Whats wrong here? another classic ticketing goof up brought to you by the NTA

[Mark Gleeson]

Those geniuses in the NTA have made a series of disastrous errors

http://www.railusers.ie/news/news.ph...2014&no=1.html

[comcor]

Under Irish Rail's bye laws (SI 109 1984, section 6) it is deemed to be an act of fare evasion if a passenger purchases a ticket, but leaves the train at an earlier station where the fare is greater.

Am I right in thinking that you can use a ticket to alight at a station en route if you are intending to resume your journey later in the day?

That would seem to make that regulation unenforceable.

[Colm Moore]

Originally Posted by comcor

Am I right in thinking that you can use a ticket to alight at a station en route if you are intending to resume your journey later in the day?

That would seem to make that regulation unenforceable.

Intercity only.

[Mark Gleeson]

Put it this way if you get stung under section 6, give us a call. Irish Rail management are not going to seek out people doing this.

It's all but impossible to convict on, but it does mean a pile of hassle under its sorted out.

The NTA are in head in sand mode and refused to commit to anything in our email/phone conversations.

[Traincustomer]

Would there perhaps be merit in convening a multi-party working group for rail ticketing i.e. users, IÉ, NTA and any other relevant bodies.

[Mark Gleeson]

NTA don't want to talk about ticketing.

[ocian]

Mark if you get a chance can you also get the cross-route tickets checked, I think there is a similar problem here. My usual ticket from Arklow to Newbridge went up from €22.20 to €24.20, yet each individual ticket stayed the same (i.e. Arklow to Connolly is unchanged at €17.20, and Newbridge to City Centre is also unchanged €18.20). These are student return's by the way. So I wounder why the through ticket went up, I thought only season tickets on intercity routes were to go up this time? Could Irish Rail have sneaked in a fare rise on rare tickets in the hope no one would notice?

[Mark Gleeson]

Student fares were changed same day adult fares were changed.

The fares you quote are correct for 2014

http://www.railusers.ie/passenger_in...&stage1=Submit

Some student fares went up, mainly does for longer journeys

For reference Arklow Newbridge used to be 28.20 as recently as 2012 so at 24.20 you are doing better than the rest of us where fares have relentlessly increased each year

[berneyarms]

While not disagreeing with the broad thrust of your argument on this, why is it that your posts in these circumstances Mark frequently seems to descend to tabloid style?

Is it not possible to make your point in an intelligent and effective manner without descending into tabloid style writing such as referring to the NTA as "goofs" and "geniuses"?

Frankly I think RUI demeans itself by this sort of shoddy style, and will only end up looking unprofessional.

Your argument could have been made in a far more professional manner.

It's a pity as the NTA have a case to answer on this.

[Eddie]

I think I've found a couple of other anomalies.

On the Cork route, different trains have different prices depending on the time of day, varying from €9.99 to €24.99 single, booking a few days ahead. All fine, except that it is possible to save €5 by booking the cheapest train of the day and then going to the ticket office before traveling and paying a €10 change fee, if a peak train was actually required.

The other thing I've spotted is that £10 Belfast to Dublin day returns are available from Translink, but corresponding (approx €12.50 at current exchange rate) Dublin to Belfast day returns don't appear to be available from Irish Rail.

[Mark Gleeson]

Had some good coverage of this in this mornings Independent

http://www.independent.ie/irish-news...-29890742.html

We stick to formal language in press releases, a more relaxed tone in social media.

The NTA was given reasonable time to resolve the issue and they refused to commit to anything. They are now trying to cover up the mess with a series of excuses which don't stack up

[Mark Gleeson]

Originally Posted by Eddie

On the Cork route, different trains have different prices depending on the time of day, varying from €9.99 to €24.99 single, booking a few days ahead. All fine, except that it is possible to save €5 by booking the cheapest train of the day and then going to the ticket office before traveling and paying a €10 change fee, if a peak train was actually required.

True you can do this, but you lose the seat reservation. The 10 euro was introduced due the complications in figuring out the excess.

Originally Posted by Eddie

The other thing I've spotted is that £10 Belfast to Dublin day returns are available from Translink, but corresponding (approx €12.50 at current exchange rate) Dublin to Belfast day returns don't appear to be available from Irish Rail.

By design I'm afraid there is no link between NI and IE fare rates, IE discount ticket must originate in IE, same for NI fares, must originate in NI.

There is a long standing hedge process used by some cross border commuters who vary who they buy their annual ticket from based on price and exchange rate.

