Probably had more complaints and queries about this subject in the last 6 months then on any issue ever
The issues at hand are classic Irish Rail, lack of information, inconsistent availabilty of spaces, staff who refuse bikes despite space being onboard, sometimes bikes are charged sometime not
Irish Rail misled the public with stories of space for 2 bikes on each 3 coach train, it barely takes one, we should not forget that the new train when it arrived into Dublin had no bike spaces at all
Upcoming EU legislation requires Irish Rail to provide clear information on the carriage of bike before travel, currently they offer no information at all. You will be hard pushed to find a regional or intercity train anywhere in Europe which doesn't carry bikes. Third party guidence is currently being sought as the optimum number of bikes per train
Lack of bike space is also starting to hurt tourism and is sending out a very negative message. We need to bear in mind that outside peak periods the trains are very quiet
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