View Full Version : Irish Rail web site
david673
18-06-2009, 13:10
Gents,
Is it me or is the Irish rail Web site useless?
I was trying to find out various fares i.e Dublin to Limerick or Limerick to Tralee. It comes up with the times of the trains and even what platform they are on, but no where does it give you the fare. I then clicked on the special web fare page, once again put in my requirements, everything appeared apart from the fare!
Is it me? Am i going mad, or is this the worst rail web site in the developed world?
David
Colm Moore
18-06-2009, 13:16
Yes, the information can be hit and miss.
These two pages seem to be the best:
http://www.railusers.ie/passenger_info/fare_calc.php for ordinary fares
http://www.irishrail.ie/news_centre/news.asp?action=view&news_id=402 for discounted fares
Mark Gleeson
18-06-2009, 13:18
Its fairly useless
If you want to know the fare, go online, make sure reservation is selected and search for the trains you want
Select the train you want using the tick box for first or standard and then click the button at the bottom to check the fare
There has been a curious pattern of when we add something to our site a few months later Irish Rail follow
PLUMB LOCO
18-06-2009, 13:37
The Irish Rail website is completely useless. It could win an award for being the most user unfriendly website on the internet! The cheapest fares available, in my experience, are those purchased at the booking office or from the ticket checker if you are able to board a train without a ticket. Stay well clear of the Automatic Ticket Vending Machines.
david673
19-06-2009, 01:38
So thanks to you guys I've finaly cracked it!
You have to search for a seat reservation to find the price of the journey! How clear is that?
All the other rail companies have got it wrong with their "check for fares" banners on their web pages!
But if the journey involves a rail car it can't give you a price because you can't reserve a seat!!!!
Oh well, I think I'll buy a 4 day rail rover from inter rail.
Quick question: What stock is being used on the Rosslaire route?
David
Irish Rail, if you're reading:
http://www.ns.nl, or in English: http://www.ns.nl/cs/Satellite/travellers
e.g. type Amsterdam Centraal -> Rotterdam Centraal
Notice the box on the left which gives the 6 trains before/after you requested, the main box which gives details, and the data below which gives prices! All in a single search! Wow! :rolleyes:
The links open up more details about stops and prices!
Oh, and with regards where to purchase a ticket.. they make it very clear the cheapest tickets are from the TVM:
http://www.ns.nl/cs/Satellite/travellers/arrange-buy/purchasing-tickets?packedargs=language%3Den
(it's +0.50c if you buy from the ticket office).. but then again the fare structure (for a hugley bigger and more complex rail network) is simpler than in Ireland.
Thomas Ralph
19-06-2009, 08:54
Quick question: What stock is being used on the Rosslaire route?
Rosslare-Waterford and Limerick is generally a two- or four-car 2700 commuter. Rosslare-Dublin is generally a six-car 2800 or four-car 29000.
If you check the price of a return ticket on the website, then go back to the main page and clear the 'Returning on' box and try to check the price of a single fare, you can't - it keeps insisting that you pick a return journey. It's obviously go the previous data stored somewhere. You have to reload the page
SardineFrank
19-08-2009, 09:48
Yes it's generally quite awful - not as bad as the bus eireann site however. I don't know why they even bother with the reservation system when they only sometimes implement it.
I booked a seat to athlone from heuston last Wednesday only to have them send half a train.
Bye bye reservation. Think i'm entitled to a refund actually. Tis like extracting teeth that though.
Mark Gleeson
19-08-2009, 09:56
If you had to stand -> refund
http://www.railusers.ie/passenger_info/forms/delay_refund_intercity_heuston.pdf
State "reservation not honored due wrong/short train used on service"
http://www.railusers.ie/forum/showthread.php?goto=newpost&t=10214
Irishrail.ie is currently offline, either the northern line notices are being updated or the new timetable is being uploaded?
Mark Gleeson
27-08-2009, 13:24
That makes the 3rd crash today.
Its a database problem is appears, could be overloaded
Thomas Ralph
27-08-2009, 14:11
Back up, or works for me at least.
It was down yesterday morning too
I was on the IE website yesterday I typed in Dublin to Gorey for 28/Sep and it gave me the same times for the current timetable.
Today when I did the same thing it didnt process, Maybe the new timetable is going ahead...
site is down at the moment.
Mark Gleeson
02-09-2009, 11:18
Was back is gone again
The journey planner search screen on the irish rail website has been updated. It now doesn't give you option to search by timetable or reservations and instead the results page tells you if resrvations are available
Thomas Ralph
09-09-2009, 15:09
The journey planner search screen on the irish rail website has been updated. It now doesn't give you option to search by timetable or reservations and instead the results page tells you if resrvations are available
Or, in my case, tells you that reservations aren't available, irrespective of the journey I want to make :mad:
Mark Gleeson
09-09-2009, 16:05
What station combination? Can get that fixed ;)
Colm Moore
09-09-2009, 16:12
Its meant to be "DART journeys always return timetables and Dublin-Cork will display reservations automatically."
you can do it from clonsilla online! :p
Colm Moore
09-09-2009, 17:10
Browser friendly image attached.
