I don't believe in penalising companies for the sake of it and I don't think that the stick approach solves everything.
My main issue with IE is that they are giving vouchers for future travel instead of reimbursement.
According to the NTA:
You have certain rights when travelling by Rail in Europe under EU Regulation 1371/2007...
Compensation
If you decide to continue your journey as planned or to accept alternative transport to your destination, you may be entitled to compensation as outlined below:
- 25% of the ticket price if the delay is between 1 and 2 hours
- 50% if the ticket price if the delay is more than 2 hours
IE actually have a very good punctuality record compared to other European countries (usually top 10), with the caveat that the best performing systems are typically geographically smaller states like Estonia, Latvia, Netherlands. I'm sure it is easier to be punctual when you only have a few main routes and all from 2 hub stations in one city.
Delay refunds were only brought in in the UK years after privatisation, somewhat prompted by consumer unrest about the private operators being compensated for delays due to network issues but not passing on any of that to affected consumers. Introducing them here would only mean passengers paying more to cover the full cost of refunds along with the staff and infrastructure required to administer. So for every Euro you might get in compensation, you would likely pay multiples in higher fares.
I don't see how that follows. We have almost 100% reliability (so virtually every service runs), almost 90-95% punctuality (arriving within 10 minutes of schedule) and many passengers have travel passes, so the levels of compensation would be low. As I mentioned above, there is already a requirement for IE to pay monetary compensation, they just seem to have decided to offer vouchers for future travel instead.
Good idea to force IE to give refunds for delays.
Likewise, the government should compensate car drivers who get delayed by unexpected traffic. That would take the edge off things for customers and give the government a real financial consequence for delays.
Brendan
That's a strange comparison to make.
Rail will become increasingly important as we try to make a dent in our carbon emissions. In order to attract paying customers they need to be reassured that delays will be minimal and that they will receive compensation if the service is not delivered, just like with airlines. If I am travelling Dublin to Cork, I am 95% confident that I will arrive on time. If I am in the unlucky 5% and I arrive something like 2 hours late then I am unlikely to opt for a train again if I can avoid it.
The psychology of refunds is really interesting - we tend to subconsciously label them as discretionary income and they can increase our likelihood to spend. If you have ever received a refund from a company that is accompanied by a future discount then the chances are you have been nudged into spending more money with them. IE could afford to give delayed passengers a partial refund, offer them a 10% discount off their next trip, thereby converting an unhappy traveller into a potential loyal customer.
Those of us who can drive (and can afford it) have the luxury of adjusting time of departure, routes, etc. to avoid delays. A lot of particularly vulnerable people are dependent on public transport and not all of them have free travel passes. Even if you are travelling for free your time should be valued and companies should be held accountable for failing to deliver. Not to mention the fact that taxpayers fund a significant part of CIE activities. If other countries can achieve punctuality of 99% that should be our aim also.