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Unread 27-05-2016, 10:38   #16
Jamie2k9
Really Really Regluar Poster
 
Join Date: Jun 2010
Posts: 2,146
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Quote:
Jamie,

You have hit the nail on the head, the Belfast specials are bookable for months in advance, the Irish Rail arrangements appear to be made up at the last minute. Queries on twitter a few days ago (in respect of local services around Dublin) were producing the response "we are finalising arrangements".

One suspects that trains like the 1435 from Dundalk on Sunday will have almost zero patronage as almost nobody knows about it - this and most of the other trains listed in previous posts above were not in the journey planner a few days ago and are not advertised at stations.
They really should announce it a minimum of 6 weeks before an event

Quote:
There is also an unhelpful clause in the PSO contract which requires IE to pay the NTA a cut when PSO funded trains are used for commercial purposes.
It is rather unhelpful and something which the NTA should review particularly in relation to new services, fair enough charge for Cork/Galway but others should be exempt for a period of time.

I still don't believe it would make of break these services.

Do the NTA apply same rules to BE and DB?

Quote:
Is that such a bad thing? It's not terribly fair for a private bus operator providing the equivalent service to have to compete against a public operator with the vehicle being provided for free.
Really depends how you view both the train and bus would be doing nothing overnight, both must cover operating costs, both must cover wear and tear in maintenance cycles and so on. Could be considered another reason why public cannot compete with private transport.

It's just the NTA been full of bureaucracy. Such charges shouldn't exist if they are a deterrent to pubic transport in any way. Wonder what Mr Ross thinks about it?

Last edited by Jamie2k9 : 27-05-2016 at 10:40.
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