They still allow way too much time Connolly-Heuston.
Mark Gleeson
09-09-2009, 17:25
Had a chat with Thomas, figured out the problem with the reservations. Its messy but we will let IE know, they asked...
Mark Gleeson
10-09-2009, 13:16
The reservation bug is fixed, I'm told!
Thomas Ralph
10-09-2009, 14:42
Works for me anyway.
Mark Gleeson
10-11-2009, 16:08
Website is down again, since about 3pm
Mark Gleeson
10-11-2009, 17:35
Its still down
Mark Gleeson
10-11-2009, 22:53
Back up as of 21:20
Mark Gleeson
12-11-2009, 10:18
Both the intercity and suburban real-time webpages are returning the timetable not the real times
And here was me rushing to the station thinking my train was ontime for the first time in weeks, turned out to be 4 minutes late as always
Mark Gleeson
14-11-2009, 14:53
And the realtime page http://www.irishrail.ie/realtime is gone, so no luck for iPhone owners looking for the next train
Kilocharlie
14-11-2009, 16:43
And the realtime page http://www.irishrail.ie/realtime is gone, so no luck for iPhone owners looking for the next train
It's back!
Mark Gleeson
17-11-2009, 07:51
Real time suburban and intercity is gone again
The platform displays died yesterday, came back and died again
ACustomer
17-11-2009, 09:39
As of now, the realtime displays for Heuston, Cork, etc seem to be OK, (i.e. loads of late trains) but for Connolly all trains are shown as exactly on time. Not a single deviation from the timetable. Worthy of North Korea.
Mark Gleeson
17-11-2009, 09:45
The suburban ones are showing no trains at all
The one in Heuston doesn't work anyway, it takes a pot guess at Adamstown as to the arrival in to Heuston. That would be fine but for the regular stops at Inchicore to pick up staff
Mark Gleeson
18-11-2009, 11:01
Back finally but the strange destination game has returned
1088
I notice that when I go to the Irish Rail website I get three separate adverts for Hertz Car Hire surrounding the home page.
Nice of them to let me know what the alternatives to the train service are!
Yet another change to the interface. Little green map of ireland icon in each station picker box brings up the rubbish network map, you can click your station there to select it. Though I can't see why anyone would bother, especially given thos awful maps.
Realtime info though is now much improved (shock, it galls me to give credit for anything), much better interface.
Biggest shock though is that there's now only one combined real time system - which seems to work for all stations nationwide!
[edit]
RSS feeds of realtime data, google map integration with real time location of trains? They're obviously finally outsourced the development
Can't help but notice that according to the realtime system that the Maynooth to Rosslare Harbour train that is due in Connolly at 17:23 has just arrived at Greystones?!? and also its running to Rosslare too! I have to say I am impressed with the new system besides the obvious errors.
It actually looks promising! Cobh Junction is in the drop down list instead of Glounthaune. If you type Glounthaune you get the full information, if you select Cobh Junction you see nothing.
Colm Moore
24-11-2009, 05:24
Yet another change to the interface. Little green map of ireland icon in each station picker box brings up the rubbish network map, you can click your station there to select it. Though I can't see why anyone would bother, especially given thos awful maps.Can I ask whats wrong with the map? Can you show a better map? We'll give them feedback
Mark Gleeson
24-11-2009, 10:36
It actually looks promising! Cobh Junction is in the drop down list instead of Glounthaune. If you type Glounthaune you get the full information, if you select Cobh Junction you see nothing.
This and other issues we have spotted have been emailed to our contact within Irish Rail who is in charge of the website.
Its a big improvement
If you're doing that, you might want to bring to their attention that there's some real weirdness with the display for Kent Station
Cork-Cobh trains don't appear at all (although there's no problem with Cobh-Cork trains). Cork-Midleton and Cork-Dublin do both appear
Currently it's showing a Cork-Midleton train on time, but departing in -14 minutes
The 23:55 arrival from Dublin has apparently already arrived in Rathpeacon
http://img687.imageshack.us/img687/9913/disp.jpg
Can I ask whats wrong with the map? Can you show a better map? We'll give them feedback
The font is awful, it's actually painful to look at for any length of time.
Think the hotspots are a bit too close together, can see people easily clicking the wrong station.
ACustomer
24-11-2009, 12:52
It seems like a good concept, but it should have been refined before going live.
1. The train reference numbers are a bit of a mystery to the layman, but they just might be useful in following up an enquiry (but somehow I doubt it)
2. The list of lines where they say the coverage is limited is practically the entire system (including Hazlehatch-Heuston), which seems a bit daft.
3. If one enquires about, for example, Cork Departures (which I happened to do, coincidentally, like comcor), one gets information on Cork Arrivals as well, and information such as "A210 Dublin Heuston to Cork, Due 1050, ETA 1055". This omits the information which people might want: 0800 Departure time from Heuston. Typically people might want to know if the 8am from Dublin is on time or not, because that's the one that Grandma said she would be on.
