Carrick on Shannon and buying train tickets online

fergalfrog · 29-12-2009, 19:20

Does anyone know when Irish Rail plan to allow tickets to be bought online for Carrick on Shannon? I have just moved to Carrick and it seems the only way to buy tickets is at the station. This means you lose out on online specials which are often 50% cheaper.

Can you buy a Sligo ticket (currently 10euro each way) and still get on in Carrick?

Thanks in advance.

Mark Gleeson · 29-12-2009, 20:25

We have had numerous exchanges with the people behind the internet sales, the restriction is not some twisted punishment its a physical limitation, Carrick on Shannon lacks the booking office equipment to issue a reservation ticket as do many stations. The Sligo line hasn't been fully rolled out yet, reservations are not possible all trains, e.g all evening peak hour departures from Dublin.

It is possible to book if your journey originates in Dublin, so Dublin Carrick on Shannon single or return will allow reservations. From sometime early 2010 it will be possible to collect from any station countrywide which has a ticket vending machine.

Legally Irish Rail is under no obligation to offer anything other than the standard single/return fares so there is no come back there. The cash fare day return ticket Monday-Thursday is the same price as online ticket if you return from Dublin during the evening peak

If you want to play a little cheeky you could book to/from Sligo several days ahead and the tickets will be sent by post for free

fergalfrog · 08-01-2010, 09:40

Thanks Mark for such a prompt and efficient reply.

It's strange how Irish Rail gave the equipment out to other stations which aren't as busy as Carrick. Castlerea for example on the Westport line has much less services and much less users, yet it has the equipment.

Anyway I guess for now we will just have to wait.

Thanks again.

fergalfrog · 22-06-2010, 12:12

It is now no longer early 2010 and there is still no way of buying tickets online for Carrick on Shannon. I feel like buying them a printer because that is all that is needed.

I have worked out another trick but have yet to try it.

1- If you try and book Carrick on Shannon to Dublin the next page will say 'Reservations not available'. - however if you then do Sligo-Dublin instead it works ok.

2 - Proceed with this pretending for a minute you are departing from Sligo.

3 - Go right to the end and then just before you enter your credit card details go back to the home page.

4 - Now try again to book from Carrick and BINGO you suddenly can.

5 - Pick your train from Carrick to Dublin and away you go. The only snag is that you cannot collect the bloody ticket in Carrick as it is not in the drop down. Hence if you get to Castlerea or any other station with a printer you should be able to collect your ticket from there.

Note this is not by design but more as a result of bad web programming. (I am a web developer and I think there is a cookie being set to say online tickets available). However unlike the other suggestion of getting your ticket posted out and pretending to be getting on in Sligo at least your ticket is Carrick-Dublin.

I am thinking of trying this but before I do if anyone else has can they reply here with how they got on.

In the meantime if Irish Rail read this will you please fork out €50 and buy a printer for the station in Carrick on Shannon

Thomas Ralph · 22-06-2010, 12:55

Good trick that.

Having tickets posted out appears to be no longer an option.

Mark Gleeson · 22-06-2010, 13:07

Its more like 100k for a ticket vending machine, otherwise you need to staff the office 18 hours a day

The booking station lock out is trivial to bypass but its there to ensure people don't book tickets which they can't collect. That said the collection list is purely to ensure you choose a station which has collection facilities, you can in fact collect anywhere with a machine regardless of what you specified

There are 103 stations with ticket collection currently out of 142 stations (Manualla Junc doesn't count), thats 72.5% of stations. Several managers in Irish Rail have confirmed to us that subject to money being available every station will have a ticket machine in coming years. Several more stations receive them this year

On paper there is little to be saved as a day saver return to Dublin returning on an evening train results in the same fare as if booked online

fergalfrog · 23-06-2010, 15:28

Thanks for the replies.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mark Gleeson

Its more like 100k for a ticket vending machine, otherwise you need to staff the office 18 hours a day

I may be wrong but I don't believe this is true. I am not looking for a vending machine. Castlerea has no vending machine but when you call there with a print off from the web they hand out out the ticket.

Hence a €50 printer would suffice. Also in Carrick on Shannon there seems to be staff selling tickets whenever I get the train so I don't see how there would be more staff hours required.

I disagree too that there is little to be saved. Myself and two others are flying out from Dublin and need to get the train on Monday next as we don't want to leave a car in Dublin for a couple of weeks. This is going to cost us:

€27.50 x 3 = €82.50

as opposed to €30 if bought online.

Hence for a saving of €52.50 it still works out cheaper to drive to another station the day before to collect the ticket.

It's great that 72.5% of stations offer the online service. The fact that they gave printers to stations that have much less demand for them is simply very bad management.

As I said I may be wrong and I don't have the contacts in irish rail that you seem to have but I still believe a colour printer from Lidl would solve this problem.

peterh · 07-09-2011, 14:37

Quote:

Originally Posted by fergalfrog

Does anyone know when Irish Rail plan to allow tickets to be bought online for Carrick on Shannon? I have just moved to Carrick and it seems the only way to buy tickets is at the station. This means you lose out on online specials which are often 50% cheaper.

