Crazy price for Student Rail tickets

MarkoP11

Relibility has increased massively over the last few years

Iarnrod Eireann are rightfully proud of having one of the most reliable rolling stock fleets in europe, at times it may look outdated but in general it is reliable. Lighting and heating failures are a pain but the train keeps moving, failures and breakdowns are in fact quite rare and there has been a significant reduction in failures this year. Even the most unreliable service the Dublin Belfast is above the average on similar UK intercity lines.

Everyone remembers that 1 day where it went wrong the other 99% of the time its just plain boring reliable, a lot of delays are caused by external effects medical emergencies, suicides, bridge strikes, level crossings hit by motorists, vandals the list goes on.

Owing to the nature of the network if your train breaks down it is very hard to rectify, the staff try there best and have on many occassions successfully rectified the fault using all but the most basic knowledge and equipment

People are willing to stand because the train is the best way to go, there are a lot of places which you can get to directly by rail which you can't by Bus Eireann, eg Dublin Thurles.

The system is a victim of its own success. Remember the reason people are standing is because success governments have refused to fund additional rolling stock, CIE went looking for rolling stock in 1979, refused it wasn't until the aftermath of the Buttevant accident in 1981 where new stock was authorised and even then the funding was pulled before the project was complete leaving IE sort roughly 20 coaches against a backdrop of massive increase in passenger numbers

Despite this government appears only able to replace like with like, so the number of intercity seats in the fleet remains similar but through faster speeds and reduced turnaround times IE can squeeze more capacity.

There is now a customer charter so if things go badly wrong you will get a refund

Calina

Metrobest wrote:

It's worth noting that students can travel for free in the Netherlands and Belgium on all public transport, so the least IE can do it offer a discount on its outrageous prices to students and regular travellers. As a semi-state monopoly, however, it seems to more concerned with protecting its unionised employees jobsforlife than in delivering an excellent service to the taxpayers who prop it up.

The things you should expect when traveling on trains - punctuality, comfort, value for money, customer service, cleanlinesss; in other words, the basics - are sadly absent from IE's offering. The number of passengers carried by Irish Rail should not be interpreted as an endorsement of this semi-state monopoly. In Ireland rail transport is marginally more attractive than road transport on long-distance journeys, but as the national road network improves and motoways come on stream, cars/buses will become an ever-more attractive option for people traveling down the country, compared to the rail service in its present form.

Firstly, IE offers a fairly substantial discount to students and has some decent railcards for regular commuters - I seem to recall that it used to be possible to get a commuter card for rail travel to Dublin as far down as Thurles. I wouldn't imagine that has changed.

Secondly, speaking from the experience of living in Germany, France and Belgium and the UK, IE's prices are actually not outrageous. They are lower in many cases.

Thirdly, the best rail service that I have experienced is the SNCF. Nothing comes close and in comparison. Strangely enough, it has some fairly stringent unions in there, protecting jobs for life.

One of the primary differences between the SNCF and IE though is that the people who work for the SNCF have pride in their jobs. They are not - despite some fairly horrific national and wildcat strikes - subject to the same level of abuse that IE employees here have to listen to. Your post is an example. Why, if you can't respect the work that they do - and believe me, they've been doing it in the face of some catastrophic governmental abuse over the years - should they have any pride in their work? Why should they value it, if no one else does. Where are they going to get pride in their work if, no matter what they do, someone - lots of someones - are still going to whinge about it? Because without pride in their work, all those things you want, such as sufficient interest in their jobs to make the trains run on time, keep them clean, improve customer service...they're all nothing.

I do not work for Iarnrod Eireann and I have suffered badly by some of their screw-ups in the past. But I do at least recognise that things are improving - lots of things seem to be coming on streaming - rather slowly than I would have liked but yes they are coming, and I can give them some credit and recognition for that.

Metrobest

Calina wrote:

Thirdly, the best rail service that I have experienced is the SNCF. Nothing comes close and in comparison. Strangely enough, it has some fairly stringent unions in there, protecting jobs for life.