Mark Gleeson
24-11-2009, 15:24
Train codes are shown in timetables europe wide
There are some bugs, the Rathpeacon one is already in with Irish Rail
A request is in to allow for a pop up on click or on hover to show the timetable for the train, eg calling stations and times. It should display A204 08:00 Dublin Heuston - Cork, there are a few issues like that
Kilocharlie
24-11-2009, 16:08
Here's one from Kildare at 15:59:
A714 Heuston - Galway ETA 19:52, Due in: 232 Mins, Latest information: Departed Woodlawn.
Mark Gleeson
24-11-2009, 18:05
Irish Rail are avid readers of this thread so post any and all problems
I'm told Glounthane is fixed as are a few other minor glitches
The RSS feed is completely useless. I'm not sure exactly what they were trying to achieve, but sending me details every 3 hours of what the next few trains are at my selected station is entirely pointless.
shweeney
25-11-2009, 12:27
Seems to be some bugs at departure stations - Greystones only shows southbound arrivals or through-trains. Departing Darts are not shown - ditto Malahide, but Bray and Howth don't seem to have the same problem.
EDIT - as soon as I posted this a northbound departure appeared in the list for Greystones, weird.
shweeney
25-11-2009, 12:30
The RSS feed is completely useless. I'm not sure exactly what they were trying to achieve, but sending me details every 3 hours of what the next few trains are at my selected station is entirely pointless.
I don't get this - the feed will update as often as you refresh it, every minute if you want.
Mark - if you can find some way of scraping the RSS feeds into a database you could compile punctuality figures to compare to IE's published stats.
Mark Gleeson
25-11-2009, 12:39
We can't say how but we have extensive arrival time details, not estimated arrival times since the start of the month. Its slowly filling up a database and the numbers aren't good
We will have full details on Nov 30th, the current 4 week period is Nov 2nd - Nov 29th
shweeney
25-11-2009, 12:42
We can't say how but we have extensive arrival time details, not estimated arrival times since the start of the month. Its slowly filling up a database and the numbers aren't good
We will have full details on Nov 30th, the current 4 week period is Nov 2nd - Nov 29th
cool. Anyway - I really like the RSS feed - I've added them to my phone so I can check the times of the next few trains without faffing around in a browser.
+1 for Irish Rail (& I don't say that often).
Mark Gleeson
25-11-2009, 12:46
We can expand our data collection operation with this more advanced system.
A further tweak coming online in our system on November 29th. The new RSS feed lacks the data required for an accurate recording of train arrivals. The google maps function has it though.
Its good to see these changes in place this will work well but this shouldn't distract from the real-time platform display that should be working in stations such as maynooth line, kildare line, greystones-gorey etc and the upgrades needed to have these systems working effectively providing we see the works done this system should work well!
Our central signalling system is subject to ongoing work to support this real-time facility. However real-time information has weaker coverage in certain areas, these include:
• Hazelhatch - Heuston Line
• Waterford Line
• Athlone - Westport/Ballina Line
• Charleville - Cork/Cobh/Midleton Line
• Mallow - Tralee Line
• Ballybrophy - Limerick Line
• Limerick - Ennis Line
• Athy - Waterford Line
• Limerick Junction Station
• Limerick Junction - Rosslare Line
• Greystones - Rosslare Line
• Drogheda - Belfast Line
• Drumcondra - Sligo Line
In these cases your query will return the scheduled time only
One other thing, hopefully well see an upgrade on the mobile site to reflect these changes!
Mark Gleeson
25-11-2009, 13:33
There is no coverage south of Bray Head, its not Greystones per say, so departures may not picked up until after departure
The Hazelhatch Heuston problem should be solved quickly enough as will Limerick Junction in 2010
A large part of the network is controlled locally using the emergency control system until it is all transfered to Dublin when a larger building is provided
A large part of the network is controlled locally using the emergency control system until it is all transfered to Dublin when a larger building is provided
Is it planned?
I don't get this - the feed will update as often as you refresh it, every minute if you want.
Mark - if you can find some way of scraping the RSS feeds into a database you could compile punctuality figures to compare to IE's published stats.
Ah, stupid me, it's just google reader.
Mark Gleeson
25-11-2009, 14:28
Be 2011 at earliest, with the exception of Galway the entire Mini CTC operation is under local manual control so real time information isn't possible
Mark Gleeson
26-11-2009, 12:20
3. If one enquires about, for example, Cork Departures (which I happened to do, coincidentally, like comcor), one gets information on Cork Arrivals as well, and information such as "A210 Dublin Heuston to Cork, Due 1050, ETA 1055". This omits the information which people might want: 0800 Departure time from Heuston. Typically people might want to know if the 8am from Dublin is on time or not, because that's the one that Grandma said she would be on.
Fixed
On a slightly unrelated note taxsaver.ie is down.
Anyone know how much the annual Newbridge-Heuston ticket is now? I have a vague recollection that it was 1770.
And do point to point tickets still not require a CIE ID, just a photo?
Thanks.
