Irish Rail Cork-Dublin €39 day return

Jamie2k9

http://www.irishrail.ie/cat_offers.jsp?i=4847

We know Cork people don't like leaving their beautiful county but Iarnród Éireann have made it a whole lot easier with the introduction of special return fares.
Adults can travel from Cork or Mallow to Dublin for €39 day return, while children can travel for €19.50 day return. These fares are available from the station after 09:00hrs on the day of travel.
Dublin has plenty to see and do with lots of shops, restaurants, museums and attractions, so why not treat yourself to a day out, you never know, you might even enjoy yourself.
Leave the hassle and stress of driving behind while you travel in comfort and style, customers can also avail of free wi-fi on board our services.
Offer ends Sunday 14th July 2013.

A response to bus operators on the route....

devnull

Might be attractive for some people but not for me, still over double the price of the bus.

veryangryman

Indeed. A brutal response. Double the price with stipulation that you must travel back on the day. Swing and a miss Irish rail

Hilly Bill

veryangryman wrote: »

Indeed. A brutal response. Double the price with stipulation that you must travel back on the day. Swing and a miss Irish rail

Thats what a day return is.

veryangryman

Hilly Bill wrote: »

Thats what a day return is.

I've taken the liberty of thanking your post as i didn't realize what a day return was.

Anyway... Dublin-Cork is a long journey. 5-6 hours in a day spent just getting to and from it for double the price of an open return on the bus where you can actually spend some time in the city you are visiting.

Maybe this sentence makes more sense to you guys.

Point is Bus>Train in every sense, even when trains do this "offer".

Hilly Bill

No, that sentence doesnt make any sense.

It takes 2 and a half hours to go from Cork to Dublin with trains leaving every hour. It gives you plenty of time to visit Dublin.
For €39 its good value considering the distance that you are travelling by train and what the original fare is.

drunkmonkey

It cost me €48 to do less than half that journey return the other day, there a complete rip off, its cheaper take the car which completely misses the point of what public transport should be about.

veryangryman

drunkmonkey wrote: »

It cost me €48 to do less than half that journey return the other day, there a complete rip off, its cheaper take the car which completely misses the point of what public transport should be about.

Finally someone who gets it.

Look, if you want to spend the extra €20-30+ on these "luxurious" trains with the added stipulation that you must return the same day, be my guest. Me, if i have that kind of money to throw around, i'm driving. The train would never come into it. If i want to be "comfortable" and paying same price, then car all the way. If i want value, i take the bus.

Good luck to you if you think that €40 is good value for public transport.

murphaph

Hilly Bill wrote: »

For €39 its good value considering the distance that you are travelling by train and what the original fare is.

That's like saying a house is good value in 2013 because the same house cost double the amount in 2007, even though all the other houses in the area are also half the price they were in 2007.

Hilly Bill

drunkmonkey wrote: »

It cost me €48 to do less than half that journey return the other day, there a complete rip off, its cheaper take the car which completely misses the point of what public transport should be about.

You wont get to Cork and back for €39 in fuel.

Hilly Bill

murphaph wrote: »

That's like saying a house is good value in 2013 because the same house cost double the amount in 2007, even though all the other houses in the area are also half the price they were in 2007.

No its not.

professore

Hilly Bill wrote: »

You wont get to Cork and back for €39 in fuel.

don't forget €7.60 in tolls, assuming you don't go around the M50.

Hilly Bill

veryangryman wrote: »

Finally someone who gets it.

Look, if you want to spend the extra €20-30+ on these "luxurious" trains with the added stipulation that you must return the same day, be my guest. Me, if i have that kind of money to throw around, i'm driving. The train would never come into it. If i want to be "comfortable" and paying same price, then car all the way. If i want value, i take the bus.

Good luck to you if you think that €40 is good value for public transport.

Some wont be happy until its all free.

Hilly Bill

professore wrote: »

don't forget €7.60 in tolls, assuming you don't go around the M50.

Plus parking charges.

n97 mini

Hilly Bill wrote: »

You wont get to Cork and back for €39 in fuel.

Some cars will, and you definitely will for less than €78 if you bring someone else in the car.

Grandeeod

Hilly Bill wrote: »

You wont get to Cork and back for €39 in fuel.

Your right you wont or in this case Cork to Dublin and back. For an individual the fare is probably attractive as the train is a different experience to the bus. Its obvious that the fare is aimed at people taking a recreational trip and on that basis its an okay discount. Looks like the earliest arrival in the City Centre would be about 12.30pm and opting for the 7pm return, it gives a decent 6 hours in Dublin with a decent hour arrival back in Cork.

I'm not convinced its an attractive enough price though.

drunkmonkey

Hilly Bill wrote: »

You wont get to Cork and back for €39 in fuel.

I didn't go dublin cork, I only went less than half way, it was only 1 stop on the train and it cost €48 return, not to mention paying for the luas on top of it and having to get dropped back to the huston. The tain was about 1/4 full and i'm not surprised in the least. It's an utter rip off....
Seen as I only went 1 stop I would have easily made the journey on €39 of fuel.

Grandeeod

I assume the €39 fare includes the City Centre connection?

Hilly Bill

drunkmonkey wrote: »

I didn't go dublin cork, I only went less than half way, it was only 1 stop on the train and it cost €48 return, not to mention paying for the luas on top of it and having to get dropped back to the huston. The tain was about 1/4 full and i'm not surprised in the least. It's an utter rip off....
Seen as I only went 1 stop I would have easily made the journey on €39 of fuel.

How is it a rip off when you had the choice to pay it or not along with other travel options? Where you forced to pay it?

serfboard

I think it's an interesting response to Bus Competition by IE.

