Irish Rail has been offering some bargain online fares, but the seat-reservation system has disgruntled some passengers, writes CONOR POPE

Like or loathe Irish Rail, it has been running some exceptionally good value-for-money online offers over the course of the summer, with one-way tickets on all intercity routes costing just €10.

The company clearly wants to encourage more automated online bookings in order to reduce staff numbers selling actual tickets in stations. A second carrot being offered to rail users who book online is a relatively new seat-reservation system that is supposed to allow people to book ahead and show up at the last minute, safe in the knowledge that a seat will be waiting for them. If only.

Across continental Europe rail-reservations systems work pretty well, but in Ireland, when you book ahead – particularly at peak times on the most popular routes – there’s every chance that instead of finding an empty seat with your name on it, you will be confronted by a large, red-faced, cider-swilling man playing 21 with his buddies and no sign of an Irish Rail employee to move him along.

A number of readers have contacted us in recent weeks to tell us of furious seat-allocation rows breaking out in carriages as the solitary Irish Rail employee on board skulks as far away from the action as possible.

Mark Gleeson of the Rail Users Action Group says the absence of real people to police the reservation system “when you actually get on the train is letting people down. Onboard staff do not want to challenge anyone sitting in seats which are reserved for others – that is if you are lucky enough to find a staff member on the trains. From what I can see, as a result of cutbacks, the staff who are supposed to ensure everything works smoothly have been pulled off the trains.”

He claims that the Cork-Dublin route is the only one with a dedicated “train host” whose job is to manage the reservation system, and travellers using other trains on the intercity network have to police the system.

Irish Rail spokesman Barry Kenny admits that “it wouldn’t be the case that there will always be someone on hand” to assist someone with a reserved seat because “we have to take account of the cost environment”. He hopes that a more mature passenger body, as they grow familiar with the reservation system, might be able to look after themselves.

Kenny’s optimism is difficult to understand, says Gleeson, particularly when the technology is frequently found wanting. “The seat-reservation system assumes the train you’re travelling on actually has the seat you have booked,” he says. “So let’s say you book seat number 67 but the train you were due to take breaks down and the carriage in the substitute only has 58 seats, that leaves you without a seat and no one to help you out.”

Kenny accepts that when trains are replaced at the last minute, reservation numbers often don’t match the seat numbers, but he insists that this is a rare occurrence and maintains that staff members will be on hand to help people find alternate seats. “It is not a perfect arrangement, I accept that, but it does work well in most circumstances.”

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