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Unread 08-03-2017, 16:48   #11
Thomas J Stamp
Chairman/Publicity
 
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Join Date: Dec 2005
Location: The Home of Hurling
Posts: 2,708
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if the on board train staff are ticket vendors then i suppose many of the problems of unstaffed stations can be neutralised, but you are still left with those who need assistance boarding/alighting.

there are many people who do not have the ability to book tickets on line or to use a TVM, they may not have a debit/credit card, they may not have internet access, they may have a difficulty like dyslexia or mobility issues.

as an organisation we represent all those people as well, so it is a valid issue for us to not just accept this as inevitable progress.

There is also the fact that our rail network is a "public" transport. If Irish Rail does not have the resources to staff trains and stations properly the the issue must go back to the minister. The minister, as it stands, is the sole shareholder in Irish Rail and therefore no matter now much he protests otherwise, he calls the shots. Officially he is there to represent you and me as passangers and in a secondary function the citizens as a whole.

I haven't checked but as sole shareholder I would imagine the AGM's of Irish Rail must be lonely events which are literally held around the boardroom table in Heuston Station. If Irish Rail say that they are working their staff to the limit then the only solution is to hire more staff which means raising the subvention, and there is only one person who can do this.....
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