Galway - Heuston train fare !

paulgalway

Could not get an explanation for this from ticket seller in Galway Train station:-


Galway - Heuston return = €35.50

Oranmore - Heuston return = €35.50

Galway - Oranmore return = €8.60

Cannot understand how Galway/Oranmore - Heuston are same price when Galway - Oranmore is €8.60.

Rang customer care and they said because of greater distance involved there is a set fare.


Go figure ?

snubbleste

paulgalway wrote: »

Rang customer care and they said because of greater distance involved there is a set fare.

There is your answer.

Mrs OBumble

If you have a problem, take it up with the NTA, they're the ones who approve the pricing structures for subsidised public transport.

swiftman

im surprised you actually having problems with this.
trains and buses arent priced by the km.

for example, galway to oranmore 10km
galway to dublin 200km.

galway to dublin is 20times longer. should the galway to oranmore ticket be 20 times cheaper, of coarse not.

same thing with taxis, there is a start up fee, otherwise everyone would be getting taxi from eyre square to the cellar which would cost 20cent. same with train, everyone would get it from galway to oranmore for €1.79 and then they'd be no seats for people going to athenry, athlone dublin etc

antoobrien

paulgalway wrote: »

Cannot understand how Galway/Oranmore - Heuston are same price when Galway - Oranmore is €8.60.

The reason for the apparent difference is that they are two different services. Galway & Oranmore - Hueston are Intercity services where Galway - Oranmore is a local service. Add to that the fact that Oranmore is right beside Galway they probably just lumped it into the same fare zone to save them a bit of hassle.

GekkePrutser

Iarnrod Eireann's pricing doesn't make any sense at all anyway.

A year or two I had to go to Belfast from Galway (return) and I priced the trip by putting Galway to Belfast. It was 100 euro return.

But I thought I'd check the 2 train journeys (Galway <-> Dublin and Dublin <-> Belfast) separately just on the off chance it'd be a bit cheaper. Guess what, it was 50 euro altogether. This was the same services, exact same times and class of travel. Just booked as 2 separate returns and turned out to be half price

So yeah I don't know what they're up to with their pricing but it seems to be made up as they go along.

That Galway to Oranmore pricing is ridiculous by the way, those must be golden tracks for those 2 miles With that kind of pricing it's not at all competitive with driving to the city and the station was put forward as a major relief of traffic into the city center... :S

inisboffin

As with the buses, there is also way more competition on the intercity routes.
For example it will often cost you less to go Galway to Dublin say, on a Citylink than to go to one of the small towns en route via the commuter service (which also goes to Dublin). This is the same service, same bus, but the intercity price has to say competitive. They of course also have a direct service which most would get when using the company to go to Dublin.

Same for getting to small towns elsewhere. Small distances often cost more due to lack of competition (and demand sometimes, but not all).

The Train tickets are cheaper online, and with advance purchase - some people aren't aware of that.

LXFlyer

The Intercity fares are set on the basis of distance zones.

Both Galway and Oranmore are in the same zone when travelling to/from Dublin and as such have the same fare for that journey.

As for Galway/Belfast - the 2 separate journeys are priced at a promotional rate online. The through trip is based on the full fare.

paulo6891

GekkePrutser wrote: »

Iarnrod Eireann's pricing doesn't make any sense at all anyway.

A year or two I had to go to Belfast from Galway (return) and I priced the trip by putting Galway to Belfast. It was 100 euro return.

But I thought I'd check the 2 train journeys (Galway <-> Dublin and Dublin <-> Belfast) separately just on the off chance it'd be a bit cheaper. Guess what, it was 50 euro altogether. This was the same services, exact same times and class of travel. Just booked as 2 separate returns and turned out to be half price

Surely it wasn't a surprise that an indirect journey was cheaper than a direct journey? :eek:

dowlingm

paulo6891 wrote: »

Surely it wasn't a surprise that an indirect journey was cheaper than a direct journey? :eek:

There are no direct Galway-Belfast services

Victor

Galway-Oranmore is €5.70 single. I understand there is a €6 day return offer in place at the moment.

GekkePrutser

dowlingm wrote: »

There are no direct Galway-Belfast services

Indeed, I had to take the Luas from Heuston to Connolly station But it's the same if you book it "direct". I don't even think you get the Luas included then either. The only difference was the convenience of booking it on one ticket. Which is not worth double the price to me

But thanks lxflyer, I wasn't aware of the separate promotions.

Victor

GekkePrutser wrote: »

I don't even think you get the Luas included then either.

You can ask for it to be included.

The only difference was the convenience of booking it on one ticket.

Not quite. The discounted webfare is tied to specific trains - you need to pay a surcharge if you want to travel on a different departure. A ticket from the booking office is valid on any departure on any valid day.

dinneenp

Single tickets same price as return. I've heard them trying to justify it but rip off is all I can remember.

Fred Swanson

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n97 mini

dinneenp wrote: »

Single tickets same price as return. I've heard them trying to justify it but rip off is all I can remember.

Or exceptionally good value (i.e. the return tickets)? Depends on the ticket price really though.

whytek

swiftman wrote: »

same with train, everyone would get it from galway to oranmore for €1.79 and then they'd be no seats for people going to athenry, athlone dublin etc

Funny, imagine that, everybody getting the train at a reasonable price. God forbid!

dowlingm

For me, if the IE website is loaded with two promotional fares and the through fare of a combination of those journeys is higher, that is a bug, pure and simple. The customer should be offered the lowest fare possible at any time.

Victor

Fred Swanson wrote: »

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I don't think this is the case with Irish Rail.

Fred Swanson

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Polar101

whytek wrote: »

Funny, imagine that, everybody getting the train at a reasonable price. God forbid!

Would you like to pay more taxes?