Special Student InterCity Return Fares

[sublimity]

Probably should be asking Irish Rail this but anyway..

It says on the IR website that this current promotion runs until Sunday 8th April. I'm planning to travel on Saturday 7th and return to Dublin on Monday 9th (Easter weekend) Does this mean I am not entitled to the full offer because the return journey is on the day after the promotion ends???

Thanks in advance.

[Mark Gleeson]

Tickets issued are valid 30 days from outward journey, so one bought for travel on the 7th at the discounted price will be valid for return anytime for 30 days

[sublimity]

Ah thats great. Thanks Mark

[Thomas Ralph]

That's if you have a Student TravelCard. If you're travelling on a college ID it will NOT be valid for student discounts on or after Easter Monday.

Edit: On March 27 this was amended by IÉ. College IDs will be valid to support the return half of student tickets purchased on or before April 8th.

[IckyThump]

so is it true that i can buy a return ticket before the 8th while holding my college id but cant use the ticket to return after the 8th unless i have a travel card?????????

[Thomas Ralph]

so is it true that i can buy a return ticket before the 8th while holding my college id but cant use the ticket to return after the 8th unless i have a travel card?????????

Correct. The tickets at the discounted price are valid to return up to one month after the outbound journey, but you must hold a Student Travelcard with ID number matching that on the ticket in order to use it on or after the 9th of April. Passengers not holding a Student TravelCard are liable to be issued with a penalty fare of up to €162.

This was changed on 27 March to allow the return half of tickets purchased under the offer to be used until it expires

[IckyThump]

Correct. The tickets at the discounted price are valid to return up to one month after the outbound journey, but you must hold a Student Travelcard with ID number matching that on the ticket in order to use it on or after the 9th of April. Passengers not holding a Student TravelCard are liable to be issued with a penalty fare of up to €162.

is that not unfair and entrapment since the ticket was bought under the impression it can be used with a college id???

i mean if the ticket isnt elligible to use with college id after said date wouldnt it be bettr t just not let people returm at all with said ticket after the 9th???

i jus feel that this little problem is not being advertised and a lot of students who cant afford it will be caught to pay the fine due to incompetence by IR

[Thomas Ralph]

is that not unfair and entrapment since the ticket was bought under the impression it can be used with a college id???

i mean if the ticket isnt elligible to use with college id after said date wouldnt it be bettr t just not let people returm at all with said ticket after the 9th???

i jus feel that this little problem is not being advertised and a lot of students who cant afford it will be caught to pay the fine due to incompetence by IR

The advertisement on the website and elsewhere is extremely clear that the offer is valid until April 8th. So yes, people without a Student TravelCard will not be able to return at all with a student-discounted ticket on or after April 9th. I don't see any incompetence here, other than a small lack of forethought that many people might be using the tickets to return to college on Easter Monday.

On our English counterpart forum I would normally add the line "I would expect discretion to be used in these circumstances by revenue protection inspectors" but there's no point doing that for IÉ.

Update: Per Mark below, student return tickets purchased for an outbound journey on or before April 8th will be accepted with a college ID for the return journey within the validity period.

[IckyThump]

The advertisement on the website and elsewhere is extremely clear that the offer is valid until April 8th. So yes, people without a Student TravelCard will not be able to return at all with a student-discounted ticket on or after April 9th. I don't see any incompetence here, other than a small lack of forethought that many people might be using the tickets to return to college on Easter Monday.

On our English counterpart forum I would normally add the line "I would expect discretion to be used in these circumstances by revenue protection inspectors" but there's no point doing that for IÉ.

well as someone who frequently uses Limerick, Limerick Junction, Clonmel and Waterford stations i can confirm that while the promotion is advertised in most of these stations it is not pointed out that a college id wont be acceptable with these tickets after the 9th.

having spoken to students who i interact with on a daily basis i have found that at least 3 lads thought that they would be able to use the tickets aslong as they use the outward journey before the 9th. i have already warned them.

but i find it odd that a promotion like this which allows a person to use a different type of id, does not arn that there is time limit on which you must use this ticket if you have said id.

this is incompetance. i know alot of students artegoin to be hit with these fines and IÉ will be wondering where it all went wrong.

im not asking for tv adverts or anything. im just saying putting up a printed out piece of paper that will cost maybe 1 cent with black and white ink in every station and sticking it on the machines to warn about this would be a pretty good idea.

i dont know what your role is and quiet frankly it doesnt matter. i dont mean any of this to be rude against you and im sorry if it seems that way. but its these little things that bug me with the company. they do try to do a nice thing and alot of people end up suffering because IÉ doesnt know how to communicate with the public unless they live in Dublin.

IÉ have a habit of always doing this. they have no idea how to advertise. they have countless routes that dont make money but i assure you if you go out onto any street and ask joe public how much it costs to get a train from limerick to waterford or limerick to galway they wont have a clue. most people think IÉ is expensive because IÉ wants to fail nationwide so it can concentrate on dublin city center.

advertisment doesnt have to be expesive at all!!!
contact colleges and they will get the word out more often than you can imagine. college kids in waterford for example fill about 3 or 4 buses to limerick every week(train and bus makes exact same stops except the train is 30 mins faster up to the junction). but why dont they use the train??? because they dont know it exists. dwindling numbers mean one thing and one thing only. the person in charge of advertising or PR is not doing thier job

[dowlingm]

RUI heads: how much actual power do the regional managers have. If Ickythump went to a "meet the managers" thing and taxed them about the issue of IDs but also about promotion, would the answer be "well, all advertising has to be approved from Dublin and if they don't want to that's the end of it" or some such?

Ickythump - the lack of a Sunday service on the Junction-Waterford section is probably fatal to getting the college market - that and the fact that the early Monday ex Waterford service doesn't belt on for Limerick with a faint chance of getting people to UL before 10, let alone 9.

[Mark Gleeson]

I can confirm that any ticket purchased under the offer remains valid for travel on the return leg with valid college id

IE website updated to clarify

Any valid ticket purchased on or before the promotion expires allows the return portion of the journey to be taken after the expiration date of the offer on presentation of a current/ valid college student ID.

http://www.irishrail.ie/cat_offers.jsp?i=4479

All ticketing promotions go through Dublin as they program the ticket machines. Local managers have a budget but the spend has to approved by HQ

The Thurles Limerick commuter fare was a local initative

[dowlingm]

thx

[IckyThump]

Thats geat news Mark. thanks for that.


dowlingm - yes the lack of a sunday service is a problem for the college market. but the waterford - limerick arives at 9.15 while the limerick - waterford arrives at 10.33. its not ideal but not every student is in at 9 on a monday morning(speaking from experience liing with loads of sudents over the years)

even with the lazy timetable it would still be an atractive option for alot even just as a one way service for some. i just wish IE would take a chance and give the service the attention it needs

[Jamie2k9]

The student fare offers have now being extened until 31 May 2012.

http://www.irishrail.ie/cat_offers.jsp?i=4479

[IckyThump]

great news