Would this work in Ireland?

[comcor]

Dutch railways are intending to introduce a pass that will allow unlimited off-peak (before 06:30, between 09:00 and 16:30 and after 19:00) travel for a knock-down price. I haven't seen details on the price yet, but I believe it is likely to be in the region of a couple of hundred Euro for the year.

The idea is obviously to fill up trains that are running fairly empty anyway.

So does anyone think this could be a good idea for Irish Rail (allowing that our rush hours seem 30 minutes later than the Dutch) or would it just lead to a loss of revenue?

[Mark Gleeson]

Within Dublin it certainly could be done. The schoolchild smartcard already does this, it charges only schoolchild fares on school days and only before 5pm

Outside Dublin it would be a license to defraud the system

[Colm Moore]

Yeah I think it would be fine on commuter services, but there whould be too many complications on Intercity services, e.g. if you left Dundalk at 13:45 to arrive at Tralee at 21:00, how would the fare be charged? Peak, off-peak or part and part?

The trick with that type of ticket is to target the trips that people are likely to make quiet frequently, but not necessarily daily. That means trips of up to an hour within your own region. That means people are willing to spend something on it over the course of a year. It would suit a lot of leisure / social travellers.

[dowlingm]

You mean, like the OAP pass before Seamus Brennan went vote bothering?

[al2637]

There is already a discount card in NL. Costs €55 a year, then entitles you (AND THREEE PEOPLE TRAVELLING WITH YOU!) to a 40% discount on all trains after 9am, and all day at weekends. It's a no brainer, 2 or 3 train trips a year and it pays for itself. It's a very simple way of implementing an off peak discount.

http://www.ns.nl/cs/Satellite/travellers/arrange-buy/off-peak-discount-pass?packedargs=language%3Den