Thomas Ralph
27-11-2009, 18:06
Newbridge-Heuston is indeed €1,770 per year. Annual tickets issued by Iarnród Éireann require a digital photo which is printed onto the ticket (and will become a smartcard-based ticket soon). Annual tickets issued by Veolia and Dublin Bus and all monthly tickets require a separate ID, which is available at a nominal fee from Dublin Bus head office, most Dublin Bus ticket agents, and major railway stations.
Colm Moore
29-11-2009, 09:25
RealTime Train Info is acting up since last night. Was reporting "PLEASE ENTER A VALID STATION NAME ABOVE" for Waterford line stations. Now saying that for all stations.
Mark Gleeson
29-11-2009, 11:26
No one has programmed in the new timetable, its gotten confused!
Mark Gleeson
29-11-2009, 12:26
It back working again
Booking single tickets for my parents from Cork - Westport tomorrow morning, website prices are a bit confusing:
Details:
Cork - Portarlington 05:05 07:22 InterCity
Portarlington - Wesport 08:15 11:00 InterCity
When I click on the € (Euro) Symbol, it states Adult €68.50
But when I click on the "Check Price" at the end of the page it states Adult €20.
Mark Gleeson
09-12-2009, 12:11
Check price is correct. Its summing the two 10 euro discount fares.
The other is quoting the standard fare for the journey as it has no discount for that combination.
The price is confirmed later in the process
...
The other is quoting the standard fare for the journey as it has no discount for that combination.
...
Should it not state the €20 for the € symbol as well? When I saw the €68.50, I said to myself that I would just be better off driving them up. I just clicked on the "Check Price" to see if would be any different.
Mark Gleeson
09-12-2009, 12:41
It should say 20 as well. Previously the system would not have given the 20 euro quote at all.
Is there 10 euro one way tickets between Dublin and Cork? and if yes how do I get them and when are they valid?
Thomas Ralph
10-12-2009, 10:36
Yes there are. You can book them online at http://www.irishrail.ie. They are only available on specific trains, namely 1100, 1400, and 2100 from Heuston to Cork, 1130, 1330, and 2030 from Cork to Heuston, Monday to Saturday (excluding the 1100, 1330 and 1400 services on Fridays), and the 0810 from Heuston to Cork on Sunday. Exclusions apply on days of major events (read rugby/GAA/soccer matches in Croke Park) and around holiday periods.
Besides the above there are €20 single fares off-peak and €36 peak.
Tickets need to be booked at least one hour before departure of the train. The 1130 Cork-Heuston tends to be fully reserved several days in advance.
Thanks, I was looking and could only find the 20 euro ones, I´ll have a look for the cheaper ones now I know where they are
Can anyone spot the contradiction in this "realtime" info for Heuston, 2 minutes ago?
Realtime Results for Dublin Heuston - 13:12 RSS feed for Dublin Heuston
Journey Service Sch ETA Due In Latest Information
A211 - 10:30 - Cork to Dublin Heuston 13:23 13:36 24 Mins Departed Sallins
A711 - 11:05 - Galway to Dublin Heuston 13:40 13:42 30 Mins Departed Cherryville Junction
A509 - 11:00 - Waterford to Dublin Heuston 13:30 13:49 37 Mins Departed Kildare
A216 - 14:00 - Dublin Heuston to Cork 14:00 14:00 48 Mins
Mark Gleeson
22-12-2009, 13:30
Trains travelling longer distances taking less time point to point
Cherryville Vs Kildare
The system doesn't always update, so the location you see is the last confirmed point on the system and it projects ahead from there
We have proposed a modification such that
Arrived Cherrvillle Junc at xx:xx
This was accepted as a good idea by the crew in charge and hopefully will be implemented in the coming weeks
I am sitting on the Galway train, which is obviously being held up by the Waterford one. We keep slowing, stopping and starting.
The realtime info is still saying that we will pass out the Waterford train and arrive in Heuston 1 minute ahead of it! Expecting to see a bit of a drag race on the 4 track! Passed Hazelhatch just now.
they have now passed us (on the virtual system)
Funny thing is, the signal should have known we were behind them from Cherryville Junction, and so shoudl have delayed our expected arrival time by the 10 minutes at that point. This would have allowed us to tell people not to rush etc., if we were being collected, and that sort of thing. Also, ringing ahead to make other type of arrangements would be facilitated.
The PPARs people must have designed the signalling system for them!
Mark Gleeson
22-12-2009, 13:51
The system projects based on where you are and the staff timetable journey time for that train to the point of interest
If you are following a delayed stopping train, the Waterford one which stops Kildare and Newbridge it can't work it out. We are in regular contact with the manager behind the system, it is new, it clearly states that its not very good between Hazelhatch and Dublin.
The ability to understand the causal relationship between trains and delays is not easy, again its been raised with respect to if a DART to Howth is delayed arriving its departure will be as well
, it is new, it clearly states that its not very good between Hazelhatch and Dublin.
