Intercity journey experiences

[Thomas Ralph]

I went first-class on the 1800 Heuston-Cork on Friday evening. Had four ticket checks before the train even got going (ticket barrier, entrance to platform, train host at entrance to carriage A, and RPU almost before I sat down; perhaps I wasn't dressed well enough :P). The RPU guy was feverishly writing out €20 upgrades on his book of excess fares; only four seats had been booked but there was around a dozen seats taken in the end (occupancy a smidgen over 25%).

The steward brought food menus shortly after setting off although after a large lunch I didn't partake. He spent most of the time serving incessant tea to the four businessmen opposite me.

Train host was parked in A44 for 95% of the journey reading magazines. She did walk down the train once in a high-vis jacket, and came back shortly later.

There were no serious problems or issues (and the lack of vile children in first class was a major plus) and the train arrived in 15 minutes early.

[Thomas Ralph]

I also went back first-class on the 1730 Cork-Heuston yesterday. There was no ticket checker available for the gate in Cork, so a booking office staff member inspected but did not stamp tickets. There was also no ticket check on the train; the train host did check tickets of people going into first class but it did not appear that upgrade fares were collected from passengers wishing to upgrade. I was not directed to any carriage.

There was snack service only with one staff member, so the trolley operated and when it was finished the attendant opened the snack bar.

The train host made a few announcements from time to time and walked the train a couple of times. There was some child with her from Cork-Mallow and she sat in first class playing with the child.

Another agreeable and uneventful journey, and the train arrived in 12 minutes early. I notice that all the Cork-Dublin trains on Sundays run non-stop from Thurles to Heuston (or in some cases from Limerick Junction to Heuston) and this is a practice that the rest of the timetable could do with.

[comcor]

Another agreeable and uneventful journey, and the train arrived in 12 minutes early. I notice that all the Cork-Dublin trains on Sundays run non-stop from Thurles to Heuston (or in some cases from Limerick Junction to Heuston) and this is a practice that the rest of the timetable could do with.

There should really only ever be 3 stops on Dublin-Cork

One of Thurles/Port Laoise/Portarlington
Limerick Junction
Mallow

The last two are needed because of connections for Kerry and Limerick.

For the first one I would suggest alternating between Thurles and Port Laoise, with maybe 2 a day stopping in Portarlington to link with Mayo-bound trains. (Cork-Mayo via Portarlington is competitive with road-based alternatives, Cork-Galway via Portarlington isn't).

I'm not sure what should be done with Charleville. Ideally, there would be a way for Charleville-Dublin passengers to switch trains in Limerick Junction, but that would require some sort of Cork-Limerick or Cork-Thurles local service.

[Mark Gleeson]

10:00 Dublin - Limerick Junction (Cork) Sat 24th

Rather uneventful but the usual problems. The ride was as always the usual Mk4 flop around and the seats are a serious downgrade compared to the ICR fleet.

The train host, well the person who looked to be the train host did walk through several times, but wore a hi vis jacket, no sign of any name badge and wasn't wearing the correct tie, shirt etc so did match the expected train host image. The ticket checker vanished into coach F or G and didn't surface again

Manual PA was inaudible, the inter carriage doors left open and by Limerick Junction the trolley had just arrived in coach E.

Performance wise, speed restrictions all over the place, and stopped in Portarlington due to a train ahead (we overtook an empty to Portlaoise before we stopped so odds are it was the trainspotters on their day out) There then followed a 5 minute wait outside Limerick Junction again with a totally inaudible PA

[seamus kilcock]

Mark, I was on the IRRS special and we also overtook what was an 22000 set en route to the Portlaoise 22000 depot.
Incidentally the IRRS MK3 special was half minute ahead of schedule at the Lim Jct direct curve and from this I would deduce the IRRS special may not have been the reason the Heuston to Cork MK4 you were on being delayed.

[Thomas Ralph]

I'm on the 1630 Cork-Heuston at the moment which has no more than a few passengers on board. Happened to get the Wi-fi train. There's an overeager RPU guy on board checking for joiners at every station. I'm in the quiet carriage; train host has passed through twice with someone talking on their phone and blissfully ignored them. Even the trolley attendant answered her phone here.

[Thomas Ralph]

And as I speak the RPU guy is off to Limerick.

[Colm Moore]

I'm in the quiet carriageI hope you aren't typing too loudly. :)

[Thomas Ralph]

I'm on an iPod touch on silent, and I went out to the vestibule when I got a phone call ;) I have been involuntarily listening to a couple of people's conversations however :/

[PLUMB LOCO]

I'm on an iPod touch on silent, and I went out to the vestibule when I got a phone call ;) I have been involuntarily listening to a couple of people's conversations however :/

RPU ? :confused:

[karlr42]

Revenue Protection Unit. Ticket checker.

[PLUMB LOCO]

Revenue Protection Unit. Ticket checker.

Thanks. RUI officers seem to love abbreviations - makes them appear more knowledgeable. :D

[Colm Moore]

Thanks. RUI officers seem to love abbreviations - makes them appear more knowledgeable. :DSorry. In fairness, this isn't one of ours.

Any questions, feel free to ask.

[Thomas Ralph]

Revenue Protection Unit. Somewhat more aggressive team of ticket checkers, equipped with books of €100 fines. Generally to be found at Sandymount station on match days, among other places. You can identify them by RPU down the right-hand side of their ID badges and by their orange vests with Revenue Protection Unit written on them.

[Thomas Ralph]

I travelled from Sandymount to Gorey and back yesterday, with a change at Dun Laoghaire. 22000 class on the Dun Laoghaire-Gorey-Dun Laoghaire part, thankfully; I've had more than my fair share of 2800 journeys on that line.

