Hmmm, am caught between two opinions here. Kinda agree with the guy on some points and kinda think he has some form of rage disorder or serious stress issues. Anyhows, having read the responses from posters on this board I feel that most people have missed the point. What's important is not whether he was right, wrong or mad, but that he felt that the entire system was against him. Most posters on this board are experts in rail travel in Ireland and so know the system like the back of their hand, so when somebody begins to complain about, say, ticket reservations, they can't believe what they're hearing because they find it so straightforward.
Despite the fact that most RUI members often critise Irish Rail, when somebody with foreign experience comes along and blasts the rail network here it appears that RUI members go on the defense somewhat. I suppose it's a natural reaction to comments from a know-it-all and I admit that I sometimes react the same way. I've experienced this attitude in the past myself. Mark G, your comment that "His whole thesis about ticket sales and reservations is utter rubbish" is an example. I sometimes feel that you and others are so used to the Irish Rail system that you're caught in a vicious circle where you believe that the ticketing system is improving when in fact in cannot be improved because, in my opinion, it is fundamentally flawed. I too, as you probably know by now, live in France and use the rail/metro network regularly. When I come home and end up using the train/DART, I can honestly say that the experience is almost always disastrous, and I'm barely exaggerating when I say that. Being honest, I haven't used the train back home for a while now, so maybe things have changed. I'll try it this Christmas to see if I'm being over the top.
Remember, if any one of us was faced with a 19th century railway network (as IE were in the 80's) and then given a wad of cash (Celtic Tiger) what would we do. At the very least we'd upgrade the tracks, signalling, stations, and trains. Childsplay really.
If the rest of the world was moving to online ticketing what would we do. Simple, we'd at least follow suit.
What I'm saying is that despite all the recent improvements, Irish Rail's management haven't exactly being very forward thinking. The only mircales have being perfomed by the rail engineers who updated the system.
Anyhows, please heed Derek Wheeler's remarks. At the end of the day we all have to recognise that we sometimes have "know it all" attitudes, and I'll be the first to admit that I sometimes (always??) have this attitude. The guy who posted to boards should almost be made an honoury member of RUI because his comments embodies the feelings of many rail users in Ireland, be they Irish commuters or tourists, and on a number of issues he hits the nail on the head on all that is wrong with the system.
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