One of the primary differences between the SNCF and IE though is that the people who work for the SNCF have pride in their jobs. They are not - despite some fairly horrific national and wildcat strikes - subject to the same level of abuse that IE employees here have to listen to. Your post is an example. Why, if you can't respect the work that they do - and believe me, they've been doing it in the face of some catastrophic governmental abuse over the years - should they have any pride in their work? Why should they value it, if no one else does. Where are they going to get pride in their work if, no matter what they do, someone - lots of someones - are still going to whinge about it? Because without pride in their work, all those things you want, such as sufficient interest in their jobs to make the trains run on time, keep them clean, improve customer service...they're all nothing.
.

So you're sayings it's customers' fault for having the cheek to expect that trains run on time and that there might actually be some modicum of customer service? No wonder IE is in the state it's in if that's the attitude! Look, there is a thing called "care factor". Customers don't care if the guy in the ticket office has had a stressful day - they just want their train to run on time and be comfortable.

I don't know how SNCF do it. But I know how Irish Rail do it wrong. This monopoly has too much dead wood: Small rural stations filled with staff who have no function, do nothing, stand around, and don't help customers. Drivers who don't make announcements. Conductors who give honest customers the Spanish inquisition. Ticket office staff who stare at you blankly when you have the cheek to ask why your train, due ten minutes ago, has still not arrived and no announcement has been made. You could write a novel about the lack of customer service given by IE, and any attempts to deny this incompetence just makes one sound like the Comical Ali of board.ie!

This incompetent system can and does operate because IE gets a subsidy from the Irish taxpayer. Equal blame must go to the staff and the management which allows this to happen. A private company would not tolerate such managerial ineptitude and it would be the board of directors who got the chop.

johnnyc

enterprise wrote:

Tell that to the millions of customers that use Irish Rail each year.

that what most of the customers think screaming children running up the carriages. the carriages are cold in the winter and muggy in the summer. if i had my way i would get rid of half the stations such as rathmore, banteer templenoe hardly anybody gets off at then anyway etc. If you are from outside rep of dub you would realise that! irish rail dont run the luas thk god if they did after a few weeks they would be strike ridden!. Lets compare the price a special offer from cork to dublin works out at 75 euro how much is the train ticket too much food is cap and costly useless feckers.

Calina

Metrobest wrote:

So you're sayings it's customers' fault for having the cheek to expect that trains run on time and that there might actually be some modicum of customer service? No wonder IE is in the state it's in if that's the attitude! Look, there is a thing called "care factor". Customers don't care if the guy in the ticket office has had a stressful day - they just want their train to run on time and be comfortable.

I don't know how SNCF do it. But I know how Irish Rail do it wrong. This monopoly has too much dead wood: Small rural stations filled with staff who have no function, do nothing, stand around, and don't help customers. Drivers who don't make announcements. Conductors who give honest customers the Spanish inquisition. Ticket office staff who stare at you blankly when you have the cheek to ask why your train, due ten minutes ago, has still not arrived and no announcement has been made. You could write a novel about the lack of customer service given by IE, and any attempts to deny this incompetence just makes one sound like the Comical Ali of board.ie!

This incompetent system can and does operate because IE gets a subsidy from the Irish taxpayer. Equal blame must go to the staff and the management which allows this to happen. A private company would not tolerate such managerial ineptitude and it would be the board of directors who got the chop.

So, in short, you didn't understand a single word I said. I did not say that it was the customers' fault that IE had structural issues.

I pointed out that 1) it has been shockingly under-invested for years
2) I pointed out that IE employees enjoy very little respect - if you don't respect them, why should they respect you. Frankly I'd hate to work in the rail company because they have to deal with so much whinging on the part of customers. Sure there is such a thing as customer care - but you know, it's not all about RIGHTS RIGHTS RIGHTS. People have responsibilities too. I've seen some customers treat IE staff like absolute sh1t. You are far more likely to get some modicum of respect from people you don't treat like absolute sh1t. Strangely enough, I've never - I mean NEVER - had anything other than courtesy and respect from Iarnrod Eireann staff I've dealt with. And I've been dealing with them for more than fifteen years. I have always - but always - found the deadwood staff in my local railway station to be more than helpful.

