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James Howard · 31-08-2012, 07:37

I think there would be a strong business case for a substantial discount for people on monthly (and in particular annual) passes as the parking charge has driven away commuters. We are a substantial source of revenue for Irish Rail. They get around €17.50 a day from me for my 4 day per week commute. A lot of day return passengers are paying less than this and they can depend on my custom every day.

Commuters are also a lot cheaper to service as they don't need ticket offices and the ticket checkers don't even need to bother checking tickets. They also generally know where they are going and what times the trains are at so generally are less of a bother than day-trippers.

So charging us 2 euro a day for parking (which they don't even see due to outsourcing) and driving away 10% of this steady income for the sake of a relatively small annual parking contract is rather stupid. I'm not saying it should be free but something like 15 or 20 quid for a monthly pass on presentation of a valid train pass seems reasonable.

31-08-2012, 07:37	#4
James Howard Really Really Regluar Poster Join Date: Aug 2009 Location: Sligo Line Posts: 1,115	I think there would be a strong business case for a substantial discount for people on monthly (and in particular annual) passes as the parking charge has driven away commuters. We are a substantial source of revenue for Irish Rail. They get around €17.50 a day from me for my 4 day per week commute. A lot of day return passengers are paying less than this and they can depend on my custom every day. Commuters are also a lot cheaper to service as they don't need ticket offices and the ticket checkers don't even need to bother checking tickets. They also generally know where they are going and what times the trains are at so generally are less of a bother than day-trippers. So charging us 2 euro a day for parking (which they don't even see due to outsourcing) and driving away 10% of this steady income for the sake of a relatively small annual parking contract is rather stupid. I'm not saying it should be free but something like 15 or 20 quid for a monthly pass on presentation of a valid train pass seems reasonable.