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

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stefg

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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
 
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.
 
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.
 
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
 
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.
 
single tickets are bad news anyway. sometimes return tickets are cheaper. ( remember when ryanair used to do that?)
 
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.
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According to [broken link removed]:
Ck-On-Shannon €22.50/€32.00 (Adult single)
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and the [broken link removed] state:
Lower fares, where quoted, are vaild from Monday to Thursday and Saturday only.
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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?
 
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.
 
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
 
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.
 
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).
 
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
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What about possible additional costs such as transport to Dubin airport and from Knock to the final destination?
 
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).
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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...
 
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
 
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
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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.
 
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.
 
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.
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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).
 
ClubMan said:
Can you explain what this means please? :confused:
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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.
 
ClubMan said:
What about possible additional costs such as transport to Dubin airport and from Knock to the final destination?
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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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