Does premium accommodation pay off on either route? As I pretty much live on the Sligo train which hasn't had first class for at least 15 years, I don't get to travel to Cork or Belfast often. But given that the extra cost for first class on either service seems to be less than double that for standard it seems unlikely that it is terribly worth their while to provide it, except possibly as a sop to the elusive "business traveler" which is a particularly endangered species these days.
What is utterly pointless is the alleged first class on the 22Ks. It would be better to not describe this as such at all as at least then it would be clear from the timetable which services had real first class. To me, a first class ticket means a bigger seat and perhaps some form of meal at seat service. The most important thing is the bigger seat and if that isn't part of the offering, then it is false advertising.
Back when they had it I used to almost always travel first class on the Sligo line. As there was no way to book it and it was only a £3 supplement anyway, it was relatively rare that the ticket collector got to check the ticket before Edgeworthstown. But I can't imagine Irish Rail ever made any money off it given that when the ticket collector made it, he generally ended up chucking out all but two or three people who were willing to pay the supplement. I guess that's why they did away with it.
|