Irishrail won't issue single journey tickets on certain days

Anyone come across this. I know of two people who have wanted a single journey ticket on the intercity service but have had to buy return tickets because they will not issue single tickets on certian weekends. One person had to pay €31.50 for a return ticket instead of €18 for the single they wanted. How do they get away with this? Is this not a case of the consumer totally being taken advantage of?

The other issue I have with Irish Rail is, how can they justify a single fare being almost 2/3 of the price of a return fare for the same distance travelled (Maynooth to Dublin, Sgl €3, Rtn 5.4). In Switzerland and Germany, whose rail systems are without parallel in Europe, I can buy a single fare at half the cost of a return fare + administration. Why does Irish Rail insist on following British railway practice when British rail travel is so inferior compared to continental Europe. I have even travelled on the railway network in the Czech Republic and can confirm that the travel experience was far more pleasurable than what exists on these two miserable islands.

This issue has cropped up before and it appears that is the way it is. A way out is go to your local credit union, many of whom sell single rail tickets.

oldtimer said:

This issue has cropped up before and it appears that is the way it is. A way out is go to your local credit union, many of whom sell single rail tickets.

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A better way out is bypass Irishrail - if only that was possible.

We're doing it next month. Heading Dublin-Sligo next month to see some friends in a show. Aer Arann have a sale at the mo for €25 each way, all in. So for €6 more than the train fare we get to avoid the disaster that is Irish rail!

Strathspey said:

The other issue I have with Irish Rail is, how can they justify a single fare being almost 2/3 of the price of a return fare for the same distance travelled (Maynooth to Dublin, Sgl €3, Rtn 5.4). ...

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Another way to look at it is that the return half of the journey is at a reduced price.

Padraigb said:

Another way to look at it is that the return half of the journey is at a reduced price.

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Cup half full instead of half empty.

That is the line that Irish Rail trot out. "Our return fares are heavily discounted". There is no logic to it whatsoever other than to penalise those who take single journeys.

And Strathspey is right. The trains in GB are woeful, miserable excuses for a public service with about 30 different companies operating different services with a plethora of different confusing ticket types for each journey you want to make. The more that Irish Rail can move away from their model the better.