Bus Éireann 10 journey tickets on Navan route 109

IIMII

A friend of mine was asked to get off the 6pm (or thereabouts) 109 bus to Navan 3 times by a BÉ driver yesterday evening because the ticket she had (10 journey purchased online) had the route start as Navan-Dublin instead of Dublin-Navan.

She hadn't used the bus that morning from Navan to Dublin, and the driver objected that the ticket should have been and had not been validated that morning.

According to the driver he didn't have to accept the ticket as he was driving Dublin-Navan rather than Navan-Dublin, and despite three instructions from an inspector to 'turn' his machine (whatever that means) to allow activation of the ticket, the driver refused and just drove off.

The inspector tried to stand in front of the bus to prevent it leaving, but it managed to leave anyway. He then just shrugged and apologised saying he would have words with the driver later.

Seems a bit daft that if you have a 10 journey ticket for a given route that it matters where you begin from. The next driver that arrived just 'turned' the machine and there was no problem boarding that bus.

Is this common, and what is the big deal with activating tickets? It also surprised me to hear you can't just purchase a weekly bus ticket like you can or used to be able to in Dublin..

I'm relaying second hand what happened, so apologies for any lack of detail

Colm R

Astonishing.

Maybe to the letter of the law, the driver was correct. But there was clearly no fare evasion going on here and decent customer service is the main issue here.

dsane1

AFAIK the drivers were given a written instruction not to accept any ticket that gives an "invalid " report on the machine but the station supervisors just want to get the passengers out of the station and seem to over rule that instruction when it suits it seems .

crushproof

I used to use that route and used a 10 journey ticket every week. Never ever had an issues with it, very very odd situation your friend was in!

AlekSmart

This mallarkey probably stems from that hoary old chesnut,the disciplinary offence.

As dsane1 points out the Rule Book is quite specific and unlike the situation which prevails in Bus Atha Cliath,where the PASSENGER is responsible for ensuring they are in possession of the correct ticket,Bus Eireann operate under the old God`s time system whereby the Busdriver is responsible for ensuring the passenger has the correct scrip.

From the sound of it this particular Busdriver may have already been "Booked" by a Revenue Control Inspector for a "Fare Irregularity".
This procedure could well cost a Driver dearly as it could result in a suspension or if deemed serious enough,dismissal.

As dsane1 also points out the Bus Station Supervisor has a different set of priorities and will do anything to get the Bus on its way.
IMO instructing a Driver to "Turn" his machine simply to over-ride the system is a serious issue in itself which could cause even greater problems for that Driver.

It should be noted that the Revenue Control Unit operate on a stand-alone basis with no requirement to interface with ANY other supervisor or for that matter manager in day to day operations.

It is however a very unprofessional approach to have a supervisor attempt to physically block a loaded vehicle leaving,something which I feel will result in a Health & Safety issue at some point.

As to the ticket types,I`m not up to speed on the variety but I suspect there may be some of the "Hop" type commuter tickets which could be a viable option ?

IIMII

Correction on the earlier version - whilst the bus was idling, she (passenger) was first told to go to the ticket sales desk by the driver. The ticket sales desk sent her back the first time saying that the driver was being awkward and that the driver knew that the cashier couldn't change the ticket and that the ticket had to be amended was on the bus machine.

Driver said he din't have time to be doing this. She then went inspector. Inspector said tell him I told him to do it. She went back. Driver said no. She went back to inspector, Inspector told him to do it. Driver does it. Inspector gets off bus. Driver says it isn't working and returning error message, asks her to get off bus and when sees the inpector coming back, he drove off

It's not even a return ticket apparently - it's 10 journey for the Navan Dublin service spread over 7 days so it shouldn't matter in which direction it gets used

JayeL

This wouldn't surprise me at all. Bus Éireann's insistence on their return and 10 trips from one destination to another is completely unrealistic in the Greater Dublin Area, where we use buses more like a city bus. What difference does it make where you start the journey on the ticket the CUSTOMER paid for? It never ceases to amaze me that you still can't use a monthly return in the same direction twice. Who cares? You pay for two, or indeed ten, journeys. End of.

ardmacha

but the station supervisors just want to get the passengers out of the station and

How odd of them, they actually want the passengers who have paid for tickets to receive service. Bus Éireann can't have that sort of thing.

