Ticket Pricing between Drogheda and Dun Laoghaire

[coffeedrinker]

I normally buy a weekly ticket from Drogheda to Dun Laoghaire. However, one morning over Christmas there was no-one selling tickets in Drogheda station so I said I would buy my ticket in Dun Laoghaire. When I went to purchase the same ticket I usually buy in Dun Laoghaire I had to pay an extra €10.50 for the week - why??

I argued and was told that was the price of it end of story! After a few phone calls, I was told that the journey from Drogheda to DL and the journey from DL to Drogheda is not the same - hence the price difference! I was then told that Drogheda are selling illegal tickets by charging the lower price! I was also told that the computers in both stations would have been programmed differently.

What is the actual reason behind this price difference? And what is the correct price of a weekly ticket for this journey????

[Mark Gleeson]

Both computers are programmed the same, only difference is they default the from station to where they are

Goon in DL probably keyed in DL to Drogheda, where as Drogheda would key in Drogheda to DL so the machines issued two distinct tickets,

For weekly or monthly tickets they charge the exact same fare regardless of direction, should be 221.00 Drogheda DL monthly and 61.00 weekly for the 2008 fares.

There are discounted fares Drogheda - Dublin in terms of day saver returns, but these are returns only and only as far as Pearse and not on Friday.

If they are up to something its new to us, and in your case you certainly should be paying the lower fare and as result of Irish Rail's lack of staff you got caught out. You are entitled to a refund, fill this in http://www.irishrail.ie/images/pdfs/...unt%20Form.pdf

Claim on the ground ticket issued was not that requested and explain what happened

[Thomas Ralph]

Maybe it's the same reason as Sandymount to Dundalk student single coming out at €20 (which it has done for my partner) when it's €11.50 from Connolly. I don't know what the fare the other direction is.

[Mark Gleeson]

Promotional fares are highly destination specific, this explains why it is often cheaper to buy two tickets

Again we are working on developing some software for the website to figure this all out, we of course need data for this so prices of tickets please!

So Cork Heuston day saver return is less than Cork Hazelhatch, it is of course illegal to get off before the printed destination where such would save you money

[clockwork orange]

Originally Posted by Mark Gleeson

Both computers are programmed the same, only difference is they default the from station to where they are

Goon in DL probably keyed in DL to Drogheda, where as Drogheda would key in Drogheda to DL so the machines issued two distinct tickets,

For weekly or monthly tickets they charge the exact same fare regardless of direction, should be 221.00 Drogheda DL monthly and 61.00 weekly for the 2008 fares.

There are discounted fares Drogheda - Dublin in terms of day saver returns, but these are returns only and only as far as Pearse and not on Friday.

If they are up to something its new to us, and in your case you certainly should be paying the lower fare and as result of Irish Rail's lack of staff you got caught out. You are entitled to a refund, fill this in http://www.irishrail.ie/images/pdfs/...unt%20Form.pdf

Claim on the ground ticket issued was not that requested and explain what happened

You're wrong. Tickets of the same type will always be the same price no matter which station is entered first.
And I suggest you exercise some patience before you start labelling people GOONS for doing their job.

[Mark Gleeson]

There is no need to be rude, we have access to the internal Irish Rail fares matrix and we know all about the biased fare structure

Drogheda - Connolly day return is 16.40 (not on Friday)
Connolly - Drogheda day return is 20.00 (actually Connolly cant even issue a day return to Drogheda since it doesn't even exist)

http://www.railusers.ie/passenger_in... stage1=Submit
http://www.railusers.ie/passenger_in... stage1=Submit

The classic example
Tipperary - Heuston 21.50-27.00
Heuston - Tipperary 46.50-55.00 depending on day

Poor training and ignorant staff are the primary reason passengers get charged higher fares than they should pay. The original poster got caught out through a quirk in the system which should never have happened clearly the wrong code was entered into the machine, weekly and monthly tickets are always the same price regardless of direction, singles and returns are not.

If the clerk in Dun Laoghaire isn't paying attention the ticket is issued as Dun Laoghaire Drogheda using the code for that, however since the passenger actually started in Drogheda the ticket should have been Drogheda Dun Laoghaire and issued with the code correct for that since it could be different, its sloppy and in worst case leaves the passenger open to being declared a fare evader

The discounted fares are different and require a different code to be entered into the machine (A61 vs A190) if you get a useless clerk, e.g. Mr playstation portable feet on office table celtic Jersey no namebadge (who is well known to me and several other posters) for instance you might as well forget getting anything remotely clever and the wrong code goes in.

