Athenry-Galway, Commuting by Train

jasonh

I commute to my job in the city via the train from Athenry in the morning.
I live about 5 miles outside Athenry and therefore have to drive to the station.

I've recently seen that they are implementing pay&display around Athenry station (€2 a day or €8 a week) - so this is going to be an extra cost onto my commuting on top of what I already think is quite an expensive commuter service from athenry.

I thought the government/councils were to try and make public transport easier to use and more appealing, to try and reduce the amount of commuter traffic on the roads into Galway.

I think this is going to make more people (esp. in the credit crunch) decide to use their cars instead.

I'm pretty cheesed off about this, I'll have to start parking in the estates dotted around athenry.

anyone else think this is attrocious?

Jason

pandamoanium

Just out of interest how much is the train from Athenry to Galway?

SalthillGuy

There should be a regular 30 minute shuttle between Athenry and Galway. If it were at the right price worked in Galway City could park in Athenry and commute vis train.
I have seen this in US cities and it works brilliant.

jasonh

I think its about 27.50 a week.
Can't remember how much a month.
I now get the yearly one via work to save on tax as per their incentive - www.taxsaver.ie

jasonh

just found this:

http://www.railusers.ie/campaigns/carparking/

Interesting about the luas allowing you to combine parking+rail so that you can avail of the tax saver scheme.

I wouldn't mind paying what i'm paying + the parking as part of a tax saver scheme - but what we have already is a very very poor service:

Trains (on average) are very rarely on time - most of the time a couple of minutes late, sometimes 15 minutes late. sometimes never turn up and have to get a bus.
If you are lucky their is an announcement, normally when its only a couple of minutes late. When its over 10 minutes you don't hear or see anything from the staff at Athenry.

The trains themselves are really old stock - run down - sometimes the heating isn't working - so you freeze to death going into Galway in the morning.

I don't understand why we have to use the old [EMAIL="cr@ppy"]cr@ppy[/EMAIL] trains on the main commuting times (8am Athenry - Galway and 6.05pm Galway to Athenry). If you get the 3 o'clock train you get the modern one - which isn't a locomotive and therefore doesn't need to be 'turned around' at Galway (which is one of the reasons for it leaving galway in the evenings late).

rant, rant, rant, sorry, rant over.

I'm just wondering if we should start a Athenry-Galway commuter user group or something.

J.

Mrs OBumble

Get a bicycle under the scheme announced in the budget, sure they won't charge you to park that!

Captain Darling

Its sucks to have to pay the extra cash for the week, but something had to be done because it was becoming increasingly difficult to actually get a parking space in the station. I think it was the only free car park in the town and it made rushing for a train absolute hell because there wasnt any parking spaces.

SalthillGuy

The bike shops should do good business for Christmas, given the tax break for those who leave the car at home in the new year.
There shuold be a free car park in a town like Athenry so that people can use the train.
I visited Dublin recently, parked at the Red Cow and got the Luas into the city centre. A great way to avoid the traffic. Better still, I made Athlone in an hour on the way home.

jasonh

There seems to be confusion about where the pay&display covers.
Reading their notice - it would suggest to me that it's only in the actual station car parks - (1 right next to station on the athenry side, a small bit next to the bottle recycling and the big car park next to the level crossing on the garda side).

If you parked opposite the recycling, next to what i think is the VEC house/agri thing - I don't think they can clamp you as its not on the CIE premises.

We could do with a map of p&d places are.

Jason

Captain Darling

True, the boundaries of the pay and display are funny, theres a shedload of people parking out the Monivea road, past the Tech, because the pay and display doesnt extend out that far. I got a ticket because my parking slip was three minutes out of date. Fairly bloody harsh, it has to be appealed in writing, but i dont think i'll bother because it'll probably get refused anyways.

I'm not too sure either about the pay and display limits for CIE either, you could be right about the place outside the VEC, but you're risking getting a ticket.

jasonh

Looks like alot of people are parking down the side of the bridge next to the VEC building.
Haven't seen anyone buying tickets yet!