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Unread 13-06-2011, 21:54   #304
MaryK
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Join Date: May 2009
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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.
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