Observations both ways

Toilets were absolutely rank. The cleaning schedule on each of the trains showed that the last cleaning was in May.
No catering, although I don't think it's scheduled.
Vile children screeching and shouting.
Although we had seat reservations, they were not honoured on either leg. The trains weren't busy (< 33% of capacity southbound and < 50% of capacity northbound), so it didn't especially matter.


Observations southbound

Train waited outside Bray for 5-6 minutes for the DART to clear the track.
Train was held for 10 minutes in Wicklow, about 7 minutes while waiting for the southbound train to clear the track and another 3 minutes waiting for the guy with a green flag to amble over the footbridge and wave the train out.
Few to no announcements of stations, and definitely no "next station ___" announcements once we got to Bray.
Did I mention the toilets? One was locked, another had an overflowing sink, and the third smelt absolutely abominable.

Observations northbound

No ticket inspection and indeed no onboard staff besides the driver.
Train thought it was going to Dundalk; driver killed the automated announcements halfway through the second calling of the list of stations.
Train held for 5 minutes at Arklow to await a passenger's arrival by car, which in turn delayed the southbound train at Wicklow.
Train doors closed very quickly at Dun Laoghaire, cue many complaints from people trying to get out, including a wheelchair passenger who was awaiting the ramp.

[Mark Gleeson]

17:05 Dublin Templemore 4/6/2010


Train was facing the wrong way around, so first class was at the country end instead of the Dublin end which led to confusion as to which coaches where which.

Seat reservation system was working, no staff seen to assist passengers

Ticket checker seemed to be very confused, wearing the 2007 uniform shirt with the 1997 tie, our course the tie was hanging off. No name badge.

Catering trolley ran out of tea/coffee and sandwiches before it got half way through coach C and disappeared.

CIS/PIS systems appeared to be working correctly



15:48 Thurles Dublin 6/6/2010


Thurles TVM was not excepting coins or notes, otherwise Thurles station was in excellent condition

Train as usual rolled out of Thurles 10 minutes late but then managed to roll into Heuston 11 minutes early, 71 minutes vs 92 scheduled and that was with several speed restrictions and a slow approach to Dublin from Clondalkin inwards. Makes a mockery of the so call punctuality stats, still 1 in 10 trains are more than 10 minutes late. 71 minutes is 73mph/117 kph average which is bordering on acceptable by international standards

Train host, female, Cork, with dyed hair sat it out in coach A or B the whole way from Thurles to Dublin, didn't see her until we arrived Heuston. No name badge either.

Seat reservation system was working, but seating seemed to be a free for all, as usual someone was occupying my seat.

No catering trolley seen.

As usual we got the Mk4 rock back forwards left right routine.

[comcor]

I was on the 7pm Dublin-Cork train last Friday evening, and it took a really nasty lurch somewhere near Buttevant. I know we're all used to questionable ride quality, but this felt a good deal worse. Is it something to be concerned about?

Other points
Seat reservations were being enforced, until we left Heuston. Then the train host placed a few standing passengers in unoccupied reserved seats
The price of a Guinness on the train is more than in the Four Seasons Hotel. In a way anyway. The Four Seasons charges €5.75 for a pint, Irish Rail charge €5.60 for 500 ml.
The train was very busy. It's surprising that the €20 are available
The Irish Rail website doesn't seem to like my new Visa Debit card. It rejected its details when put in as a Laser Card and Visa Credit Card.

[Mark Gleeson]

The Irish Rail website doesn't seem to like my new Visa Debit card. It rejected its details when put in as a Laser Card and Visa Credit Card.
[/LIST]

There are ongoing issues with the visa debit cards, the problem is with the clearing process. Several vendors have had trouble, which issuing bank, PTSB or Ulster?

Incidentally the visa/mastercard/laser selector is redundant as its knows the card type from the first 4 digits, select laser and put in visa number and watch the 3 euro fee appear

[Thomas Ralph]

PTSB's Visa debit cards don't arrive until August, so it would likely be Ulster. The first six digits specify what type of card it is and there are several wrangles surrounding that.

What error did you get?

[comcor]

Ulster Bank

IIRC I entered the details as Laser and it basically told me that it was an invalid card. Then I tried the same as a Visa credit card and got the same.

To be honest, I'm not impressed by having been given the card. As I've noted on here before, I do a lot of travel in Holland and the TVMs don't accept them there, while they would accept a Maestro card, which my old Laser Card had. Eventually, I had to get their Smart Card, so that I wouldn't have to carry tonnes of coins around with me.

[Mark Gleeson]

17:40 Rosslare - Dun Laoghaire 11/7/2010


Rosslare Europort station fails to meet EC/1371/2007
About a minute before departure the automatic announcement system awakes to tell us that Tara Street station is next and that we should have our tickets ready for inspection and mind the gap
Throughout the journey the next station announcements were either too early or after the train had departed the station in question
No catering trolley
Seat reservations not displayed
Got stuck for 10 minutes outside Greystones due to a signaling mess up
Two emergency stops, one before the main tunnel at Greystones and another at Dalkey, no reason given
No ticket check



Other than that, stations perfectly clean, until Greystones punctuality was spot on. Train comfortable and clean.

[sublimity]

We all know Rosslare Europort Station is a joke - location and all that.

Was this the 22k you were travelling on? Do you know if the 13.30 to Rosslare weekdays is back to 22k operation?

[Mark Gleeson]

All Rosslare trains are 22k, I regularly travel on the 17:45 from Rosslare which is the return of the 13:30. Only once have I found a 29k and that was the day of the extra evening train for the volcano

Rosslare station actually suited me better, saved a walk from the terminal as I had business on the land, not sea

[sublimity]

A couple of weeks ago I noticed the 13.30 was a 29k. Apparently this was as a result of a failure to a 22k outside Wexford a few days earlier. Why couldn't they just replace it with another 22k or are they still short in supply???

