# Iarnród Éireann Rip-Off: Weekend Single Ticket on Sligo Route



## stefg (26 Jan 2007)

Hi All,

I just tried to buy a single ticket to Carrick-On-Shannon today (Friday) and was told it was EUR32 which seemed a lot more than usual.  I asked the guy at the counter why this was and he told me that no single tickets can be bought on a Friday, only return tickets.  The single ticket costs EUR22.50 and can be bought any other time during the week.

Does anyone else think this is a bit of unreasonable?  I can't think of any valid reason why the would do this.  What difference does it make if someone is only going one way on Friday as opposed to another day?

I am only going one way because I am picking up a car in Carrick.

I'd be interested to hear anyone knows the reasoning behind this or has any comments / opinions on the matter.

Thanks,
Stef


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## Satanta (26 Jan 2007)

It's not just the COS route, it's the same across the board as far as I know. I know the same thing happened to family on the Westport/Dublin route recently.

No idea what the official reasoning is, probably trying to encourage passengers to travel on other days (Friday usually very busy) if possible. Just a guess though.


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## DirtyH2O (26 Jan 2007)

It's been like that for the last thirty years or more. Day returns are "specials" only available on the off peak days and so is not available on Friday, Sunday or bank holidays. The other oddity is that tickets from Dublin will cost up to 33% more than a ticket to Dublin. I used to complain until I experienced the pricing on UK trains like Virgin Rail, now I just pay it.

I think "rip-off" has joined house prices in the banned list of terms.


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## stefg (26 Jan 2007)

Hi Satanta,

Thanks for the reply.

Yeah I guess that it may be because Friday's are busy, but I really think that this is a bad solution. Making people pay more to get on to a train that is busier than usual doesn't seem logical to me. And if there is a price hike, how can only raising the price single tickets only be justified; forcing people to buy returns will just increase the number of people on the return trains surely.

Should Iarnrod Eireann not be either increasing capacity or running more trains on a Friday if there is such demand? I really feel that this extra charge is unfair. Most people do inter-county travel at the weekend so I think this hike in price is exploitation.

Well... that's my rant...  

Thanks,
Stef


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## Trafford (26 Jan 2007)

The logic also is to discourage casual travellers from travelling on a Friday, for e.g. if someone takes a notion once a year to go to Dublin shopping or something then don't go on a Friday when regular users like students are totally reliant on the service. The return on a Friday was always a 5 day return and therefore a bit dearer than a day return on any other day.


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## Guest127 (26 Jan 2007)

single tickets are bad news anyway.  sometimes return tickets are cheaper. ( remember when ryanair used to do that?)


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## ClubMan (26 Jan 2007)

stefg said:


> I just tried to buy a single ticket to Carrick-On-Shannon today (Friday) and was told it was EUR32 which seemed a lot more than usual.  I asked the guy at the counter why this was and he told me that no single tickets can be bought on a Friday, only return tickets.  The single ticket costs EUR22.50 and can be bought any other time during the week.


According to [broken link removed]:


> Ck-On-Shannon  €22.50/€32.00 (Adult single)


and the [broken link removed] state:


> Lower fares, where quoted, are vaild from Monday to Thursday and Saturday only.


So they seem to simply have two different prices for some tickets with the lower price on restricted availability - perhaps based on demand? Surely not the only transport company to have this sort of pricing structure?


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## DrMoriarty (26 Jan 2007)

A Luas journey at peak times (7.45am - 9.30am) now costs 10c more than at other hours. I suppose it's a case of providing an incentive to those who can do so to use the service at off-peak hours — although there's also a clear profit motive there for the provider. A fair proportion of their 80,000 daily passengers must be commuters going to work at those hours, _ergo_ (for the sake of argument) €2,000/day — or €712,000 p.a. — extra revenue, for the sake of a 10c surcharge that most people don't notice and which is collected at virtually nil cost.


