Irish Rail day return tickets policy

Bond-007 wrote: »

Since when are day return tickets restricted to certain trains?

I went from Thurles to Dublin on Saturday and took the 1245 train and returned that evening on the 2100 ex Dublin. Apparently that journey is not a day return and is 10 euro more expensive than a day return.

I just thought it was strange as those trains are hardly peak services.

It depends on where you bought the ticket.

If you bought the ticket at the booking office then it is valid on any train.

However, if you bought in online then you are restricted to the specific trains that you travel on as the online tickets are sold at a discounted price.

Check at http://www.irishrail.ie/your_ticket/fares_enquiries.asp for further information.

Not sure what your point is though, as the online fare for those trains is EUR 44 while the booking office day return fare is EUR 46.

Bond-007 wrote: »

I bought the ticket at the ticket office in Thurles.

The clerk would not sell me a day return as she said it was too late in the day and I would have to take a 5 day return. The day return fare is posted up as €37 on the window of the booking office valid Tuesday thru Saturday.

The EUR 37 fare is a special promotion - I suspect that it is only available until a certain time and on certain trains.

The normal day return fare is EUR 46, which is the 5-day return fare, while the online fare (sold as two individually priced trains) is EUR 44 for that pair of services.

Incidentally if you were a member of Thurles credit union you can get discounted rail fares for approximately EUR 18 each way valid on all trains!! The tickets are available from the credit union directly.