It improved in accuracy between the Hatch and Heuston. In fact the padding helped both trains knock about 5 minutes off their predicted arrival time. The wierd stuff happened when it failed to realise that the Galway train was behind the late Waterford train from Cherryville.
What is Irish Rails policy on priority for late trains? It seems to be a "try and catch up as much as possible for the timing stats", rather than, "a let the trains that are on time stay on time and fit the late one in." Or maybe it depends on the fat controller on the day!:D
Mark Gleeson
23-12-2009, 11:13
Since the 4 track went live the system has been much better behaved. The problem is it doesn't understand the causal relationship of a delay
If a fast train is trapped behind a slow train, the fast train is still projected based on the fast timing when in fact it should inherit the journey time of the train ahead until such point that train is no longer in the way. So if a train to Cork gets stuck behind a Limerick stopping train once it catches up it will be projected to arrive Limerick Junction about 7 minutes after the Limerick train and will inherit its normal point to point times from there. Thats simple now throw in passing loops, single track, four track and turnbacks and its not simple
Put it this way to get a system that can do that properly costs a fortune and in many cases major vendors have tried and failed to get it to work. You need to get into artificial intelligence.
I could put a R&D team together for this sort of thing but its going to cost to be done correctly
Arragh listen, it can't be that hard to program this. We're not talking a network of hundred or thousands of routes with different approaches possible. There are only so many combinations. The whole fast train/slow train thing is only notional. If you are on a 'fast' train and you are on a track behind a 'slow' train then you are de facto on a slow train. Unlike, say, the approach to a busy airport where planes can be peeled off and circled for a while to let another plane land.
Let's say for the sake of craziness that we have 10 trains queued behind each other. We have an estimated time for the front one to get to the station - that's easy as it's a fuction of distance, dwell time, remaining stations, etc . . .
In the absense of teleporters and passing loops the arrival of train #2 cannot be any sooner than the arrival time of train #1. That's the first thing to program in. The arrival of train #3 cannot be any earlier than train #2 or train #1. And so it goes until you get to train #10. That bit's not hard.
If IE are providing real time information they should build it on some element of reality.
z
Mark Gleeson
12-01-2010, 00:03
And the website is down again
why does the site not show which trains you can get for €10
Mark Gleeson
16-01-2010, 13:29
The discounted fares are there, you just have to look for them as far as I know the 10 euro fare is available on all bookable routes on at least 1 train per day each way 7 days per week. Beyond that there are other discounts set at 15 and 20 euro
We have been told due to the complexity of the discounts available dates and trains vary any list provided would be out of date as soon as it was published. Basically travel off peak Mon-Thurs and you will get a reduced price. Trains leaving Dublin after 7pm also tend to offer heavy discounts
A revised website with a more up front listing of prices is coming soon I'm told as are a wider range of destinations
Basically travel off peak Mon-Thurs and you will get a reduced price.
Unfortunately, that's not true. The "book online for €10 fare" is something of a scam. Well, scam might be a bit strong, but it's very misleading.
I tried to book such a fare in December, but since only one carriage on the train was allocated for online booking, and the stupid system doesn't allow you to book the fare unless there's a seat available to reserve, I couldn't do so. Of course, to add insult to injury, when I went in the next day and paid the full fare, the train turned out to be an old commuter, on which no effort had been made to even indicate which carriage was the reserved one, let alone reserve individual seats.
The only logic I can see behind only allowing you book web fares when you 'reserve' a seat, is that it allows Irish Rail to ensure that 75% of the available seats on a given train are charged at the full rate.
Colm Moore
22-01-2010, 16:06
While I'm sure they have detailed statistics on use, there is not guarantee that someone will show up to pay that fare.
To be fair though, if a service is known to be busy, it makes little sense to offer discount fares (a) it would mean them losing money (b) it would mean the service would be over full of people with the low fare and the people who can only use that service. This serves neither the operator nor the passenger.
Kilocharlie
22-01-2010, 20:29
This mornings realtime display included two non-existent trains!
1. 0515 Westport even though this service 'joined' the 6:05 from Galway. This is a daily non-train
2. 0720 Portlaoise. This was canceled but still appears on the Realtime display.
I guess if a train is not detected by CTC, the Realtime display simply displays the timetable!
Having said that, the Realtime display is actually quite useful as it does give etas for the real trains. However it cannot predict that a train may be held at Cherryville.
PS: The 0610 ex Waterford took on the 0720's schedule leading to a very crowded train. At Hazelhatch it called at the fast platform while all the passengers were waiting on the slow platform - result mad scramble. Passengers at Adamstown were better informed.
Thomas J Stamp
23-01-2010, 22:47
This mornings realtime display included two non-existent trains!
1. 0515 Westport even though this service 'joined' the 6:05 from Galway. This is a daily non-train
2. 0720 Portlaoise. This was canceled but still appears on the Realtime display.
I guess if a train is not detected by CTC, the Realtime display simply displays the timetable!
you should have seen it during the unofficial strikes :D:D:D
Mark Gleeson
27-01-2010, 10:51
The online realtime page has been updated
The train id is now less prominent, plus it sorts by north and southbound for all services operating via Connolly station
We have been in regular contact with the people in IE who manage the system, most of the bugs we have submitted have been fixed, if anyone notices any problems let us know
The actual prediction of arrival time is a restriction of the signaling system not the web front end so that will have to wait for various signalling upgrades to complete
Hi,
was just looking at prices to go Cork - Belfast on irishrail.ie.
I can book the following:
Cork - Dublin City Center (11.40Euro) (05:05 Cork - Heuston + Luas/Bus)
Dublin Connolly - Belfast Central (18.00Euro) (09:35 Enterprise)
However, other online prices quoted:
Cork - Belfast (88.90Euro) (05:05 Cork - Heuston + Luas/Bus + 09:35 Enterprise)
Cork - Dublin Connolly (67.40Euro) (05:05 Cork - Heuston + Luas/Bus)
Is this another glitch in the irishrail.ie website? Does the city centre add-on include travel to Connolly? Wondering why there is such a price difference for the distance between City Centre and Dublin Connolly?
Prices here are for 01.02.2010 and for the same train services.
Fin.
Mark Gleeson
01-02-2010, 13:51
Thats an issue we have mentioned to Irish Rail
We got the luas add on issue fixed, in the past it would have charged the non discounted fare if you wanted the luas.
Its a glitch but the fare quoted is legally the correct fare in the book
Thats an issue we have mentioned to Irish Rail
We got the luas add on issue fixed, in the past it would have charged the non discounted fare if you wanted the luas.
Its a glitch but the fare quoted is legally the correct fare in the book
I remember that glitch with non-discounter fares. The fares quoted are probably the fares if you purchase the ticket from a TVM.
Thomas Ralph
01-02-2010, 14:33
The discounted fares are only available with certain station combinations; legally the €88.90 is the book fare so anything less than that is at IÉ's discretion.
Mark Gleeson
01-02-2010, 14:39
It has gotten better dealing with combinations but its still getting confused with Connolly
As far as I know the 10 euro fare is available on all bookable routes on at least 1 train per day each way 7 days per week
Unfortunately that doesn't seem to apply to the Tralee line as the 11:00 service from Heuston to Cork & Tralee is now €20 every day and there are no other €10 services to Tralee from Heuston. Unless of course you count the 21:00 which involves a wait in Mallow of a mere 9 hours and 8 minutes! Why that's even listed as a service to Tralee is beyond logic..
What's really galling though is that the 11:00 service is still €10 to Limerick, despite the fact that there are plenty of other €10 and €15 services from Heuston to Limerick every day. If the 11:00 is too busy for €10 fares to Cork and Tralee (which honestly it probably is, at least sometimes), then why continue to sell €10 tickets on it to Limerick?!
dowlingm
06-02-2010, 22:56
I think IE should be forced to charge a minimum fare - 10c a mile. Patently when they offer "flat" specials like this the first thing people do is moan about how their line or their favourite service doesn't get the same treatment as other (and often shorter) routes.
So now so. :D
Mark Gleeson
18-02-2010, 17:06
The real time system now lets you see the trains stopping points as well if you click on the trains id number.
All credit, we asked for it a while back
Kilocharlie
18-02-2010, 20:25
Cool
It even shows ETA for stations down the line..
Now if we had information like that, oven just the next train or two, displayed at the stations...
Unfortunately that doesn't seem to apply to the Tralee line as the 11:00 service from Heuston to Cork & Tralee is now €20 every day and there are no other €10 services to Tralee from Heuston. Unless of course you count the 21:00 which involves a wait in Mallow of a mere 9 hours and 8 minutes! Why that's even listed as a service to Tralee is beyond logic..
What's really galling though is that the 11:00 service is still €10 to Limerick, despite the fact that there are plenty of other €10 and €15 services from Heuston to Limerick every day. If the 11:00 is too busy for €10 fares to Cork and Tralee (which honestly it probably is, at least sometimes), then why continue to sell €10 tickets on it to Limerick?!
There aren't even any €10 fares available from Killarney to Cork. Apart from one train a day that is the hugely reduced price of €19.50, €20 is the cheapest fare on the route. And it's all of a 90km trip.
Mark Gleeson
19-02-2010, 09:20
Discounted day return is 19.50 return for Killarney Cork
Discounted day return is 19.50 return for Killarney Cork
Which is presumably why that one train shows up as 19.50, because the day return fare is cheaper than the online single.
The Kerry-Cork fares still look like a huge anomaly compared to the prices available on other routes. Should Cork-Kerry really cost more than Cork-Dublin, especially when the trains generally have more capacity to spare.
Thomas Ralph
19-02-2010, 13:58
The Kerry-Cork fares still look like a huge anomaly compared to the prices available on other routes. Should Cork-Kerry really cost more than Cork-Dublin, especially when the trains generally have more capacity to spare.
