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IF YOU’VE EVER boarded an Irish Rail train and gone to your pre-booked seat only to find somebody sitting in it, you’re not the only one.
Figures released by Irish Rail to TheJournal.ie under Freedom of Information legislation show that the problem accounted for 976 pieces of feedback in 2015.
That made it the single most vexing issue passengers encountered on-board.
Crowding was next with 672 pieces of feedback, while contacts about first-class carriages had 416.
Heating, cleanliness, catering and wi-fi all feature in the feedback, though there were only single issues with fines, noise and intimidation in the 3,403 pieces of customer feedback.
Tickets, please
In terms of fares and ticketing, there were 2,562 pieces of feedback in total.
The most common problems on that front were to do with on-line tickets, unused tickets and student tickets. Some 476 people got in contact about either fare structures or ticket prices.
There were 1,504 pieces of feedback in relation to train stations, with facilities and ticket machines the most common topic.
Some 77 people got in contact about trains leaving early, 27 people spoke about the state of toilets in stations and 117 were upset at incorrect information being displayed.
There were 1,135 contacts about the Irish Rail website, with over half, 644, saying they had been unable to book tickets.
There were 721 contacts about staff, but 211 of those were positive. Of the remainder, 408 said that staff were rude or unhelpful.
There were 368 contacts about antisocial behaviour on trains, with 229 about unruly passengers. Under this heading the number of pieces of feedback relating intimidation jumps by 50. There were 25 thefts and 14 assaults.
A spokesperson for the company said that the numbers were “broadly reflective of people who use trains in Ireland”.
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As Ian Brown told a fan recordin one oh his solo shows; “What you have there mate, is a memory of an experience you never had.”
You’re recording the experience you just missed
Bring a gopro. Problem solved lol.
Idiots, just put the bloody phone away and enjoy the gig!
Absorbing yourself into the truly exhilarating ambience of the gig is what it’s all about.
Don’t let your phone win.
Taking a quick photo at a gig is one thing, but people pay good money to watch a gig on a 5″ screen, madness!! Go home and watch it for free on YouTube….oops I forgot, if you don’t record it and post it on Facebook, it never happened.
These people clearly don’t go to gigs for the music, they go so everyone knows they were there. That’s kinda sad :(
I’ve paid for a ticket to the gig,if I want to take a photo I will,so mind your own f**kin business
You sound like great bant and a stellar gig buddy.
The comments on here don’t reflect reality! I don’t go to many gigs but from recent experience 90% of people are at some carryon with their phones yet 100% comments are completely against it! Are the journal readers just an enlightened crowd or a bunch of liars?
Read the title ar@seways and thought it said pigs and not gigs for a few seconds. Wasn’t exactly sure why people were filming pigs on their smart phones but was definetly in agreement something had to be done to tackle it. Its been a long day and i am seriously tired. Wish my darling son would go the feck asleep so i can too :)
If you wish to record a concert with your phone/camera then piss off to the back of the crowd. It is very annoying having to look through hundreds of small screens to see what is on stage.
Best article I’ve ever read on the journal.
I also capture the mosh pit and my friends reactions…. U got that also??
have your say