The Leap Card Thread

[Eddie]

My son tagged on with his (child) leap card at Dun Laoghaire today and tried to tag off at Leixlip (Confey) on the wall machine on the way out but got the message "Try Again", so he did, but the machine seemed stuck with the same message. Tried instead to tag off on the gates, but got a "Tag on" message and appeared to deduct another fare.

A couple of hours later, we returned from Maynooth, and initially tried to tag on at one of those wall machines, but got the same message, "Try Again". Then we went to the gates in the station hall, and correctly got a "Tag On" message. Amount left suggests a double deduction happened on the way out, but I'll only be able to verify this when I can check the leap history in a couple of days.

Is there an issue with these tag on / tag off wall machines?

On a separate issue, 8 carriage Maynooth trains seemed ridiculous over-capacity, and then changing on to a 4 carriage Dart where there was standing room only!

[Mark Gleeson]

Try again generally indicates the reader is broken, known issue which Irish Rail doesn't seem to want to fix, no tag on/off would be recorded

If you present the card to the entry side of a turnstile it will always tag on, likewise if you try to exit via a turnstile and the card has not been tagged on within the last 120 minutes it will tag on, and tag off charging the max possible fare.

Call Leap get a refund

[Eddie]

Thanks Mark.

The fare history looks like it has done exactly as you said - no tag off after initial journey due to a broken reader and then tagged on again when I went to the next nearest machine which was indeed the entry side of a turnstile. (The other side was blocked by closed gates, and the station was unmanned.)

Anyway, it looks like it maxed out at the child leap maximum of €3.10, which was €1.90 deduction at Dun Laoghaire and €1.20 deduction at Leixlip. Maynooth back to Dun Laoghaire was not charged for, so it seems there would be no refund due anyway.

[comcor]

I'm told that LEAP had soft launched on buses in Cork now. That is you can use them, but there has been no publicity.

In practice, this probably means that they are in a trial phase, but because there are LEAP cards out in the wild among people who acquired them in Dublin, it's impossible to restrict them to a trial group.

[Mark Gleeson]

Its live and works.

Few issues low number of LEAP card agents, no Irish Rail TVM's enabled etc.

[comcor]

A little publicity might be helpful then.

There are a reasonable number of Cork folk who have LEAP cards from trips to Dublin, so it shouldn't just come down to the number of agents.

I'm not clear which routes support it (Does it just apply to City routes or do suburban ones like the 222 and 223 work too?) or how it works on the small handful of city routes (215, 216 & 219) that don't have flat rate pricing.

If someone who uses the bus every day to get to work is confused, it's not going to attract people onto the bus.

[berneyarms]

All of the rollouts have been soft rollouts to date, in other words with minimal publicity initially, followed by much heavier marketing campaigns.

This allows them to deal with unexpected issues as they arise without impacting on huge numbers of customers.

All of that being said, there have been full details on both the LEAP and Bus Eireann websites.

Details of LEAP on Bus Eireann in Cork is here:

Also on the Bus Eireann website:
http://www.buseireann.ie/inner.php?id=363

[jacko]

main problem in cork is that buses do not have validators despite the fact that all city services have a standard fare - you have to present the LeapCard to he driver thereby slowing the process

[comcor]

I know this is really a bus question, but I'm sure that there are people here who will know the answer

As of tomorrow, my monthly Cork commuter bus ticket will be converted to be a LEAP card. Next month is easy, it comes pre-activated.

After that it gets trickier. Apparently I have to find a Payzone agent to activate it each month.

This is where my problems come in. It is apparently 2km from my house to the nearest Payzone agent and 5km from my workplace to the nearest Payzone agent.

So my question is how far in advance I can expect the ticket to be pre-loaded onto my account. If I get a few days I will usually find myself in either the City Centre or Douglas during this period and I'll be fine. If it's longer then I have a problem and I may need to reassess how I commute.

To be honest, the roll-out in Cork is looking a bit botched. There's a whole swathe of the eastern side of the city (Ballintemple, Ballinlough, Douglas Rd) that doesn't have an agent. A similar dead zone exists on the northside around St Lukes, Montenotte and Ballyvolane. There are major satellite towns like Ballincollig, Glanmire and Carrigaline without an agent. Bizarrely, there is no possibility to buy/top-up/activate a card in Parnell Place Bus Station, Kent Station or Cork Airport.

[berneyarms]

You will have several days - it's perfectly possible to have multiple tickets on the card.

[Mark Gleeson]

I'm told equipment is on its way to Parnell Place

[Thomas Ralph]

Originally Posted by Mark Gleeson

I'm told equipment is on its way to Parnell Place

The ticket office doesn't be open half the time there

[Mark Gleeson]

Auto Top up finally went live today for all Leap users.

Its been in testing for at least 18 months at this point

[Colm Moore]

http://www.irishrail.ie/news/combinedbusrailreplaced

Combined Dublin Bus / Short Hop Zone rail tickets to be replaced by LeapCard from 11th June

10 June 2014

A range of combined Dublin Bus / Iarnród Éireann tickets in the Greater Dublin area are being withdrawn from sale from 11th June 2014. Customers who used these tickets will be able to avail of LeapCard.

As of 11th June 2014, the following Dublin Bus and Iarnród Éireann combined products will no longer be sold at the station.

* Adult 1 Day Rail & Bus
* Adult 3 Day Bus & Rail
* Adult 7 Day Bus & Rail
* Adult Monthly Rail & Bus
* Adult Monthly Rail, Bus & Luas
* Student Monthly Rail & Bus
* Family One Day Rail & Bus
* 7 Day Rolling Bus 90 Luas
* All Dublin Bus Feeder Bus Tickets

For users of 1, 3 or 7 day products, customers who wish to avail of Dublin Bus services in the Short Hop Zone should purchase a Leap Card and benefit from unlimited Dublin Bus and Rail travel within the Short Hop Zone for €10 a day or €40 a week.

Customers using monthly products can still avail of these through Taxsaver LeapCards.

[Mickey H]

Valid on airport bus also

http://tinyurl.com/nmro2tj

The Leap Visitor Card is a pre-paid ticket that allows you unlimited travel for 72 hours (3 days) after first use on:
•Airlink 747 airport bus service
•All Dublin Bus scheduled services (not valid on tours)
•All Luas (tram) services
•DART and Commuter Rail in the Short Hop Zone (all of Dublin city and county)
You can buy a Leap Visitor Card for only €19.50 at the Spar shop in the arrivals hall in T1 or T2, or at the CIE tours desk in T1.



Using your Leap Visitor Card
The Leap Visitor Card is a smartcard that can be read by simply touching it against a validator. You will hear a tone to verify you have validated properly.
•On Dublin Bus and Airlink 747, touch the ticket against the Leap Card Validator on the right-hand side as you enter the bus.
•On Luas (tram), Touch On at a Validator on the platform before you get on the tram and Touch Off when you get off the tram.
•On DART and Commuter Rail, Touch On at the platform entry gate or Validator before your journey and Touch Off at the platform exit gate or Validator after your journey. The card can be used between stations within the Short Hop Zone.



Transport Services in Dublin
www.transportforireland.ie is the best source of integrated public transport information for Dublin and the rest of Ireland.
•Airlink 747 is a frequent direct bus service from Dublin Airport (T1 and T2) to the City Centre and main transport hubs.
•Dublin Bus is the biggest public transport provider in the Greater Dublin Area operating over 136 routes. Normal services run from 5.00am until midnight.
•Luas is Dublin's tram service, operating two lines. The Luas Red Line links Tallaght / Saggart to Connolly / The Point. The Luas Green Line links Brides Glen / Sandyford to St. Stephen's Green.
•DART is a rail line that runs regularly along the coast from Malahide or Howth in North Co. Dublin southwards through the city centre and as far as Greystones, Co. Wicklow.
•Commuter Rail operates on two lines. One is from Connolly Station in the city to Maynooth. The other is from Heuston Station to Hazelhatch.

[Mark Gleeson]

But not available from Dublin Port, Dun Laoghaire Port or any official tourist information office.

[markpb]

Originally Posted by Mark Gleeson

But not available from Dublin Port, Dun Laoghaire Port or any official tourist information office.

There's a good reason why it's not available from a tourist office in the city centre (protection of revenue from locals) and I guess the number of tourists arriving through both ports is tiny compared to the airport. They'll probably end up doing it but for the three tickets they'll sell, it's probably not worth the hassle.

[Inniskeen]

Ticket should be available everywhere but should only be valid with a non Irish passport, the number of which should be on the ticket.

[haddockman]

There is nothing to stop the locals from travelling to the airport to stock up on the cards. I assume they will sell them to anyone?

[haddockman]

Originally Posted by Inniskeen

Ticket should be available everywhere but should only be valid with a non Irish passport, the number of which should be on the ticket.

Flight ticket maybe, but as an Irish passport holder who does not reside in Ireland I would wish to use these tickets on my visits home. There are plenty of Irish passport holders who do not live here and do visit the homeland occasionally.