A reader called Catherine’s plans for a swanky day out for herself and some of her family last month were derailed as a result of an unexplained and unannounced change imposed by Irish Rail.
She describes the experience of travelling to Belfast as “very frustrating and disappointing”, with the frustration and disappointment made that little bit worse because her trip came hours after “improvements to the service were widely reported in the media”.
So, what happened?
Well, Catherine bought four first-class tickets online for the Dublin to Belfast train service as a midterm treat for herself, her daughters and her mother.
“Our intention was to have breakfast on-board, delivered to our seats – as advertised on Iarnród Éireann’s website,” she writes.
But that is not what happened.
“On boarding, we were informed that there was no first class and no catering on board. This was not a cancellation of a service. This was the ‘normal’ service, according to Iarnród Éireann staff. I was told I could apply for a refund,” she writes.
“At no point during the online purchase of these four first-class tickets was this information communicated by Iarnród Éireann,” she notes.
Having found out there was not going to be so much as a sausage made available to them on board, she raced to a food stand in Connolly Station, leaving her 86-year-old mother and two young children waiting.
“Having planned a relaxing excursion and paid for additional services, I now found myself under stress. The whole experience was extremely upsetting and frustrating. It completely spoiled our family day on the train,” she says.
While they had a lovely time in Belfast, the fun train journey was ruined.
She filled out the customer feedback form online – a form, she says, that was not easy to find – and received an automated response to say she would hear back from Irish Rail within 24 hours.
A full 10 days later she received a message from Transport for Ireland.
“Apologies on the late response. We are experiencing a high volume of calls and webforms which is causing a delay in responses,” it began. “I will forward this on to the relevant department for you and they will get back to you with an update.”
She was less than pleased and still out of pocket, having paid for a service she did not get. “I feel Iarnród Éireann are just running down the time and hoping I will go away – I will not. Aside from the upset and disappointment caused for our midterm trip, I now wonder [why] they continue to advertise and sell services they do not intend to supply?
We contacted Irish Rail and in the first instance were given some general information about the services between Dublin and Belfast.
Generally speaking the train is scheduled to operate with a first-class carriage.
“As the expanded hourly Belfast service now operates with a mix of trains (as opposed to all of the old 2-hourly timetable all being operated by Enterprise trains), the first-class offering differs on various trains,” spokesman Barry Kenny explained.
He said that seven trains each way are operated with the Enterprise train “which has a more premium first-class offering, including in-seat dining, and is priced accordingly”.
It has a €16 each way supplement.
Then there are five trains each way operated with the Iarnród Éireann Intercity railcars. These also have a first-class carriage, although they are perhaps not as swanky, which might explain why they come with a €10 each way supplement.
This was the service our reader travelled on.
Then there are three trains each way operated by the Translink Regional Train fleet, which do not have first class, and first class is not sold as an option for these trains.
With regard to the specifics of our reader’s complaint, Mr Kenny said it “does appear that the train ran with the first-class carriage, but without catering, and it was incorrect to advise the customer that there was no first class on the train.
“As the train was one of our Intercity railcars, and not an Enterprise train, it’s clear the customer understood that this was not actually first class (as advised by the staff she met), particularly in the absence of in-seat dining.
“We will refund the first-class portion recognising that she was incorrectly advised, and apologise for the disappointment that the service she expected was not available.”
