Free Travel Pass query

bobbyss

If you are travelling on an early train (before ticket office opens etc) can you just turn up and board a train with just the Free Travel Card itself or is it necessary to pre book?

If you do pre book, any advice on trying to book a seat that faces the direction you are travelling? I see on Irish Rail website this is not usually possible for different reasons?

Thanks

757TFFIU

I'm not 100% sure where you stand on just turning up and boarding the train with just the Free Travel Card itself. However, I know my Gran's Public Service Card which has free travel does open the ticket gates when she holds it against them in stations like Connolly (just like a Leap Card) and they don't bother issuing her a ticket for a spin on the Dart somewhere within Dublin. They only issue her a ticket if she's off further afield somewhere, say heading off down to Waterford.

I don't know where you're off to - but if you're travelling on the Dublin Heuston-Cork or the Dublin Connolly-Belfast Lanyon Place routes, a lot of the time, you can see from the Irish Rail site the direction of travel. When you pick the train you want to travel on, select 'Manual Seat Selection' rather than 'Automatic Seat Selection' and you'll see the seat map. Just above the seat map you'll see 'Direction of Travel'.

For the rest of the lines, unfortunately, the website doesn't show you. There's no real consistency to it and it can be luck of the draw sometimes. It's to do with the type of train they use on those lines.

Hope that helps a bit.

bobbyss

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120044731#Comment_120044731

Thanks. I find the website very confusing. Do you know what the blue seats mean? I like to sit at the very end where there are two seats together without a table. Yet in the plan they are coloured blue I think and you can not seem to book them. The X I assume means a seat is booked.

I can not find any explanation on their website.

Jamie2k9

If the office is closed, station staff will allow you board or just pass through an open barrier and present the pass if requested onboard.