Weekly/monthly commuter ticket for Athlone-Dublin train

DeadMoney

Hey, I am in college in Dublin and thinking of moving home to Athlone and commuting back and forth until May. Just trying to get an idea of the price of commuting from Athlone to Dublin on the Galway line but can't find anything on Iirsh rail website about commuter specials. I have also been hearing that Irish rail are running specials on fares lately so if if these are available to me, it might work out cheaper just paying the fare day by day.
Anyway would appreciate if anybody has any info or advice who commutes from this area.

Thanks

Chris_5339762

Thats a pretty brutal commute TBH, I'd stay in Dublin.

KC61

Monthly ticket from Athlone to Dublin is EUR 360.

L1011

Chris_5339762 wrote: »

Thats a pretty brutal commute TBH, I'd stay in Dublin.

It'd probably be liveable by car, albeit with mounting toll bills...

DeadMoney

KC61 wrote: »

Monthly ticket from Athlone to Dublin is EUR 360.

Wow thats rough! Is that a student rate? Would not be worth it as my monthly rent in Dublin is €380 and the whole idea of commuting from home is to SAVE money :rolleyes:. Perhaps the train might be a bit too luxurious and I should look in to the Bus instead.

dowlingm

Direct Link to Taxsaver Calculator

You guys are lucky - it's only recently we got tax rebates on passes in Canada and it's limited to 15%, which you get when you submit your tax return.

It would be interesting to know how much IE/BE gets in "hidden" subsidy through tax forgone.

DeadMoney

Chris_5339762 wrote: »

Thats a pretty brutal commute TBH, I'd stay in Dublin.

Yeah I know its a harsh enough commute but my course time table is pretty flexible this semester and its not like I am in lectures at 9am every day. In fact most of my starts are around noon to after lunch and I have the whole wednesday off each week. Am heading to new york for the summer to work so need to save some money badly. Also lost my old part time job in Dublin and can't seem to get another one. Bit of a sacrifice I know but plenty of students commute in Dublin so by no means impossible. I guess I am fortunate that I do not have a hectic time table as a lot of my course work is in assignments rather than lectures or labs.

JHMEG

dowlingm wrote: »

Direct Link to Taxsaver Calculator

Students don't pay tax tho..

Victor

JHMEG wrote: »

Students don't pay tax tho..

Well, actually, Deadmoney2 said they just lost their job.

Perhaps more correctly, you need a current employer to be a new user of the Taxsaver scheme.

dowlingm

sorry - missed that part. In Canada the tax credit is not linked to employment in any way, you just have to have enough taxable income to get back the 15% credit.

Deadmoney2, your best bet to price the journey would be to go through the online booking process until you get a price from that.

KC61

Deadmoney2 wrote: »

Wow thats rough! Is that a student rate? Would not be worth it as my monthly rent in Dublin is €380 and the whole idea of commuting from home is to SAVE money :rolleyes:. Perhaps the train might be a bit too luxurious and I should look in to the Bus instead.

No - that's an adult ticket - there *may* be a student commuter rate - I don't know.

The student return ticket is EUR 19.80 - so using that it would work out at EUR 316.80 in a four week month (assuming 4 returns per week) and EUR 396 in a 5 week month.

Bus Eireann Student Return is EUR 14.50 and a Student 10 Journey is EUR 65 - this is valid for one week only.

Citylink student returns are EUR 13.

munchkin_utd

JHMEG wrote: »

Students don't pay tax tho..

51 % of workers don't pay a single CENT of income tax either!!!

Still, its quite ironic that the ones that could best afford the full fare get half price, and the lower earners who could really do with cheaper tickets pay full price (or only get a 21% tax allowance)!!

JHMEG

munchkin_utd wrote: »

Still, its quite ironic that the ones that could best afford the full fare get half price,

They're also making a bigger contribution to social welfare and public service salaries, so I wouldn't begrudge the odd concession that makes it easier for them to work and pay tax.

OP, you haven't said where you're in college? You could save money by maybe moving out a bit into the burbs?