What I endeavoured to make clear is that if you constantly - as people in this country do - put people whose job it is to aid you in some way down, if you constantly treat them appallingly and diss the efforts they make on your behalf, in a very, very short time they are not going to be too interested in doing their jobs. And frankly, I can't blame them. Why try to offer any service with a smile if the only profit in is another whinge about how completely useless you are? It becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy.

If you can't understand this, then I fully understand why you have so many problems with IE staff. I don't think you have even the remotest idea of how a rail company operates but frankly not even in my wildest imagination can I imagine that the stress levels of a ticket seller in station x would have an impact on the punctuality of a train. If it is such a big deal for you to have respect for the work that is being done, if you are unable to recognise the mammoth efforts being made to drag IE into the 21st century, and if things are so much better in the Netherlands, and if it is the cause of so much concern to you, I would strongly recommend you consider going back there.

parsi

Metrobest wrote:

So you're sayings it's customers' fault for having the cheek to expect that trains run on time and that there might actually be some modicum of customer service? No wonder IE is in the state it's in if that's the attitude! Look, there is a thing called "care factor". Customers don't care if the guy in the ticket office has had a stressful day - they just want their train to run on time and be comfortable.

I don't know how SNCF do it. But I know how Irish Rail do it wrong. This monopoly has too much dead wood: Small rural stations filled with staff who have no function, do nothing, stand around, and don't help customers. Drivers who don't make announcements. Conductors who give honest customers the Spanish inquisition. Ticket office staff who stare at you blankly when you have the cheek to ask why your train, due ten minutes ago, has still not arrived and no announcement has been made. You could write a novel about the lack of customer service given by IE, and any attempts to deny this incompetence just makes one sound like the Comical Ali of board.ie!

Gee.. sounds just like the complaints about Ryanair...and that's a private company.

cal29

Metrobest wrote:

So you're sayings it's customers' fault for having the cheek to expect that trains run on time and that there might actually be some modicum of customer service? No wonder IE is in the state it's in if that's the attitude! Look, there is a thing called "care factor". Customers don't care if the guy in the ticket office has had a stressful day - they just want their train to run on time and be comfortable.

I don't know how SNCF do it. But I know how Irish Rail do it wrong. This monopoly has too much dead wood: Small rural stations filled with staff who have no function, do nothing, stand around, and don't help customers. Drivers who don't make announcements. Conductors who give honest customers the Spanish inquisition. Ticket office staff who stare at you blankly when you have the cheek to ask why your train, due ten minutes ago, has still not arrived and no announcement has been made. You could write a novel about the lack of customer service given by IE, and any attempts to deny this incompetence just makes one sound like the Comical Ali of board.ie!

This incompetent system can and does operate because IE gets a subsidy from the Irish taxpayer. Equal blame must go to the staff and the management which allows this to happen. A private company would not tolerate such managerial ineptitude and it would be the board of directors who got the chop.

Can you explain the poor level of service in the UK among the Private companies then.


as for Government Subsidies the level of Subsidy to UK operators is now 5 times the level it was at when BR ran the system

the incompetence you complain about is because of under investment and poor management
there is absolutely no reason to believe that privatising the rail network would eradicate the poor management it did not happen in the UK if anything the situation has worsened

Calina

johnnyc wrote:

that what most of the customers think screaming children running up the carriages.

Screaming children running up and down the carriages is not the reponsibility of IE. It's the responsibility of the so called responsible adult rail customers with them.

johnnyc wrote:

the carriages are cold in the winter and muggy in the summer.

Ever experienced the aircon in an ICE in Germany during the height of summer? The carriages can be absolutely freezing when it's 32 deg outside. It's rare for me to complain about the cold in an IE train.

johnnyc wrote:

if i had my way i would get rid of half the stations such as rathmore, banteer templenoe hardly anybody gets off at then anyway etc.

Interestingly, a significant number of people drive from west Cork to Rathmore to pick up the train to Dublin.

johnnyc wrote:

If you are from outside rep of dub you would realise that!