[berneyarms]

Originally Posted by Mark Gleeson

Had some good coverage of this in this mornings Independent

http://www.independent.ie/irish-news...-29890742.html

We stick to formal language in press releases, a more relaxed tone in social media.

The NTA was given reasonable time to resolve the issue and they refused to commit to anything. They are now trying to cover up the mess with a series of excuses which don't stack up

There's relaxed Mark, and there's tabloid style, almost veering on insulting.

I personally think you could do a lot better than the tone you set in the first post and in the heading on this thread.

It doesn't do anything for your credibility.

[grainne whale]

Originally Posted by berneyarms

There's relaxed Mark, and there's tabloid style, almost veering on insulting.

I personally think you could do a lot better than the tone you set in the first post and in the heading on this thread.

It doesn't do anything for your credibility.

No need for these comments, Mark is only pointing out anomalies.

[berneyarms]

Originally Posted by grainne whale

No need for these comments, Mark is only pointing out anomalies.

Look we can agree to disagree - but in my opinion calling people on a public forum "geniuses" in a sarcastic fashion is not going to boost your credibility, nor does referring to the situation as a "classic ticketing goof-up".

The point could have been made in a far more professional manner - as it is it just sounds like someone being smart.

There is a case for the NTA to answer, but this sort of stuff demeans it.

[grainne whale]

Originally Posted by berneyarms

Look we can agree to disagree - but in my opinion calling people on a public forum "geniuses" in a sarcastic fashion is not going to boost your credibility, nor does referring to the situation as a "classic ticketing goof-up".

The point could have been made in a far more professional manner - as it is it just sounds like someone being smart.

There is a case for the NTA to answer, but this sort of stuff demeans it.

Are you an NTA retiree by any chance

[berneyarms]

Originally Posted by grainne whale

Are you an NTA retiree by any chance

I just happen to be someone who thinks that it is better for officers of an organisation such as RUI to post professionally rather than resorting to a tabloid style - that's all.

[James Howard]

Perhaps you should join RUI so that you could have a say on the procedures and practices of the organisation.

Personally, I am happy to see a more robust style being adopted by RUI officers. This is contrary to the normal pattern of representative organisations in Ireland where everyone gets buddy-buddy with officialdom and eventually just goes native and join the gravy-train.

It is quite obviously absurd that there was no consultation done on this as is the case for most things on the rail network. As people who spends considerably more time using trains than most Irish Rail managers, the users have a valid contribution to make and can usually spot things that have been missed when changes are made. You can either describe this lack of consultation and resulting anomalies as a mistake or as deliberate - calling it a goof is fairly mild compared to the language I would have chosen.

Perhaps I am also pointing out the obvious, but RUI is not a professional body - it is voluntary and as such does not need to be held to professional standards. The same is not the case for Irish Rail who regularly behave in an very amateur manner.

[grainne whale]

Originally Posted by James Howard

Perhaps you should join RUI so that you could have a say on the procedures and practices of the organisation.

Personally, I am happy to see a more robust style being adopted by RUI officers. This is contrary to the normal pattern of representative organisations in Ireland where everyone gets buddy-buddy with officialdom and eventually just goes native and join the gravy-train.

It is quite obviously absurd that there was no consultation done on this as is the case for most things on the rail network. As people who spends considerably more time using trains than most Irish Rail managers, the users have a valid contribution to make and can usually spot things that have been missed when changes are made. You can either describe this lack of consultation and resulting anomalies as a mistake or as deliberate - calling it a goof is fairly mild compared to the language I would have chosen.

Perhaps I am also pointing out the obvious, but RUI is not a professional body - it is voluntary and as such does not need to be held to professional standards. The same is not the case for Irish Rail who regularly behave in an very amateur manner.

Well said

[laoisfan]

Originally Posted by James Howard

Perhaps you should join RUI so that you could have a say on the procedures and practices of the organisation.

Personally, I am happy to see a more robust style being adopted by RUI officers. This is contrary to the normal pattern of representative organisations in Ireland where everyone gets buddy-buddy with officialdom and eventually just goes native and join the gravy-train.

It is quite obviously absurd that there was no consultation done on this as is the case for most things on the rail network. As people who spends considerably more time using trains than most Irish Rail managers, the users have a valid contribution to make and can usually spot things that have been missed when changes are made. You can either describe this lack of consultation and resulting anomalies as a mistake or as deliberate - calling it a goof is fairly mild compared to the language I would have chosen.

Perhaps I am also pointing out the obvious, but RUI is not a professional body - it is voluntary and as such does not need to be held to professional standards. The same is not the case for Irish Rail who regularly behave in an very amateur manner.

Here here.