Booking a ticket with Irish rail??

timfinnegan

I'm trying to book a ticket from Cork to Dublin using Irish rails's website. However when I come to the card authentication part, the site pops up with the "page you're looking for cannot be found". I then tried using their "app", but this does not allow you to book a ticket. I have sent them a mail using their internal mail service but have not received any feedback.

I rang the main contact telephone number, but it seems the service is only available from Monday to friday despite the fact that the trains run on Saturdays and Sundays. I have tried ringing Kent station in Cork, but their phone is unmanned at the weekends too, despite the trains running on the weekends. Is there anyway I can book a train ticket before arriving at the station. Is this too much to expect?

This is my first time looking to book a rail ticket in years and to be honest, it's a been a pretty horrendous experience. It certainly would not encourage you to leave the car behind.

me_irl

Did you try it in a different browser? (Chrome, Firefox, etc?)

You could try to tweet them. They're quite active with updates and responding to people.

https://twitter.com/IrishRail

ED E

Does your card use Verified by Visa or 3DSecure?

timfinnegan

Thanks for the reply. I'm not on twitter and don't see how they'd reply to an external mail service faster that their own internal one. I did try a different browser, but got exactly the same result.

timfinnegan

ED E wrote: »

Does your card use Verified by Visa or 3DSecure?

Verified by VISA. I normally can buy stuff online without the verification process, but for some reason it's a must on the Irish rail site, but it doesn't process when the verification details are entered

me_irl

timfinnegan wrote: »

Thanks for the reply. I'm not on twitter and don't see how they'd reply to an external mail service faster that their own internal one. I did try a different browser, but got exactly the same result.

Do you have any ad blockers installed or a firewall / antivirus that may interfere.

Emails may just be set for one account / user at one PC, and not manned 24/7 nor public like Twitter. I find I get a faster response through Tweeting, so it's best not to blatantly disregard that suggestion.

timfinnegan

me_irl wrote: »

Do you have any ad blockers installed or a firewall / antivirus that may interfere.

Emails may just be set for one account / user at one PC, and not manned 24/7 nor public like Twitter. I find I get a faster response through Tweeting, so it's best not to blatantly disregard that suggestion.

I turned off my ad blocker, but still could not get through. To be honest I think the Customer service level is shocking, no reply to internal mail, unmanned telephone lines , app that won't allow you to book tickets and a website that doesn't work for a $50 single one way ticket.

I don't believe that tweeting is the way forward but thanks for your suggestion.

I've just bought a ticket on one of the bus services for $13 and that will do me.

Losty Dublin

You are trying to book a ticket on a Sunday morning and you are shocked when you get no reply or feedback within minutes? Okay

The Irish Rail app is for train times only. Did you try booking on your phone web browser?

timfinnegan

Losty Dublin wrote: »

You are trying to book a ticket on a Sunday morning and you are shocked when you get no reply or feedback within minutes? Okay

The Irish Rail app is for train times only. Did you try booking on your phone web browser?

I expect a business that is operating on the weekend to have a customer service section open to cater for this need.

They should have an app that allows you to buy tickets, a website that works, persons that mail you when you query them and a phone service open to facilitate queries, when they are trading. Sorry that you don't expect similar things.

Hilly Bill

timfinnegan wrote: »

I'm trying to book a ticket from Cork to Dublin using Irish rails's website. However when I come to the card authentication part, the site pops up with the "page you're looking for cannot be found". I then tried using their "app", but this does not allow you to book a ticket. I have sent them a mail using their internal mail service but have not received any feedback.

I rang the main contact telephone number, but it seems the service is only available from Monday to friday despite the fact that the trains run on Saturdays and Sundays. I have tried ringing Kent station in Cork, but their phone is unmanned at the weekends too, despite the trains running on the weekends. Is there anyway I can book a train ticket before arriving at the station. Is this too much to expect?

This is my first time looking to book a rail ticket in years and to be honest, it's a been a pretty horrendous experience. It certainly would not encourage you to leave the car behind.

Did you set up an account?

Fred Swanson

This post has been deleted.

flyingsnail

Fred Swanson wrote: »

This post has been deleted.

http://www.irishrail.ie/news/bookings-unavailable

To facilitate the introduction of this new booking system, bookings for services beyond the 19th March are currently not available to purchase.
We plan to make these services available to purchase online at the end of February.
To view timetables for the 19th March onwards, please visit our Timetable[/URL] page.

timfinnegan

Hilly Bill wrote: »

Did you set up an account?

Yes I did open an account with Irish rail today, specifically to book a rail ticket, but I was unable to purchase one.

Instead I booked a bus ticket online with a private bus company. The transaction was simple to complete and the service was excellent. I saved myself 37 euro in the process and arrived in Dublin on time.

PopTarts

Their Twitter is only manned Monday - Friday 7:30 - 18:30.

Hilly Bill

timfinnegan wrote: »

Yes I did open an account with Irish rail today, specifically to book a rail ticket, but I was unable to purchase one.

Instead I booked a bus ticket online with a private bus company. The transaction was simple to complete and the service was excellent. I saved myself 37 euro in the process and arrived in Dublin on time.

Well done problem solved and an extra few quid in your pocket.

Del.Monte

Hilly Bill wrote: »

Well done problem solved and an extra few quid in your pocket.

And well done Irish Rail for freeing up a seat through incompetence - get rid of the remaining passengers, FTPs and all will be well. :pac: