{"id":375962,"date":"2026-04-01T06:09:20","date_gmt":"2026-04-01T06:09:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/375962\/"},"modified":"2026-04-01T06:09:20","modified_gmt":"2026-04-01T06:09:20","slug":"train-users-on-irish-rail-inflexibility-the-irish-times","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/375962\/","title":{"rendered":"Train users on Irish Rail inflexibility \u2013 The Irish Times"},"content":{"rendered":"

Last week we highlighted the plight<\/a> of a disgruntled reader from Cork<\/a> who was left fuming when he discovered that the \u201cflexible\u201d train<\/a> ticket he bought for a return journey from Cork to Dublin<\/a> was not as flexible as he thought. <\/p>\n

In brief, he missed the 3pm train leaving Heuston Station and when he tried to board the 4pm service, something he had done on many occasions in the past, he was told that it was impossible as his flexible ticket was invalid so he had no choice but to buy a single fare to Cork.<\/p>\n

Ultimately, Irish Rail refunded him for the second ticket but when we contacted the company, a spokesman defended its policy and said that its terms and conditions \u201care expressed clearly in respect of the amendments being available up to 60 minutes in advance of the outward journey. Benefits in advance booking include the ability to secure a seat, and the availability of discounted fares \u2013 walk-up open-return fares do not benefit from discounts.\u201d<\/p>\n

The story prompted several readers to get in touch to share their experiences. <\/p>\n

First up was Rachel, another regular train user. \u201cIt seems that there is a new crackdown at Heuston where rules that were often not enforced are being strictly implemented,\u201d she said. \u201cOne of the problems is Irish Rail\u2019s \u2018flexible\u2019 ticket, which is barely flexible at all. Once you start your journey, the return leg cannot be changed. Open tickets cannot be bought online, so you have to leave extra time for queuing at a ticket machine. At a time when we should be conserving oil by encouraging public transport, this crackdown does not support the greater good.\u201d<\/p>\n

[\u00a0\u2018Disgruntled from Cork\u2019: Train passenger left fuming over the inflexibility of his ticketOpens in new window<\/a>\u00a0]<\/p>\n

Another reader said that for three years she travelled from Limerick to Dublin once a week, on the 6.10am service. \u201cHowever, due to traffic gods and disappearing buses, I found it very difficult to predict when I would be in Heuston to get a train home,\u201d she says. <\/p>\n

\u201cInitially I would pre-book cheaper tickets online. But once you make the outward journey you cannot change the time on the return journey. So, after more than once buying a second ticket when I missed my train and been reprimanded by the conductor more than once for getting an earlier train, even though I was freeing up space on a rush-hour train, I started buying my day return from the ticket machine,\u201d she says. <\/p>\n

\u201cImagine my frustration, then, one rush-hour evening in mid-December when the supervisor in Heuston decided that those who had bought cheaper tickets online had priority to board the train. We were told to wait at the side while they boarded,\u201d she continues. <\/p>\n

\u201cWhen I pointed out to him that my premium-price day return (bought in the station) was purchased to give me flexibility to travel on any train, he paused for a second and told me to get to the back of the queue or leave the station. <\/p>\n

[\u00a0The Irish rail network\u2019s absurd lack of connectivityOpens in new window<\/a>\u00a0]<\/p>\n

\u201cLike your reader, I\u2019ve never complained to Irish Rail about having to buy a second ticket, delayed trains, long waits in Limerick Junction, seat allocation not being displayed, antisocial behaviour etc. I enjoy travelling on public transport. It can be relaxing, you can meet the most interesting people. But there needs to be some awareness by staff regarding the limitations of online purchasing and the challenges of using public transport to get to the station.\u201d<\/p>\n

And finally we heard from Jane. <\/p>\n

\u201cI booked my ticket to Heuston, returning to Portarlington the same day. When you book online you cannot book an open ticket. You have to choose a specific train and you are assigned a seat. I travelled back on an earlier train to the train I had booked and paid for,\u201d she says. <\/p>\n

\u201cThe barrier at Heuston let me through when I scanned my phone. During the journey, an inspector looked at my ticket and said that I was on an early train and that I needed to contact Irish Rail when I got home to cancel my ticket on the later train, as people were running a scam where they travelled on an earlier train and then claimed the refund for the later train,\u201d she says. <\/p>\n

\u201cI asked did the fact that I scanned my ticket not mean that it was now logged as a used ticket and couldn\u2019t be reused on a later train or be sought to be refunded, but he said that didn\u2019t work and that Irish Rail had lost \u20ac3 million as a result of scams.\u201d <\/p>\n

Jane was \u201ca bit perplexed but said \u2018yes, no problem, I\u2019ll do that.\u2019 He handed me a piece of paper and I put it in my pocket. I then took the paper out of my pocket after he had moved on to another carriage and realised that it was a fixed penalty notice for \u20ac126. He at no time told me he was issuing a fine. Luckily, I hadn\u2019t just binned it without looking.\u201d<\/p>\n

Jane lodged an appeal while she was still on the train. \u201cThe appeal was refused and I … paid the fine once it became apparent that they were not going to reply to my last email. I didn\u2019t want to end up in court, and technically they are right. I did not have a ticket for that particular 14.45 train. I had the ticket for the 17.10.\u201d<\/p>\n

Jane says that in the seven or eight years that she has been commuting she has \u201coften taken an earlier or later train to the one booked and the train inspector has never passed any comment on that, so I too assumed that there was flexibility. Also the ticket always works at the barrier, as it did on that date.\u201d <\/p>\n

She says that she has \u201calways found the Irish Rail staff to be very friendly, helpful and accommodating. I also have compassion for anyone working in hospitality or any type of customer service; it is prone to abusive interactions from the public, particularly since Covid, for some reason. <\/p>\n

\u201cMy interaction with the inspector was very friendly on both sides and I don\u2019t blame him for not wanting to engage in altercations. However I believe that there is a duty to inform someone if you are giving them a fine, so that they are alive to that. He did not do that.\u201d<\/p>\n

She says it appears that \u201cIrish Rail has changed their policy recently but they have not informed the public. They continue to encourage people to book online while not telling people that there is now zero flexibility in their ticket.\u201d<\/p>\n

We sent these queries to Irish Rail and a spokesman said \u201cthe current terms and conditions applying to our various ticket types including flexible tickets are in place since December 2020 [and] are very clearly stated in the booking process\u201d.<\/p>\n

He said that \u201cas well as through the booking process, this was promoted extensively at the time, and regularly since (particularly when all Covid restrictions eased and numbers travelling increased significantly). We are planning more advertising online, in station, and on board in the coming weeks to ensure continued awareness.<\/p>\n

\u201cAt very busy times, we may prioritise those with online tickets in boarding first to assist those with seat reservations. Our revenue protection officers are trained and required when issuing a fixed penalty notice to advise of same, including advising passenger of the payments and appeals process.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Last week we highlighted the plight of a disgruntled reader from Cork who was left fuming when he…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":375963,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[72,46,943,615,61,60,16455,9825],"class_list":["post-375962","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-business","tag-business","tag-cork","tag-cost-of-living","tag-dublin","tag-ie","tag-ireland","tag-irish-rail","tag-pricewatch"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/375962","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=375962"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/375962\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/375963"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=375962"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=375962"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=375962"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}