All passengers get a seat despite busy ‘no fares day’

DESPITE passenger increases of up to 70%, there were no refusals or tales of overcrowding at CIE stations in the West yesterday.

There were more passengers at train stations in Sligo, Galway and Westport although Ennis station reported only ‘minimal increases’.

The presence of an extra 85 passengers on the Sligo to Dublin morning train was a 35% on normal levels.

“Obviously, some people took advantage of the free fares. There appeared to be additional teenagers but we still had 55 free seats on the Sligo-Dublin service at Mullingar.

But we’re always hard pressed on Friday, so the action is unwelcome from that point of view,” Iarnród Eireann’s Sligo business development manager Greg Mullen said.

The greatest confusion was among foreigners, who took a while to grasp what the ‘no fares’ policy was all about.

“They didn’t understand why we weren’t taking money off them,” said Brendan O’Loughlin, the chief clerk at Sligo’s bus station.

“We had to put in a ‘help’ - an extra bus - from Galway but there’s been no big increase. It’s probably been even a bit quieter than a normal Friday,”

Children made up most of the extra passengers, according to Sligo bus inspector Willie Meehan, and business was brisk on the Galway, Derry and Eniskillen routes.

One Sligo woman used the free rail fare for a trip to Dublin to retrieve her car from Dublin Airport.

The refusal of workers to collect fares certainly cost the CIE group. The extra 85 passengers on the Sligo to Dublin service would normally have paid around €2,500.

Passenger numbers at the CIE station in Galway increased by 10-15% on the trains, with bigger increases from certain destinations.

“We got a 70% increase from destinations in the Midlands like Athlone and places like Athenry and Ballinasloe. There was up to 150 people extra on the train, obviously coming to Galway for the day to do a bit of shopping or go to the beach.

“But the increases haven’t posed any problems for us so far,” said Iarnród Eireann business development manager Myles McHugh.

Passengers with tickets were seated first but, like in all of the other Western stations, no ticketless passengers were turned away.

The free fares did not hurt Busnestor, a private Galway bus company which provides a service to Dublin. “It hasn’t really affected us at all,” a spokeswoman said.