Longford-Dublin family ticket prices

[TheQ47]

Hi, new user here, semi-regular train user, a couple of times a month.

I was looking at bringing my family from Ballymote to Dublin Connolly on a day return this Sunday, 5th June (going to the Bloom Festival in the Phoenix Park). Looking online, it would cost me €132 (i.e., €44 per adult, and €22 for each of 2 children).

I tried to ring the station in Sligo, and the guy on the phone told me it would cost me the same by buying in the station.

Someone told me that if I were to drive to Longford, park there, and buy my day return from there, it would only cost €15 per adult, and €7.50 per child, a total cost of €45. Is this correct? I can't find any sign of the fare from Longford-Dublin on the irishrail website, so I'm a bit dubious that it would be this low.

Does anyone know if these prices are correct? I can't book online for a ticket from Longford (why is this?), so I can't check the price there. Because we're travelling as a family, I'd like to be able to book my seats in advance, to ensure that the 5 of us could travel together.

Is there a cost for parking in Longford? I used to do this regularly before the "new" Sligo-Dublin service, so I don't know if this has changed now.

Any help would be appreciated.

[Thomas Ralph]

Those fares are correct. Sunday is defined as a peak day for intercity services (a family return on Saturday would be €74).

There is indeed a promotional fare of €15 from Longford to Dublin on weekends (see http://www.irishrail.ie/your_ticket/fares_enquiries.asp near the bottom). I believe car parking at Longford is €2 a day.

You will not be able to have five people sitting together in any case (you changed from four to five halfway through your post) as there are no banks of more than four seats together.

[TheQ47]

Thanks, Thomas, I appreciate the reply. I never saw the promotional fares at the very bottom of that page. I wonder why it's so far down, they're hardly trying to hide it from people, are they?

The reason it changed from 4 to 5 children along the way, is that the youngest is 3, so I know there's no charge for her. She'll probably end up sitting on my or my wife's knee, so no worry about 4 or 5 seats together.

[Thomas Ralph]

Originally Posted by TheQ47

The reason it changed from 4 to 5 children along the way, is that the youngest is 3, so I know there's no charge for her. She'll probably end up sitting on my or my wife's knee, so no worry about 4 or 5 seats together.

Fair enough. Do bear in mind if you are taking bus/Luas/local train services around Dublin that children of 3 and 4 are supposed to pay child fare on them, although it starts at 5 on Intercity.

[Mark Gleeson]

There will be a 50 euro return (2 + 4) family ticket anywhere to anywhere on Saturdays during the Summer, so that would allow Sligo-Dublin for 50 euro all in

We don't have a start date on the offer yet, but soon

As Thomas points out the age rules are a bit strange. In practice if a child does not occupy a seat no fare is due, if the child needs a seat a ticket must be obtained.

[Thomas Ralph]

Originally Posted by Mark Gleeson

There will be a 50 euro return (2 + 4) family ticket anywhere to anywhere on Saturdays during the Summer, so that would allow Sligo-Dublin for 50 euro all in

Is that this one: http://www.irishrail.ie/news_centre/...w&news_id=1122 ? It seems to suggest it's Dublin to anywhere rather than anywhere to anywhere.