Cookie_Monster

Do you not value your time OP? I know it may save you a little money to commute from Athlone daily but surely its going to be 1.5-2 hours each way :eek:

If you place any value on your personal time its not worth it at all.

I used to work with a guy who commuted from Balinasloe to Dun Laoghaire daily :eek: mental

Victor

JHMEG wrote: »

They're also making a bigger contribution to social welfare and public service salaries, so I wouldn't begrudge the odd concession that makes it easier for them to work and pay tax.

But look at the sheer number and size of those concessions. Some people earning over €1m pay less than 5% income tax.

Also, the structure of the benefit (a percentage off the percentage price) hardly promotes efficient use of the transport system. Instead of a train making 2-3 peak time trips from Maynooth, its making one from Longford.

OP, you haven't said where you're in college? You could save money by maybe moving out a bit into the burbs?

Again, potentially time & cost of travel. Location dependent of course.

Cookie_Monster wrote: »

I used to work with a guy who commuted from Balinasloe to Dun Laoghaire daily :eek: mental

By helicopter? :eek:

munchkin_utd

What about the giant hop for dublin surburban services?
Does it cover Athlone? I cant for the life of me find a map of where is included

It's the one proper integrated ticketing scheme (well.. bus rail in cork too..) and you would swear that CIE was trying to hide it.

DeadMoney

Cookie_Monster wrote: »

Do you not value your time OP? I know it may save you a little money to commute from Athlone daily but surely its going to be 1.5-2 hours each way :eek:

If you place any value on your personal time its not worth it at all.

I used to work with a guy who commuted from Balinasloe to Dun Laoghaire daily :eek: mental

I am 23 and all my friends are finished college so I never go out on college nites any more, only the odd weekends, so not like I am missing my college experience. Been in college before and done the whole partying every second nite thing, just there now for my degree. Mon-Fri I'm doing pretty much nothing only going to college for a few hours most days and hanging around my house watching movies or on the internet (ha, great life eh? Not really). Heading to New York for the summer so absolutely have to save some money to get myself set up over there while looking for a job, accomodation etc.

Moving home would eliminate rent costs, largely cut down food expences, and utility bills. Whilst it will still cost a bit to commute each week, it will be at least €100 less than my usual weekly spend. Don't really have any choice in the matter at this stage anyway as I cannot ask my parents to supplement me each week and my bank balance is shrinking fast since I left my job. I figure its a few months of heart ache commuting but will be certainly be worth it when June rolls in and I am off to the states.

Cookie_Monster

Victor wrote: »

By helicopter? :eek:

Train-Luas-DART

DeadMoney

Cookie_Monster wrote: »

Train-Luas-DART

Yeah thats rough. Plenty of people commute to college you know. Its not all that shocking although this would be one of the more extreme commutes. In my course the people I have seen that commute tend to be from Kildare, Drogheda, Meath areas. The thing is I have often met people in college who are from parts of Dublin and their commute is around 2 hours each way. Thats pretty much how long my commute will take from home, although I'll have to factor in getting the bus to DCU from o'connell street which will add another 30-40mins easily.

JHMEG

Deadmoney2 wrote: »

I'll have to factor in getting the bus to DCU from o'connell street which will add another 30-40mins easily.

This is where the burbs could make sense. I know a lot of students live along the Maynooth suburban line and get off at Drumcondra station to catch a bus outside the door.

JHMEG

Victor wrote: »

But look at the sheer number and size of those concessions. Some people earning over €1m pay less than 5% income tax.

People on over a million don't use the train, so can't avail of the tax saver.

Victor wrote: »

Also, the structure of the benefit (a percentage off the percentage price) hardly promotes efficient use of the transport system. Instead of a train making 2-3 peak time trips from Maynooth, its making one from Longford.

That's as much to do with bad planning and no spatial strategy. Why penalise people further who were forced to buy a house in Longford as that's all they could afford?

A (good) few hughrise biuldings in Dublin city centre and poeple wouldn't have had to move so far out. But the powers that be wanted to preserve the Dublin skyline, which ironically consisted of cranes and little else.

