Customer Service
PASSENGER’S CHARTER - a new era in customer service
Welcome to the first Iarnród Éireann Passenger’s Charter.
All of us in Iarnród Éireann are committed to making the best possible use of the resources available to us in order to satisfy you, our customer. Meeting your needs will always be our first consideration in planning and delivering rail passenger services.
We have produced this charter to show, explicitly, our commitment to fulfilling our Corporate Mission which is: ‘to satisfy our customers - always!’
We have set performance and quality standards for our services which will be independently audited twice a year and the results of these audits will be published. As this is our first charter it is our intention to review our standards regularly and to raise them as the necessary investment programmes lead to improved levels of service.
This is a period of development and investment unique in the history of railways in Ireland. With the wholehearted commitment of the Government, supported by the European Union, considerable funds will be invested, over the coming years, in essential upgrading of railway infrastructure and rolling stock. This investment will ensure that the railway’s record of being the safest mode of inland transport is maintained into the new millennium and that the quality of the service is continually improved.
Richard Fearn, Chief Executive.
We know how important reliability and time-keeping is to you, our customers, and, while it is our desire that all trains will run as scheduled, we make the following commitments to you:
Reliability (as measured over a four week period)
Punctuality (as measured over a four week period)
No train should leave a station earlier than advertised in the timetable.
We will measure performance at the end of each line on all timetable services except when a delay or disruption is outside our control, for example, extreme weather conditions.
InterCity Trains
90% of all InterCity trains on the Dublin / Cork; Dublin / Limerick and Dublin / Belfast lines will arrive within 10 minutes of the published time.
90% of all InterCity trains on the other mainline routes will arrive within 15 minutes of the published time.
We have an Enterprise Passenger’s Charter which has been produced for the Dublin to Belfast cross border service and which sets out our standards for this line in more detail. You can get a copy of this charter (in either English or Irish) at stations on the route or from the Marketing Department 01-7032506).
Suburban Trains
90% of all Outer Suburban trains will arrive in the City Centre within 15 minutes of the published time.
Dart Trains
95% of all DART trains will arrive in the City Centre within 10 minutes of the published time.
Improvements to Track and Signalling
At the time of launching this charter, a very extensive investment programme is in progress on many lines.
This programme is designed to improve the quality of track and signalling and will result inevitably in some temporary disruptions to services on the lines concerned.
We will advise you in advance of such disruptions in so far as they can be foreseen.
We will tell you the reason for a delay or why we have cancelled a service.
When we advertise a change to the timetable, we will measure our performance against the new service times.
We will give you information on our services through our Telephone Information Bureaux, our Talking Timetable telephone numbers, Aertel and our Web Site and our station staff. There is a list of telephone contact numbers at the back of this charter.
We will publish annually an InterCity timetable and a separate DART / Suburban timetable. For these booklet timetables, we will charge a nominal fee to cover our production costs.
In addition, we will publish and provide free of charge individual route and station specific timetable sheets and cards.
The relevant timetables will be displayed at all our stations.
3. Passengers with special needs
We welcome passengers with special needs and we are committed to providing a service, which everyone can use.
Unfortunately, facilities at some of our stations still require modification and improvement and we are working towards correcting these deficiencies.
Full details of facilities in each station are available in our ‘Guide for Mobility Impaired Passengers’, which is available free of charge in all stations.
This guide may also be obtained by phoning our Mobility Impaired Liaison Officer at
+353-1-7032634 or your local InterCity or Suburban station.
We will be able to better assist you if you contact us as far in advance as possible, but try to give us at least twenty-four hours notice of your journey.
We will endeavour to sell you the most appropriate ticket to meet your expressed needs. If you do not already have a ticket, we advise that you arrive at the station in sufficient time to obtain one.
Excluding exceptional circumstances, our standard for ticket offices is that, during advertised hours of business, you should not have to wait for more than seven minutes to buy your ticket.
Outside our busy peak periods, we aim to serve you within three minutes.
First Plus, CityGold, First Class and Classic customers should reserve a seat to ensure travel on the service of their choice.
This reservation service is available at your local InterCity station and Iarnród Éireann Travel Centres. You should be in your seat at least five minutes before the advertised departure time.
We aim to answer within 60 seconds 90% of calls made to our Telephone Information Bureaux during advertised hours of business.
