[Mark Gleeson]

Ticket prices are regulated by the DoT so the top price is set in stone and can't be increased, thats the price we pay today

End of the day you are probably looking at a 3 level system, open returns no restriction at full DoT fare as current, reduced cost off peak limited to certain services and yield managed specific train only fare reserved seat. Under that model, fares don't increase but cheaper fares are available if you are happy to travel at certain times, its fairly simple. The UK situation is a disaster since there are multiple operators with different rules and pricing structures thankfully that won't happen here

This is a demand management problem problem is simple there is balance between capacity and demand, basically you can't have 50 coaches just for Friday. There are some basic things we must remember, there will never be enough seats for 5pm to x on a Friday evening. Every intercity passenger deserves a seat. I can almost guarantee that they will be people standing on the 1pm, 3pm and 5pm Dublin Cork services on Friday. People don't suddenly at 4:15 pm on Friday say I'm going to Cork, so book online. The system allows booking to within 1 hour of the trains departure from terminus

Standing passengers on intercity are not a good idea it causes all kinds of problems with catering and drives the AC mad as the inter-carriage doors are left open, should be thankful we don't have titling trains they are so weight sensitive the tilt locks out if there are too many standing

From what we know IE are not going to introduce compulsory booking, student tickets will still be accepted on all trains I'm told, note students can book seats online. OAPs the law is free travel on scheduled services it doesn't say anything about booking