Translink/NI Railways

[illdecide]

Lads give me your opinions on the following story i heard last night in our club.

On sat past there were two adults and 3 children (11 year old, 15 year old and a 17 year old) who travelled to Dublin for the Armagh match on the Enterprise, the journey down was fine but it was the return home journey that caused the controversy.

Whilst boarding the train they were asked to produce their train tickets and they obliged and the inspector then guided them down the train, when they got in to the carriage there were no seats available. they checked the next few carriages and they too were full so one of the adults decided to try his luck and entered 1st class, he was allowed thru and proceeded to take a seat. He then went and got the rest of his party and brought them thru, 15 mins into the journey the same inspector came and asked them to produce their tickets for inspection to which one of the adults said "Sure you seen my ticket 15 mins ago" the inspector asked for it again and the father of the children let on he'd dropped it to which he was asked to purchase another ticket (yes you've guessed it by now he had his ticket in his pocket but didn't wanna show it as it wasn't for 1st class) he said he wasn't purchasing another ticket as he didn't have the money to do so and that he'd go up the train and look for his original ticket.

The inspector and this adult continued their dispute to which he said "I'm not arguing with you anymore" and stormed off, this guy then asked the girl who was serving drinks/food could he order a drink and she told him she was not allowed to serve him and that was the end of that. The train pulled up at Drogheda and 3 car loads of Gardai boarded the train and escorted the party of five of the train not before pleading their innocence and then showing their valid tickets which didn't matter as they were threw of the train anyway, the father of the children pleaded with inspector and the Gardai that he'd no money on him and had no way of getting his family home especially at 10:45 at night with no more trains to follow. The inspector then wished them a nice evening as they got of the train.

Right my opinion is they should have showed their tickets and should not have been in 1st class but surly under Health & Safety they should not have been thrown off the train at that hour of the night knowing they had no money to get home and especially with children as well as having valid tickets and surly the inspector should have warned them that if they didn't produce their tickets then they'd be thrown off the train and the fact the inspector wished them a nice evening getting off the train with the 11 year old girl in floods of tears was a bit OTT.

[Cde]

the Joe Duffy was all about the train service yesterday and their (lack of) customer service

The phone lines were hopping with people lining up to complain about the way they were treated on the trains by the staff

[haranguerer]

From the inspectors point of view, it in all likelihood it seemed that they had tried to board without buying tickets. When confronted, there was a row, so they were asked to leave the train. At that stage knowing they had valid tickets was irrelevant, it seems likely it was the row that got them thrown off. Translink can hardly be held responsible for them having no money to get home, nor for the 11yr old crying.

Having said that I'm reluctant to support translink in anything cos they're a bunch of c***ts. Also, hope you eventually got home okay...

[illdecide]

From the inspectors point of view, it in all likelihood it seemed that they had tried to board without buying tickets. When confronted, there was a row, so they were asked to leave the train. At that stage knowing they had valid tickets was irrelevant, it seems likely it was the row that got them thrown off. Translink can hardly be held responsible for them having no money to get home, nor for the 11yr old crying.

Having said that I'm reluctant to support translink in anything cos they're a bunch of c***ts. Also, hope you eventually got home okay...

Well i've a house 25 mins away in Ashbourne so i wouldn't have worried to much about it

[David McKeown]

My mum and I took the Enterprise about 8 or 9 years ago.  As it was likely to be our only time on it my mum decided to go first class.  We were meeting my dad in Dublin so we only needed a one way ticket.  When we got to Portadown station and the main ticket office was closed and there was just a guy issuing tickets from a portable machine. When we tried to buy our ticket he said they didnt have the facility to do one way first class tickets so we would have to get one onboard.  When we got on board they said they didnt have the facility either and asked us to get off at Newry and buy a ticket.  Newry said they couldnt issue one if our journey started in Portadown and asked us to pay when we got to Dublin.  When we got to Dublin they got very surly for not paying and threatened to take us to court for fair dodging.  It was only when we explained the situation to the Garda (who they called) that they relented although they did inform us we would have to pay the next time we were in Portadown or there would be legal action.

[illdecide]

They def sound like a right shower of hoors...

