Intercity journey experiences

[karlr42]

Revenue Protection Unit. Ticket checker.

[PLUMB LOCO]

Originally Posted by karlr42

Revenue Protection Unit. Ticket checker.

Thanks. RUI officers seem to love abbreviations - makes them appear more knowledgeable.

[Colm Moore]

Originally Posted by PLUMB LOCO

Thanks. RUI officers seem to love abbreviations - makes them appear more knowledgeable.

Sorry. In fairness, this isn't one of ours.

Any questions, feel free to ask.

[Thomas Ralph]

Revenue Protection Unit. Somewhat more aggressive team of ticket checkers, equipped with books of €100 fines. Generally to be found at Sandymount station on match days, among other places. You can identify them by RPU down the right-hand side of their ID badges and by their orange vests with Revenue Protection Unit written on them.

[Thomas Ralph]

I travelled from Sandymount to Gorey and back yesterday, with a change at Dun Laoghaire. 22000 class on the Dun Laoghaire-Gorey-Dun Laoghaire part, thankfully; I've had more than my fair share of 2800 journeys on that line.

Observations both ways

• Toilets were absolutely rank. The cleaning schedule on each of the trains showed that the last cleaning was in May.
• No catering, although I don't think it's scheduled.
• Vile children screeching and shouting.
• Although we had seat reservations, they were not honoured on either leg. The trains weren't busy (< 33% of capacity southbound and < 50% of capacity northbound), so it didn't especially matter.

Observations southbound

• Train waited outside Bray for 5-6 minutes for the DART to clear the track.
• Train was held for 10 minutes in Wicklow, about 7 minutes while waiting for the southbound train to clear the track and another 3 minutes waiting for the guy with a green flag to amble over the footbridge and wave the train out.
• Few to no announcements of stations, and definitely no "next station ___" announcements once we got to Bray.
• Did I mention the toilets? One was locked, another had an overflowing sink, and the third smelt absolutely abominable.

Observations northbound

• No ticket inspection and indeed no onboard staff besides the driver.
• Train thought it was going to Dundalk; driver killed the automated announcements halfway through the second calling of the list of stations.
• Train held for 5 minutes at Arklow to await a passenger's arrival by car, which in turn delayed the southbound train at Wicklow.
• Train doors closed very quickly at Dun Laoghaire, cue many complaints from people trying to get out, including a wheelchair passenger who was awaiting the ramp.

[Mark Gleeson]

17:05 Dublin Templemore 4/6/2010

• Train was facing the wrong way around, so first class was at the country end instead of the Dublin end which led to confusion as to which coaches where which.
  
• Seat reservation system was working, no staff seen to assist passengers
  
• Ticket checker seemed to be very confused, wearing the 2007 uniform shirt with the 1997 tie, our course the tie was hanging off. No name badge.
  
• Catering trolley ran out of tea/coffee and sandwiches before it got half way through coach C and disappeared.
  
• CIS/PIS systems appeared to be working correctly

15:48 Thurles Dublin 6/6/2010

• Thurles TVM was not excepting coins or notes, otherwise Thurles station was in excellent condition
  
• Train as usual rolled out of Thurles 10 minutes late but then managed to roll into Heuston 11 minutes early, 71 minutes vs 92 scheduled and that was with several speed restrictions and a slow approach to Dublin from Clondalkin inwards. Makes a mockery of the so call punctuality stats, still 1 in 10 trains are more than 10 minutes late. 71 minutes is 73mph/117 kph average which is bordering on acceptable by international standards
  
• Train host, female, Cork, with dyed hair sat it out in coach A or B the whole way from Thurles to Dublin, didn't see her until we arrived Heuston. No name badge either.
  
• Seat reservation system was working, but seating seemed to be a free for all, as usual someone was occupying my seat.
  
• No catering trolley seen.
  
• As usual we got the Mk4 rock back forwards left right routine.

[comcor]

I was on the 7pm Dublin-Cork train last Friday evening, and it took a really nasty lurch somewhere near Buttevant. I know we're all used to questionable ride quality, but this felt a good deal worse. Is it something to be concerned about?

Other points

• Seat reservations were being enforced, until we left Heuston. Then the train host placed a few standing passengers in unoccupied reserved seats
• The price of a Guinness on the train is more than in the Four Seasons Hotel. In a way anyway. The Four Seasons charges €5.75 for a pint, Irish Rail charge €5.60 for 500 ml.
• The train was very busy. It's surprising that the €20 are available
• The Irish Rail website doesn't seem to like my new Visa Debit card. It rejected its details when put in as a Laser Card and Visa Credit Card.

