Intercity fares revision: New fares and fare structure from 4th February 2012

[karlr42]

New Intercity fares and fare zones announced. Just to make it that bit more inconvenient, the information is all in a pdf and on the NTA's site, not IE's.

http://www.nationaltransport.ie/down...fing-Final.pdf

[Mickey H]

Some questions:

Will cheaper web fares still be available?

Will the various Dublin area day tickets (rail and LUAS for instance) continue to be available?

[ACustomer]

It looks as if the NTA have taken a transparent, rational and principled approach, which is to be welcomed. This should be acknowledged even by those who might not like some of the specific changes.

[comcor]

There are some weird anomalies in that report

• Services to Tralee are categorised as Express, even though the Express track ends at Mallow. This has a particularly negative affect on Cork-Tralee fares. Even though the categories of line used are broadly the same in terms of length, Cork-Tralee fares are much higher than Dublin-Kilkennt fares
• On the map, WRC fares are indicated as Economy2, but for pricing purposes are included in the Economy1 fares.
• On the map, Waterford fares are indicated as Economy1, but for pricing purposes are included in the Economy2 fares.
• Although it doesn't say it, I believe a Dublin-Athy fare will be less than a Dublin-Kildare fare

I'm sure there are others; that's just the first lot I noticed.

Abolishing the 5-Day returns will create significant fare increases on some lines.

For the life of me, I can't see why it wasn't just kept simple, with a charge per kilometre rather than the band system. In particular, this shafts people on routes like Cork-Mallow or Dublin-Newbridge, where the fare just creeps over the threshhold.

[Colm Moore]

I'm just out of a (unrelated) meeting and off the phone to Mark G. I've only had a general look at the press release, but the language suggests something much better than had been there previously. Notably, these are maximum permissible fares, discounts can still be offered.

Originally Posted by comcor

There are some weird anomalies in that report[list][*]Services to Tralee are categorised as Express, even though the Express track ends at Mallow. This has a particularly negative affect on Cork-Tralee fares. Even though the categories of line used are broadly the same in terms of length, Cork-Tralee fares are much higher than Dublin-Kilkennt fares

Mark advises that only the double track section is charge at the higher rate. The single track section is charged at the lower rate.

However, any new unfairness should be studied properly.

[*]On the map, WRC fares are indicated as Economy2, but for pricing purposes are included in the Economy1 fares.

This may be to stop the system being overly complicated.

[*]On the map, Waterford fares are indicated as Economy1, but for pricing purposes are included in the Economy2 fares.

I think they are trying to make Dublin-Waterford and Dublin-Rosslare substantially the same.

I'm sure there are others; that's just the first lot I noticed.

Keep them coming

Abolishing the 5-Day returns will create significant fare increases on some lines.

Possibly. However, I think there was a substantial element of unfairness in the distribution of discounted fares.

For the life of me, I can't see why it wasn't just kept simple, with a charge per kilometre rather than the band system.

Administrative burden.

In particular, this shafts people on routes like Cork-Mallow or Dublin-Newbridge, where the fare just creeps over the threshhold.

Potentially these need to be treated as suburban fares on the suburban matrix.

[James Howard]

I like the way they highlight that there has been no fare increase since 2009. As far as I can remember, my commuter pass from Edgeworthstown to Dublin (I know - it isn't included) has gone up by a few percent each year.

Meanwhile as far as I can see, the CPI cumulative increase has been -3.6% and while I can't find any easy stats for it, median income growth must have been negative over the same period.

They still have the absurd prices for short rural journeys. A day return from Longford to Edgeworthstown is around €7.50 and it takes about 25 minutes each way by bicycle. They'll sell you a discounted day return to Dublin for €12 most days after 9:30. As it is, people don't pay for these tickets as they are so expensive that they feel justified in dodging them and there is no realistic chance of getting caught.

[comcor]

Originally Posted by Colm Moore

I'm just out of a (unrelated) meeting and off the phone to Mark G. I've only had a general look at the press release, but the language suggests something much better than had been there previously. Notably, these are maximum permissible fares, discounts can still be offered.
Mark advises that only the double track section is charge at the higher rate. The single track section is charged at the lower rate.

I'm not certain that's correct.

Cork-Tralee and Dublin-Kilkenny are both in the Up to 160km category.

Both involve some Express track and some Economy 1 track. In the Cork-Tralee case, this is about 35km from Cork to Mallow. In the Dublin-Kilkenny case, it's about 60km from Heuston to Cherryville.

So, if anything, you'd expect Cork-Tralee to be slightly cheaper. Instead, the single is €34 as opposed to €24 on the Dublin-Kilkenny leg. Quite a difference.

Incidentally, I'm a bit dubious of some of the distances given. Heuston-Kildare is down at over 64km, yet it's only 55km by road and the rail route as direct, if not more so.

[Mickey H]

Heuston-Kildare is 48.270km from Heuston platforms 2 to 5

[Charlie Hungerford]

There's another curious anomaly - the 'commuter' segments of the Dublin-Cork and Dublin-Dundalk lines are counted as express for Intercity fare calculation purposes but the Dublin-Maynooth section on the Dublin-Sligo line isn't.

