Limerick-Galway Passenger Headcount Thread

Transportuser09

DWCommuter wrote: »

You have a more defined "hang up" about your perceived hangs ups of others. All of the issues you raise are easily explained. What you cannot accept is that remarks made here by others are based on years of experience in either/or/all the areas you raised. To know that you would had to have done your research.;)

You asked me what I found unobjective on this site. I gave you my answer. I don't doubt there are people on here who have experience in these areas, that includes new posters as well as old.

dowlingm

If a 22K set, a 192 seat 100mph set of hardware (or two of them) are to be committed to this line, it has to be able to deliver these sorts of loads consistently. Empty trains bring the rail option into disrepute given the 300m Euro subsidy they receive from the taxpayer and the lack of capacity elsewhere in the system.

In fairness, I'd be more willing to believe Connaught Ranger than IE - they fudge numbers on stuff like punctuality until they are caught out.

DWCommuter

steamengine wrote: »

You misunderstood me - I was merely pointing out what your good at - blowing your own trumpet !!! :rolleyes:

No I got it alright. I was merely pointing out that you missed it. That could be because you were too young at the time or not interested. Therefore you couldn't begin to appreciate the difference between talking the talk on an internet forum or actually walking the walk in real life.

Transportuser09

dowlingm wrote: »

If a 22K set, a 192 seat 100mph set of hardware (or two of them) are to be committed to this line, it has to be able to deliver these sorts of loads consistently.

I'd agree. The journey time on the route would seem to be similar to that on Dublin Commuter routes to Longford/Arklow, some of which still use Commuter type railcar sets. So it does make sense to keep the 22000s on the existing routes that have already well estabhlished passenger numbers. That said I would say if the line does prove to be a good revenue earner then maybe (subject to set availability) 22000s should be considered, but not at the expense of routes with an existing high userbase. There is of course also the argument that the reasonably high comfort standards offered by a 22000 might attract more customers, but with a limited amount of sets it should not come at the expense of other services.

steamengine

DWCommuter wrote: »

No I got it alright. I was merely pointing out that you missed it. That could be because you were too young at the time or not interested. Therefore you couldn't begin to appreciate the difference between talking the talk on an internet forum or actually walking the walk in real life.

My difficulty is, and always has been - singing to other people's hymnsheets, especially when lyrics are a load of subjective codswallop. With all your 'so called years of experience' , I would frankly expect you to be way more objective than unfortunately you appear to be !!!

dowlingm

get a room you too. At this stage in a movie fight,the romantic music is cresting and surely the passionate liplock is next.

steamengine

dowlingm wrote: »

get a room you too. At this stage in a movie fight,the romantic music is cresting and surely the passionate liplock is next.

..............handbags at dawn unfortunately, I'll skip the highlighted bit though if you don't mind !!!

DWCommuter

steamengine wrote: »

My difficulty is, and always has been - singing to other people's hymnsheets, especially when lyrics are a load of subjective codswallop. With all your 'so called years of experience' , I would frankly expect you to be way more objective than unfortunately you appear to be !!!

Well I think thats a little unfair.

Cant find the exact thread, but I am on record here as saying that I will be the first to own to being wrong, if the WRC turns out to be a success. So I've just said it again.

I don't believe it will be, but I'll hold my hands up if it is. Thats called having some semblence of credibility. For now though I'll stick to a particular hymnsheet and rip it up if it turns out to be the wrong tune.

DWCommuter

Victor wrote: »

Perhaps you might lay off the hyperbole (but feel free to pass some of your ideas to DW's film making).

I don't think its very becoming of a mod to reference someone else and their work while chastising another poster. Or maybe you just forgot the smiley?

steamengine

DWCommuter wrote: »

Well I think thats a little unfair.

Cant find the exact thread, but I am on record here as saying that I will be the first to own to being wrong, if the WRC turns out to be a success. So I've just said it again.

I don't believe it will be, but I'll hold my hands up if it is. Thats called having some semblence of credibility. For now though I'll stick to a particular hymnsheet and rip it up if it turns out to be the wrong tune.