IIMII

AlekSmart wrote: »

the Rule Book is quite specific .....where the PASSENGER is responsible for ensuring they are in possession of the correct ticket

But how is a 10 journey ticket for Dublin-Navan different to Navan-Dublin?

AlekSmart wrote: »

It is however a very unprofessional approach to have a supervisor attempt to physically block a loaded vehicle leaving,something which I feel will result in a Health & Safety issue at some point.

Hmmm. I was being polite and wondering if there was really any justification for throwing a fare-paying passenger off the bus for no particular reason, but nobody has realy come back with any good reason why this type of messing would occur.

The driver's unprofessionalism seems to be the root of the problem - I can't understand why this became an issue in the first place

trellheim

it can be more expensive in one direction.

IIMII

No, just checked the BÉ site. It's the same, €41.90

I was fairly sure there was no real reason for this, I'm pretty much convinced now

dsane1

IIMII wrote: »

But how is a 10 journey ticket for Dublin-Navan different to Navan-Dublin?


Hmmm. I was being polite and wondering if there was really any justification for throwing a fare-paying passenger off the bus for no particular reason, but nobody has realy come back with any good reason why this type of messing would occur.

The driver's unprofessionalism seems to be the root of the problem - I can't understand why this became an issue in the first place

I dont mean to be rude but it became an issue because your friend bought a ticket on the internet from navan and it states on that internet form clearly (i use them too) that it can only be used from that location on the date of purchase .If everyone did as she was trying to do the buses would never get out of the station with drivers turning machines etc

Stroke Politics

I think this is more to do with the attitude of the driver than anything else. I buy a 10 journey ticket fot the 109A which is Navan -DCU, and use it every Wednesday to go to and from Busáras. Never any problem, as the price is exactly the same.

To go on a bit of a tangent on this thread, the 109A is hard work for commuters like myself at the moment, due to the a few issues with drivers. I have seen the bus pass by and not stop the teminus at DCU, "becasuse you didn't put your hand out". I have also turned up on time for the bus, only to discover that it left a few minutes early. Two weeks ago I had to direct the driver to Collins Avenue, so that he could let people off on the wrong side of the road, after her took the Santry Road instead of the M1. Check the route! On Thursday last the 07.00 109A did not show up at all, leaving a lady with anewborn and an 18 mth old stranded on the side of the road who was hopiong to get to the airport. I had to go back into Navan and pick up the 07.35 into the city, before getting the DB 123 back out....

Last week, a driver had a problem processing a ticket that a customer purchased online, eithher because it does not take a purchase for this route on the machine, or he was not trained to process it on the machine. It was embarressing for the customer concerned, and he seemed to be making an example of her when telling her not to bring a ticket bought online again. None of these things happen with the drivers baed in navan, just the ones coming out of Broadstone. I emailed BE to ask that the route manager in Broadstone lcontact me ast week, but have not even received an auto-response...

IIMII

dsane1 wrote: »

it can only be used from that location on the date of purchase .If everyone did as she was trying to do the buses would never get out of the station with drivers turning machines etc

When she took a lift in, all she did was pay for a fare that she didn't use. It's a seven day ticket and max she uses it is twice a day for five days, so straight off BÉ got paid for a seat she didn't use that morning. And then she was prevented from using it on the way back on the basis that she hadn't used the first one, the cheek of her! I should also make the point, that it seems that with this system if you use it once going Navan Dublin to activate it, and then the following 9 times you can then travel back the other way Dublin Navan!

I don't know whose fault it was - the stone-age system or the cave man using it

Victor

JayeL wrote: »

It never ceases to amaze me that you still can't use a monthly return in the same direction twice. Who cares? You pay for two ... journeys.

No - you paid for a return journey.

Some journeys are cheaper Origin-Dublin than Dublin-Origin. So you would have people exploiting the system that way.

Then there is the possibility that you made the return journey, but the ticket wasn't validated on the return leg and you are trying to make a third trip on the return ticket.

dsane1

With reference to post no. 6 above .The op's friend went to the cash office in busaras and they were unable to sort this problem .That for me should be looked at by bus eireann .The bus drivers are obviously under pressure trying to load the buses with the crowds in the station so anyone with a problem delays not just that bus, but the next one waiting to pull in to that space !

AlekSmart

Just as a matter of interest....was the OP`s friend in possession of an actual 10 journey ticket or was she presenting the Internet Purchase Warrant to the Driver ?