I'm from outside the rep of Dub and I realise that a lot of people where there are still functioning train stations will see them closed over their dead bodies.

johnnyc wrote:

irish rail dont run the luas thk god if they did after a few weeks they would be strike ridden!. Lets compare the price a special offer from cork to dublin works out at 75 euro how much is the train ticket too much food is cap and costly useless feckers.

See it's exactly this attitude which is so constructive.

cal29

johnnyc wrote:

irish rail dont run the luas thk god if they did after a few weeks they would be strike ridden!..

Siptu signed a deal with Connex the operators of the LUAS


All employees are only allowed to join SIPTU in return SIPTU promised a no strike deal


this deal was struck between the two sides before Connex had employed anybody here

'it is agreed that there will be no industrial action of any form during the lifetime of this agreement.' This definition includes any disruption such as work-to-rules or 'go slows'. The agreement states that 'any form of industrial action will lead to immediate removal from the payroll and could render any employee involved in such action liable to summary dismissal.'

Victor

jank wrote:

shltter do you actually have a point other then trolling?

I think technically its called flaming.

'it is agreed that there will be no industrial action of any form during the lifetime of this agreement.' This definition includes any disruption such as work-to-rules or 'go slows'. The agreement states that 'any form of industrial action will lead to immediate removal from the payroll and could render any employee involved in such action liable to summary dismissal.'

It deosn't seem to include the purple flu that struck recently after a driver was fired.

Metrobest wrote:

It's worth noting that students can travel for free in the Netherlands and Belgium on all public transport

Do pensioners, etc. get free travel?

Metrobest

cal29 wrote:

Can you explain the poor level of service in the UK among the Private companies then.

Too many companies, too large a network, too much confusion. Hardly the case in Ireland, with our skeleton network. Therefore, I would suggest putting out to tender the intercity routes to Belfast, Cork, and Galway.

An interesting point was made about Ryanair. But you see, air passengers have a choice: if they don't like Ryanair's service they can choose Air lingus, BMI or whatever. Irish train passengers don't have a choice. Let's remember that before Ryanair came along, Dublin-London fares were ten times higher than today, you had to book weeks in advance, punctuality was poor and passengers got screwed. Competition changed all that. Competition works. Unionised, unaccountable monopolies don't.

Ps. Victor, not sure about that.

Calina

Metrobest wrote:

Therefore, I would suggest putting out to tender the intercity routes to Belfast, Cork, and Galway.

How in the name of all that's holy is that going to provide any competition? Do you envisage a situation where several different companies are going to be running trains to Cork or something?

johnnyc

Calina wrote:

How in the name of all that's holy is that going to provide any competition? Do you envisage a situation where several different companies are going to be running trains to Cork or something?

Yes is the simple answer competition works for airlines and it would work for rail. For those routes i would say 2 or 3 companies would be enough along side irish rail

enterprise

It has been quite cleary demonstrated in the UK that so called "competition" does not occur. Public sector monopoly replace by a private sector monopoly. Simple as that.

Calina

johnnyc wrote:

Yes is the simple answer competition works for airlines and it would work for rail. For those routes i would say 2 or 3 companies would be enough along side irish rail

Well I didn't actually ask you but since you've been kind enough to reply...

Tell me, how do you plan to finance the lines you haven't sold off to the highest bidding under-investor, such as Sligo and Rosslare? Would I be right in understanding, based on some of your previous posts that these should be closed forthwith because they're not metaphorical goldmines?

Frankly I don't think you've thought this out apart from "oh competition was good in the aviation sector therefore it'll be good in the train sector despite the total and irrefutable evidence to the contrary in the UK".

I'd like to see you prove that there will be sufficient income for three different companies to make a profit on the Cork-Dublin line.

I would like to see your view on how the route will be carved up - on the basis of slots or what?

Assuming it's on the basis of slots, I'd like to see you prove that the company which gets the lucrative morning commute slot will be prevented from swallowing up the company who gets the significantly less utilised midweek runs thus ensuring that competition continues to exist. I'd like to see you explain to me how having a choice of just one private operator is any better than having a choice of just one state operator.