Ok, fair enough comment - there was no malice intended - just blowing off steam - home signal is down (semaphore type) - regulator open - proceeding to the next mile post on the WRC !

Tadhg17

There was 27 people on the 12:05 train on Sunday from Galway-Limerick that came into Ennis.

I Got on the 12:40 train from Limerick-Galway in Ennis
There was 15 people getting on in Ennis, mixture of OAP's and families
55 roughly already on the train from Limerick, 16 got off in Ennis
Gort-4 got off and 13 got on
Ardrahan-nobody got off and 2 got on
Craughwell-1 got off and 4 got on
Athenry-2 got off in Athenry and roughly 30 got on

Got the 18:40 Galway-Limerick train back to Ennis
Leaving Galway-38 on the train
Athenry-3 got off and 6 got on
Nobody got on or off in Craughwell or Ardrahan
Gort-6 got off and nobody got on
Ennis-16 got off and 2 got on

The 18:30 Limerick-Galway train passed us in Gort-there was 4 on it
The 18:40 Galway-Limerick train arrived into Ardrahan 5 mins early and waited there the 5 mins. Arrived into Gort 5 mins early and had to wait 5 mins for the Limerick train to come in. Seemed to be alot of water at the side of the tracks and also in fields near the tracks in south county Galway. there was quite alot of families on day trips going to Galway from Limerick and coming back. There was no ticket inspectors on either train journeys.

westtip

I think there could be more threads counting passengers on boards.ie than there are passengers on this line

I am beginning to think all this analysis of how many grannies are travelling on the WRC on a daily basis is hilarious- No matter the outcome, we all know WOT will be positive about any number of people travelling on the
WRC; and most of us with a brain know that the numbers quoted last week at the opening of 300,000 have a snowflakes chance in hell of happening. The most important numbers are:

What we need to know are How many paying passengers are using:

The "inter-city" (between towns) route of Limerick to Galway and vice versa, ie getting on in Limerick/Galway and making the entire journey

How many commuters have been added to the route north of Ennis going to Galway and indeed south of Athenry how many new fare paying commuters have been added going to Limerick.

Total numbers using the line will have to exclude the extant numbers that already use the Ennis - Limerick commuter route (WOT will fold them all together), the extension north to Athenry has not changed their lives one iota.

And to a certain degree allowances will have to be made to exclude some of the numbers using the extant services from Athenry to Galway (a route that was used before the extension was opened) - Of course WOT will include all these and probably try to fold in the numbers sitting on a Dublin -Galway train for the section of their journey from Athenry to Galway.

Lies Lies Lies and dam statistics, we are going to have to be very wary of WOT get up to in massaging the truth.

How many people are now actrually using the line between Athenry and Ennis is at the core of the issue and number counting

I read an interesting post on one of the semingly growing number of WRC threads the other day would the money not have been better spent on upgrading the Dublin Galway line - well what good point. In particular in light of the growing coach competition on the M6. Too late now - but double tracking to Athlone, and increasing train speeds and frequencies, improving the road link along the Claremorris - Ennis north south access to make it quicker to get to this fast east - west rail route May, just may have been money better spent.

My thought for the day closed - now I have to copy paste this post to the WRC thread.

Life was much easier before the one and onlyl true thread was closed down by the thought police.

rainbowdash

Just back from dropping 2 grandparents and 4 grandkids at sixmilebridge. About 30:eek: got on there, I nearly died. Train from Limerick was well busy already. I reckon it will be full before Athenry.

Downside is it is family groups and only one cummuter type to be seen.

Already it is obvious that there is a market for family groups going to Galway. Irish rail and the tourist people need to get their ass in gear for the summer. Properly bundled train and hotel deals from Limerick, Cork and Waterford would be a huge winner.

DWCommuter

rainbowdash wrote: »

Just back from dropping 2 grandparents and 4 grandkids at sixmilebridge. About 30:eek: got on there, I nearly died. Train from Limerick was well busy already. I reckon it will be full before Athenry.