If they didn't reduce the fare some people here would be complaining about how expensive it is.

If the fare reduction was too much, and couldn't cover the cost, others would be complaining about how much of a subsidy IE need.

veryangryman

serfboard wrote: »

I think it's an interesting response to Bus Competition by IE.

If they didn't reduce the fare some people here would be complaining about how expensive it is.

If the fare reduction was too much, and couldn't cover the cost, others would be complaining about how much of a subsidy IE need.

Step in the right direction yes, but for Joe Soap who's worried about own bottom line, the cheapest option (especially if Direct) is going to come up trumps.

I'm more than happy to have train lovers subsidize the costs; personally I don't see the big whoop that makes people willing to part with their hard earned on them.

Polar101

veryangryman wrote: »

I'm more than happy to have train lovers subsidize the costs; personally I don't see the big whoop that makes people willing to part with their hard earned on them.

Each to their own, some people prefer train travel over sitting two hours in a small steel or aluminium box. I think it's easy to understand both parties, too.

davidlacey

Plus your adding 100s of kms in one return journey to its mileage speeding up the depreciation of the car

corktina

interesting that there is no bus competition from Mallow

Jamie2k9

9.99 fares back on selected Cork services.

http://www.irishrail.ie/999

LXFlyer

I fail to see why people have to constantly descend into coach -v- train arguments when promotions are offered by an operator.

As I've said before, there is plenty of room for both - some people prefer the train and others the coach.

But constantly descending into petty arguments is doing no one nor this board any good.

This is a promotional day return fare, like the one offered last summer, and the summer before that.

davidlacey

Jamie2k9 wrote: »

9.99 fares back on selected Cork services.

http://www.irishrail.ie/999

Great prices, checked up for july 4 get to go 19.99 to cork and 9.99 back to dublin, happy camper!

n97 mini

Jamie2k9 wrote: »

9.99 fares back on selected Cork services.

http://www.irishrail.ie/999

That's more like it!

corktina

a step in the right direction

ThreeBlindMice

n97 mini wrote: »

Some cars will, and you definitely will for less than €78 if you bring someone else in the car.

I wouldn't go any more than two in a 97 Mini. :pac:

BenShermin

The cynic in me is thinking: "So some of the trains are back to the price they were two years ago, and we your humble passengers are supposed to jump for joy? What fantastic progress altogether :rolleyes:"


Being serious though, IÉ need to market the hell out of this fare, and it needs to be the norm from now on, I don't like the fact that IÉ use the words "limited time only" to describe this fare. Personally speaking, if I can book in advance, and the fare is available I'll certainly be using the train instead of the bus for my next Cork trip.

_Kaiser_

While better than the "normal" fare I wouldn't be getting overly excited TBH

- It's for a "limited time only"
- You still have to get from Hueston to the City Centre or from the station in Cork to wherever you're going (just like Dublin Bus, not everyone wants to go to An Lar either)
- Still takes longer than the car.. I can do Cork in 2 hours from the M50/M7 interchange
- Costs me about €50 in diesel at current rates (ex-tolls). That's for a quicker journey, comfort, door-to-door no changes required. Add on all that to the train fare and the value of the latter lessens somewhat, and not just in raw monetary terms

While a step in the right direction for IE - which would be more the case if they made it permanent - I wouldn't go breaking out the medals either!

bikeman1

This is a great example why competition on the route is working. Irish Rail have had the bus companies put it up to them for the individual traveller who doesn't care how they get to Cork as long as it's good value.

On my last trip to Cork a few weeks ago, we drove as is the norm these days, but I wouldn't dream if was on my own, sharing the diesel and tolls makes driving worth it. The road is surprisingly quiet, so it's very quick run. 2 hrs 30 mins City Centre to City Centre.

Now to the train fares, there is great value for rail passengers in my opinion on the Cork route for passengers:

Individual:
Advance Booking: €20 return.
Turn up on the day for a day return after 9am: €39. (Cork - Dublin only for some bizarre reason)

Family:
1 month open return (2adults + 4 kids): €99.

It seems we moan if they don't offer promotions and when they do, we still give out. Have you ever tried to bundle your kids in a car for a 2 and half hours journey? Que moaning! Tell them they get to go on the train, there and back, they love it!

Not everyone is a solo customer who doesn't mind being cramped up on a bus.

Well done Irish Rail, now roll out the promotions on other routes.

devnull

Bear in mind from what I have seen the 9.99 fares are only available on about 4-5 trains a day, they're not on every train but it is a good deal if the times suit and you are going from city center to city center and don't mind paying for the luas.

From looking ahead it seems to be the same trains every day at least on weekdays so I'd say they are probably allocating a certain number of fares on the quietest trains at a cheaper price.

bikeman1

devnull wrote: »

Bear in mind from what I have seen the 9.99 fares are only available on about 4-5 trains a day, they're not on every train but it is a good deal if the times suit and you are going from city center to city center and don't mind paying for the luas.

From looking ahead it seems to be the same trains every day at least on weekdays so I'd say they are probably allocating a certain number of fares on the quietest trains at a cheaper price.

Precisely what any sensible business would do. In my job, we offer a discount if you use our services during quiet periods.

There will always be people who can adjust their departure times to fit in with the promotional fares.

Grandeeod

I'm a big fan of motorways and a big fan of rail. Ive always been a big fan of transport systems. I would dearly love to see IR improve the speeds to compete or reduce the price. But both cost money. However I'm sickened by this further charge to actually get you to the City Centre in cities such as Dublin and Cork.