Galway Tourist Train

ben.schlomo

It launched today, had been alluded to in the 'Rickshaw' thread. Looks nice, not sure of it as a business venture but fair play to all involved. The Discover Galway FB page has more details.

2rkehij30qtza5

ben.schlomo wrote: »

It launched today, had been alluded to in the 'Rickshaw' thread. Looks nice, not sure of it as a business venture but fair play to all involved. The Discover Galway FB page has more details.

Saw it over the weekend..was actually behind it for a while, it goes on a good spin of the city. I'd say it would be well worth getting if you were a tourist.

Mrs OBumble

Www.galwayTouristTrain.com

To me it looks more like a bus than a train ... no tracks, to start with.

Im not sure of its license status, i looked up the NTA's list yesterday, and couldn't see it there.

ben.schlomo

Mrs OBumble wrote: »

Www.galwayTouristTrain.com

To me it looks more like a bus than a train ... no tracks, to start with.

Im not sure of its license status, i looked up the NTA's list yesterday, and couldn't see it there.

Categorised in the same way the city sightseeing tours are if that makes sense.

dilallio

ben.schlomo wrote: »

Categorised in the same way the city sightseeing tours are if that makes sense.

So he gets free parking any time in the clearway outside the Foster Court hotel.

biko

Probably will go down well with the kids and tourists.

ben.schlomo

dilallio wrote: »

So he gets free parking any time in the clearway outside the Foster Court hotel.

No he has a designated bay up near Richardsons which the City council have given him.

Irishgoatman

I go to Albuferia, Portugal twice a year and they've had one of these for years, I use it vertually every day when I'm there. I must say though that it's a lot cheaper than this one and runs much later into the night.

Very useful. It means you can get to areas without long walks or costly taxis and pick an area that suits you to eat or drink in.

Best of luck to them, let's hope it's a success.

Mrs OBumble

ben.schlomo wrote: »

Categorised in the same way the city sightseeing tours are if that makes sense.

It makes perfect sense: the tourist bus operators who run scheduled, public-access services (ie not charters) all have licenses for their services.

But I couldn't see an entry of the list of licences for this venture.

And I wonder if the vehicle really meets the safety standard for a bus operating on public roads? (seat belts? windows? the commercial vehicle version of an NCT?). Maybe there's some exemption for low speed vehicles ...

Not trying to be a kill joy, just asking the logical questions. We want all our tourists to be leaving Galway uninjured.

inisboffin

Tourist Train has a nice alliteration and the novelty factor is there with the design.

Anyone know the cost of it, if you can hop on/off across town etc?

Gambas

inisboffin wrote: »

Tourist Train has a nice alliteration and the novelty factor is there with the design.

Anyone know the cost of it, if you can hop on/off across town etc?

€8 for an adult!

That is outrageous.

ben.schlomo

Mrs OBumble wrote: »

It makes perfect sense: the tourist bus operators who run scheduled, public-access services (ie not charters) all have licenses for their services.

But I couldn't see an entry of the list of licences for this venture.

And I wonder if the vehicle really meets the safety standard for a bus operating on public roads? (seat belts? windows? the commercial vehicle version of an NCT?). Maybe there's some exemption for low speed vehicles ...

Not trying to be a kill joy, just asking the logical questions. We want all our tourists to be leaving Galway uninjured.

Neither city buses nor sightseeing buses have seat belts so there is obviously a way around that?

gordongekko

ben.schlomo wrote: »

Neither city buses nor sightseeing buses have seat belts so there is obviously a way around that?

either do trains

Mrs OBumble

Fares from their website:

Adult €8.00
Senior/Student/Backpacker €6.00
Children over 5 years €5.00
Children up to 5 years €2.00
Family Ticket = 2 adults + 1/2 children €20.00
Family Ticket = 2 adults + 3/4 children €25.00


... not that outrageous when you consider that it's a hop-on-hop-off one day ticket with 11 services each day.

inisboffin

Gambas wrote: »

€8 for an adult!

That is outrageous.

I'd call that reasonable if it's hop on hop off? Isn't the Dublin one nearly double that? Student/backpacker is 6.

charlie_says

I have this strange urge to fill it with boisterous Oompa Loompas and drive around at dawn early on a Saturday/Sunday morning to freak out the last revelers walking home.....:pac:

I can't explain it.

Irishgoatman

charlie_says wrote: »

I have this strange urge to fill it with boisterous Oompa Loompas and drive around at dawn early on a Saturday/Sunday morning to freak out the last revelers walking home.....:pac:

I can't explain it.

I've got the feeling that you need some treatment.:)

If you don't get any however, let me know when you're going to give in to this strange urge and I'll join you. You can drive and I'll collect the money:D.

Hold on though, do Oompa Loompas have pockets to keep money in?.

Redhairedguy

Count me in as well.

I'm sure we can get little bum bags for the Oompa Loompas to wear.

biko

inisboffin wrote: »

I'd call that reasonable if it's hop on hop off? Isn't the Dublin one nearly double that?

And don't get me started on the London ones :mad: For the novelty I think 8 euro isn't that bad.

01902

When I checked on Sunday it was €10 per adult, €8 not bad, nearly did it at €10. I would pay €10 with the Oompa Loompas!

Gambas

charlie_says wrote: »

I have this strange urge to fill it with boisterous Oompa Loompas and drive around at dawn early on a Saturday/Sunday morning to freak out the last revelers walking home.....:pac:

I can't explain it.

I'd pay €8 to be on board for that.

Mrs OBumble

01902 wrote: »

When I checked on Sunday it was €10 per adult, €8 not bad, nearly did it at €10. I would pay €10 with the Oompa Loompas!

Yeah - I had a quick look on Sunday too, and thought that was what I saw.

Wouldn't surprise me if they adjust the prices / schedule over the next few weeks. Market responsiveness and all. Fair play to them.

thesandeman

Will be interesting to see what happens if they get busy. The 'terminus' outside Gala has only space for two carriages. According to an earlier post somewhere it can pull four or five.