[Mark Gleeson]

Short 2 still

[Mark Gleeson]

Yet again we have had to delete a post which stepped over the line.

Any post which is deemed to be offensive, racist or disrespectful will be deleted and user banned for a duration at the discretion of the moderators.

[Fergal]

11.00 am Enterprise from Connolly.

-Boarded train with reserved seats. The reserved carriage was signed on the platform at Connolly, and names were printed out and placed at the correct seat. Train was clean and comfortable, and left bang on time. Train was busy, with almost every seat taken.
-The train crawled out of Connolly, and seemed to take its time as far as Malahide, took 20 minutes to get there, before starting to speed up. I have definitely gone faster on commuter trains to there before. Reached Drogheda at about 40 minutes into the journey.
- Journey was uneventful, with no further delays. Tickets were checked after Drogheda, the trolley came round a few times, and rubbish was collected before we arrived. Before arriving into Belfast, passengers transferring towards Antrim were told to make their way to platform 4, where their train would be waiting when we arrived.
-We arrived in Belfast about 2 minutes late.

-Returning from Belfast on the 2010 train, was much quieter, with plenty of free seats. No nametags were on the seats, and weren't many staff to be seen.
-Journey ran on time.

General comments:
- The trains themselves are very nice - comfortable and clean, with a smooth ride, and nice and quiet. Definitely a much nicer option than a bus. Staff were helpful and attentive.
- Journey time is still a bit slow - 2h15 for 180 km with 4 stops - compare to say London - Bristol, 190km in 1h40 with 6 stops.

[markpb]

I'm on the 15.30 train to Galway and Westport which splits in Athlone. The seat reservation system is broken - the displays are off and the seats don't match the ones we booked. There are no signs or announcements telling people which end of the train is going where and the announcements are only listing Galway destinations. There are no staff on the train or platform and the guys on the concourse haven't a clue. It would be funny if it wasn't so pathetic.

[Mark Gleeson]

Well you won't be traveling by train to Galway, its a bus from Athlone. Whole train continues to Westport on Fridays.

[markpb]

The scroll displays are now showing:
Passengers for Galway should. An chead staisun eile Tula mor.
Passengers for Galway should. Next station 64km

[sean]

Was on the 130:00 Sligo-Dublin train yesterday.

Set was a 29000 :mad: Rocking and rolling all the way to Dublin. The WC lights (the ones in the carriages that say whether the jacks are in use or not) in the set (which contained 29424) did not work, at least for the small one anyway.

Got a €12 "Commuter promotion" ticket which did not work at the Connolly gates. That happens a lot.

[James Howard]

I presume that is the set from the 0905 from Connolly returning. This is always a 29k. This always strikes me as strange as

a) The online timetable says that this is operated as InterCity.
b) I take the train that originated from Sligo at 0545 and we almost always meet a 22k going to Clonsilla around Broombridge.

There is probably some Irish Rail Quantum Timetable Theory that explains why they are using a 22k for Clonsilla and a 29k for Sligo, but I find it hard to think of a reason why they can't at least get the online timetable right.

[Mark Gleeson]

There is a rostering issue at the moment due engineering works southside Dublin which results in an ICR being in the wrong place

The 5:45 is rostered for the 16:00 return with the gap in between for maintenance.

[seamus kilcock]

18th Oct boarded the 1100 ex Heuston for Cork at Kildare.
Left Kildare on time at 1131.
Also on time departing Portlaoise.
Late at all subsequent stops.
Arrived Cork 1407 - 12 minutes late.

Returned on the 1630 ex Cork.
Ticket checker at barrier refused me permission to go direct to Dining Car; he insisted I take a seat on the rear two coaches.
I boarded via the second last coach and walked to the dining car at the front!
I asked the dining car staff if they had any problem if I sat down waiting for service - I told them I was in no hurry - they had no problem.
What was the 'beef' with the ticket checker? Dreadful customer service.

Arrived Mallow on time.
Had to wait on Kerry train which arrived 1658 - 18 mins late!
We left Mallow 1705 - 13 mins late.
WE were late all the way to Kildare which was reached at 1917 - 30 mins late.
And NO I did not notice any wheel slipping due to leaves!
I did notice a few speed restrictions but surely these were not the sole reasons we were so late.
Why was the Kerry train 18 mins late arriving at Mallow?

By a coincidence I was listening, during the journey, to Matt Cooper interviewing Barry Kenny on To-day FM regarding IE's proposed free travel on certain trains from Galway to Dublin. Matt asked if trains can be speeded up to compete with the new motorway system. Barry was his usual self and gave nothing away.

Despite the hundreds of Euro spent on new trains and infrastructure during the last 10 years my experience of IE to-day did not reflect the investment.

Is my experience to-day a once off?

[Thomas Ralph]

There are 4 of 6 toilets locked off in the 1030 Cork-Heuston today.

[comcor]

I was on the 06:15 service from Cork to Heuston this morning

Just as the doors were closing in Cork, there was a power failure on board. Lights came back on almost immediately, but other systems seemed to take a while to come back.

As a result, we left about 15 minutes late.

We seemed to make back a bit of the time by Limerick Junction, but some slow bits between Port Laoise and Dublin led to us arriving in Heuston 15 minutes late.

Free tea/coffee and pastries were given out. I assume this was delay related, but that weas never said. While not complaining, it would seem a bit of an over-reaction to a 15 minute delay!

Otherwise, the information about booked seats disappeared before arriving into Mallow, leading to people occupying seats that were booked from Limerick Junction onwards.

The ride was the worst that I have experienced from a CDE set.

[comcor]

I forgot to say.

The Pay and Diaplay machine in the car park in Cork wasn`t accepting credit cards. Quite annoying.

[finnyus]

Yeah, I was on my way to work in the car this morning, and saw it passing Mourne Abbey @ 06:51, thought it might have been either rescheduled to 06:30 or it was an empty working to form the 06:55 back to Cork (but that's from Tralee).

[Colm Moore]

I was on the 1200 Heuston-Cork. Left 5 minutes late, arrived 30 minutes late. Two extra stops made at Kildare and Portlaoise, but we had only lost a few minutes at that time.

Before we left, there was on-board announcements that all the toilets were frozen over and would be unavailable. Several people, especially older seem not to have heard this and things were becoming 'pressing' at Ballybrophy. I suggested a lay-over in Thurles to one person, but the extra hour wasn't considered appealing.

I spoke to the train host Jonathan to see if something could be done and he said that he had left several of the toilets open, so people could use the toilets, but they would be unable to flush them. On Mark G's prompting, I suggested an extended stop at Thurles or Limerick Junction. He said this might not work, as yesterday those toilets were frozen and they had to make a 45 minute stop as only one cubicle was available. In the end a ~15 minute stop was made at Thurles.

[Colm Moore]

On the 28 December, I was on the 1630 Cork-Heuston. Boarding only started at 1624, with much confusion between the queues for the 1630 to Heuston (scheduled for platform 4) and the 1630 to Cobh (scheduled for platform 5), both of which had queued along platform 4. At about 1620, the Cobh service was rescheduled to platform 1-3, but he display at the top of the underpass didn't change. It is unfortunate, but the signage on platform 4 blocks line of sight the clock from most of the platform - it felt uncomfortable looking at "1630 Cobh" on my platform for 15 minutes.

The ticket checker validated the wrong part of my return ticket. Train left on time. Train was lightly filled at Cork, but was quite busy by Limerick Junction. Arrived about 10 minutes late

As we left, there was on-board announcements that all but 3 of the toilets (at the rear - so much for paying extra for first class or reservations) were out of order.

Then there was an automatic announcement that the dining car was open and that it was situated at the rear of the train. That didn't sound quite right, but I wandered down anyway, only to be told by someone else looking for it, that it wasn't there. Of course, the dining car is always at the Dublin end of the train (pointy end/DVT/baggage-first class-dining => loco is never in the covered section of Heuston). I mentioned it to the train host, who said that train staff tended to not hear (the detail of) the messages, as they hear them too often. I asked and she made a manual announcement. Of course, there was only one member of catering staff and a trolley service was being done before the galley opened.

I had to report a 2 year old to his parents as he had wandered down the carriage and climbed up on a seat back table. :eek:

[comcor]

I'm beginning to think that the train host is going to have to start lurking around carriage C in Mallow to ensure that people aren't taking the pre-booked seats.

Yet again this morning, large numbers piled onto the train there and just took any seat that was unoccupied, even those that were clearly marked on the overhead text as booked after Limerick Junction.

Strangely, it never seems to be a huge problem in Cork or Limerick Junction, just Mallow.

[comcor]

03/03/2011 - 06:15 Cork-Heuston

06:08 - The booking office in Cork doesn't seem to be open. There's about 40-50 people waiting for it. Fortunately, I have a ticket already.

06:10 - There's some shunting of the train to be used going on. It is unclear why. No announcements.

06:14:30 - The train finally starts boarding. Rather than being sensible and getting every passenger on the train ASAP, tickets are checked.

06:20-06:25 The train finally gets underway.

Unsurprisingly it arrived late.

[comcor]

There are significant numbers standing on the 19:00 to Cork tonight. First time I've seen that in years.

[comcor]

06:15 from Cork delayed this morning by 3 or 4 minutes because people were still queuing at the booking office. It opens at 6am and I've often seen this happen. I know they want to encourage use of the machines, but causing delays to the train is not the way to do it.

By Limerick Junction, the delay was made back, but as has been the case a lot recently, 10 minutes was lost between Portarlington and Sallins.

BTW Does anyone know what the story is with the speed restriction just on the Charleville side of Buttevant (just after the track crosses the Awbeg river)? It's been there for several months now.

[Thomas Ralph]

06:15 from Cork delayed this morning by 3 or 4 minutes because people were still queuing at the booking office. It opens at 6am and I've often seen this happen. I know they want to encourage use of the machines, but causing delays to the train is not the way to do it.

I believe this one's a union issue with the booking office clerks rather than trying to get people to use TVMs; as I recall there was massive heartache when they moved the "first" train from 0700 to 0630.

However there really should not be anyone using the booking office other than 16-25 railcard holders, free pass holders, and people wanting stations on the Connolly side. The TVM can do more or less everything else.

[Mark Gleeson]

Thats great until the TVM's decide not to work in Cork as they like to do.

The booking office should be open 30 minutes before the first train. Its probably something we can work with the NTA on.

[Jack O'Neill]

Piece in Irish Times

"Paul Murphy recently travelled from Heuston Station in Dublin. However, he used a return ticket in the wrong direction and now has to pay the fare and a €100 fine. “It was an honest mistake as I find the rail tickets hard to decipher and I was rushing. My gripe is that the ticket machine at Heuston did not prevent me from accessing the platform,” he says.

He says Iarnrod Éireann justified the fine by saying “the validators recognise only that there is a valid journey left on the ticket but do not read the direction of the journey” and now he has no choice but to pay or face the courts.

“I find this excuse both bizarre and unfair. Even if one has an invalid ticket, the “validators” still allow one to use the rail service. It’s almost a form of entrapment and not fair to the consumer. I would just like to bring this system to your attention.”

[Thomas Ralph]

Can't really sympathize with him; it's his own responsibility to have a valid ticket. The gates also wouldn't stop people over-riding, or on the wrong train, etc.

[Mark Gleeson]

Using a return ticket twice in the same direction or the wrong way around is a classic fare evasion tactic

The issue of the gates allowing people through on technically invalid tickets have been raised but the need for the gates to let people through is a high priority

If the gentleman had boarded at an ungated station the situation would be the same so the gates do not change the status quo

[Thomas Ralph]

Using a return ticket twice in the same direction or the wrong way around is a classic fare evasion tactic

A bigger one, over here at least, is someone buying two monthly returns, one in each direction, for their commute, and a season for the last few stops before London. They then use the season to get through the gates, and on the odd occasion that the tickets are checked, they have a valid ticket and buy a new one the next day.

[Colm Moore]

Ooops, I took the wrong €20,000 from the bank. :cool:

---------------------------------------------------------------------

Just how does one legitmately acquire a return ticket and use it in the wrong direction?

If the ticket was bought in Dublin, surely one would be using the outbound "from Dublin" part of the ticket when leaving Heuston.

If the ticket was bought away from Dublin, surely one would be using the return "from Dublin" part of the ticket when leaving Heuston.

Some people will try to use both parts of a return ticket to travel in the same direction twice, but this tends to be against the rules, to prevent people fraudulently claiming that they used some other method to return.

[Thomas Ralph]

I'm betting on a screwed-up online booking.

[Mark Gleeson]

The collecting two tickets at once issue has been culled since the must use reservation number was brought in.

It is the customers responsibility to have the correct ticket. I am guessing a double use on the outbound leg of the return ticket. A return ticket is valid only for travel outwards on from date and can be used anytime till the expiry date

So buy a monthly return ticket on Monday dated for Monday and travel outwards on Tuesday => not valid for travel

[MaryK]

I was on the 18.00 train from Heuston to Cork this evening.

The RPU guy came around collecting tickets. He had his ID with RPU along the side otherwise he was wearing the Irish Rail suit uniform. One gent in our Carriage was on a €17 euro Dublin to Limerick ticket but it was for the 7 pm train rather than the 6 pm train.

The RPU guy got on his mobile and then informed the customer that he needed to pay a €20 excess for changing trains. He wished to get ID or a contact number from the UK gentleman so he could speak to someone to verify his identification. Eventually he produced a passport but the RPU guy was upset it was a UK passport and wanted to know if he also had an Irish passport.

This is when he told him he would also have to pay a €100 fine. The gentleman explained his plane had landed earlier than expected, he had gone through the barrier and had boarded the train in ignorance that he was required to go to the ticket office to change his ticket. Once the €100 fine was mentioned several other passengers offered the view to the RPU that this fine was unfair given that the UK gentleman was un-aware he had committed an offence and he was given advice not to proffer his address or pay the €100 fine.

I saw some cash exchange hands but I believe it was only the €20 upgrade. The RPU guy was polite, calm and un-ruffled by the general carriage population adding their 2 cent worth, and did say that all the T&C are on the website for all to see, but I did feel he had overstepped the mark when he looked for an Irish passport rather than a UK passport.

[neoncircles]

1725 Heuston-Limerick today. Crawled all the way to Hazelhatch and sat there for about 10 mins with no explanation. Arrived in Limerick about 25 minutes late.

[Jamie2k9]

Probaly stuck behind the 17:15 to Newbridge.

[Kilocharlie]

Probaly stuck behind the 17:15 to Newbridge.

It always gets stuck behind the 1715 but that's build into the timetable. It has 41 minutes to reach Kildare, 11 or 12 minutes that it would need if it had a free run.

Perhaps something else delayed it today??

[Thomas Ralph]

I did feel he had overstepped the mark when he looked for an Irish passport rather than a UK passport.

Agreed; this is quite unreasonable especially as you are not obliged to produce any ID at all to RPU, only give your name and address.

[Mark Gleeson]

The receipt with the booking says

Changes and cancellations

Passengers wishing to travel on the same day, but on an alternative train other than the time shown on their ticket, can do so provided seats are available, by paying a surcharge. The surcharge of up to €40 should be paid at the booking office before boarding the train. If a booking office is not open the surcharge must be paid on board the train. All tickets are only valid for! travel on the dates printed on the ticket only.

Failure to produce a valid ticket, appropriate ID or surcharge where necessary will result in a fine of €100 together with the relevant unpaid fare.

So ignorance is not a valid defense and the UK rules are similar (but even less passenger friendly). The phone call was to check what the surcharge was for the journey in question.

This demand to produce ID is not on and does go beyond reasonable limits, bearing in mind the passenger is holding a ticket with there name on it. The ticket checker does not have the legal right to seek ID, you are required to give your name and address, where you boarded and where you are going. Refusal to give name and address may result in arrest.

[Thomas Ralph]

the UK rules are similar (but even less passenger friendly).

Well, unless you're on a penalty fares train (which are mostly metro area ones that don't have advance tickets) a passenger using an advance on the wrong train is charged the full anytime fare from his origin to the next stop, with the option of either getting off there or paying the anytime fare to his desired destination. No fine or extra charge. Whether that's less passenger friendly than fine + excess is debatable (and will depend on the journey made).

If in this case the passenger got off without the €100 penalty notice then I think it's a good result for him. The excess should I think have been €12 (€15 already paid, excess to the highest online fare of €27).

[neoncircles]

It always gets stuck behind the 1715 but that's build into the timetable. It has 41 minutes to reach Kildare, 11 or 12 minutes that it would need if it had a free run.

Perhaps something else delayed it today??

I think that was it- a Newbridge train overtook us just before Hazelhatch so it was obviously running late. Still somewhat disgraceful though- an Intercity train held up by a commuter one ad nauseum...

[Jamie2k9]

Traveled on 18,05 Waterford - Hueston tonight. It has being a while since I was last on it.

*Arrived in Carlow 19.15 departed at 19.33 - No announcement about delay - (It was because the 17.40 was deferred to 18.20 and 25 mile speed limit in parts between Cherryville & Athy)
*Arrived in Athy at 19.40 departed at 19.50 - No announcement about delay (18.40 delayed because of speed restrictions.)
*Stopped for 10 mins outside Heuston - No announcement about delay (presume Platform clearance.
*Stopped at end of platform 6,7,8 for 8 minutes.
*There was only 1 train on platform 5 all other platforms were empty.
*After we arrived two Irish Rail workers ran onto the train not letting passengers out. Then they raced up the train. One on platform one on train.
*They hit into a few passengers. They were messing and shouting at each other (Not very professional for staff expect it from a child).
*No air conditioning working in my carriage not sure about the rest of the train.

Normally we leave Newbridge at 19.59 and there is a 20.00 (all stops to Heuston) service. If our train is running a few mins late they hold the service so we wont be stuck behind it.

Tonight at 20.00 were we only approaching Cherryville Junction. We left Newbridge at 20.15 and the 20.00 still hadn't left. If it had left it would not affect out service as we would be able to pass it out by the time we catch up to it. Why have IE invested in 4 tracks and they don't use 2 of the 99% of the time.

[Carrage A]

Its being a while since I have got the train but got the 16.35 to Waterford today. IE realy need to have a new timetable on the route. Trains are arriving up to 15 mins early into Heuston and up to 10 in Waterford.

Sheduled Times/Actual Arrivals/Departures
Heuston 16.35 - departed 16.35
Celbridge 16.51 - arrived 16.48/departed 16.51
Nass 16.59 - arrived 16.57/departed 16.59
Kildare 17.16 - arrived 17.10/departed 17.16
Athy 17.35 - arrived 17.30/departed 17.35
Carlow 17.48 - arrived 17.44/departed 17.48
Thomastown 17.59 - arrived 17.59/departed 18.00
Kilkenny - 18.19 - arrived 18.14
Kilkenny - 18.22 - departed 18.24
Thomastown 18.34 - arrived 18.36/departed 18.36
Waterford 19.00 - arrived 18.55

There could be at least 15 - 20 minutes knocked off the journey time if there was a new timetable. You spend as much time stopped as you do moving.:mad: Have never seen a company run a train service as Irish Rail do.

[ACustomer]

Carrage A: Your timings are to the nearest full minute, which may not be a very accurate guide over short distances. However you report some times which I find it difficult to believe: for example Celbridge to Sallins/Naas in 6 minutes start to stop: for a journey of 7.5 miles this is on the optimistic side. Similarly Athy -Carlow in 9 minutes for 11.25 miles seems optimistic, given that the line speed on that section is 80mph. Finally 19 minutes for 20.5 miles Thomastown-Waterford, with the long uphill strecth for the first half of the journey, and the severe restrictions on the final mile into Waterford itself ???

I don't doubt that the timings could be tightened a bit, but you seem to have had a driver who drove with much more enthusiasm that usual. I would imagine that speed limits are better observed nowadays because black boxes record everything.

[Jamie2k9]

The 16.35 is timetabled to arrive Carlow at 17.46 and depart at 17.48 (there is a trolly change if it 2 by 3 car operating it). So quiet possible to do Athy-Carlow in 9 minutes. Everytime I am on the train it does it in 10mins.

[Colm Moore]

I'm on the 1430 Cork-Dublin.

I think we just might have left about a minute early, currently at Blarney. Lots of vibration and some wobble since Rathpeacon.

My reserved seat is occupied.

It is useful to see that there are menus on all tables, although perhaps it is one more thing to be thrown about by some 'yoofs'.

----------------------------------------------------

I travelled down on 23 December. Between having the on-board wi-fi and someone to chat to for the trip, I have to say that the time did seem to pass much more quickly. Some wobble on the train, but not excessive that time and I only particularly noticed it a few times. Much confusion with the on-train announcements, with the host fumbling(!) the list of stations and announcing the wrong location for the dining car.

[Colm Moore]

Oh, my sandwich, that I had left on the table before departure has been returned to me.

Lots of vibration and some wobble since Rathpeacon.Longitudinal lurching added from Kilmona.

[Colm Moore]

Trolley has arrived already and the train host has been seen for the second time - not hiding in first class.

We've just passed the recent bridge works at Mallow-Buttevent. The rail is perfect across the bridge, but noise and vibration either side.

[Colm Moore]

Third visit by train host. There is a nice enough piece of track at Knocklong, but it can't be said to be ideal. A bit rough a while after though.

As we are in the Limerick Junction signalling no man's land, we're not showing on the animated live map here: http://new.irishrail.ie/index.jsp?p=119&n=157 but we are here: http://irishrail.ie/your_journey/results.asp and here: http://irishrail.on.icomera.com/finished.html (link may not work).

A fair few people boarding at LJ. A fairly empty train at Cork is now starting to be fairly full. A bit of a gale blowing though the carriage as they haven't fixed the intermediate doors yet.

[Colm Moore]

Just past Thurles. Realtime claiming we had arrived before we actually had, as it only takes the signal into account. train host and cleaner have been by.

The automated announcement have been getting a bit annoying, but luckily, that was our last stop.