As we do point out from time to time, Iarnród Éireann's maximum fares on each route are set by the Department of Transport (and the booking office fare is generally at this maximum), and legally any lower fare they offer is entirely at their own discretion. The full fare from Cork to Killarney (or vice-versa) is €26 single and €42 return. A person booking that journey online generally knocks out seats on two separate services (the Cork-Heuston and Mallow-Tralee) that Iarnród Éireann is unlikely to be able to sell for the rest of the leg.
Colm Moore
19-02-2010, 14:37
The full fare from Cork to Killarney (or vice-versa) is €26 single and €42 return. A person booking that journey online generally knocks out seats on two separate services (the Cork-Heuston and Mallow-Tralee) that Iarnród Éireann is unlikely to be able to sell for the rest of the leg.Not necessarily. Heuston-Cork services can be full leaving Heuston, but very quiet by the time they get to Cork, as so many passengers join at Limerick Junction (everyone from Clare, Limerick, South Tipperary and some from North Cork, Waterford and Kilkenny) and Mallow (everyone from Kerry and many people from North Cork - Charleville is a shadow of its former self in terms of the number of stopping services). Sure, passengers from a base population of 300,000 people join at Cork/Cobh/Midleton, but up to 700,000 join between Mallow and Templemore, admittedly including direct Limerick-Heuston services. Not all at the same time of course. :)
I've not studied it in detail, but I imagine a seat that is sold for Heuston-Limerick Junction can be re-sold for Limerick Junction-Cork.
Thomas Ralph
19-02-2010, 16:54
I've not studied it in detail, but I imagine a seat that is sold for Heuston-Limerick Junction can be re-sold for Limerick Junction-Cork.
It can, but it relies on the customer selecting it.
Kilocharlie
05-03-2010, 19:36
Another odd one...
The attached image at 08:21 shows the 0610 from Waterford with an eta in Kildare of 08:36 (45 mins late) while at the same time showing that the train has left Kildare!
So if one turned up expecting a train at 0836, one would be dissappointed.
Mark Gleeson
05-03-2010, 20:24
It got really confused
1148
Kilocharlie
12-03-2010, 08:47
It got really confused
1148
Any idea of the colour coding on these pop-ups?
Yellow appears to be station not yet reached but this is not consistent
Blue - stations that the train has stopped at but this is not consistent
Red - where it stated from but not consistent (sometimes apperas mid route)
So is there an IE explanation of the colour codes?
Mark Gleeson
12-03-2010, 09:21
Blue is for live real time information = if its blue the train has arrived and left the station in question and the times presented are the actual arrive/depart
Yellow is for estimate
Red is normally for next stopping station
Hi,
are there any plans to update the "Your Station (http://www.irishrail.ie/your_journey/your_station.asp)" section of the irishrail.ie website with Midleton & Carrigtwohill stations? Just noticed there that the recently opened Clongriffin station (http://www.irishrail.ie/your_journey/your_station.asp?letter=C&action=showdetail&station_id=138) has been added: Midleton & Carrigtwohill have been open since July last year.
F.
Colm Moore
28-04-2010, 11:25
Hi,
are there any plans to update the "Your Station (http://www.irishrail.ie/your_journey/your_station.asp)" section of the irishrail.ie website with Midleton & Carrigtwohill stations? Just noticed there that the recently opened Clongriffin station (http://www.irishrail.ie/your_journey/your_station.asp?letter=C&action=showdetail&station_id=138) has been added: Midleton & Carrigtwohill have been open since July last year.
F.I asked for all new stations to be added, about a fortnight ago. I didn't specifically realise these two were missing.
Hi guys,
some observations while using the website this morning.
1.
My dad on 07:30 Cork - Dub this morning rang me as he wanted to get home on the 16:00 Dub - Cork, so he needed a reservation.
Went through the process of booking a reservation for him with my Laser card. When I clicked to confirm the booking, I got a message saying that there was a problem (due to a number of reasons, e.g. slow internet connection...).
I repeated the process 5 times. The final time, I said, maybe I will leave the CSV number (card security number) blank this time, and it worked fine. Was able to purchase the reservation.
Maybe if a user selects "Laser", then the CSV field can be disabled? as it is not required for Laser transactions.
2.
When I was typing "Cork" into the "To" field on the homepage journey planner, the full list of stations appeared, even though Cork was already entered into the "To" field. When I tried to select Cork via keyboard arrow keys and the "return" key it would not work. Had to delete Cork and type it back in again.
Fin.
Mark Gleeson
11-06-2010, 10:48
Some Maestro debit cards mainly issued by non Irish based banks have a CVV code, Irish issued ones don't
I think the instructions provided are quite clear
1183
1184
The system is intelligent, select Laser and enter a Visa card number it will charge the 3 euro credit card fee
Some Maestro debit cards mainly issued by non Irish based banks have a CVV code, Irish issued ones don't
I think the instructions provided are quite clear
My Bank of Ireland 365 Laser Card (Maestro /Cirrus) has the CSV code at the back. That's why I entered it.
Mark Gleeson
11-06-2010, 10:57
My Bank of Ireland 365 Laser Card (Maestro /Cirrus) has the CSV code at the back. That's why I entered it.
