Quote:
Originally Posted by sean
[*]I don't see the point in selling €10 seats on any known busy train. I just don't - it seems like a waste of money.
|
I've thought about this and the only explanation I can come up with is (a) there are few of these tickets (b) they use it for service planning, e.g. if all the seats on a Sunday morning are sold out 28 days in advance, that is a heads-up that there is a large event that day that might merit extra capacity. Given the fleet constraints for the next few months, availing of such changes is limited to off-peak periods.
Quote:
3) Regional travel on Dublin bound trains needs to be encouraged, some combinations I was playing around with today should be made MUCH cheaper.
By that I mean things like Charleville-Portlaoise (same price as Charleville-Dublin) and Sligo-Longford (almost the same price as Sligo-Dublin) should be discounted massively, as this kind of travel is very efficient - one seat can be occupied by two passengers in this fashion during a single service run.
|
Not many of these journeys exist. Most (longer) journeys are for commuting (work/study) or business of some kind.
The pattern tends to follow the urban hierarchy. For example, Charleville is a smallish town, it can provide a certain level of employment and services (shops, medical, professional services, pubs & restaurants, etc.). Those services it can't provide, e.g. higher-level retail or hospital-level minor surgery, the people go to Mallow. For higher levels again, e.g. choice of department stores, third level education or complicated surgery, the people can go to Cork or Limerick. For very high level services, e.g. boutique shopping or a liver transplant they travel to Dublin or even London.
However, someone from Charleville is unlikely to go to Galway or Waterford as neither location has many services that either Cork or Limerick don't have, both of which are much closer and much more accessible. However, they may travel to Galway or Waterford if they have a specific reason, e.g. niche business, visiting family/friends or tourism.
This also works for employment and study - people tend to work/study relatively close to where they live in the profession they have chosen - people from Charleville don't go to Sligo or Letterkenny IT to do Business Studies, as it is available in Cork, Limerick or Tralee and many other places in between. However, if there is only one location in the country that provides a course, then yes, they may travel there
So, given that Portlaoise is much smaller than Galway or Waterford, nevermind Cork/Limerick/Dublin, the number of trips is fewer, as there are few things in Portlaoise that aren't available somewhere closer. However, if say you were a railway engineer / mechanic or a prison officer from Charleville, then travelling to Port Laoise for the railway works or prisons does make sense. In reverse, if you are in the dairy industry, travelling to Charleville might make sense, but those are very niche industries.