Irish Rail - Student Fares Increase from Today

Jamie2k9

http://www.irishrail.ie/cat_offers.jsp?i=4479

There will be an increase to our student promotional fares from Wednesday 13th March.
In February 2012, we slashed the price of student fares for Intercity trains: for example, we reduced the Dublin-Cork student return from €48 to €30. In addition, we removed the requirement for students to purchase a Student Travelcard to avail of these fares – a valid college ID is all that’s needed now.
That won’t change – we will now always accept valid college ID for students on Intercity - but we will be implementing a small increase in fares, while still ensuring they are way below the prices of just over 12 months ago.
Check out our latest student return fares;

•€21.00 Dublin - Galway, Limerick, Rosslare, Sligo or Waterford
•€31.50 Dublin - Belfast*, Cork, Tralee or Westport
*Please note this fare is only available from Dublin Connolly to Belfast and not in the opposite direction.
What ID is required?

Students can avail of these promotional fares by presenting one of the following forms of valid identification:
•College ID (T&C's for full card requirements)
•USI card
•Leap Student Travelcard
•International Student Identity Card (ISIC)
Where can I Purchase a Student Ticket?
Student fares can be purchased from
•Booking Office
•www.irishrail.ie
•Ticket Vending Machine (TVM) - When purchasing on a TVM and using a college id enter the number 123456 when requested for your Student Travelcard number (not applicable to weekly or monthly tickets).
Terms and Conditions
•Third level students no longer need a student travelcard to avail of our intercity fares, it is now our official policy to accept valid college ID.
•College ID's with no photograph are accepted if accompanied by accepted ID i.e. Garda age card, passport or driving licence, confirming student's identity.
•College ID's which have no expiry date but have an issue date are valid for 4 years from date of issue.
•Freshers, even if you haven’t picked up your college ID yet, you can still get these great fares with your college letter of acceptance, handy if you’re heading to check out campus, or find accommodation. (Letters are only valid for one return trip).
•Second level students can avail of these fares if they are in possession of a valid Student Travelcard. For more information and how to apply, go to Student Travelcard.
•This promotion is available until 30th September 2013.
It’s never been easier to save, and there’s never been a better time for students to find out why it’s easy by train.
Don't forget to follow us on Facebook and Twitter to keep up to date with the latest offers and promotions.

Cookie_Monster

In addition, we removed the requirement for students to purchase a Student Travelcard to avail of these fares – a valid college ID is all that’s needed now.

It's about feckin time that happened.

LXFlyer

That happened a year ago.

mydiscworld

Why are Irish rail giving students more of a reason to switch to the non stop buses on the Cork route.

31.50 v 22/25 for bus?

bk

mydiscworld wrote: »

Why are Irish rail giving students more of a reason to switch to the non stop buses on the Cork route.

31.50 v 22/25 for bus?

Actually the bus is cheaper again:
€18 Aircoach if booked online.
GoBE student ticket is €20 online, €22 walk up
GoBE weekday return ticket is €18 online or onboard.

In fairness however €31.50 for the train is great value and no online booking fees and available walk up!!

This is what all Irish Rail adult fares should be, not just for students. Cheapest adult ticket is €43 booked 7 days in advanced, going all the way up to €80 walk up fare, now that is a rip off!!

mydiscworld

Are the IR online booking fees gone?

Thought it was 2/3 euro for debit/credit card?

bk

mydiscworld wrote: »

Are the IR online booking fees gone?

Thought it was 2/3 euro for debit/credit card?

No, they are still there €2/3 as you say.

But students don't have to book online to get this cheap fare, they can just walk up and buy the cheap 31.50 ticket from the TVM/ticket counter on the day, thus avoiding these charges!!

Intercity trains are rarely full these days, so it shouldn't be an issue.

The completely different way that IR treat students to adults is very weird. It is almost like IR are running two completely different ticketing models.

A sort of expensive airline like model for adults and a very reasonable, dutch (max fare €20 single, walk up fare, no online booking seat reservations) like system for students!

I really think IR needs to make up their minds on this and hopefully move towards the dutch/student system for all.

At the very least drop the stupid online booking fees for all.

LoonyLovegood

Didn't realise that the fares went up this morning, went to the TVM to pay the fare, was wondering why it didn't print. Took the mother pointing it out before I saw :L

I'm not complaining about a €1 increase at all, it gets me to and from college fine, and is far nicer than the bus.

xOxSinéadxOx

The not needing a student travel card and the walk up student fares have definitely made me use the train a good few times recently whereas before I would have gotten the bus. The increases aren't too bad I guess as I would only get intercity trains occasionally anyway, but the more rounded €30, for example, looks much better for advertising than €31.50 :pac:

Jamie2k9

Return student fares on Waterford line reduced from €21.00 to €18.50 + booking fee. Could be a mistake but its probably to maintain that student tickets are cheaper than an adult return. 21.00 at Stations.

foggy_lad

Jamie2k9 wrote: »

Return student fares on Waterford line reduced from €21.00 to €18.50 + booking fee. Could be a mistake but its probably to maintain that student tickets are cheaper than an adult return. 21.00 at Stations.

It is more likely that it waschanged to make it only €3 dearer than the bus but that becomes over €6 dearer with the bus/luas add on.

