Here is yet another werid one

This is the 7:00 Cork Dublin tomorrow
This is coach C, note its a Mk4 layout

There are 68 seats in a Mk4, note coach D has 70 seats (2 already booked so its 72)
Attachment 353
So coach C is a Mk4, coach D a MK3 love to see that work out since the seat res is going to go nuts on the train

Any snipers out there - Gleeson is on Seat C19 7.00 am train tomorrow.

Whos joining me out at the hatch?

Lock and load.

I'd hang out my bedroom window in Port to catch a glimpse but I think he's on the wrong side :(

That be a window seat facing Dublin on the Inchicore side :eek:

Seriously though I'd be in seat D 72W since it doesn't exist and then complain bitterly until I was moved to first but that requires the train to be full to standing

I might as well publish my guide on how to travel first for free when seat res goes wonky

'tis a pity all the seats around you are booked, surely once Irish Rail spot the name, it will be their policy to ensure that nothing bad happens within eyeshot of that seat. Those passengers will be the best treated on the whole netwok!

I can confirm my name is not on a internal hit list, in the last few months there has been a few incidents on train where my name is known to the staff, ie seat res, ticket not forgetting the train manager/ticket checker has a list of everyone booked and I wasn't the person who secured the first class seats on my last trip

BTW I'll be asleep in a bed in Dublin at 7am tomorrow

'a bed' - have you not decided which one? :D

(no more o/t Friday giddiness from me I promise)

Hi
I regularly use my AIB chip & pin card to purchase tickets without a problem. Maybe for once it's not actually a problem on their end, after all there's a first time for everything!

I was trying to convey not being asleep on the train, people always assume something

Its possible to have a lot of fun without buying a ticket on the IE site, haven't got the time to check every train but there are clearly a lot of avoidable errors

I'm one of the students to manage to book my ticket online, but due to my AIB Maestro card I cannot collect them at a machine so I have to go to the ticket office anyway. Same with LUAS it wont accept my Maestro card. (Tried last year and gave up)

Can you log a complaint about that with Iarnrod Eireann and RPA (www.luas.ie)

More the merrier!

What is the status of the passenger who wishes to get a seat reservation for the first leg of a return trip, but does not know when they are coming back?

I assume that normal 'return' tickets as sold by IÉ are what would be 'open returns' in the UK - that is to say, the price or T&Cs are not relevant to the second leg, apart from a one-month timeout.

So (as our example) we take the college student Ms. McGillyhooley. She's in Dublin during the term but is heading home (to...Limerick Junction, for example). So she wants to book an online ticket (remember that student-fare tickets can't be bought from a walk-up ticket machine - you can either buy online-collect from machine, else you are stuck with the booking office). She knows what train she will travel on this week, but has no idea when she's coming back in January.

However, the system (it seems) will require her to reserve a seat for the return leg, otherwise the booking cannot be completed.

My questions:

a) What does she do when she actually picks the train she wants to travel back to Dublin on - who does she ring and how much information is IÉ supplying on how to do this? (i.e. let's assume she picks a random train and time for the return but then wishes to change this when she gets sick of Mammy and Daddy some time around New Year's Eve)

b) if these are in fact open returns, why not have an option to purchase without making a seat reservation for the return leg - even if reservations are mandatory, give the passenger an opportunity (by telephone or indeed by the website once more) to make a reservation for leg 2 at a later date.

All IE tickets are deemed open, valid any train provided the outwards trip occurs on the valid from date and before or on the valid to date

There is no charge for a reservation on IE unlike in the UK where a nominal charge applies with nearly all operators

The online system will always issue the lowest fare for the given combination of trains

There is provision in the system to book one leg and a 'Ticket Only reservation' on the other where you can travel any train on the date printed

It appears a reservation is linked to a ticket sale and can't be added retrospectively, well you coul call Abbey Street 01 7034070

The bigger problem is that more often than not even with a reservation you don't get the seat you booked

Refund
 

Can you get a refund of a reserved ticket if you surrender it before the train is supposed to depart?

T & C's are as follows

Copy of the conditions of carriage
http://www.platform11.org/passenger_info/legal.php

Is this possible from the website? I've just checked it again and it doesn't seem possible to move to the next page without picking a specific train for both legs of the journey. Or do you mean that there is provision at a system level, but it's not actually available to the public?

The system has a ticket only reservation capabilty, problem is with Dublin Cork all trains have reservations, the ticket only reservation was a cop out when you had to travel on a train which did not have reservations

Right. So an intending passenger on (for example) Dublin to Cork who doesn't know when they are coming back should pick a random day/time-train for the return leg, then ring IÉ Abbey St for a new reservation before they travel, after they have chosen a return day/time-train. Correct?

If anyone from irishrail.ie is reading this, you could always put a note to this effect on the site. Would do no harm ;)

Thats more or less the case, if it works

It should be extremely easy to allow alterations online of course that would have to be done before the tickets are printed, the ticket issued has the outbound and return portions on the same ticket

Once the ticket is issued how do you get it back?

Filled out the paperwork at the customer service desk in Heuston. There was no mention of 50% so I guess I'll see what turns up in a few weeks.

thanks

kevin