had my day in court today, and i'm delighted to say my case got thrown out :) i'm very relieved because the fines were getting bigger n bigger as the day progressed. 500 euro n 100 euro costs, thats pricey. Alot of fare evasion cases today,a few of which were just given the probation act, no fine or anything.

Nice one, the muppetry from Irish Rail in your case was unbelievable.

Can I be so bold as to ask andyl222 what was the reason for it being thrown out?

the solicitor had NO eveidence against me,so they couldnt proceed. judge just threw it out.

So escape by technicality not on the merits of the case.

Any other day and you would have likely been hit with the €500 fine

Possibly, but i'm too happy to care. This has been hanging over me for a year and a half so now that its over i'm just happy to relax.

But short of checking the security cameras on the platforms for evidence how can this be proven?

And also I did note that there were several cases similar to mine where a person got on a train due to an unforeseen circumstance and when they explained themselves the judge agreed that it didnt sound like fair evasion and they were given the probation act and no fine what so ever. So it would seem that people can win against irish rail,and not just through technicalities.

The official who issued the notice typically gives evidence of the incident involved.

Its the same as the classic I got off since the garda who caught me didn't show up in court.

Be very clear here, if you board at a staffed station without a ticket the full force of the law will be applied. I know of a few people in the court today. End of the day if you boarded without a ticket at a staffed station there is a case, the law has been broken.

You might get lucky, through a combination of Irish Rail messing up or the judge being friendly. Or you might get up to €1000 fine, a criminal conviction and a loss of income from a half day off

And I have not disputed that fact at all, I was simply trying to point out that the glorious irish rail is not infallable in the eyes of the law. I'm in no way trying to condone fare evasion or anything like that, I was simply trying to pint out that sometimes irishrail get it wrong and a judge will rectify that.

Good result andy, just make sure you have aticket the next time.:D (I know I will, even if it means being late for work)

Still no sign of my penalty fare, so they're obviously as sloppy in issuing these are they are with running services in general... I have rang and written to IR about it, so the ball is in their court (no pun intended).

Well, no sooner had I written the post above than a letter came from IR advising me of my penalty fare. Plenty of bold lettering advising me of the seriousness of the offence, €1000 fine, prison time, taking my wife and kid etc. Mind you, I had written to them complaining about the circumstances and my frankly disgraceful treatment at Pearse. No mention of this in their lettrr, so I am finally convinced IR don't give a toss about their 'customers'. At least I know now.

I will appeal it, am also thinking of getting the local TD involved. This is a disgraceful treatment of ordinary decent people. As for the €50 fine, they will be getting this in as much change as I can get together.....

firstly i never heard of a station called Peasrse and secondly did it not cross your mind to go over to the ticket office and get a ticket from the clerk,or was the torrenecial rain affecting your brain, why do pepole like you think the world revolves around yourself, why dont you get up earlyer so you will have enough time to get your ticket just like most people do , maybe the 50 euro fine will cop you on

Welcome to the board Mr Cool. Someone who rightly points out the correct spelling of Pearse Station shouldn't make a total arse of themselves spelling torrential and earlier incorrectly.

Maybe the infraction you just got with your very first post will ensure you're civil to people around here.

hahahahahahahahahaha :D

What are you, a primary school teacher.

No it didn't - the common (mis)conception was that you could pay the other end. Now i know.


Well , it was Monday morning. I was focussed on getting t owork on time.

WTF?? And it's "earlier", BTW:D

Thank you for your words of wisdom, and looking forward to more positive posts from you - maybe with better diction, grammar and spelling.

Word of warning - retaliation also gets infractions.

If you have problems with being attacked personally either hit the report post button or PM me about it. Do not respond to attacks, let me deal with them.

Now, everyone chill......