In addition, the mileage calculations used for the Northern line are out of whack.

Drogheda-Dublin Pearse is a distance of around 53 kilometres by rail and should be counted as a class D fare (up to 64km) not a class E fare (up to 80km).

Dundalk-Connolly is 86 kilometres by rail and should be counted as a class F fare rather than a class G one.

This has an extremely negative effect on fares from those destinations - a single from Dundalk-Connolly should be €5 cheaper if the correct mileage is used.

Unless there is a secret Northern Line premium in their figures...

[Colm Moore]

http://www.rte.ie/news/2012/0203/rail.html

InterCity rail fares set to increase
Updated: 18:20, Friday, 3 February 2012

64% of Iarnród Éireann's InterCity fares will increase from tomorrow following changes to the fare structure

Almost two thirds of Iarnród Éireann's InterCity fares will increase from tomorrow, following changes to the fare structure.

The new structure replaces the current wide variety of tickets on sale with just three options - a single, a day return, and an open return for use within 30 days of departure.

The new fare pricing structure will be distance-based, so the longer the journey, the more expensive the ticket.

All single fares will be cheaper than day return fares and all day return fares will be cheaper than open return fares.

Fares will also be graded based on the speed of the train.

Fares on Express routes will be highest, followed by Economy 1 routes and Economy 2.

The single fare on the Dublin Heuston to Cork route has been reduced from €66 to €60, while a day return fare from Heuston to Waterford has increased from €27 to €29.50.

The new fares are the maximum that customers can be charged at train stations, but it does not prevent Iarnród Éireann from offering promotional discounted fares as well.

The National Transport Authority approved the new fare structure using distance-based pricing.

It said fare pricing based solely on revenue maximisation was deemed inappropriate for a publicly subsidised service.

In total, 143 fares have been increased, by amounts ranging from 0.63% to 13.33%.

There will be reductions in 66 fares, ranging from 0.79% to 29.41%.

Just 15 fares remain the same.

[Colm Moore]

Detailed information here: http://www.irishrail.ie/index.jsp?p=118&n=197

This may have been revised also: http://www.irishrail.ie/index.jsp?p=118&n=142

[Kilocharlie]

Some anomalies:

Looking at fares from Heuston Kildare

Cork-Limerick Grid - Fare E - 15.50 single, 22.50 rtn
Waterford, Galway, Westport grids - Fare E, 13.00 single, 13.20 return
Commuter Fare : 18.50 return

3 different return fares depending on the route/service.

So which fare does one pay?????

[Colm Moore]

Originally Posted by Kilocharlie

Some anomalies:

Looking at fares from Heuston Kildare

Cork-Limerick Grid - Fare E - 15.50 single, 22.50 rtn
Waterford, Galway, Westport grids - Fare E, 13.00 single, 13.20 return
Commuter Fare : 18.50 return

3 different return fares depending on the route/service.

So which fare does one pay?????

Exactly.

[Colm Moore]

http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/...311250849.html

Most intercity rail fares rise after review
JOANNE HUNT

ALMOST TWO-THIRDS of Iarnród Éireann’s intercity fares will increase today, following changes to its fare structure.

The new structure will be simpler, replacing complex five-day return and weekend options with just three tickets types – a single, a day return, or an open return valid within 30 days of departure.

The changes will see 65 per cent of rail fares go up, 30 per cent go down and 5 per cent remain the same.

The structure will, however, end the anomaly where some single fares could cost more than a return ticket to the same destination.

The new fares are the maximum customers can be charged at train stations, while Iarnród Éireann can still offer lower cost promotional online discounts.

Fares will now also be set according to the speed of the train and the class of carriage.

The changes were approved by the National Transport Authority last month following a fare revision application made by Iarnród Éireann.

Defending the increase, Barry Kenny of Iarnród Éireann said that for fares over €25, it was the first fare revision in more than three years.

“In the last four years we’ve seen our subvention reduce by €59 million, which is about 30 per cent. We’ve reduced our costs by about €79 million, but for us to maintain our level of service, we do have to raise additional revenues.”

Under the new structure, a single fare from Dublin to Cork will decrease from €66 to € 60.

For those returning on the same day, the fare will remain at €71; for those travelling at the weekend, the five-day return ticket costing €71 has been abolished and is replaced with an open return ticket costing €77. A monthly return ticket will drop from €78.50 to €77.

Overall, the increases range up to 13 per cent on some longer distance routes, while decreases are up to 29 per cent, with the most significant price drops on Galway and Rosslare routes.

[Kilocharlie]

Originally Posted by Kilocharlie

Some anomalies:

Looking at fares from Heuston Kildare

Cork-Limerick Grid - Fare E - 15.50 single, 22.50 rtn
Waterford, Galway, Westport grids - Fare E, 13.00 single, 13.20 return
Commuter Fare : 18.50 return

3 different return fares depending on the route/service.

So which fare does one pay?????

Went to a TVM at Heuston and asked for a single to Kildare: Price - 13 Euro. The cheapest of the options above.