Downside is it is family groups and only one cummuter type to be seen.

Already it is obvious that there is a market for family groups going to Galway. Irish rail and the tourist people need to get their ass in gear for the summer. Properly bundled train and hotel deals from Limerick, Cork and Waterford would be a huge winner.

Once the school hoildays are over and the novelty factor wears off, only then will a true picture emerge. We picked a bad week to have discussions on its success or failure.

FlameoftheWest

Already it is obvious that there is a market for family groups going to Galway. Irish rail and the tourist people need to get their ass in gear for the summer. Properly bundled train and hotel deals from Limerick, Cork and Waterford would be a huge winner.

Translation: The Western Rail Corridor cannot function without an artificial life support system(S) to keep it alive. Not just the massive subsidy, but a whole pleathora of government incentives to create an illusion of demand...

Gee, what happened to WestonTrack's "crucial infrastructure".

Tell you what. Why don't publicans and beer producers get their asses in gear and give away almost free booze in pubs. There would be a huge market for this!

Mad little country this.

Zoney

The response by many commentators on here to the provision of an *intercity* railway service between two not insignificant cities (in an Irish context) with an intermediate destination the size of Sligo, is I would suggest, hard to support. All the more so when at both ends of the rail link, it supplements public transport commuter services.

There are plenty of grounds for critiquing how the service should be better run, also where else needs rail services, as well as the poor argument for opening north of Athenry, but that does not in any way provide a logical basis for denouncing the existence of the current service.

It's also rather damning that these commentators see the need to spam the boards with multiple threads of junk that do nothing but divert attention from genuine commuting and transport topics. At most, the Limerick-Galway service deserves one topic, and the politics of the "WRC" deserves one other. Plus there's a thread on infrastructure for "concrete" issues

Quite frankly I make no distinction between such commentators and those who want railway to Knock or Donegal - they are merely two opposite extremes. Why such attention is given to the latter category by the former, I don't know! Better to spend the time making as much noise as they do about issues you see as more worthy!

rainbowdash

FlameoftheWest wrote: »

Translation: The Western Rail Corridor cannot function without an artificial life support system(S) to keep it alive. Not just the massive subsidy, but a whole pleathora of government incentives to create an illusion of demand...

Gee, what happened to WestonTrack's "crucial infrastructure".

Tell you what. Why don't publicans and beer producers get their asses in gear and give away almost free booze in pubs. There would be a huge market for this!

Mad little country this.

Maybe I am imagining things but I seem to recall Irish Rail running GAA match specials, opera specials, RAG trains, even freight trains over the years. If there is a market for train and hotel holidays why not exploit it?

Who said anything about xtra government incentives.

Ever heard of a package holiday?

dowlingm

rainbowdash wrote: »

Maybe I am imagining things but I seem to recall Irish Rail running GAA match specials, opera specials, RAG trains, even freight trains over the years. If there is a market for train and hotel holidays why not exploit it?

Who said anything about xtra government incentives.

Ever heard of a package holiday?

As IWT has shown, if someone else fronts the cash and buys capacity IE can get a lot of things done. IE themselves can't be all things to all people. Someone should ask Bord Failte why they don't leverage IE, and not expect IE to be a tourist authority.

KevR

Galway are playing down in Thurles on the 2nd of May in the NHL Final. Galway-Thurles used to take over 4 hours on the train - you had to go via Portarlington I think.

It's only 3 hours now via Limerick. It could be decent travel option for people going to the match. Depends on start time of the match though as the last train back to Limerick Jn leaves Thurles at 17:18. If the match starts late in the afternoon then the train won't be an option for people.

According to the website €54 adult return, €35 student and €26 child. Yikes @ the adult price!! :eek:

KevR

€54 is if you buy the ticket all in one. You could buy a €20 day return Galway-Limerick and a €24.50 return Limerick-Thurles. You'd save €9.50 by buying seperately. Only problem is you only have 12 mins between trains in Limerick - if there was a queue at the ticket/office/machines you could be in trouble..

westtip

DWCommuter wrote: »

Once the school hoildays are over and the novelty factor wears off, only then will a true picture emerge. We picked a bad week to have discussions on its success or failure.