Can you buy a Sligo ticket (currently 10euro each way) and still get on in Carrick?

Thanks in advance.

I heard a friend of mine said that you can order the €10 single ticket to Dublin from Sligo but you can get on at any of the stations between the 2 main stations and get away with it. It sounds only fair tho. Why is it that a €10 fare to Dublin from Sligo is possible but a €10 fare to Dublin from Boyle, Dromod or Carrick, towns that are closer to Dublin than Sligo is, isn't?

Thomas Ralph · 07-09-2011, 14:46

Quote:

Originally Posted by peterh

I heard a friend of mine said that you can order the €10 single ticket to Dublin from Sligo but you can get on at any of the stations between the 2 main stations and get away with it. It sounds only fair tho. Why is it that a €10 fare to Dublin from Sligo is possible but a €10 fare to Dublin from Boyle, Dromod or Carrick, towns that are closer to Dublin than Sligo is, isn't?

Because those stations don't have ticket collection facilities, so you can't collece your ticket!

fergalfrog · 17-01-2012, 14:21

I started this thread 2 years ago and despite an upgrade to the website and work being done at the station I still cannot buy a ticket online for Carrick on Shannon.

In fact the upgrade to the website has made things even worse in that I can no longer buy online and collect somewhere else (see workaround which I could use successfully before at http://www.railusers.ie/forum/showpo...21&postcount=4)

Previous to this I could buy on the website and collect somewhere else. Now even if you're originating station is Dublin Connolly you cannot buy online for Carrick on Shannon - the only way is to buy to/from Sligo and get off early/later.

Barry Kenny (Irish Rail) was on Newstalk this morning and so I wanted to update this thread and send their twitter account a link to here.

This problem remains insanely simple to solve yet shows no sign of being rectified.

fergusq · 14-02-2012, 11:53

Sadly, nothing has yet changed since 2009. I board the train at Dromod and like many others I cannot purchase a ticket online. Whilst travelling on the 17.05 from Connolly to Sligo yesterday evening, I asked the ticket inspector why I couldn’t book tickets online for journeys from Dromod to Connolly. He didn’t know why that was so but assured me that it was possible to book tickets online, offers and otherwise, from Longford to Connolly. He also told me that machines are to be installed in stations from March. I've been told this before.

He is of course woefully misinformed. I believe this to be a breach of advertising standards as the advertising misleads people to believe that online ticket offers are available to all travellers on the rail network. I intend to raise this with the ASAI. Has anyone ever tried this approach?

James Howard · 15-02-2012, 09:25

I think the point is that if you can get an online ticket from A to C through B for 10 euro, then it should be possible to buy a ticket at B for 10 euro or less whether or not B has ticket collection facilities.

This is just making Irish Rail's problem the customer's problem - as usual.

Mark Gleeson · 23-02-2012, 23:37

Quote:

Originally Posted by fergalfrog

Previous to this I could buy on the website and collect somewhere else. Now even if you're originating station is Dublin Connolly you cannot buy online for Carrick on Shannon - the only way is to buy to/from Sligo and get off early/later.

There was an official bug with the new website which has now been eliminated, it is possible to book Connolly - Carrick on Shannon again.

You cannot book unless the starting station has ticket collection facilities, the ticket machine for Carrick on Shannon depends entirely on Irish Rail getting the money it was promised to buy the equipment

Traincustomer · 06-03-2012, 00:00

Is there any date as to when additional stations such as mentioned above and others are to be equipped with TVMs?

29-12-2009, 19:20	#1
fergalfrog New to the board Join Date: Dec 2009 Posts: 11	Carrick on Shannon and buying train tickets online Does anyone know when Irish Rail plan to allow tickets to be bought online for Carrick on Shannon? I have just moved to Carrick and it seems the only way to buy tickets is at the station. This means you lose out on online specials which are often 50% cheaper. Can you buy a Sligo ticket (currently 10euro each way) and still get on in Carrick? Thanks in advance.

29-12-2009, 20:25	#2
Mark Gleeson Technical Officer Join Date: Dec 2005 Location: Coach C, Seat 33 Posts: 12,669	We have had numerous exchanges with the people behind the internet sales, the restriction is not some twisted punishment its a physical limitation, Carrick on Shannon lacks the booking office equipment to issue a reservation ticket as do many stations. The Sligo line hasn't been fully rolled out yet, reservations are not possible all trains, e.g all evening peak hour departures from Dublin. It is possible to book if your journey originates in Dublin, so Dublin Carrick on Shannon single or return will allow reservations. From sometime early 2010 it will be possible to collect from any station countrywide which has a ticket vending machine. Legally Irish Rail is under no obligation to offer anything other than the standard single/return fares so there is no come back there. The cash fare day return ticket Monday-Thursday is the same price as online ticket if you return from Dublin during the evening peak If you want to play a little cheeky you could book to/from Sligo several days ahead and the tickets will be sent by post for free __________________ Unhappy with new timetable - let us know