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## cappamj (26 Jan 2007)

I just checked train prices for travel in Feb from Mayo to Dublin single on a Sat is €30 and to fly from Knock to Dublin same day is €29.99


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## MugsGame (27 Jan 2007)

re: the LUAS on-peak price increases, I believe Smart card users aren't affected by this change, which is a sensible incentive for customers to use a time saving device.


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## ClubMan (27 Jan 2007)

Yes - _Luas Smartcard _users are not affected by the recent fare increases or peak time supplements. For example it's still €1.25 for a one way single zone trip with the _Smartcard _compared to €1.40 off peak and €1.50 peak (I think - it may be €1.30 and €1.40 respectively).


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## ClubMan (27 Jan 2007)

cappamj said:


> I just checked train prices for travel in Feb from Mayo to Dublin single on a Sat is €30 and to fly from Knock to Dublin same day is €29.99


What about possible additional costs such as transport to _Dubin _airport and from _Knock _to the final destination?


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## DrMoriarty (27 Jan 2007)

ClubMan said:


> For example it's still €1.25 for a one way single zone trip with the _Smartcard _compared to €1.40 off peak and €1.50 peak (I think - it may be €1.30 and €1.40 respectively).


Ah, sure it's only Luas change we're talking about. [broken link removed]








I'm really sorry. I'll be off to bed now...


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## Brendan Burgess (27 Jan 2007)

This is yet another example of the nonsensical extension of the term "rip-off" to a valid sensible practice which is actually customer friendly. The company wants to ditribute its passenger load and it uses pricing to achieve this. It gives a good deal to customers who are going home on Friday and returning later.

If you extend the logic of the original posters it was a "rip-off" to charge people over 65 for travelling on buses during peak hours, because it was free at off-peak times. 

I know people are bored and irritated when the use of the term "rip-off" is repeatedly challenged. But it is equally boring and irritating to see the term extended first to high prices and now to a good customer oriented practice. 

Brendan


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## DirtyH2O (27 Jan 2007)

cappamj said:


> I just checked train prices for travel in Feb from Mayo to Dublin single on a Sat is €30 and to fly from Knock to Dublin same day is €29.99



Great example of how people are being encouraged to fly by the  fuel tax advantage airlines have over trains. Give me the train anyday for a journey of a few hours.
I just want the same trains that the Cork- Dublin line has running on the lines I use. Seats look like armchairs, very jealous.


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## oldtimer (27 Jan 2007)

If travelling by train on a single journey go to your local credit union for a ticket. Most credit unions have one way train tickets which are good value.


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## bankrupt (27 Jan 2007)

Brendan said:


> This is yet another example of the nonsensical extension of the term "rip-off" to a valid sensible practice which is actually customer friendly. The company wants to ditribute its passenger load and it uses pricing to achieve this. It gives a good deal to customers who are going home on Friday and returning later.


 
Clearly there is no rip-off here (in any sense of the word), the OP has merely incorrectly attributed a sensible policy to a deliberate attempt to milk the public. In no sense have they "extended" the meaning to something new, it is simply a mistaken assumption. It is quite clear to me that the OP thinks that they have been over-charged (without justification IMO).


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## ClubMan (27 Jan 2007)

bankrupt said:


> the OP has merely incorrectly attributed a sensible policy to a deliberate attempt to milk the public


Can you explain what this means please?


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## bankrupt (27 Jan 2007)

ClubMan said:


> Can you explain what this means please?


 
Oops, it's not put clearly, sorry. I was trying to say that the OP is using the word rip-off (grammatically) correctly (in the sense of "over-priced") but is mistaken in accusing Iarnrod eireann of a rip-off. i.e. their meaning is clear, but the point is wrong.


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## cappamj (28 Jan 2007)

ClubMan said:


> What about possible additional costs such as transport to _Dubin _airport and from _Knock _to the final destination?



Clubman,
reason for going to Dublin is to fly from Dublin airport to spain- so in my case it's a good deal to fly from Knock instead of taking the train.


