Bloomin Irish Rail

A

Abbica

Registered User
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465
I swear, they make steam come out of my ears. This morning, about to get on train when inspector man hands me the new timetable for the year. I get on and proceed to look at it and by studying it I realise that my return length of travel has increased by 20 minutes. There are many things that really vex me about this, a) we are going into the year 2010 and the trains are getting slower b) they are putting extra time on trains so they can lie through their ar*es and say, our trains are 99.8% on time, give up to 10minutes, only in Ireland is 10 minutes late on time and c) my fair has gone up €300 a year. d) I just bloody committed to another year of using the tax saver, knowing I have to put up with their sh*t. dI can't go on, I think I may punch this screen
One more rant, my husband and I have to go drive down to kerry tonight for a friends wedding tomorrow, because it is bloody on at 12pm, how bloody inconsiderate, because frickin Ryanir are charging us, now get this, €660 euro for return flights for the two of us. Give up!
 
I don’t use the trains in Ireland much but from the limited experience I do have I find them of similar quality and much cheaper than trains in Germany and of a lower quality but still much cheaper than the trains in France.

€6 a week for your transport in and out of work sounds remarkably cheap.
 
Purple I assume the OP meant an increase of €6 per week not a total of €6 per week. If that was the case I'm sure the OP wouldn't be complaining
 

I'd have to take exception to you saying that the trains in Ireland are of a similar quality to those in Germany.

There may be express trains in Germany which have a similar level of comfort on board to express trains in Ireland but in terms of frequency of service, speed of service, delays, on board catering and stations; Germany is light years ahead of Ireland.

Comparing the investment from the German government with the Irish government, you would expect this.
 
If its any consolation,i drove to Kerry Airport last summer from Walkinstown the same time as my wife left for Dublin airport to fly down and I got there half an hour before her.Mind you the tickets were only €40 Return.
 


I take the train in Germany regularly. I find them cramped and expensive (I frequently can't get a seat for a 1.5 hour journey that costs €150 return).
Since Germany is a large country with a massive population as well as huge through-traffic and Ireland is a small country there should be massive economies of scale in the German market and as such they should provide a much better return for each euro invested. I just don’t see that there.
 
+1 on germany, I understand that its best to book in advance in germany for long distance travel by train
also re the 10 minutes late is on time issue - they do that in the UK too
 
galleyslave said:
also re the 10 minutes late is on time issue - they do that in the UK too
Click to expand...

As far as I know that it is only on inter-city. The commuter trains are considered late after 5 minutes. Used to be like that when I lived there. Not sure if it is still the same.
 
galleyslave said:
+1 on germany, I understand that its best to book in advance in germany for long distance travel by train
also re the 10 minutes late is on time issue - they do that in the UK too
Click to expand...

Which is fine if you know your flight will be on time/ meeting will end on time.
 
Purple said:
I take the train in Germany regularly. I find them cramped and expensive (I frequently can't get a seat for a 1.5 hour journey that costs €150 return).
Click to expand...

Purple, slightly off-topic, but I agree that the standard fares on German trains is higher than Ireland.

However, advance tickets on IC and ICE trains can be very good value.

Example: first-class one-way ticket from Brussels to Koln on an ICE for 32 euro, approx 2hr journey.
 

I lived in Mainz for a year and frequently did the S Bahn commuter run in to Frankfurt am Main. I also lived in Donabate for 2 years and did the commute in to Lansdowne. I can assure you that Deutsche Bahn outstrips Irish Rail in every conceivable way.

I've also done a wide range of journeys on IR, IC, and ICE in Germany and have found it to be great every time. On these journeys I have booked in advance though so maybe there is an issue with no booking as you say.

Plenty of people are left to stand with Irish Rail or sit in vestibules during long journeys. Just because you haven't seen it does not mean it doesn't happen. And at least you can be sure that the German train will arrive on time.

Which 1.5 hour route do you take that you find so troublesome?
 
Stuttgart airport to Frankfurt Main is the one I take most often. The train is usually packed, with almost no standing room and the auld fella with the trolley doesn’t bother to try to get past all the bodies.
 
Yeah, I'd say that is a really busy one. But still, in terms of frequency of service, speed of service, delays, on board catering and stations; Deutsche Bahn is light years ahead of IR.
 
Only €10 each way Dublin to all major cities with online fare, seats booked with names shown overhead, new trains, warm, sockets etc etc

Have to say its come an awful long way. Werent they they lads who said "We're not there yet but we're getting there" - I think they're a good bit of the way there at this stage.
 
A major problem is the lack of lines. `There are no lines solely for intercity trains in the cities. On the route out of Dublin if the Enterprise gets stuck behind the DART, it has to do the average speed of the DART as far as Malahide or Howth Junction. The DART may get up to a good speed but when it has to decelerate, stop, let people off and on, accelerate then the average speed is very slow when compared to an intercity train.

Also, the train between Dublin and Belfast, the two largest cities on the island runs every two hours. I remember being in Japan and getting a train from Kyoto to Tokyo. The journey was about 3 hours but the trains were running every 10 to 15 minutes!

Irish Rail is tough to use. Everyone knows it.
 
Malahide bridge collapsed and the direct bus journey to town was an average of 25 mins with a seat. The trains came back last week and now the average train journey is 60 mins with little chance of a seat. I'm praying night and day for the bridge to collapse again.
 
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