22-06-2010, 13:07	#6
Mark Gleeson Technical Officer Join Date: Dec 2005 Location: Coach C, Seat 33 Posts: 12,669	Its more like 100k for a ticket vending machine, otherwise you need to staff the office 18 hours a day The booking station lock out is trivial to bypass but its there to ensure people don't book tickets which they can't collect. That said the collection list is purely to ensure you choose a station which has collection facilities, you can in fact collect anywhere with a machine regardless of what you specified There are 103 stations with ticket collection currently out of 142 stations (Manualla Junc doesn't count), thats 72.5% of stations. Several managers in Irish Rail have confirmed to us that subject to money being available every station will have a ticket machine in coming years. Several more stations receive them this year On paper there is little to be saved as a day saver return to Dublin returning on an evening train results in the same fare as if booked online __________________ Unhappy with new timetable - let us know

14-02-2012, 11:53	#11
fergusq New to the board Join Date: Feb 2012 Posts: 1	No change yet. Sadly, nothing has yet changed since 2009. I board the train at Dromod and like many others I cannot purchase a ticket online. Whilst travelling on the 17.05 from Connolly to Sligo yesterday evening, I asked the ticket inspector why I couldn’t book tickets online for journeys from Dromod to Connolly. He didn’t know why that was so but assured me that it was possible to book tickets online, offers and otherwise, from Longford to Connolly. He also told me that machines are to be installed in stations from March. I've been told this before. He is of course woefully misinformed. I believe this to be a breach of advertising standards as the advertising misleads people to believe that online ticket offers are available to all travellers on the rail network. I intend to raise this with the ASAI. Has anyone ever tried this approach?

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08-01-2010, 09:40	#3
fergalfrog New to the board Join Date: Dec 2009 Posts: 11	Thanks Mark for such a prompt and efficient reply. It's strange how Irish Rail gave the equipment out to other stations which aren't as busy as Carrick. Castlerea for example on the Westport line has much less services and much less users, yet it has the equipment. Anyway I guess for now we will just have to wait. Thanks again.

22-06-2010, 12:12	#4
fergalfrog New to the board Join Date: Dec 2009 Posts: 11	It is now no longer early 2010 and there is still no way of buying tickets online for Carrick on Shannon. I feel like buying them a printer because that is all that is needed. I have worked out another trick but have yet to try it. 1- If you try and book Carrick on Shannon to Dublin the next page will say 'Reservations not available'. - however if you then do Sligo-Dublin instead it works ok. 2 - Proceed with this pretending for a minute you are departing from Sligo. 3 - Go right to the end and then just before you enter your credit card details go back to the home page. 4 - Now try again to book from Carrick and BINGO you suddenly can. 5 - Pick your train from Carrick to Dublin and away you go. The only snag is that you cannot collect the bloody ticket in Carrick as it is not in the drop down. Hence if you get to Castlerea or any other station with a printer you should be able to collect your ticket from there. Note this is not by design but more as a result of bad web programming. (I am a web developer and I think there is a cookie being set to say online tickets available). However unlike the other suggestion of getting your ticket posted out and pretending to be getting on in Sligo at least your ticket is Carrick-Dublin. I am thinking of trying this but before I do if anyone else has can they reply here with how they got on. In the meantime if Irish Rail read this will you please fork out €50 and buy a printer for the station in Carrick on Shannon

22-06-2010, 12:55	#5
Thomas Ralph IT Officer Join Date: Sep 2007 Location: Greenwich, London Posts: 1,860	Good trick that. Having tickets posted out appears to be no longer an option.

17-01-2012, 14:21	#10
fergalfrog New to the board Join Date: Dec 2009 Posts: 11	I started this thread 2 years ago and despite an upgrade to the website and work being done at the station I still cannot buy a ticket online for Carrick on Shannon. In fact the upgrade to the website has made things even worse in that I can no longer buy online and collect somewhere else (see workaround which I could use successfully before at http://www.railusers.ie/forum/showpo...21&postcount=4) Previous to this I could buy on the website and collect somewhere else. Now even if you're originating station is Dublin Connolly you cannot buy online for Carrick on Shannon - the only way is to buy to/from Sligo and get off early/later. Barry Kenny (Irish Rail) was on Newstalk this morning and so I wanted to update this thread and send their twitter account a link to here. This problem remains insanely simple to solve yet shows no sign of being rectified.

15-02-2012, 09:25	#12
James Howard Really Really Regluar Poster Join Date: Aug 2009 Location: Sligo Line Posts: 1,115	I think the point is that if you can get an online ticket from A to C through B for 10 euro, then it should be possible to buy a ticket at B for 10 euro or less whether or not B has ticket collection facilities. This is just making Irish Rail's problem the customer's problem - as usual.

06-03-2012, 00:00	#14
Traincustomer Member Join Date: Dec 2008 Location: ar an traein Posts: 600	Is there any date as to when additional stations such as mentioned above and others are to be equipped with TVMs?