Hilly Bill

Where do you get the extra €3 ?

foggy_lad

Hilly Bill wrote: »

Where do you get the extra €3 ?

Its an extra €1.60 each way between Heuston and the city centre.

Hilly Bill

Only if you need to get there. Shanks pony is free. Not everyone on the Bus lives near Busaras so add in the cost of their onward journey as well if you are going down that route.

foggy_lad

Hilly Bill wrote: »

Only if you need to get there. Shanks pony is free. Not everyone on the Bus lives near Busaras so add in the cost of their onward journey as well if you are going down that route.

Most people want to go to the City Centre or very close to it for onward connections or to their accommodation and 2 kiometres is quite a walk with bags and cases.

And all the intercity buses stop in the city centre but most trains don't. why would anyone need to pay extra to go where the bus stops anyway?.

Hilly Bill

Not everyone will have bags and cases and not everyone will need to be in the city center and you can get onward connections from Heuston as well. What about the cost of getting to the bus station in Waterford. There is more to Dublin than the city centre . Adding the cost of the Luas or bus onto the train Fare for comparison is misleading ,its only relevant to each individual when they are calculating the cost of getting to and from their destinations and that cost will be different for every passenger of a bus or train. Why not add the cost of a taxi while we are at it.

foggy_lad

Hilly Bill wrote: »

Not everyone will have bags and cases and not everyone will need to be in the city center and you can get onward connections from Heuston as well. What about the cost of getting to the bus station in Waterford. There is more to Dublin than the city centre . Adding the cost of the Luas or bus onto the train Fare for comparison is misleading ,its only relevant to each individual when they are calculating the cost of getting to and from their destinations and that cost will be different for every passenger of a bus or train. Why not add the cost of a taxi while we are at it.

Have you ever got off an train at Heuston and followed the crowds out to the luas stop where some wait for the bus to the city centre and more wait for the luas? only a very small number will head off walking or get a taxi.

You should count the numbers getting on the citybound luas at Heuston for their onward journeys on Dublin buses or train/dart from Connolly or Tara street and then see how many want to go to other places where it is easier for them to walk or get a bus from Heuston. You might just be surprised!

Also this has all been thrashed out on at least two other threads with yourself so there is really no need to be repeating yourself.

Zaph

foggy_lad wrote: »

Do you genuinely believe what you are posting or are you just trolling now? this has all been thrashed out on other threads where you played the same trolling cards and stating the same nonsense about some people not wanting to go to the City Centre/some people not having bags etc! if that was the case then only a few of the intercity buses would have to go into the city centre and there would not be any need for a luas stop at Heuston station!

And not all intercity trains go to Heuston, so adding extra on to a train fare just to suit your own argument is ridiculous. The train fare is as stated, anything other than that is your own personal circumstance. So stop accusing people of trolling if you're going to be spouting nonsense yourself.

Julius Seizure

Nice move over the Waterford line.. It is quoting me Kilkenny to Heuston student return as 14.50 plus charges.. And that's definitely return. The extra euro over a twenty note drives me mad though!

AlekSmart

foggy_lad wrote: »

Have you ever got off an train at Heuston and followed the crowds out to the luas stop where some wait for the bus to the city centre and more wait for the luas? only a very small number will head off walking or get a taxi.

You should count the numbers getting on the citybound luas at Heuston for their onward journeys on Dublin buses or train/dart from Connolly or Tara street and then see how many want to go to other places where it is easier for them to walk or get a bus from Heuston. You might just be surprised!

Also this has all been thrashed out on at least two other threads with yourself so there is really no need to be repeating yourself.

Surprised is'nt the half of it...:eek:

I do know that ALL of the various Public TRansport undertakings put considerable emphasis on origin and destination surveys,with substantial resources being allocated to these.

In adition the NTA is now also conducting it's own surveys which will be used to back-up or contradict the companies own data.

However I'ts encouraging that individual citizens also maintain such a comprehensive database,for whatever reasons......

bk

Well I do notice that many train fans only look at the journey time and cost between train stations, ignoring the fact that almost no one lives in a train station.

On the other hand, most normal people look at how fast and how much it takes to get from A to B, where A and B are usually their home/office/college.

Hueston is a bit far out and getting plunked right by O'Connell St by most intercity bus services, which puts you right next to almost every Dublin Bus route in Dublin and just a quick walk to the Dart is very convenient for many if not most people.

This is also the reason that the train needs to be much faster then the car, not just match it. Because matching a car train station to train station is irrelevant. If you want to get modal shift, the train + dart/luas/bus/taxi needs to at least match and preferably beat the car in both A to B journey time and cost.

cast_iron

Zaph wrote: »

And not all intercity trains go to Heuston, so adding extra on to a train fare just to suit your own argument is ridiculous. The train fare is as stated, anything other than that is your own personal circumstance. So stop accusing people of trolling if you're going to be spouting nonsense yourself.

To be fair to Foggy, he did state it both ways. The point is valid that it's only €3 dearer to Heuston, and an extra €3 for the majority going to cc. He clearly stated that the extra €3 was for the Bus/Luas add-on, which I would estimate 70% people would require. I wouldn't consider this 70%+ "his own circumstances".

Victor

Back on topic please.

Moderator

Andrelfc

They Think were made of money