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Unread 11-09-2014, 12:55   #35
James Howard
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Join Date: Aug 2009
Location: Sligo Line
Posts: 1,115
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There are three potential reasons for anybody to travel by train - speed, comfort and price. The train is hardly ever going to be beat the bus on price but as long as it remains comparable with driving, people who want to get a bit of work done while travelling will use it. The price of walk-up train tickets isn't a particular problem in Ireland. They are a lot cheaper than in the UK and broadly comparable to most places in Europe. The price of season tickets in Ireland - particularly once you go outside the Dublin or Cork commuter zones is getting to be a major problem if you don't have access to Taxsaver.

Speed is mostly gone as an advantage unless you are lucky enough that your origin or destination is right by a railway station or in Dublin city centre.

Comfort (and amenities) is the only factor where the train has an unambiguous advantage over any other way of travelling except where Irish rail throw that away by using commuter railcars on long-distance journeys and this is probably the main place where Irish Rail should focus. A 22k railcar isn't a bad place to spend 3 hours - it is certainly far more comfortable than standard class on a Pendalino.

But Irish Rail are very weak on amenities. On the peak Sligo morning and evening services only half of the train has any access to refreshments at any one time and it isn't possible to buy any hot food of any kind. This isn't really on for a 3 hour train journey that straddles meal times (breakfast in the morning, dinner in the evening). While they wouldn't necessarily make any money directly off selling a few breakfast Panini and perhaps some real coffee, it would attract business particularly from the far end of the line where things are very thin.
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