
Dublin airport makes great use of having people around to help

shannon_tek

headmaster wrote: »

Why not have a carraige that is for booked seats only, if a 2nd one is needed, so be it. Have the rest of the train as hop on and take your chance.

Its a bit like first class

MyKeyG

shannon_tek wrote: »

Its a bit like first class

Not really. The carriages would be the same standard, same price it's just that it'd be reserved.

stinkle

MyKeyG wrote: »

Not really. The carriages would be the same standard, same price it's just that it'd be reserved.

The "old" system worked like this (online booking, but on the older trains) - I used to regularly travel Dublin-Ennis and never had a problem with people sitting in my pre-booked seat until they introduced the new trains and problems arose with the allocated seating display. Prior to that, nice IE staff were employed to stand on the platform, near the carriage doors and would enquire if you had a pre-booked seat. I you did they'd check the ticket and point the way to the seat, otherwise I imagine you were directed to an unreserved carriage. I can't remember if this happened every week, but it certainly happened at busy times such as bank holiday weekends.

PLease correct me if I'm wrong (I may very well be wrong), but on the current online booking system, isn't it only possible to pre-book seats in a certain carriage (i.e. Carriage B of an intercity)??? In all my time travelling Dublin-Ennis and vice versa weekly, and often having to book my ticket at the last minute, I can only recall being able to book Carriage B, so I always thought there was a limited amount of reservable seats. In other words, if you show up with a 5 day return, just avoid carriage B and you won't end up taking a pre-booked seat. Like I said, I could be waaaay off the mark here, and perhaps once a carriage fills up online, another becomes available, and so on.

Recently though, I've noticed little signs on the platform at Heuston advising passengers that certain carriages are reserved seating only. I don't take the train as regularly anymore, so I've no idea if this is the norm. However, I don't see why this was never done from the beginning of the introduction of the new intercity trains, especially when it was clear early on that the seat booking system was flawed.

MyKeyG

stinkle wrote: »

PLease correct me if I'm wrong (I may very well be wrong), but on the current online booking system, isn't it only possible to pre-book seats in a certain carriage (i.e. Carriage B of an intercity)??? In all my time travelling Dublin-Ennis and vice versa weekly, and often having to book my ticket at the last minute, I can only recall being able to book Carriage B, so I always thought there was a limited amount of reservable seats. In other words, if you show up with a 5 day return, just avoid carriage B and you won't end up taking a pre-booked seat. Like I said, I could be waaaay off the mark here, and perhaps once a carriage fills up online, another becomes available, and so on.

Well I went Ennis to Dublin return Thursday to Today and I was able to book in either B or C so you might not be too far off.

Incidentally I remember the check list but I can only remember it once.

To be fair though they have the name on a digital display and put a flyer on the seat indicating 'How you know this seat is reserved' so anything beyond that is just ignorance on the part of other people.

stinkle

MyKeyG wrote: »

Well I went Ennis to Dublin return Thursday to Today and I was able to book in either B or C so you might not be too far off.

Incidentally I remember the check list but I can only remember it happening once.

Aye, I'm 100% sure that it wasn't ever a free-for all in terms of the seats you can book - A would usually be first class, so B would be reservable, and maybe C becomes reservable if B fills up enough. Never D, E, F (unless demand was there, like for a match or something?) Certainly, if I had to get a last minute train tomorrow, I'd avoid the first few carriages to try to be sure I wasn't sitting in anyone's seat.

The check list might well have been confined to bank hols. I do remember a very cheery inspector guy being there most weeks though, maybe it was a particularly busy route for that time of day

shannon_tek

MyKeyG wrote: »

Not really. The carriages would be the same standard, same price it's just that it'd be reserved.

Bit like first class lol
You get to reserve your place on the train and not have to stand :pac:

Cookie_Monster

Duke Leonal Felmet wrote: »

Don't get me wrong, I would **** anyone but an old couple/child out of the seat..

if you paid for a seat why would it matter who is sitting in it, **** them out anyway?

meoklmrk91

I get the train quite a lot, at least 6 times a week up and down to college. I have usually found that people who do take reserved seats are usually not doing it on purpose and will immediately move when asked and apologise profusely, they are also mostly older people.

But I've often noticed reserved seats left empty as well, as though people who paid the €2 extra just hop on the train and grab the first seat they find. It happens too much just for people not to be turning up. In turn that means that they are taking up a seat that isn't reserved and people usually don't sit in the ones that are reserved and end up having to walk up and down the train looking for somewhere to sit. So peeps the moral of the story is, if you choose to reserve a seat for the love of God, sit in it!

foggy_lad

stinkle wrote: »

Recently though, I've noticed little signs on the platform at Heuston advising passengers that certain carriages are reserved seating only. I don't take the train as regularly anymore, so I've no idea if this is the norm. However, I don't see why this was never done from the beginning of the introduction of the new intercity trains, especially when it was clear early on that the seat booking system was flawed.