Derek you have it in one - the excitement is just too much to bear though and the kids are difficult to entertain in the Easter holidays so packing them all off on the train for the novelty makes a lot of sense, its like when a new restaurant opens in town everyone goes to it .....

3 months later everyone is wondering why it has just closed down, when so many people were in it in the first few weeks - the novelty factor is very short term....lets see how many are on the train on a wet tuesday in october - now that will be the test of reality.

BenShermin

KevR wrote: »

€54 is if you buy the ticket all in one. You could buy a €20 day return Galway-Limerick and a €24.50 return Limerick-Thurles. You'd save €9.50 by buying seperately. Only problem is you only have 12 mins between trains in Limerick - if there was a queue at the ticket/office/machines you could be in trouble..

:rolleyes: That's a bloody joke.

Over the weekend I had to use three different train companies in the UK to complete one journey. I was able to get ONE ticket for the entire journey over the internet and I had no problem collecting my ticket at the station on departure.

Irish Rail is ONE company and yet I can't buy an online ticket from Dublin to Gort nor can I buy a ticket from Cork to Gort.

How can serveral rail companies in the UK work together to provide intergrated ticketing to the customer and yet in Ireland where there is only one rail company they still haven't completed their online ticketing systems.

I know I'm going off track a little bit but if I (a paying customer, not a DFSA pass holder) can't even purchase an online ticket from the capital city to somewhere on the WRC then it's no wonder why the WRC will be a failure!

KevR

It's not just the fact that you can't buy one single ticket for certain journeys online that annoys me. You can check web fares online for some journeys but can't find out what the fare is if you buy at the station right before you travel. You have to phone the station to find out.

westtip

Mate I couldn't get a ticket from Colooney to Greystones recently - had to buy a ticket to Connolly then go off to the dart ticket sales and get a ticket there. You are right - you should in theoy be able to walk into any railway station and get a ticket to any destination on the network from that station - it ain't rocket science - mind IE have only had over half a century to work it out.

Victor

westtip wrote: »

you should in theoy be able to walk into any railway station and get a ticket to any destination on the network from that station

You can. The problem is training. The ticket machine in Sligo is exactly the same as the one in Connolly, its just the staff don't know or aren't bothered to find out how to issue the ticket. Staff know about the usual tickets they issue, but don't know about the rarer tickets.

Buying a ticket Sligo-Greystones is possibly much more expensive than Sligo-Connolly and Connolly-Greystones separately.

The solution for Galway-Thurles is to buy all your tickets in Galway and/or for Irish Rail to run a special if there is enough demand. Note that a lot of people in East Galway would drive or use club coaches via Portumna. http://maps.google.com/maps?f=d&source=s_d&saddr=galway&daddr=thurles%23&hl=en&geocode=FcXkLAMdfOF1_ynxGzM06ZZbSDFQczGXqccACg%3BFUrXIwMdmsKI_yl9Z9eE6sRcSDGVxcduNDJLBw&mra=mr&sll=53.057723,-8.146362&sspn=0.922744,2.897644&ie=UTF8&z=9

JHMEG

Victor wrote: »

You can. The problem is training. The ticket machine in Sligo is exactly the same as the one in Connolly, its just the staff don't know or aren't bothered to find out how to issue the ticket. Staff know about the usual tickets they issue, but don't know about the rarer tickets.

Is it not that they don't know the 3-digit station code and can't find it on the chart?

KevR

Victor wrote: »

You can. The problem is training. The ticket machine in Sligo is exactly the same as the one in Connolly, its just the staff don't know or aren't bothered to find out how to issue the ticket. Staff know about the usual tickets they issue, but don't know about the rarer tickets.

Buying a ticket Sligo-Greystones is possibly much more expensive than Sligo-Connolly and Connolly-Greystones separately.

