Seating Arrangements

[stabarinde]

I Just took the train from Galway to Dublin. Due to the fact that there were three carriages instead of five the train was over-subscribed. Of course this served to highlight the problems with Iarnroid Eireann's booking policy

Comments

[stabarinde]

Typical Irish State and Semi-State attitude of "that should keep them quiet for a while".

[delichan]

Did you get a seat then? Or did the person occupying yours refuse to move?

[stabarinde]

I didn't get a seat until Athlone, when the OAP sitting in my seat got off. I announced, very politely when I arrived that I had booked seat whatever, and they just looked at me.

I mean, fair enough, in this case, the poor OAP wouldn't have had anywhere else to sit. So this one is on Iarnroid Eireann.

[lainey316]

There is almost always someone in my booked seat. Some idiot old woman was very offended when I said she was in my seat and proceeded to tell the person next to her that she 'couldn't see what difference it made' since I'd found another seat. Hardly the point, wagon

[stabarinde]

On the other hand, selling more seats than exist cannot be avoided, would you rather leave people sitting in Heuston til the next train? Which might be 2 or 3 hours later?

Not in the slightest. I did make the point about metrics. Iarnroid Eireann should know what volumes of people use the service at what times, approximately, and with some added wiggle room, provision rolling stock accordingly. You can model that stuff statistically, if you take note of ticket sales.

Over time they would move to a situation where selling more tickets than exist is no longer the norm. And nobody gets left behind in Heuston, and most if not all passengers get a seat.

The irony is that it would actually save them money over time. I'm surprised that this isn't what they're doing already, but their off-peak reductions never seem to be accurate.

[lainey316]

There's probably a union issue somewhere.