I always thought this a strange practice because staff usually block people without reservations from entering those carriages in which you can reserve seats, but they should only be doing this if every seat on those carriages is reserved which is rarely the case!

If anyone arrives on time for a train and goes to board and is blocked from entering a carriage in which seats can be reserved, even though only a small number of seats have actually been reserved, and is then directed to the last carriage which is full they should be able to claim a full refund from Irish rail or indeed bring them to court for discriminating against them by refusing them access to seats they have paid for just because other seats on that carriage have been reserved.

It is as if Irish rail are trying to stop ordinary non reserved non 1st class passengers from travelling on their train by putting hurdles in their path.

mikemac

foggy_lad wrote: »

indeed bring them to court for discriminating against them by refusing them access to seats they have paid for

My knowledge of by-laws is poor but I'm guessing buying a train ticket doesn't guarantee a seat

MyKeyG

meoklmrk91 wrote: »

But I've often noticed reserved seats left empty as well, as though people who paid the €2 extra just hop on the train and grab the first seat they find. It happens too much just for people not to be turning up. In turn that means that they are taking up a seat that isn't reserved and people usually don't sit in the ones that are reserved and end up having to walk up and down the train looking for somewhere to sit. So peeps the moral of the story is, if you choose to reserve a seat for the love of God, sit in it!

Do you take the train from Departure to Terminus, or do you hop on a couple of stops away? I only ask because even if you're getting on at say Limerick Junction and getting off at Thurles you still have to choose a seat. It may look to someone that the individual has booked a seat and just not bothered to turn up.

Case in point whenever I go from Ennis to Dublin I more often than not have to hop on or off the Cork-Dublin train at Limerick Junction depending on whether I'm coming or going. That means from Cork to Limerick Jctn going out and Limerick Jctn to Cork coming back it appears as if my seat has been booked but not used.

MyKeyG

mikemac wrote: »

My knowledge of by-laws is poor but I'm guessing buying a train ticket doesn't guarantee a seat

Surely paying a booking fee does?

stinkle

meoklmrk91 wrote: »

But I've often noticed reserved seats left empty as well, as though people who paid the €2 extra just hop on the train and grab the first seat they find. It happens too much just for people not to be turning up. In turn that means that they are taking up a seat that isn't reserved and people usually don't sit in the ones that are reserved and end up having to walk up and down the train looking for somewhere to sit.

It might not be an issue anymore, but I recall yet more teething problems with the reserved seat display a few years back - often names would not appear until the train was leaving the first station, but they were the wrong names, loaded from a previous journey I suppose.

Run_to_da_hills

I recentlly returned from the UK via First rail service and was allocated a seat that didn't exist. I asked the ticket inspector where the seat was, he replied "shure, you are better off sitting where you are at the moment". (Ie backward facing non power socketed isle seat without a table for the three hour journey. We are not alone on this, but in the UK at least I wasn't charged a booking fee..

studiorat

meoklmrk91 wrote: »

But I've often noticed reserved seats left empty as well, as though people who paid the €2 extra just hop on the train and grab the first seat they find. It happens too much just for people not to be turning up. In turn that means that they are taking up a seat that isn't reserved and people usually don't sit in the ones that are reserved and end up having to walk up and down the train looking for somewhere to sit. So peeps the moral of the story is, if you choose to reserve a seat for the love of God, sit in it!

Thing is, you can reserve your seat, but you can't reserve who's gonna be sitting beside you. I often book a seat and then sit elsewhere, because there's someone with a kid or some fat bastard sitting beside you. I just sit elsewhere.

dowlingm

I never have a problem with a reserved seat on VIA Rail Canada Business (can only reserve Econ on some trains) but that's because every passenger's ticket is checked on board which has the seat number and they put a little paper sticker put overhead indicating your stop and that they checked your ticket.

(We don't do open tickets over here so if you change your plan you need a new ticket which means $ depending on which class/fare you book)

They can usually tell you from a printout where people are going to get on if you ask to sit in a different seat, so if you're going as far as Kingston but someone has reserved at Brockville (further on), no problem.

dory

Duke Leonal Felmet wrote: »

But yeah, I should turn up early.

But the thing is you get there early, see no seat reserved thing, sit there, and then as they're starting they turn on those lights and you're booted off. Tis madness!