[Mark Gleeson]

Originally Posted by comcor

[*]The Irish Rail website doesn't seem to like my new Visa Debit card. It rejected its details when put in as a Laser Card and Visa Credit Card.[/list]

There are ongoing issues with the visa debit cards, the problem is with the clearing process. Several vendors have had trouble, which issuing bank, PTSB or Ulster?

Incidentally the visa/mastercard/laser selector is redundant as its knows the card type from the first 4 digits, select laser and put in visa number and watch the 3 euro fee appear

[Thomas Ralph]

PTSB's Visa debit cards don't arrive until August, so it would likely be Ulster. The first six digits specify what type of card it is and there are several wrangles surrounding that.

What error did you get?

[comcor]

Ulster Bank

IIRC I entered the details as Laser and it basically told me that it was an invalid card. Then I tried the same as a Visa credit card and got the same.

To be honest, I'm not impressed by having been given the card. As I've noted on here before, I do a lot of travel in Holland and the TVMs don't accept them there, while they would accept a Maestro card, which my old Laser Card had. Eventually, I had to get their Smart Card, so that I wouldn't have to carry tonnes of coins around with me.

[Mark Gleeson]

17:40 Rosslare - Dun Laoghaire 11/7/2010

• Rosslare Europort station fails to meet EC/1371/2007
• About a minute before departure the automatic announcement system awakes to tell us that Tara Street station is next and that we should have our tickets ready for inspection and mind the gap
• Throughout the journey the next station announcements were either too early or after the train had departed the station in question
• No catering trolley
• Seat reservations not displayed
• Got stuck for 10 minutes outside Greystones due to a signaling mess up
• Two emergency stops, one before the main tunnel at Greystones and another at Dalkey, no reason given
• No ticket check

Other than that, stations perfectly clean, until Greystones punctuality was spot on. Train comfortable and clean.

[sublimity]

We all know Rosslare Europort Station is a joke - location and all that.

Was this the 22k you were travelling on? Do you know if the 13.30 to Rosslare weekdays is back to 22k operation?

[Mark Gleeson]

All Rosslare trains are 22k, I regularly travel on the 17:45 from Rosslare which is the return of the 13:30. Only once have I found a 29k and that was the day of the extra evening train for the volcano

Rosslare station actually suited me better, saved a walk from the terminal as I had business on the land, not sea

[sublimity]

A couple of weeks ago I noticed the 13.30 was a 29k. Apparently this was as a result of a failure to a 22k outside Wexford a few days earlier. Why couldn't they just replace it with another 22k or are they still short in supply???

[Mark Gleeson]

Short 2 still

[Mark Gleeson]

Yet again we have had to delete a post which stepped over the line.

Any post which is deemed to be offensive, racist or disrespectful will be deleted and user banned for a duration at the discretion of the moderators.

[Fergal]

11.00 am Enterprise from Connolly.

-Boarded train with reserved seats. The reserved carriage was signed on the platform at Connolly, and names were printed out and placed at the correct seat. Train was clean and comfortable, and left bang on time. Train was busy, with almost every seat taken.
-The train crawled out of Connolly, and seemed to take its time as far as Malahide, took 20 minutes to get there, before starting to speed up. I have definitely gone faster on commuter trains to there before. Reached Drogheda at about 40 minutes into the journey.
- Journey was uneventful, with no further delays. Tickets were checked after Drogheda, the trolley came round a few times, and rubbish was collected before we arrived. Before arriving into Belfast, passengers transferring towards Antrim were told to make their way to platform 4, where their train would be waiting when we arrived.
-We arrived in Belfast about 2 minutes late.

-Returning from Belfast on the 2010 train, was much quieter, with plenty of free seats. No nametags were on the seats, and weren't many staff to be seen.
-Journey ran on time.

General comments:
- The trains themselves are very nice - comfortable and clean, with a smooth ride, and nice and quiet. Definitely a much nicer option than a bus. Staff were helpful and attentive.
- Journey time is still a bit slow - 2h15 for 180 km with 4 stops - compare to say London - Bristol, 190km in 1h40 with 6 stops.

[markpb]

I'm on the 15.30 train to Galway and Westport which splits in Athlone. The seat reservation system is broken - the displays are off and the seats don't match the ones we booked. There are no signs or announcements telling people which end of the train is going where and the announcements are only listing Galway destinations. There are no staff on the train or platform and the guys on the concourse haven't a clue. It would be funny if it wasn't so pathetic.

[Mark Gleeson]

Well you won't be traveling by train to Galway, its a bus from Athlone. Whole train continues to Westport on Fridays.

[markpb]

The scroll displays are now showing:
Passengers for Galway should. An chead staisun eile Tula mor.
Passengers for Galway should. Next station 64km