Irish Rail now require you to book a week in advance for some best fares

etchyed

Jamie2k9 wrote: »

Irish Rails walk up fares are the same if not a little better than most European rail services. If people in Europe can book in advance then why can't use Irish?

Most European countries' rail systems don't require advance booking. Irish Rail's relatively recent love affair with advance, booked train only tickets seems to be a British import.

bk

CTYIgirl wrote: »

(I will acknowledge that I'm lucky that student fares are actually cheaper in the station than online, but if the credit card/reservation charges are dropped I'll be reserving online.

Good point CTYIgirl, students are now treated ridiculously well by Irish Rail.

- Just €20 return (€30 for Cork).
- No need to book in advance, you can buy this €20 ticket on the day from the TVM and thus no credit card and seat reservation fees.

In other words, almost exactly like I described IR should operate for all customers, in order to remain competitive.

One thing you should remember however CTYIgirl, you shouldn't complain about the bus, the only reason these very cheap Irish Rail fares exist is due to the very strong competition from GoBus and CityLink, which has led Irish Rail to lose almost 50% of their customers on this route. If they weren't there, then you would be paying at least twice as much.

schemingbohemia

etchyed wrote: »

Most European countries' rail systems don't require advance booking. Irish Rail's relatively recent love affair with advance, booked train only tickets seems to be a British import.

Well, I don't know my way around all the European train booking systems, but in order to get a decent TGV fare i had to book in advance.

You are aware that IE don't require advance booking? It's only if you want a better fare that it makes sense to book in advance.

LXFlyer

Same applies for the Intercity rail services in Norway and Spain. Advance booking is always cheaper.

bk

What other countries do or don't do is irrelevant. The market conditions and competition can be very different from country to country.

For instance TGV is a premium, high speed, long distance service whose primary competition is airlines and certainly not cars and buses. It is in no way comparable to Irish Rail.

Norway is a very mountainous country, that doesn't have a particularly good road network and suffers a lot from snow, ice and avalanches. The train service is faster, safer and more dependable then going by road.

Spain I've no experience with.

But the point is that is all irrelevant with regards to Irish Rail. IR's competition is the car which is significantly faster and more convenient and obviously requires no booking and the bus coach which is about the same speed and much cheaper, while requiring no advanced booking. This is the reality IR face.

And I think they recognise this, with the student promotion being cheap and requiring no advance booking.

It looks like they are just trying to milk adults who aren't yet aware of the new cheaper bus services with their current fare structure.

devnull

I'm not the biggest fan of Irish Rail to say the least, but if they were to sell the fares at a flat rate of €20 they'd need more subsidy to break even since such flat fare on intercity operations isn't going to come anywhere near covering the costs.

markpb

devnull wrote: »

I'm not the biggest fan of Irish Rail to say the least, but if they were to sell the fares at a flat rate of €20 they'd need more subsidy to break even since such flat fare on intercity operations isn't going to come anywhere near covering the costs.

It's hard to pick a figure like that and say it wouldn't cover their costs without knowing a) their costs and b) the outcome of the change in demand that a charge like that would cause.

LXFlyer

bk wrote: »

What other countries do or don't do is irrelevant. The market conditions and competition can be very different from country to country.

For instance TGV is a premium, high speed, long distance service whose primary competition is airlines and certainly not cars and buses. It is in no way comparable to Irish Rail.

Norway is a very mountainous country, that doesn't have a particularly good road network and suffers a lot from snow, ice and avalanches. The train service is faster, safer and more dependable then going by road.

Spain I've no experience with.

But the point is that is all irrelevant with regards to Irish Rail. IR's competition is the car which is significantly faster and more convenient and obviously requires no booking and the bus coach which is about the same speed and much cheaper, while requiring no advanced booking. This is the reality IR face.

And I think they recognise this, with the student promotion being cheap and requiring no advance booking.

It looks like they are just trying to milk adults who aren't yet aware of the new cheaper bus services with their current fare structure.

I was merely making the point that what was posted above by Etchyed was not correct. In many cases across Europe it can be cheaper to book in advance.

Whether that is the right model for Ireland is another question...

devnull

It seems that there are now peak exclusions that apply where the lowest advertised fare is not available however far booked in advance. Not sure if that was always the case?

From the Irish Rail Facebook

Poster: All fares to Cork on Friday afternoons between 3pm and 7pm are €32.99 no matter how far in advance they are booked???
Reply: Some peak exclusions apply. It Eil chop and change with demand and events.

Jamie2k9

From 3 April all remaining Intercity routes will have to be booked 7+ days in advance to get cheapest fare. No price changes.

Losty Dublin

Jamie2k9 wrote: »

From 3 April all remaining Intercity routes will have to be booked 7+ days in advance to get cheapest fare. No price changes.

Cue the Irish Rail lynch mob here to berate this wanton move and abuse of cutomers. How dare they

LoonyLovegood

Well IE have just shot themselves in the foot.

foggy_lad

Losty Dublin wrote: »

Cue the Irish Rail lynch mob here to berate this wanton move and abuse of cutomers. How dare they

I actually think it is a good idea for a change, less passengers means less hassle for staff and less cleaning of trains. less fuel burned etc. It can only mean great savings for Irish Rail.

highlydebased

foggy_lad wrote: »

I actually think it is a good idea for a change, less passengers means less hassle for staff and less cleaning of trains. less fuel burned etc. It can only mean great savings for Irish Rail.

Sure we may aswell shut the whole feckin' thing down altogether! Customers, how dare they inconvenience IE! :rolleyes:

end of the road

foggy_lad wrote: »

I actually think it is a good idea for a change, less passengers means less hassle for staff and less cleaning of trains. less fuel burned etc. It can only mean great savings for Irish Rail.

theirs no need for sarcasm, this is a very serious issue which must be taken extremely seriously

pigtown

Single fare Limerick Junction to Cork was €26.80 online before charges. Bought it at the station for €19. So there's that.

Defiler Of The Coffin

CTYIgirl wrote: »

I'm a regular traveller between Galway and Dublin, and always take the train. While the private bus companies may be cheaper, I've had bad experiences. I point blank refuse to travel Bus Eireann, it generally takes between four and five hours for the route, rather than the stated 3:10/3:30.

I'd rather walk up and buy a ticket and sit in comfort, with plugs and (intermittent) wifi, than sit for hours on an uncomfortable, slow bus.

(I will acknowledge that I'm lucky that student fares are actually cheaper in the station than online, but if the credit card/reservation charges are dropped I'll be reserving online.

Are you aware of the GoBus and CityLink services between Galway and Dublin? Very competitive pricing and on-par with the train times.

Inter-city buses win it for me each time. The bus service on the Dublin-Belfast routes are far superior to the train.

Richard Logue

I'm sure CTYIgirl is aware of the many different bus options available between Galway and Dublin. I know I am. That doesn't mean I would take a bus in preference to a train if a railway service is available for where I want to go.

Having said that, there are large chunks of Ireland where there are no railways at all so in these places a bus is the only option available for public transport.

The biggest weakness of Ireland's public transport system is that BE and IE are in competition with each other. Other countries can and do integrate their transport systems. It seems that we simply don't.