The solution for Galway-Thurles is to buy all your tickets in Galway and/or for Irish Rail to run a special if there is enough demand.

Thanks, that explains a lot! Just to confirm - you could buy Galway-Limerick and Limerick-Thurles in Galway but you'd have to specifically ask for the 2 tickets seperately or else they will sell you the more expensive single ticket?

Seems crazy that if you buy Galway-Thurles as one ticket you would pay more than buying 2 seperate tickets. It's all the one company/operator - you would think that their ticket pricing would be better planned than this..

FlameoftheWest

rainbowdash wrote: »

Maybe I am imagining things but I seem to recall Irish Rail running GAA match specials, opera specials, RAG trains, even freight trains over the years. If there is a market for train and hotel holidays why not exploit it?

Who said anything about xtra government incentives.

Ever heard of a package holiday?

You are missing the point. According the WOT this line has so much demand it stands on it own. Apparently take away the novelty factor, grannies and 1970's rail holiday throwbacks and it's a complete turkey.

Also why has this mundane and mostly pointless strectch of track between Ennis and Athenry become some kind of religion? A sacred, infalliable railway which is filled with magical leprecaurn delights coupled with every kind of salvation possible for anyone who looks upon it's glory? This one I am still trying to figure out.

How come other rail lines in the country do not have this same "allure"? I do not get it.

dowlingm

FlameoftheWest wrote: »

Also why has this mundane and mostly pointless strectch of track between Ennis and Athenry become some kind of religion? A sacred, infalliable railway which is filled with magical leprecaurn delights coupled with every kind of salvation possible for anyone who looks upon it's glory? This one I am still trying to figure out.

How come other rail lines in the country do not have this same "allure"? I do not get it.

If you think this is about allure, you haven't heard the WOTters and spotters talk in reverence of the holy Burma Road...

lord lucan

FlameoftheWest wrote: »

You are missing the point. According the WOT this line has so much demand it stands on it own. Apparently take away the novelty factor, grannies and 1970's rail holiday throwbacks and it's a complete turkey.

Also why has this mundane and mostly pointless strectch of track between Ennis and Athenry become some kind of religion? A sacred, infalliable railway which is filled with magical leprecaurn delights coupled with every kind of salvation possible for anyone who looks upon it's glory? This one I am still trying to figure out.

How come other rail lines in the country do not have this same "allure"? I do not get it.

Check out : http://www.westontrack.com/ ,it's a good laugh. Go to the archive section,there's some gems there.:)

And i love the 22K on the top of the page!:D

lord lucan

And while you're at it have a gander at this video : http://www.youtube.com/user/westernrail.

Check out the rail freight video on the top right of the page too!:D:D

FlameoftheWest

dowlingm wrote: »

If you think this is about allure, you haven't heard the WOTters and spotters talk in reverence of the holy Burma Road...

Oh I have. There is even a song about it.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vdEnxNog56E

FlameoftheWest

lord lucan wrote: »

And while you're at it have a gander at this video : http://www.youtube.com/user/westernrail.

Check out the rail freight video on the top right of the page too!:D:D

Post Climategate and the whole Man Made Global Warming thing being exposed as a gigantic fraud watching EcoEye now is like watching them shows on RTE hosted by priests and nuns back in the 1970's.

How a few Russian hackers can change everything.

Also why is the Wallpaper of the WoT youtube channel some kind of city?

Also accroding to Duncan Stewart on one segment Ballyguinlin is a "desenly populated village" - WTF!

rainbowdash

Well, since this is the headcount thread, the report from the west this evening is that due to a technical fault only 2 carraiges turned up for the 17.25 Ex. Galway. All the kids had to double up on seats and even at that there were passengers standing to Ennis.

Additional feedback is that there seemed to be more of a commuter type crowd on the evening train.

Transportuser09

rainbowdash wrote: »

Well, since this is the headcount thread, the report from the west this evening is that due to a technical fault only 2 carraiges turned up for the 17.25 Ex. Galway. All the kids had to double up on seats and even at that there were passengers standing to Ennis.

