Because those stations don't have ticket collection facilities, so you can't collece your ticket!

I started this thread 2 years ago and despite an upgrade to the website and work being done at the station I still cannot buy a ticket online for Carrick on Shannon.

In fact the upgrade to the website has made things even worse in that I can no longer buy online and collect somewhere else (see workaround which I could use successfully before at http://www.railusers.ie/forum/showpo...21&postcount=4)

Previous to this I could buy on the website and collect somewhere else. Now even if you're originating station is Dublin Connolly you cannot buy online for Carrick on Shannon - the only way is to buy to/from Sligo and get off early/later.

Barry Kenny (Irish Rail) was on Newstalk this morning and so I wanted to update this thread and send their twitter account a link to here.

This problem remains insanely simple to solve yet shows no sign of being rectified.

No change yet.
 

Sadly, nothing has yet changed since 2009. I board the train at Dromod and like many others I cannot purchase a ticket online. Whilst travelling on the 17.05 from Connolly to Sligo yesterday evening, I asked the ticket inspector why I couldn’t book tickets online for journeys from Dromod to Connolly. He didn’t know why that was so but assured me that it was possible to book tickets online, offers and otherwise, from Longford to Connolly. He also told me that machines are to be installed in stations from March. I've been told this before.

He is of course woefully misinformed. I believe this to be a breach of advertising standards as the advertising misleads people to believe that online ticket offers are available to all travellers on the rail network. I intend to raise this with the ASAI. Has anyone ever tried this approach?

I think the point is that if you can get an online ticket from A to C through B for 10 euro, then it should be possible to buy a ticket at B for 10 euro or less whether or not B has ticket collection facilities.

This is just making Irish Rail's problem the customer's problem - as usual.

There was an official bug with the new website which has now been eliminated, it is possible to book Connolly - Carrick on Shannon again.

You cannot book unless the starting station has ticket collection facilities, the ticket machine for Carrick on Shannon depends entirely on Irish Rail getting the money it was promised to buy the equipment

Is there any date as to when additional stations such as mentioned above and others are to be equipped with TVMs?

Or even some pretense of being in the 21st century coming along and allowing online print-at-home tickets?

Now if only they had thought of that before installing the new ticket barriers. Imagine the level of technology that would be required to read a barcode or QR code.

If it wasn't for the barriers, you wouldn't need that.

In Finland, your online booking just ties you to a particular seat on a particular train. All you need is picture ID to prove that you are the right person. I'm not sure printing off your booking is even really necessary, although they ask you to do that or have it available on your phone.

This system was in place there in 2006 at least, so it doesn't require some magical use of the very latest technology.