We got a result on a passenger being overcharged last week in this kind of scenario, over 30 euro was involved

I have regularly had to provide the ticket clerk with the station and ticket codes to issue my ticket, when its got to that point you really have to question the training and selection process followed since the default answer is the ticket I want doesn't exist, the more you persist the more aggressive and abusive the response

[clockwork orange]

Originally Posted by Mark Gleeson

There is no need to be rude, we have access to the internal Irish Rail fares matrix and we know all about the biased fare structure

Drogheda - Connolly day return is 16.40 (not on Friday)
Connolly - Drogheda day return is 20.00 (actually Connolly cant even issue a day return to Drogheda since it doesn't even exist)

http://www.railusers.ie/passenger_in... stage1=Submit
http://www.railusers.ie/passenger_in... stage1=Submit

The classic example
Tipperary - Heuston 21.50-27.00
Heuston - Tipperary 46.50-55.00 depending on day

Poor training and ignorant staff are the primary reason passengers get charged higher fares than they should pay. The original poster got caught out through a quirk in the system which should never have happened clearly the wrong code was entered into the machine, weekly and monthly tickets are always the same price regardless of direction, singles and returns are not.

If the clerk in Dun Laoghaire isn't paying attention the ticket is issued as Dun Laoghaire Drogheda using the code for that, however since the passenger actually started in Drogheda the ticket should have been Drogheda Dun Laoghaire and issued with the code correct for that since it could be different, its sloppy and in worst case leaves the passenger open to being declared a fare evader

The discounted fares are different and require a different code to be entered into the machine (A61 vs A190) if you get a useless clerk, e.g. Mr playstation portable feet on office table celtic Jersey no namebadge (who is well known to me and several other posters) for instance you might as well forget getting anything remotely clever and the wrong code goes in.

We got a result on a passenger being overcharged last week in this kind of scenario, over 30 euro was involved

I have regularly had to provide the ticket clerk with the station and ticket codes to issue my ticket, when its got to that point you really have to question the training and selection process followed since the default answer is the ticket I want doesn't exist, the more you persist the more aggressive and abusive the response

The first ticket price, i.e. 16.40, is a different ticket type to the 20.00 fare. Tickets of the SAME TYPE are the same price regardless of which station is entered first. I acknowledge that you are probably right about the Tipperary-Hesuton situation (I admit I don't know much about those fares) but in this case at least you'll find I am correct.

No offence to the various posters on here but if whoever started this thread wants a comprehensive answer to what is the cheapest way the price their journey he/she should ask one of the clerks at Drogheda. I suggest that you phrase the exact question above to one of the clerks when you have some spare time to discuss it with him/her, rather than relying on the information given out here.

[Mark Gleeson]

The passenger has a reasonable expectation that they will be sold the ticket they request at the correct price, bearing in mind if Irish Rail charge above the statutory fare they are breeching various agreements and we can produce evidence that overcharging is systematic and even worse Irish management have admitted that the online system isn't programmed with all the discounts but then deny there is a problem, it gets better the website uses a different way to calculate the fares than the booking office does of course you never know which is cheaper since it works both ways

A passenger should not need to understand the workings of the ticketing system, its codes and loopholes it should just work.

It is plainly clear the clerk keyed in the wrong code and the passenger was ripped off same journey same ticket different price, Irish Rail don't deserve any slack for there appalling customer service and fares which vary depending on who sells them.

The order the stations are entered is of critical importance since the start station must be the one where the journey started from in order to ensure the correct fare is charged, few if any clerks know all the discounts and combinations so taking the lazy route can result in the wrong fare and indeed results in a ticket which is technically invalid

A huge number of fares are available in only one direction

[coffeedrinker]

Originally Posted by Mark Gleeson

So Cork Heuston day saver return is less than Cork Hazelhatch, it is of course illegal to get off before the printed destination where such would save you money

If I have a weekly ticket from Drogheda to Dun Laoghaire, is it illegal for me to get off a train in Pearse Street for example some evening and later in the evening board a train from Pearse to Drogheda?

[Mark Gleeson]

No perfectly legal on a monthly or weekly ticket, normally legal on a intercity ticket, its only illegal if you would save money

[clockwork orange]

Originally Posted by Mark Gleeson

No perfectly legal on a monthly or weekly ticket, normally legal on a intercity ticket, its only illegal if you would save money

Nail on the head there Mark.