The thing i can't understand is why didn't the inspector say to the party "if you don't produce your tickets or buy new ones i will have you removed from the train at the next stop" I'd say they would have soon pulled the tickets out and moved down the train

[Cde]

a bunch of tossers who love the little bit of power that the uniform gives them

[Hardy]

Three Irishmen and three Englishmen were sitting on a train when they saw the inspector coming down the carriage checking tickets. The three Englishmen took out their tickets. Paddy said "don't tell me you bought three tickets?".

"Of course", said Malcolm. "There are three of us. Therefore, we bought three tickets. What else would we do?".

"Observe and learn", said Paddy, at which point the three Irishmen got up, went into the toilet cubicle and locked the door. 

As the inspector passed the stall, he knocked and shouted "ticket, please!" and one of the lads slid a ticket under the door. It was punched, pushed back under the door, and when it was safe all the boys came out and took their seats.

The Englishmen were impressed by this ingenuity. On the trip back, they decided to try it themselves and purchased only one ticket. Paddy saw this and said "don't tell me you bought one ticket?". "Of course", said Malcolm. "We're not stupid. We saw how it works. What else would we do?".

"Observe and learn", said Paddy. "We didn't buy any".

Just before the inspector came through, the Irish piled into one of the toilet stalls, the English into the other. Then Paddy leaned out, knocked on the Englishmen's stall and called "ticket, please!"

[gallsman]

Perhaps getting the guards involved was a step too far, but it's the father's own fault for not producing the ticket on request. As you've stated yourself he was clearly just afraid of getting caught out in first class.

Also, a 17 year old is not a child - Translink charge adult prices from 16+ as far as I remember.

[armaghniac]

The whole thing of not producing your ticket seems a bit thick, the worse that would have happened was that they would have been sent back to standard class or asked to pay a  supplement. Surely that would be better than starting a row and dgetting thrown off the train! 

[Donnellys Hollow]

Do Iarnród Éireann not jointly run the Enterprise with NI rail?

[pintsofguinness]

The whole thing of not producing your ticket seems a bit thick, the worse that would have happened was that they would have been sent back to standard class or asked to pay a  supplement. Surely that would be better than starting a row and dgetting thrown off the train!

Exactly, the Garda response was a bit OTT but I would have fucked them off the train too. It's a pity the kid was upset but that's hardly Translinks fault.

The inspector just doing his job also.

[illdecide]

The whole thing of not producing your ticket seems a bit thick, the worse that would have happened was that they would have been sent back to standard class or asked to pay a  supplement. Surely that would be better than starting a row and dgetting thrown off the train!

Well thats what i thought too...why go down that road and i can understand the inspector but i just thought the end result was a bit OTT and a verbal threat from the inspector to remove them would soon have changed their tune. the fact that they did show their tickets in Drogheda was that not enough for them to remain on the train.

My honest opinion was that he kicked with the other foot and couldn't stand that the train was full of fenians (and prob the incidents that went on with the Enterprise the week before in Kilwilkee, Lurgan) prob was right up his street to show a few fenians who is boss

[winsamsoon]

My own personal opinion is that they shouldn't be allowed to sell tickets at the price they do when there are no seats on the train. They have to look at the sysytem. Many a day i have travelled to Dublin and had to sit on the floor or stand. If patrons pay good money they should at least be guaranteed a seat. A bunch of greedy bastids.

[Orior]

Translink should have added a carriage once they knew the train was full

Passenger 1 - 0 Translink

Passenger was not entitled to First Class, but yet entered that carriage. They should have (like the rest of us), either sat on the floor or asked Translink for their money back, or demanded another carriage added.

Passenger 1 - 1 Translink

Passenger poured fuel on the fire by not producing their ticket.

Passenger 1 - 2 Translink

Translink did not have to call the police to sort this out - some common sense would have sufficed (unless their was some beligerance shown by the Lurgan man)

Passenger 2 - 2 Translink

Three car load of police sounds excessive. Are you sure that the story is not exaggerated? I cant believe that the Garda has that amount of staff sitting doing nuffin. Afterall it is Dundalk. But assuming we hear fact then

Passenger 3 - 2 Translink

I cant believe a customer service organisation like Translink would dump a family like that. Seems to be that the passenger must have been giving it some (the story is rather selective in that area). But assuming the passenger remained calm and balanced then

Passenger 4 - 2 Translink


However, reading between the lines, I think the passenger must have got a little argumentative (he just watched Armagh getting beat). So a more honest score might be...

Passenger 3 -3 Translink