Thats a flaw in the Irish banking clearing system, they just don't use CCV/CVV codes
Thats a flaw in the Irish banking clearing system, they just don't use CCV/CVV codes
Another thing that they got wrong...
Colm Moore
11-06-2010, 13:39
2.
When I was typing "Cork" into the "To" field on the homepage journey planner, the full list of stations appeared, even though Cork was already entered into the "To" field. When I tried to select Cork via keyboard arrow keys and the "return" key it would not work. Had to delete Cork and type it back in again.
As you type the name, it prompts the relevant stations. Sometimes I do find its a bit slow, but only a few seconds. I'm not sure if thats a user-side or server-side issue.
The booking page states:
€3 fee applies to Mastercard and Visa Credit Card transactions. No fees for Laser / Debit Card Transactions.
So it states that no fee is charged for debit cards but provides no means of making a Visa Debit booking. Which is of huge concern to all us Ulster Bank and PTSB customers currently being converted from Laser to Visa Debit.
I've been on to IE repeatedly about this but to no avail. Have RUI had any discussions with IE about this???
Presumably if one were to select Laser and enter a Visa Debit number, the 'intelligent' system would process it as a Visa credit card and charge €3. In which case the customer would be entitled to a refund of that €3.
Mark Gleeson
25-07-2010, 00:11
We have had discussions with Irish Rail, debit cards are to incur no charge is our understanding
There are have been wide spread issues with visa debit cards with many retailers in recent months, its not unique to Irish Rail. The entire point a visa debit card is that the retailer sees it as a standard visa card and is processed the same way at the same cost
The web page is intelligent and it can distinguish between various card types based on the card number. You can try a visa debit with laser selected and see what it does.
I'll give that a go once my Laser card expires at the end of the month and report back. Unless I hear back from IE in the meantime.
There are have been wide spread issues with visa debit cards with many retailers in recent months, its not unique to Irish Rail. The entire point a visa debit card is that the retailer sees it as a standard visa card and is processed the same way
I've had debit cards (Halifax and then UB) for about three years and apart from some issues at the start, I've had no problems at all. Perhaps the problem are with the clearing process so I wouldn't notice them but certainly no retailer has turned away my debit card in over two years.
I've had debit cards (Halifax and then UB) for about three years and apart from some issues at the start, I've had no problems at all. Perhaps the problem are with the clearing process so I wouldn't notice them but certainly no retailer has turned away my debit card in over two years.
Yep, same here have had debit card from both halifax and lso ulster bank for over three years, have used it constantly at home and abroad, never had a single problem!
Given that PTSB are next to replace laser with visa, debit cards are going to be more widely used!
Thomas Ralph
26-07-2010, 08:43
Retailers can process Visa debit cards as normal Visa cards without any problem, in which case they'll be charged 3% or so of the transaction total. If their merchant service provider supports it, Visa debit and Visa Electron cards can be processed as a separate card type, and generally those will be charged a flat fee of about 40c per transaction for Visa debit and 10c for Visa Electron.
Problems arise where a retailer is dealing with the latter type of merchant service provider and hasn't ticked the box on their application form to accept Visa debit cards (probably because they haven't a clue what a Visa debit card is, or hadn't when they signed the merchant agreement five years ago), in which case their terminal will reject the card.
I have had very occasional issues with my Halifax Visa debit card but the problems were far outweighed by benefits attached to using it abroad and online. When I did use it to book IÉ tickets online, I was charged the €3 fee.
I am impatiently awaiting my PTSB Visa debit card.
So it states that no fee is charged for debit cards but provides no means of making a Visa Debit booking. Which is of huge concern to all us Ulster Bank and PTSB customers currently being converted from Laser to Visa Debit.
I just booked a ticket using my UB Visa Debit card. I selected Laser, entered my 4319 card number and it correctly did not add the credit card surcharge. It's not as intuitive as it should be but at least it worked.
Mark Gleeson
03-08-2010, 13:53
That appears to have been a recent change in the past entering a visa number in the laser box resulted in the charge appearing
It does not recognize the PTSB 6 digit 4319-35xx-xxxx-xxxx, then again they aren't in circulation yet
There is now a €2 transaction fee online, this applies to both Laser & Credit Cards. Though credit cards also incur an additional €1 charge.
Any idea when the €2 transaction fee was introduced?
Mark Gleeson
20-08-2010, 10:27
Wednesday. Its 2 euro per booking made which allows for up to 6 return tickets.
http://www.railusers.ie/forum/showpost.php?p=57882&postcount=3
We don't like charges like this but equally we have been told of what is coming next and it has the potential to offer some interesting discounts beyond current.
Advice is book as early as possible as fares now vary by demand, so a seat at 10 euro will increase in price as the number of available seats reduces. But equally there will be more trains with 10 euro seats. Check out Dublin Galway its hard to find a train which isn't 10 euro if you look a few days ahead.
Our hands are tied on what we can say until the public launch of the new discounts, but fares are only going one way and thats down, how low will they go, well watch this space.
O2 customers can get 20% off under the O2 treats promotion and that will be available for a while yet
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