Irish Rail Fares Question

[MK Tom]

I'm doing a trip in two weeks, which will include travelling from Dublin to Drogheda, staying the night there, then going from Drogheda to Portadown in the morning, and finally back to Dublin in the afternoon. I've found the IE website quite difficult to use for figuring out fares, and the NIR one was even worse, so I wanted to ask which of these would be the cheaper option, assuming all were bought on the day:

Single Drogheda-Portadown, single Portadown-Connolly.
Return Drogheda-Portadown, single Drogheda-Connolly.

if anyone has any other ideas, that'd be very welcome. I'm also conscious that fares from Portadown would be in sterling, whereas from Drogheda would be in euros, which complicates the fares more.

Many thanks for any help.

 

[berneyarms]

The booking office fares are here:
http://www.irishrail.ie/fares-and-tickets/dublin-belfast

Drogheda-Portadown is €19 single and €20.50 day return
Drogheda-Connolly is €13.50 off-peak (after 09:30) single

Portadown-Connolly is £19.50 single

Why don't you get an open return for Dublin-Drogheda, costing €24.80, and a day return Drogheda-Portadown for €20.50?

 

[MK Tom]

Would that open return work coming back the following day then?

Are those Dublin-Drogheda single and return fares Commuter only, not valid on the Enterprise? Just the IE website when I looked at it showed a more expensive €16 single for the Enterprise.

 

[berneyarms]

The fares chart linked to above (and the fares that that I quoted) lists the booking office fares between Dublin and stations on the Belfast line.

There is no difference between tickets purchased between Dublin and Dundalk on the Enterprise and commuter trains - there are only Single, Day Return and Open Return tickets available at booking offices.

Open Returns are valid for 30 days.

Web fares are separate - they do not take into account the off-peak promotional fare that is available at booking offices, which is what I quoted.

 

[MK Tom]

Ah thank you, that's very helpful.

 

[MK Tom]

One other quick question relating to that fares chart - there doesn't seem to be any off peak / peak distinction for Drogheda-Portadown. Am I reading that wrong, or is that fare available any time of day?

 

[berneyarms]

No - the off-peak fares apply to journeys to/from Dublin and Intercity stations within a certain distance.

As I said, get an open return for Dublin-Drogheda, costing €24.80, and a day return Drogheda-Portadown for €20.50.

That will cover you - there's no problem staying on the Enterprise at Drogheda coming back as you could (in theory) hop off and hop back on!

 

[MK Tom]

Thanks! Presumably then Drogheda to Portadown exceeds that 'certain distance'. Just my train to Portadown is the 08:08 off Drogheda.

Getting quite excited now!

 

[berneyarms]

Thanks! Presumably then Drogheda to Portadown exceeds that 'certain distance'. Just my train to Portadown is the 08:08 off Drogheda.

Getting quite excited now!

Well Drogheda-Portadown is an international trip and is governed by a completely different fares matrix to domestic journeys which are regulated by the National Transport Authority.