Parking at Kent Station - inadequate ticket machines

[MrX]

I used the large longer-term Kent Station, Cork car park for the first time in quite a while and was pretty horrified at the way it operates.

Rather than a barrier-system like Heuston, it has pay-and-display.

Problems:

The machines weren't working properly and were refusing credit cards, others were refusing most coins. This resulted in a lot of passengers going in a mad panic trying to find a working machine.

The other major problem is the inflexibility of the system. You have to decide how long you are going to stay away for in a multiple of days. If you were to end up missing the last train back to Cork, you could end up clamped and it could cost you a LOT of money. Where as in Heuston you'd simply pay at the ticket machine for the amount of time you'd actually spent in the car park.

I don't know how they expect to operate what is basically a long-term car park facility with pay-and-display in Cork. It's totally stupid.

Access to the station is also ridiculous via a very steep flight of stairs that goes up about the equivalent of several stories of a building.

At the very least, IE, or the car park operator, need to invest in an appropriate ticket system and barriers rather than this cheapo approach.