A chara, – I found it quite sad to read Ed Power’s piece on the unreliability of public transport in Ireland (Life&Style, September 6th). Growing up in Dublin I had to depend on the public bus service to get to school. Such was the haphazard pattern of buses at the time, early 1970s, that I was surprised to learn years later that there was such a thing as a bus timetable.
But it is the attitude that permeates the transport services that is the most depressing aspect.
Now living in Kilkenny, a few years ago I was trying to make a lunchtime event in Dublin, close to Heuston Station. I decided that the train was the best option. The train was delayed by a number of hours due to snow, not the fault of Iarnród Éireann, of course. I had to abort my plans and so rang the train service to see about getting a refund of the fare. Such a palaver.
They could refund part of the fare but not the booking fee, if I made a case by email. I made the case and three months later I received my partial refund. I have never taken the train since.
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It would be fantastic if we had efficient and reliable public transport, with an appropriate attitude towards customer service. We might be able to start to trust it then. – Mise le meas,
GER MULVEY,
Kilkenny.