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## ClubMan (28 Jan 2007)

Fair enough. Perhaps not really relevant to the original poster who is going in the other direction though?


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## Brendan Burgess (28 Jan 2007)

Now I am completely confused.

It has been argued extensively that it is ok to extend the meaning of the word rip-off from something dishonest to something honest but expensive. Why can the OP not extend it to something honest and good for customers which doesn't suit him? That is the problem with allowing the meaning of a useful word to extend. Those who are happy to describe anything expensive as a rip-off cannot say that the OP is wrong to describe something he doesn't like paying as a rip-off. 

Brendan


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## ClubMan (28 Jan 2007)

stefg said:


> I'd be interested to hear anyone knows the reasoning behind this or has any comments / opinions on the matter.


Why not write to _Iarnrod Eireann _voicing your opinion and asking them for an explanation of the rationale behind their pricing structure?


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## bond-007 (28 Jan 2007)

Could the OP simply had used a ticket machine? They have no problem in selling one way tickets. 
I do notice that a ticket purchased in Dublin to a country destination is always dearer than a ticket purchased in the country to Dublin.


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## bankrupt (29 Jan 2007)

Brendan said:


> Now I am completely confused.
> 
> It has been argued extensively that it is ok to extend the meaning of the word rip-off from something dishonest to something honest but expensive. Why can the OP not extend it to something honest and good for customers which doesn't suit him? That is the problem with allowing the meaning of a useful word to extend. Those who are happy to describe anything expensive as a rip-off cannot say that the OP is wrong to describe something he doesn't like paying as a rip-off.


 
Let me dispel the confusion 

If enough people start to use the word in the fashion you describe then it will take on that meaning. At the moment it is not one of the (dictionary, or common parlance) accepted meanings but that may well change. It makes no difference whatsoever whether or not this is "allowed," language is fluid. 

That said, the OP is quite clearly saying that IE are over-charging for tickets, this is not a new meaning of rip-off. His meaning is quite clear to me, I don't see how any confusion could arise?


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## ClubMan (29 Jan 2007)

bankrupt said:


> That said, the OP is quite clearly saying that IE are over-charging for tickets


Or one could alternatively argue that they are undercharging for or discounting them on days other than Friday?


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## bankrupt (29 Jan 2007)

ClubMan said:


> Or one could alternatively argue that they are undercharging for or discounting them on days other than Friday?



Perhaps, it might be difficult to make a convincing case for that position too!


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## stefg (29 Jan 2007)

Hi All,

Thanks for the replys and apologies for any offence/confusion caused by the use of the term 'rip-off'.

The reason I used the word rip-off was that I felt that charging extra for a single ticket on different days was over-charging unreasonably, however after consideration, I can see the view of other posters.

My usage of the term rip-off was incorrect but I do think that pricing policy is still a bit strange in that it only affects users buying a one way ticket. I find it a bit unusual that it is only single journey tickets that are increased and can't really see how discouraging single ticket journeys would affect the volumes of people on the trains.

But I take the point made by other posters that there may be some logic by IE using this approach to control passenger volumes, I just can't really see how this approach works.

Thanks,
Stef


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## ClubMan (29 Jan 2007)

bankrupt said:


> Perhaps, it might be difficult to make a convincing case for that position too!


Why? The single ticket is available at the lower price Monday-Thursday and Saturday and at the higher price presumably on Friday and Sunday. Why assume that they overcharge on the Friday (and Sunday) rather than them discounting or undercharging the rest of the time?


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## bankrupt (29 Jan 2007)

ClubMan said:


> Why? The single ticket is available at the lower price more often than it is at the higher price.



I think you could be on to something ClubMan, this is a scandal, why are IE discounting tickets like this?  Surely they need all of the revenue they can get and should not be further subsidising journeys in this fashion?


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## ClubMan (29 Jan 2007)

It's as logical as calling it a rip-off anyway.


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