Sounds like usage is growing well.

Transportuser09

Victor wrote: »

Buying a ticket Sligo-Greystones is possibly much more expensive than Sligo-Connolly and Connolly-Greystones separately.

I could be wrong, but I think this might have something to do with the 'day saver' fare system, which appears to be geared towards promoting travel on a particular route. For example, the day saver fare for stations between Dublin and Rosslare would be cheaper than the 'normal' fare which technically exists but isn't normally used. However, if you're travelling between two different routes the fare is calculated at the normal fare rather than the day saver one, thus potentially more expensive than buying two seperate tickets for each route.

MusicMonkey

A couple of months back, I heard an economist saying that the Western Rail Corridor was a waste of money, as why would people need a train that runs the same route as national primary routes. The argument being that if the train line wasn't upgraded the money would've gone into the roads. Not everybody wants to be forced into their cars to drive everywhere. In what other country in Europe do you see a train service that doesn't even run from the North to the South of the country, or is it a case of "all trains must lead to Dublin", or they're a waste of money?

At least the opening of the Ennis to Athenry portion of the line is the start of some much needed proper connectivity for the Mid-West and the West.

Since when did the elderly and/or families not class as suitable for inclusion in the head count? I am open to correction on this, but in any of the marketing which was done for this line I didn't see it being marketed as strictly a "commuter service"! I'm taking my first trip on Saturday, the first of many I hope, from Ennis to Galway. I don't plan on being a daily commuter, but I certainly will be a regular user, does that discount my travel for statistical analysis?

And yes, there is an opening in the market for packaged train tickets, linked to connecting bus services for concerts, GAA matches, race meetings, tourist attractions, hotel deals etc. It's a matter of being imaginative in how it's marketed.

Transportuser09

MusicMonkey wrote: »

At least the opening of the Ennis to Athenry portion of the line is the start of some much needed proper connectivity for the Mid-West and the West.

Since when did the elderly and/or families not class as suitable for inclusion in the head count?

Exactly.

L1011

Transportuser09 wrote: »

Exactly.

When the elderly start paying for tickets, they'll count...

rainbowdash

DWCommuter wrote: »

Once the school hoildays are over and the novelty factor wears off, only then will a true picture emerge. We picked a bad week to have discussions on its success or failure.

Well theres a few months of summer holidays coming up, and, there will be overseas tourists around (hopefully) so I would not expect a total collapse in numbers for a while yet.

Sponge Bob

http://www.galwayindependent.com/letters/letters/rail-transport-should-be-quicker-and-cheaper/

Rail transport should be quicker and cheaper
Wednesday, 07 April 2010

Dear Editor,
The recent celebrations over the reopening of the so-called Galway-Limerick Railway line (Ennis-Athenry in fact) is laughable, as this project will not create one long term real (i.e. profitable) job or save anybody any money.

Two and a half hours in a train for a journey that can be done in one hour is not value for money and the price of a ticket (€37 one way) is dearer than the amount of petrol or diesel needed to make a return journey by private car.



Rail transport is fine, but to encourage motorists to make the switch, it should surely be at least as quick and cheaper than by car?


Le meas,
Padraig O Tuama,
Springfield Court,
Castlebar,
Co Mayo

Transportuser09

MYOB wrote: »

When the elderly start paying for tickets, they'll count...

They've paid their taxes for years, I wouldn't begrudge them the free travel. Anyway, it still shows that the line can be of use to people... Theres a saying that in Ireland we know the price of everything but the value of nothing.

Transportuser09

Sponge Bob wrote: »

http://www.galwayindependent.com/letters/letters/rail-transport-should-
Two and a half hours in a train for a journey that can be done in one hour is not value for money and the price of a ticket (€37 one way) is dearer than the amount of petrol or diesel needed to make a return journey by private car.

