Extra ‘no fares day’ riders to be rejected

RAIL and bus chiefs have warned that extra passengers will be turned away if huge numbers try to cash in on a “no fares day” tomorrow.

Workers are protesting over Transport Minister Seamus Brennan’s plans to divide CIÉ into three companies and open 25% of the Dublin Bus market to competition. Ticket collectors and inspectors won’t be checking for fares tomorrow, leading to fears that thousands more people will take the bus or train for free.

Irish Rail carries around 140,000 passengers on a regular Friday but if numbers rise, thousands could be left stranded in Dublin tomorrow.

“If a large amount of people travel up from the country in the morning there’s no guarantee that they will be able to get home. We will have strict crowd control measures in place,” rail spokesperson Barry Kenny said.

Rail authorities are particularly worried that teenagers not at school will travel to Dublin in droves for the day.

“We are appealing to the parents of young teenagers to understand that there is no guarantee their children will be able to get home on Friday night,” a Cork-based rail official said.

The majority of Friday’s rail traffic operates out of Dublin when thousands return home for the weekend.

Passengers with prepaid tickets will be prioritised and the transport authorities insisted that trains and buses won’t take extra passengers.

“Any increase in the number of people travelling, over and above normal levels of demand, will result in public safety issues and difficulty in continuing to provide a service,” said Bus Éireann media manager Cyril McIntyre.

But all buses will follow normal schedules to avoid disruption to regular customers, Mr McIntyre said.

“It may be necessary to implement loading control procedures in order to accommodate people with prepaid tickets,” he said.

The no fares day will cost Irish Rail, Dublin Bus and Bus Éireann more than €1.2 million.