[Colm Moore]

Poor connection from the Wi-Fi to the internet from Portlaoise to Portarlington.

Very rough ride east of Portarlington.

[Colm Moore]

Arrived at 17:09, at platform 7, about 11 minutes early. There seemed to have been some faffing about between Cherry Orchard and Heuston, so we could have arrived a few minutes earlier.

Not a lot of luggage trolleys (the hazards of getting books as Christmas presents), with me taking the last from the rack at the concourse end of the platform - having a second rack would be useful. Removing the trolley was modestly problematic - it claimed to take 50c or €1 coins, but only the 50c worked. I couldn't find a trolley rack at the front entrance, so I just abandoned it (considerately), forgetting that I didn't get my 50c back! :)

Positives:
* On time / early.
* I got a seat.
* Two opportunities to use the snack trolley, pleasant cashier.
* Wi-Fi for most of the trip

Negatives:
* €37 single is three times the Bus Éireann fare.
* We seem to have left early.
* 'Yoofs' stealing (temporarily) my sandwich and occupying my seat, but they got off at Mallow.
* Some football fans were modestly boisterous, but such is human nature.
* Vibration, lurching and track noise excessive at times. Wobble not so bad.
* Cold when the doors were open. This was worst at Limerick Junction due to the open platforms.
* While there was a RailGourmet cleaner on board, the saloon are was quite messy when we got to Heuston.
* Announcements do need to be rationalised.

[Sasha]

Train host might have more time for better saloon cleaning that Railgourmet staff. This is absolute joke that serving food person has to pick up litter

[Charlie Hungerford]

* Vibration, lurching and track noise excessive at times. Wobble not so bad.

I had a similar experience recently on the Enterprise. The ride was smooth throughout the North but when we crossed the border all sorts of vibration and lurching began. I think it's an issue with Irish Rail's track maintenance standards or something.

[Colm Moore]

I had a similar experience recently on the Enterprise. The ride was smooth throughout the North but when we crossed the border all sorts of vibration and lurching began. I think it's an issue with Irish Rail's track maintenance standards or something.In that case, I think a lot of it is down to speed - service speeds in the north are much slower.

[Inniskeen]

In that case, I think a lot of it is down to speed - service speeds in the north are much slower.

General track condition in NI is at least as good as Irish Rail, apart from the Larne line east of Whitehead and the Derry/Londonderry line, west of Coleraine. On the whole both under and over bridges tend to have been more recently renewed, often for a higher axle-loading than on Irish Rail.

As for the riding of the Enterprise coaches, crossing the border is immediately obvious, especially in the southbound direction when most trains are travelling at 90mph. I think the issue is not so much the condition of the the track as the profile of the rail head which in the Republic follows a German standard while NIR follow a British standard.

[Charlie Hungerford]

In that case, I think a lot of it is down to speed - service speeds in the north are much slower.

Not to any great extent - in fact, for most journeys, NIR's train services are quicker than road, which is something that Irish Rail cannot boast.

[markpb]

I'm on the 3pm Manulla to Heuston. None of the external displays (except the front) are working so no one knows which car their seats are reserved in. The overhead displays are off in my car and there's nothing on the end if car internal display (yet).

Also, I bought the last two online tickets for this train but most of it is extremely quiet (so far). There's definitely scope for allowing for seats to be sold online, even without seat reservations.

Edit: €1.60 for a can of coke! WTF.

Edit: power socket is dead and no sign of any IR staff (I walked the length of the train in search of one.)

Edit: there were no verbal announcements until Athlone. Internal displays havent showed anything but the carriage letter and distance to the next stop (which has been over 180km the entire time).

[Colm Moore]

None of the external displays That reminds me of the Mark 4s the other day. The displays are set quite high and have a large frame, making it difficult to make out the full height of the text, e.g. it is difficult to distinguish "Carriage E" from "Carriage F" because you can't see the bottom line of the dot matrix display.

[Thomas Ralph]

I had a rather wearisome trip to Cork on the 2100 last Friday. Rattling glass panels between seats 15/16 and 7/8 and the opposite side made it impossible to sleep.

[Sasha]

Markpb, onboard prices here, in Ireland, are lower or similar of those in European trains, in Scandinavian countries prices even more expensive. In German, Austrian, French trains can of coke would cost you around 2 euros.

[markpb]

Markpb, onboard prices here, in Ireland, are lower or similar of those in European trains, in Scandinavian countries prices even more expensive. In German, Austrian, French trains can of coke would cost you around 2 euros.

Perhaps that's true but it doesn't make it any less of a rip off. That's the last time I'm buying food on board.

[Jamie2k9]

Have traveled between Dublin-Cork a lot over the last few weeks. The line between Mallow-Cork it seems to be heavly speed restricted and the train shakes and moves a lot. Are they any plans to replace the track to increase speed? Once you leave Mallow the journey is great apart from the 10 min crawl into Limerick J waiting for the Cork bound train to pass.

On Sunday the 19.30 arrived in Heuston 16 minutes early.

[joey]

How much more can be done to ensure passengers refrain from putting their feet on seats?

Yes there is a clear message text on the information screen on the 22Ks but would it not be an idea to update the announcer of stations etc, to include the statement, passengers are asked not to put their feet on seats - just like do not occupy pre-booked seats, although that is not adhered to either.

Luggage also, train jam packed people have the bags and belongings on seats which will not allow passengers to sit...

:mad:

[James Howard]

The utility of the station information announcement is lost if they jam it up with loads of rules in addition to the needed information. As it is is overly long with two languages, please do not occupy seats and courtesy messages.

