It's been a very long time since I used public transport for my travel arrangements, apart from the plane of course. So, today I had a business meeting in Cork city which is approximately 250 kilometres, and on a good day three and a half hours, from Dublin .... on a bad day, four to five hours. So I thought, "why not use the train"? Two hours and forty minutes from Dublin Hueston to Cork City by rail, an opportunity to sit back and get work done instead of being stuck in traffic for hours. Another important consideration, using the train is an opportunity to reduce my carbon footprint.
In the spirit of carbon footprint reduction, I even left the car at home (avoiding the morning rush hour traffic jam into town) and got the train from our local station into Dublin Hueston. The train left at 7.04 am and two stops later arrived in Hueston Station at 7.25 am. I bought the ticket at the local station, got a seat, pretty clean train, and arrived at Hueston station stress free with half an hour to spare before picking up my ticket and catching the Cork train. Not bad so far.
The ticket to Cork was purchased on the Internet about a week ago and my seat was allocated. Good stuff. The only issue is that you have to turn up at Hueston with your booking number and queue at the ticket desk to collect your ticket. You can't use the email confirmation as a ticket and you also need the credit card used to reserve the ticket or proof of ID. Hueston this morning wasn't busy at all, I was second in the queue at the ticket desk, picked up my ticket, had time to get a Butlers Hot Chocolate (with cream and chocolate sprinkles), wander down to platform 6, found my carriage, got into my seat and sat back at 7.55 am. The train departed at 8.00 am.
About twenty minutes into the journey there was an announcement to say that food was available in the Restaurant Car or from a trolly which would make it's way through the train. I opted for the Restaurant Car. I ordered the vegitarian breakfeast which consisted of scrambled eggs, mushrooms, tomatoe, white toast and brown soda bread, tea and orange juice. Cost €8.50 and a pretty good breakfeast it was too, perfectly adequate and welcome at 8.20 am on a train to Cork. I was pretty happy as three years ago, the last time I was on a train (to Cork in fact) there was no hot food available and pretty miserable sandwiches. Result today, going pretty well so far.
The journey down to Cork was uneventful, work got done, and the train arrived in Cork on schedule at 10.50 am. I got to my meeting in plenty of time, well prepared and no stress. Concluded successfully at 1 pm and made it back to Kent Station in Cork for the 1.30 pm train back to Dublin. I was actually booked on the 3.30 pm train, but this didn't matter and I was able to board the train and get a seat with no bother. Again there was hot food in the restaurant, but I opted for a sandwich. The journey back was uneventful, work got done. The only slight issue was the near 20 minute wait just outside Hueston waiting for a free platform. The train just sat on the track for 20 minutes, this resulted in our arriving at 4.40 pm instead of 4.20 pm. The 20 minute delay was not so bad, I've often been caught on the M50 or M1 for hours. At least there was food on the train and I wasn't driving.
Thankfully, I arrived in plenty of time for the return trip to my local station which departed at 5.15 pm. The service was very busy and there was a big rush of people getting on the train, obvioulsy they knew there wasn't enough seats. I don't participate in rushing and pushing, which inevitably means that I end up standing. Now I remember why I don't use Public transport.
Overall the experience wasn't too bad, it was cost effective and I did my bit for the environment. I've determined to try the train and luas into town next Saturday (normally I drive in and park in the Temple Bar car park) and see if I can continue to reduce my carbon footprint.
Thumbs up ... my seat was reserved, food was hot and good, train was clean, ticket cost was value for money in my opinion
Thumbs down ... ladies facilites at Hueston cost 20 cent for entry and the condition of the facility is very poor. I avoided touching anything ! Not good, just because we are in a recession doesn't excuse lack of cleanliness. The return train to the local station didn't have enough seats and so I stood for 25 minutes also not good. I felt particularly sorry for the poor passengers who had to stand to the end of the line. Iarnród Éireann need to get with the program and let passangers print out their tickets at home.
Cost of Local Station to Dublin Hueston return ticket €3.80
Cost of Dublin Hueston to Cork return ticket €64.50
Dublin Faires Matrix www.railusers.ie/passenger_info/fares_matrix.php
Iarnród Éireann is Ireland's rail network www.irishrail.ie, book your ticket and reserve your seat online.