Maybe so, but if you look at the bigger picture rail is far cheaper; you just have to buy your ticket; no need to worry about insurance, tax, fuel, cost of car, etc... Of course this is really only appliable to those living near enough to a station to not need a car, but its a valid argument all the same.

lord lucan

Transportuser09 wrote: »

They've paid their taxes for years, I wouldn't begrudge them the free travel. Anyway, it still shows that the line can be of use to people... Theres a saying that in Ireland we know the price of everything but the value of nothing.

I don't think anyone begrudges the elderly their free travel,it's more a case of them being used as stats to justify the usage of the service despite them not buying a ticket.

Transportuser09

lord lucan wrote: »

I don't think anyone begrudges the elderly their free travel,it's more a case of them being used as stats to justify the usage of the service despite them not buying a ticket.

I see where you're coming from. What I meant was theres clearly a demand for the service. The OAP issue is not one restricted to the WRC. Theres indications on this thread that it is not just OAPs that are using it. Anyway its not even two weeks open and could further grow and prosper yet.

DWCommuter

Transportuser09 wrote: »

Exactly.

Give it a few weeks to settle down and then look at the numbers.

Im not a fan of the line, but Im prepared to wait for the "reality" before conclusions can be drawn.

I think this thread has been subsumed by a pro and anti point scoring exercise that is ill informed.

I remember when the DART opened. The trains were packed for weeks, then it all suddenly died off and settled into normal usage patterns.

Even the Luas suffered from the same disjointed passenger numbers. First few weeks - mental. Then it all became normal and 10 people waiting to get on at the Square was common instead of the 100 in the first few weeks.

Time is the proven format for anything. Im still convinced that this line will not live up to expectations. But I will hold my final judgement until it settles into an "actual" way of life for people. If it proves to be a disappointment, I'll say, "I told you so". If it proves to be a success, I'll say, "I was wrong". But this pitiful numbers game here and on other sites is pathetic after a week of operation. Nothing thats said on the internet will change numbers on the WRC trains. It will be what its ultimately meant to be.

So wait.

JHMEG

My understanding is the elderly (and other free travel pass holders) get their fares paid by someone else, namely the Dept of Social Welfare? Making them as valid as anyone else who contributes to IE's bottom line?

paulm17781

JHMEG wrote: »

My understanding is the elderly (and other free travel pass holders) get their fares paid by someone else, namely the Dept of Social Welfare? Making them as valid as anyone else who contributes to IE's bottom line?

Is that the same view the Department of Finance will take? :rolleyes:

KC61

Sponge Bob wrote: »

http://www.galwayindependent.com/letters/letters/rail-transport-should-be-quicker-and-cheaper/

Rail transport should be quicker and cheaper
Wednesday, 07 April 2010

Dear Editor,
The recent celebrations over the reopening of the so-called Galway-Limerick Railway line (Ennis-Athenry in fact) is laughable, as this project will not create one long term real (i.e. profitable) job or save anybody any money.

Two and a half hours in a train for a journey that can be done in one hour is not value for money and the price of a ticket (€37 one way) is dearer than the amount of petrol or diesel needed to make a return journey by private car.



Rail transport is fine, but to encourage motorists to make the switch, it should surely be at least as quick and cheaper than by car?


Le meas,
Padraig O Tuama,
Springfield Court,
Castlebar,
Co Mayo

That train really should be shown as two separate services - i.e. 0600 Limerick/Ennis and 0705 Ennis/Galway as the 2.5 hours is somewhat misleading given the reasons for it.

lucernarian

paulm17781 wrote: »

Is that the same view the Department of Finance will take? :rolleyes:

I must respectfully disagree. DSFA pass holders will add to the numbers using the train and Irish Rail will benefit from that like every other route and company does when they sign up to the Free Travel Scheme. The amount of money contributed to a given route by the DFSA is not directly an issue for the Dept. of Finance. It's part of Govt. social policy for the last 20-odd years. Why would it be a problem if significant numbers of travel pass holders use a particular route? I would assume that you wouldn't call for other routes to be closed simply because high numbers of travel pass customers use them.

The money provided to the dept's scheme. is a budgetary issue for the DSFA and is of no concern to Irish Rail, once they're adequately compensated for the customers carried on the route.