No doubt you would think that loss making train routes should be shut down. Personally I take a whole network view of these things and believe that it would be more beneficial in general to have the moneyspinning routes subsidising the less economically viable routes than to close down the less economically viable routes and siphon my hard earned money into the hands of company directors and shareholders who will be even less likely to invest in the system than the current set up provides for.

The point is, privatisation and franchising of lines has been an unmitigated fiasco in the UK. Nothing you or Metrobest have said suggests that doing something similar here would be any different.

On the other hand, actually investing in the system - something which wasn't done for years and years - is having an impact. A positive impact.

johnnyc

i would leave irish rail run the rosslare to limerick junction nobody would be interested in that line anyway nobody uses it! open up the cork-dublin cork-galway dublin-belfast to competition. We have to move forward the unions are destroying the railway looking for higher wages for different work pratices. If i was in charge i would remove train stations like templemore rathmore, banteer there are only a few minutes down the road to the next train station and you could reach your destination faster. The point that i am tying to get across is that railways are shotting themselves in the foot when the prices of a plane ticket is cheaper then a train ticket!bad news. The goverment should set up a body that would configure the tracks open it for interested parties set down the price of a ticket. i dislike people who say that irish rail is a good company if there are such good company why do they need handouts from the tax payer!!

SeanW

Oookay. Why does Irish Rail need a "handout" from the taxpayer?

Any idea how much "handouts" the roads get from the taxpayer? How many billions have been wasted building roads that ran several times over their original budgets? How much money is spent annually on road safety initiative that don't really work?

How much car insurance costs the individual? What the cost to society is of all the road accidents?

Versus the cost of road usage, Irish Rail's pittance of an engineering subsidy is probably quite small.

BuffyBot

johnnyc wrote:

i would leave irish rail run the rosslare to limerick junction nobody would be interested in that line anyway nobody uses it! open up the cork-dublin cork-galway dublin-belfast to competition. We have to move forward the unions are destroying the railway looking for higher wages for different work pratices. If i was in charge i would remove train stations like templemore rathmore, banteer there are only a few minutes down the road to the next train station and you could reach your destination faster. The point that i am tying to get across is that railways are shotting themselves in the foot when the prices of a plane ticket is cheaper then a train ticket!bad news. The goverment should set up a body that would configure the tracks open it for interested parties set down the price of a ticket. i dislike people who say that irish rail is a good company if there are such good company why do they need handouts from the tax payer!!

All that's been said on this thread has gone straight over your head, hasn't it?

Thomond Pk

I totally agree if one analysis electricity prices one finds that they had to increase dramatically for other players to consider competition viable. If there are any profitable sections on the network they should be left with IE to subsidise any lines that are marginally loss making.

If any line is heamoraging cash and carrying less than a bus load per journey then its future should be seriously examined. Although I can't understand why there isn't a thriving commuter network in and out of Waterford and around Limerick/Ennis and Galway.

johnnyc

SeanW wrote:

Oookay. Why does Irish Rail need a "handout" from the taxpayer?

Any idea how much "handouts" the roads get from the taxpayer? How many billions have been wasted building roads that ran several times over their original budgets? How much money is spent annually on road safety initiative that don't really work?

How much car insurance costs the individual? What the cost to society is of all the road accidents?

Versus the cost of road usage, Irish Rail's pittance of an engineering subsidy is probably quite small.

Seanw sorry to tell you we need roads (even if the price is over inflated) we dont need a 2nd rate train service such as irish rail. this section must be an irish rail fan club. Irish rail recievces alot more then a pittance of a subsidy if there are a well run company they shouldn't need a subsidy<too many staff doing nothing>. Car insurance has actually fallen (not like the price of a train ticket) but is still a rip.

Thomond Pk

I totally disagree if you examine the annual Dept of the Environment budgets you will find that more is being pumped into non-national road development and maintenance than into rail in total.

The fact that more roads and ever wider schemes are required is a reflection on the lack of a decent public transport system.

