Iarnród Éireann funding crisis puts lines at risk, report warns

[James Howard]

Note that I didn't suggest the over 65's don't travel for free although I seriously doubt that this facility will be extended to me when I reach that age. The issue is that Irish Rail isn't receiving a fair price for this facility which would cost me something like 6,000 euro a year to pay for myself. This needs to be addressed by either increasing the free travel contribution from state funds or by asking users to contribute a portion of their fare.

As a taxpayer, I personally don't mind a bit more of my tax going into the free travel as it a good use of state funds - the health benefits (and resulting HSE savings) of keeping older people active are pretty obvious. As somebody who pays a lot of money to travel by train, I do however resent part of my fare being used to subsidise other peoples' travel.

Fares - particularly open returns have reached a point where they are getting pretty unaffordable yet the trains are generally pretty busy and still Irish Rail can't make money. Something doesn't add up. Either too few people are buying tickets or Irish Rail are spectacularly inefficient.

[ACustomer]

JAmes Howard: you are right. In many respects the Free Travel scheme is administered in a completely shambolic way as far as the CIE companies are concerned. Basically it is now a lump-sum payment, so the marginal revenue to Irish Rail from more passengers is zero. The transport companies should be paid for each over-65 they carry: not a lot , just to cover at least the marginal costs of off-peak passengers. Over-65s should have only limited access to peak services.

Needless to say there there is total political cowardice when it comes to these issues. MAybe I can't blame the politicians too much when I can guess how the whingeing media would react.

[grainne whale]

Originally Posted by James Howard

Note that I didn't suggest the over 65's don't travel for free although I seriously doubt that this facility will be extended to me when I reach that age. The issue is that Irish Rail isn't receiving a fair price for this facility which would cost me something like 6,000 euro a year to pay for myself. This needs to be addressed by either increasing the free travel contribution from state funds or by asking users to contribute a portion of their fare.

As a taxpayer, I personally don't mind a bit more of my tax going into the free travel as it a good use of state funds - the health benefits (and resulting HSE savings) of keeping older people active are pretty obvious. As somebody who pays a lot of money to travel by train, I do however resent part of my fare being used to subsidise other peoples' travel.

Fares - particularly open returns have reached a point where they are getting pretty unaffordable yet the trains are generally pretty busy and still Irish Rail can't make money. Something doesn't add up. Either too few people are buying tickets or Irish Rail are spectacularly inefficient.

Scrap, car parking changes at stations and people will use the train more. Travelling by bus is just as quick and no car parking changes.