DeadMoney

JHMEG wrote: »

This is where the burbs could make sense. I know a lot of students live along the Maynooth suburban line and get off at Drumcondra station to catch a bus outside the door.

Yeah at the moment I live in Drumcondra so I get the bus from the station also. What is this suburban line though, I have never heard of it?

monument

Deadmoney2 wrote: »

Yeah thats rough. Plenty of people commute to college you know. Its not all that shocking although this would be one of the more extreme commutes. In my course the people I have seen that commute tend to be from Kildare, Drogheda, Meath areas. The thing is I have often met people in college who are from parts of Dublin and their commute is around 2 hours each way. Thats pretty much how long my commute will take from home, although I'll have to factor in getting the bus to DCU from o'connell street which will add another 30-40mins easily.

Somebody actually told you that they commute two hours each way to DCU and they claimed they live in Dublin? Do they walk two hours?

DeadMoney

monument wrote: »

Somebody actually told you that they commute two hours each way to DCU and they claimed they live in Dublin? Do they walk two hours?

Lol, yeah maybe they just walked. I'm guessing that if you lived in some random part of Dublin such as way over on the south side and you were looking to get to DCU, it might take a while if you had to hop on different buses. 2 hours each way seems liek a bit of a stretch alrite and perhaps they meant on certain days such as rush hour or something. Sure it often takes me like 40 mins getting from DCU back to croke park waiting for busses some times and thats only down the road.

KevR

Deadmoney2, do you have a driving licence? Could you get insured on your parents car (if they have one; if they have one that they wouldn't need at the times you'd be in college)? I'm sure it would be cheaper and quicker to drive if there is any way of making that happen.

I don't think Athlone-Dublin is the worst commute in the world. I spent 5 months last year commuting Galway-Athlone daily. There was no motorway from Galway to Athlone at the time so it usually took me an hour and 20 or an hour and 30 mins each way at peak times. I could have taken the train, it would have taken a bit longer than driving (walking to/from the stations at both ends) but it worked out too expensive compared to driving. I'm quite lucky that my Dad has a van for work so I was able to use his car.

DeadMoney

KevR wrote: »

Deadmoney2, do you have a driving licence? Could you get insured on your parents car (if they have one; if they have one that they wouldn't need at the times you'd be in college)? I'm sure it would be cheaper and quicker to drive if there is any way of making that happen.

I don't think Athlone-Dublin is the worst commute in the world. I spent 5 months last year commuting Galway-Athlone daily. There was no motorway from Galway to Athlone at the time so it usually took me an hour and 20 or an hour and 30 mins each way at peak times. I could have taken the train, it would have taken a bit longer than driving (walking to/from the stations at both ends) but it worked out too expensive compared to driving. I'm quite lucky that my Dad has a van for work so I was able to use his car.

No, I'm afraid I've no car, no licence, and I can't even drive :rolleyes:. Think the bus is the only option as it is the most affordable. The train is too expensive but I will probably need to use it during exams in May as some might have a 9:30am start and therefore I can get the early bird. I guess the one advantage the bus has over the train is that bus eireann ones drop you off right on o'connell st so I won't need the Luas up and down to Hueston every day. The citylink buses might even go past drumcondra station, not sure yet though how frequent they are retruning home, where as Bus eireann are on the hour.

KevR

City Link drops and collects at Burgh Quay which is just off O'Connell Street/Bridge. It's only a short walk to the bus stop for Drumcondra on O'Connell Street.

City Link timetable here. They go almost every hour.

Shocking that Atlone-Dublin on the bus is only 20 mins quicker than Galway-Dublin. There's a non-stop service from Galway, not Athlone unfortunately. I think some of the non-stop services should make a stop in Athlone; especially the less busy services. If timetabled correctly, people could interchange between the non-stop and multi-stop services in Athlone.

KevR

Deadmoney2 wrote: »

The citylink buses might even go past drumcondra station.

From my experience, some City Link buses to Dublin Airport will go via Drumcondra after stopping in the City Centre. They usually only do it if traffic is very light and if the bus is slightly ahead of schedule. The majority of the time they use the Port Tunnel.