The proposed M50 upgrade at 850m will cost 5 times the annual Irish rail subvention of 170m after which Irish Rail recorded a surplus of 2.4m in 2004 unlike the NRA who have gone over-budget so often to such an extent that they have been hauled before the Oireachtas Transport Committee on regular occaisions and been political footballs.

johnnyc

Thomond Pk wrote:

I totally disagree if you examine the annual Dept of the Environment budgets you will find that more is being pumped into non-national road development and maintenance than into rail in total.

The fact that more roads and ever wider schemes are required is a reflection on the lack of a decent public transport system.

The proposed M50 upgrade at 850m will cost 5 times the annual Irish rail subvention of 170m after which Irish Rail recorded a surplus of 2.4m in 2004 unlike the NRA who have gone over-budget so often to such an extent that they have been hauled before the Oireachtas Transport Committee on regular occaisions and been political footballs.

yes thomond but what does buses run on! roads if we dont invest into roads areas outside rep of dublin will be left further behind?

johnnyc

another point thomond alot of other roads came on budget and a year ahead of schedule such as ballincollig bypass. The m50 was stopped due to a stupid castle by greens

Calina

johnnyc wrote:

Seanw sorry to tell you we need roads (even if the price is over inflated) we dont need a 2nd rate train service such as irish rail. this section must be an irish rail fan club. Irish rail receives alot more then a pittance of a subsidy if there are a well run company they shouldn't need a subsidy<too many staff doing nothing>. Car insurance has actually fallen (not like the price of a train ticket) but is still a rip.

I'm now convinced you don't have a clue what you're talking about.

Irish Rail receives a pittance of a subsidy. Let me explain something to you.

The population of Ireland is around 4million (source) according to the last census. The population of Brittany is three million (source) .

When I arrived back in Ireland six years ago, IE were absolutely delighted to tell me that they had one billion euro over the course of five years to upgrade the whole network.

At the same time, the French were in the process of putting one billion six hundred and forty seven million euro (source)
into work on the rail system in Brittany. It included:

1. Modernisation of Rennes-Brest and Rennes-Quimper
2. Electrification of the Rennes Saint Malo line
3. Improvements to the Quimper Brest Line
4. Renovation on Rennes station
5. Extension of combined transport platform

You're right in one thing - we don't need a second rate train service. Unfortunately, we won't get a first rate train service unless we actually pay for it.

johnnyc

CALLINA i recon that we are putting too much money into irish rail. the trade unions want more money for new work pratices which in return is driving up the cost of a ticket. I would get rid of at least 3-4 train stations on the tralee-dublin line we should be buying our tickets on line then irish rail could past on benefits to its customers. Less train staff on the train how many people does it take to run a train. i recon if that they should have only 6 staff running a train - 2train driver , 2 ticket inspector,2 serving customers for food. Whats the big deal closing down banteer anytime i stop there you can count the no of people coming out with 1 hand thats not profitable <its only 15 minutes to mallow.

parsi

johnnyc wrote:

CALLINA i recon that we are putting too much money into irish rail. the trade unions want more money for new work pratices which in return is driving up the cost of a ticket. I would get rid of at least 3-4 train stations on the tralee-dublin line we should be buying our tickets on line then irish rail could past on benefits to its customers. Less train staff on the train how many people does it take to run a train. i recon if that they should have only 6 staff running a train - 2train driver , 2 ticket inspector,2 serving customers for food. Whats the big deal closing down banteer anytime i stop there you can count the no of people coming out with 1 hand thats not profitable <its only 15 minutes to mallow.

So you want to increase staffing ? There's only 1 driver and 1 guard at the moment !

As regards online selling - that's a red herring. Not everybody has internet access and credit/debit cards.

dregin

Maybe just the ticket machines that are used at DART stations and LUAS stops at the train stations?

enterprise

Its quite clear that Jonnyc hasn't the slightest clue what he is talking about. Why close stations on the Tralee line. I can tell you that the likes of Banteer, Millstreet, Rathmore etc serve a greater hinterland than the village its self. These stations serve huge areas to the north and south of the villages. Closing some of these stations would only save 2 - 5 mins on a journey to Mallow.