My pet hate is chewing-gum under the tables or on the seats. Once or twice a year I end up with chewing-gum on my bag or trousers after it gets melted by my laptop power supply. Considerably more bothersome than a bit of dirt left on a seat by shoes.

But people in general know that they shouldn't put bags on seats or tables, feet on seats, chewing gum under tables, play music on their phones, shout, dance on tables, smoke in the toilets, etc. It isn't lack of knowledge that is the problem, it is simple lack of concern for others and no amount of announcements will do anything about that. The only thing that will make a difference is to have people go about enforcing the rules with fines if necessary.

[Jamie2k9]

How much more can be done to ensure passengers refrain from putting their feet on seats?

Yes there is a clear message text on the information screen on the 22Ks but would it not be an idea to update the announcer of stations etc, to include the statement, passengers are asked not to put their feet on seats - just like do not occupy pre-booked seats, although that is not adhered to either.

Luggage also, train jam packed people have the bags and belongings on seats which will not allow passengers to sit...



No no no, the PA system never shuts up as it is. Adding more to it will turn people off the train, I have learned more Irish by traveling with Irish Rail than my 12 years in school!

Also with passengers bags on seats, God gave use mouths for a reason....

BTW I like to seek these people out and sit beside them just to annoy them.

[joey]

''please do not put feet on seats'' announced now on the 22Ks -

[Kilocharlie]

''please do not put feet on seats'' announced now on the 22Ks -

And a 'please mind the gap'

[James Howard]

My noise-cancelling headphones just get more and more indispensable.

[karlr42]

More seriously, there is a bug in the announcements on the 22ks on the M3 Parkway route. The Irish for Hansfield is instead a horrible, ear piercing electronic noise. i.e it goes "This is the xx:xx train to M3 Parkway, serving ... Caislean Cnucha, Cuil Mhin, Cluain Sailleach, bzZZZZZZZZZZZztssshZTtttt, Dun Buinee..."

[Jamie2k9]

And a 'please mind the gap'

This is an absolute joke, its louder than "we will be arriving at X". Whoever decided to add this should be given there P45. Its as bad as Thank you for traveling with IE.

[Mark Gleeson]

Mandatory safety announcement required by the RSC at platforms which are sub standard

If you think its bad try it in German and English in Berlin, where it is "please mind the gap between platform and train",

[Jamie2k9]

Mandatory safety announcement required by the RSC at platforms which are sub standard

If you think its bad try it in German and English in Berlin, where it is "please mind the gap between platform and train",

Have the RSC not cared about this message over the last 6 years?

On the 22's to Cork they have Please mind the gap added while they already had Please mind the gap between train and platform.

My biggest problem is the PA system is way to load, I know there is reasons such as blind people but its way above what you hear on European trains. The "Thank you for traveling with IE" needs to be taken out as its not needed and passenger who have to listen to this automated crap the whole journey won't be thanking IE at all. It needs to be turned down a lot.

I just thankful that they removed This is the x train from x to y on the Waterford route, did a trip to Galway and the pa was just non stop and it will be a long time before I use the train.

[Kilocharlie]

Mandatory safety announcement required by the RSC at platforms which are sub standard

If you think its bad try it in German and English in Berlin, where it is "please mind the gap between platform and train",

It's announced at every station between Kildare and Heuston including those which have straight platforms and were recently modernised or even recently built! Even Heuston! So by implicat5ion every station is sub-standard or maybe it's just easier to do it every station rather than those with curved platforms.

The Irish version has the 'seachan an bhearna' embedded between the station name and 'go luath'.

[Jamie2k9]

I'm told they have not added this to the Mark'4. What about the Belfast route, weather its automatic or not, if the RSC were so serous about safety why not have it announced on trains. Seems to me RSC are selective on there safety enforcement or IE are not listening to them!

[neoncircles]

Automatic announcements never working on the enterprise, and when they do they're not in Irish. They're very simple though "We're now approaching Newry" etc, nothing about gaps or seats or thank you etc!

[berneyarms]

I'm told they have not added this to the Mark'4. What about the Belfast route, weather its automatic or not, if the RSC were so serous about safety why not have it announced on trains. Seems to me RSC are selective on there safety enforcement or IE are not listening to them!

I suspect that they are doing the ICR fleet first and will update the Mk4 sets later. I seriously doubt that they're just doing one single fleet type.

I believe that this an IE initiative rather than being pushed by the RSC.

[Jamie2k9]

I suspect that they are doing the ICR fleet first and will update the Mk4 sets later. I seriously doubt that they're just doing one single fleet type.

I believe that this an IE initiative rather than being pushed by the RSC.

Its being a few weeks since it started and its just a case of updating the train ID. Noting major. If its from with IE somebody had little to do with time other than come up with ways to irritate passengers even further, yet for trains arriving on the most dangerous platforms on the network (Connolly, 5,6,7) you can hardly hear the PA system on most of the commuter/DART fleet.

Do the maths on 99% of platforms where its next to impossible to fall between the train and platform passengers have to listen to this nonsense but on the most dangerous platforms you can't hear it half the time.

Good to see IE staff have priorities in order. Just when you think you have seen it all with IE they always manage to pull some other daft things out of the bag!

While we are also on about passenger safety, there has being some significant overcrowding on some Cork services only the last day or so where passengers were standing for 90+ minutes. Soon the PA systems will be saying "Hold on tight, brace yourselves, uncomfortable journey ahead for some but most of all thank you for paying high fares for traveling with Iarnrod Eireann".

Just where do you draw the line, any more bits added and we will have full PA blown conversation on Intercity routes.

Automatic announcements never working on the enterprise, and when they do they're not in Irish. They're very simple though "We're now approaching Newry" etc, nothing about gaps or seats or thank you etc!

Exactly my point.