You can ask the driver which way he's going and if he is going through Drumcondra ask if he would stop to let you quickly jump off there. If not, you'll have to get another bus from O'Connell Street. On the way home you'll always have to go to Burgh Quay as I can't see them doing a collection in Drumcondra even if they are passing through there.

DeadMoney

KevR wrote: »

City Link drops and collects at Burgh Quay which is just off O'Connell Street/Bridge. It's only a short walk to the bus stop for Drumcondra on O'Connell Street.

City Link timetable here. They go almost every hour.

Shocking that Atlone-Dublin on the bus is only 20 mins quicker than Galway-Dublin. There's a non-stop service from Galway, not Athlone unfortunately. I think some of the non-stop services should make a stop in Athlone; especially the less busy services. If timetabled correctly, people could interchange between the non-stop and multi-stop services in Athlone.

Thanks for this Kev. Yeah it looks like this might be a better option than bus eireann. I always find that bus eireann buses never run on time from Athlone to Dublin and I am usually standing at the station in Athlone for about 20mins. Hopefully city link are a bit more accurate. Student day return is €13 with citylink which is pretty good also.

DeadMoney

KevR wrote: »

From my experience, some City Link buses to Dublin Airport will go via Drumcondra after stopping in the City Centre. They usually only do it if traffic is very light and if the bus is slightly ahead of schedule. The majority of the time they use the Port Tunnel.

Yeah i'm pretty sure I see the citylink pass by Drumcondra station pretty often when I am waiting for buses to DCU. I guess I could just check with the driver as you said.

KevR

Deadmoney2 wrote: »

Thanks for this Kev. Yeah it looks like this might be a better option than bus eireann. I always find that bus eireann buses never run on time from Athlone to Dublin and I am usually standing at the station in Athlone for about 20mins. Hopefully city link are a bit more accurate. Student day return is €13 with citylink which is pretty good also.

You can get it a lot cheaper than that if you book in advance online (as far as I know). You have to book single tickets (standard fare, not student) to get the really cheap fare though, it doesn't work with return tickets.

I just picked Wednesday 17th of March as a random date for advance fares. The 10:25 Athlone to Dublin is €13 single, would get a return for that price..
But the 11:25, 12:25 and 13:25 services are only €1 single if you book in advance!
Coming back in the evening, the 16:00, 17:00, 19:00 and 22:00 services are €1 single, all other services are normal price.

There is only a very limited number of very cheap seats on each service. You need to book well in advance to get the cheapest fares on the busier services. For the quieter services you might get away with booking it a fair bit closer to the date of travel.

For days you know definite times of travel you should definitely look into booking tickets in advance. Better off leaving it for any days which you are unsure what time you will be travelling. Also, when buying return tickets at the normal price, buy an Open Return (different from a Day Return). That way you can use the Return part of the ticket any time within the next 30 days. If you're clever and use a combination of single tickets and open returns (bought from both ends), you should be able to commute to Dublin from Athlone for a very reasonable price.

DeadMoney

Thanks again mate, some excellent advice!

munchkin_utd

whats all this tricking with singles left right and centre?
Monthly city link ticket:

€159.60 Any point - Dublin City

http://www.citylink.ie/monthlytickets.php

DeadMoney

munchkin_utd wrote: »

whats all this tricking with singles left right and centre?
Monthly city link ticket:

http://www.citylink.ie/monthlytickets.php

Thats great value, cheers!

JHMEG

Deadmoney2 wrote: »

Yeah at the moment I live in Drumcondra so I get the bus from the station also. What is this suburban line though, I have never heard of it?

Hold on, you get the bus from outside the station? Next time you're there go into the station and have a look.

KevR

munchkin_utd wrote: »

whats all this tricking with singles left right and centre?
Monthly city link ticket:

http://www.citylink.ie/monthlytickets.php

Didn't even know they had these! It works out at €4 per single journey if you make 5 return journeys every week. That's brilliant value and takes the hassle out of booking in advance.