Jonnyc, get a basic idea of railway operations first, a number of posters already fit that description and then come up with some constructive ideas. People like you are a waste of this boards time.

Calina

johnnyc wrote:

CALLINA i recon that we are putting too much money into irish rail. the trade unions want more money for new work pratices which in return is driving up the cost of a ticket. I would get rid of at least 3-4 train stations on the tralee-dublin line we should be buying our tickets on line then irish rail could past on benefits to its customers. Less train staff on the train how many people does it take to run a train. i recon if that they should have only 6 staff running a train - 2train driver , 2 ticket inspector,2 serving customers for food. Whats the big deal closing down banteer anytime i stop there you can count the no of people coming out with 1 hand thats not profitable <its only 15 minutes to mallow.

I am now convinced. You do not have a clue. Plus, your punctuation varies between awful and non-existant, rendering your posts difficult to read. Or possibly it's the blood on my face caused by the futile efforts of banging my head against a brick wall.

From what I can understand, your main criteria for cutting funding to Irish Rail is that *you* think it's too high. Despite a trainload of information showing you that investment in Irish Rail compares rather badly to investment in rail services in countries which have a first class rail system. Not only that, many people have argued that your ideas have been implemented in some shape or form in the UK, resulting in a train system which is probably worse, and certainly more expensive to the end users than the system in Ireland.

On the other hand, nothing you have said provides any support for your standard, and your main supporting argument appears to be "I think". I am very, very glad you are not in charge of public transport policy in this country because bad and all as it is right now, in your hands it would be a total fiasco.

So, from the top, insofar as I can identify your arguments:

1) the trade unions want more money for new work pratices which in return is driving up the cost of a ticket.
Provide proof that this is happening. Work practice improvements generally provide efficiency benefits which need to be compensated. I realise that since you don't work there, you probably think that people working for the rail company should have income cuts.

2) I would get rid of at least 3-4 train stations on the tralee-dublin line
Yes you've told us. However, I'd be of the opinion that people living in those areas would have a different view to you, and instead of closing them down, I would acquire small local trains like the TERs in most of France to feed the bigger stations, such as Mallow, Killarney and Tralee. I might also remind you that Mallow, and therefore most of the small towns and villages around it have no other direct option to Dublin - there is no direct bus service.

EDIT: I've just seen enterprise's comments and I agree with them.


3)we should be buying our tickets on line then irish rail could past on benefits to its customers.
The primary benefit to the customer would not be cost, but convenience because ultimately, IE is not swimming in ticket sellers and any customer who attempts to buy a ticket on a Friday would agree. Online ticket purchases will not bring a huge cut in staff numbers, therefore no saving, however implementation of system to enable you to do so will cost money. No doubt you're suggesting that all the ticket offices attached to all the non-city rail stations should beclosed, in which case I would disagree. Many many people who use the rail system do not have access to the internet, some of those who do, do not possess printers, for example. Alternative ticket sale options have to be made available.

4) Less train staff on the train how many people does it take to run a train. i recon if that they should have only 6 staff running a train - 2train driver , 2 ticket inspector,2 serving customers for food.
Your expertise is overwhelming. I point you to the post above which suggests you might have guessed wrong. For the record, I'm happy enough to see a reasonable level of train supervision for security purposes - there are well documented cases of train personnel being attacked, and in one case, raped, in France. On the subject of food distribution, you lack imagination. Vending machines are installed on all TGVs going from Paris to Brittany, but unfortunately, you know you still need back office staff to keep them filled.

Also, your efforts concentrate purely on those operations which are immediately obvious to you. Do you actually know what people who do not directly operate a train or sell tickets do in a train company?

Ardent

I've stopped using the train to Galway:

1) Monthly return from Dublin to Galway is 37 euros. It's not exactly a competitive (what competition!) rate but it's disgraceful that you're not guaranteed a seat for that. I don't care what anyone else says, I think that's wrong.

2) It cost me 39 euros one way from Galway to Dublin on a Sunday a while back - that's taking the p1ss.

Take the bus. IE are cowboys.