7. Quality Standards - on Trains
Cleanliness
We will ensure that all trains are thoroughly cleaned before entering service each day. During the day, we will ensure where possible that trains are cleaned for the start of each new journey. All trains are programmed to receive an external wash at least three times per week.
Smoking
Smoking is prohibited on all Iarnród Éireann services and in all Iarnród Éireann stations
Catering
A catering service is provided on most InterCity trains in accordance with customer demand and the time of day. Details of the actual service provided are advertised in our public Timetable.
We will let you know whenever the advertised on-train catering service is not available. An in-seat catering service is available in CityGold, First Plus and First Class.
Public Address
Public address, where provided, will be kept in good working order and used to keep you informed especially if needed to notify you of delays. When service delays and disruptions occur, you will be kept informed of the causes of such occurrences and their expected duration.
8. Quality Standards - Stations
Customer facilities
Comfortable waiting areas affording protection from the weather will be provided where possible. In so far as is possible, we aim to make facilities accessible to all our customers.
Cleanliness
At stations with staff, all public areas will be inspected regularly throughout the day and kept clean and free from litter. Stations without staff will be inspected at least three times a week.
Toilets will be cleaned regularly.
Information
We are committed to providing you with clear, up-to-date information on our services.
Posters and information on display will be regularly checked to ensure accuracy. Public address, where provided, will be kept in good working order and used to keep you informed especially if needed to notify you of delays.
When service delays and disruptions occur, you will be kept informed of the causes of such occurrences and their expected duration. We will display, in advance, posters providing information about planned maintenance works. Within the constraints of available resources, we will continue to extend the electronic Passengers Information System to more of our stations.
We know how important it is that you receive a satisfactory service from our staff at all times.
So we expect our staff to:
10. Please Help us to Help you
In order to make your rail journey as safe and as pleasant as possible for you and your fellow passengers please:
11. Claims for Refunds and Discount Vouchers
If your service is cancelled for any reason within our control, you may be entitled to a refund or a discount voucher. If your service is seriously delayed for any reason within our control, you may be entitled to a discount voucher.
The circumstances and procedures are outlined below. We will try to let you know the cause of the problem at the time and we will treat each claim on its merits.
Immediate Refunds
If the train you planned to catch is delayed or cancelled and you decide not to travel, we will give you a full cash refund if you return your unused ticket immediately to the ticket office at which you bought it.
If you cannot return it at the time, but still wish to claim a refund, we may have to charge you an administration fee.
Later Refunds
If you decide for some other reason not to use a ticket you have bought, you can apply for a refund at any main InterCity station, the Suburban Rail Office, Pearse Station or any Travel Centre. We will normally charge an administration fee and we may ask for extra evidence to support your claim for a refund.
You must make all refund claims within 28 days of the end date of your ticket.
Refunds for Tickets bought at Other Outlets.
If you did not buy your ticket from us, you should return it to the place from where you bought it and they will arrange any refund due and may make a reasonable administration charge.
Discounts in the Event of Delays
If, because of circumstances within the control of Iarnród Éireann, you are more than one hour late in arriving at your destination, we will normally offer you discount vouchers for use against future ticket purchases. The value of discount vouchers is based on the length of delay and the fare you have paid for your single journey.
For delays of one to two hours, we will give you vouchers to the value of 50 % of the fare you have paid for your single journey.
For delays over two hours, we will give you vouchers to the value of 100% of the fare you have paid for your single journey.
Discounts in the Event of Service Failures
If we fail to honour your seat reservation, and no other seat of similar standard on the same service is available for you, we will refund the fare of your single journey in travel vouchers.
If we fail to provide in-seat catering in First Class or City Gold carriages, where this is advertised as part of the service, we will give you a refund of £5 in travel vouchers.
Claiming Discount Vouchers
To apply for discounts you will need to fill in an application form. These forms will be available at the ticket offices in all main stations, Travel Centres and at the Suburban Rail Office, Pearse Station.
You should attach your ticket to the completed form as proof of travel and provide any other supporting evidence as required.
We cannot accept claims for delays that are outside our control, for example, those caused by security alerts, extreme weather conditions, vandalism or other actions by third parties.
We welcome any comments and suggestions that you may have on improving our service. If you were not happy about any part of our service, we would like to know about it. Most problems can be satisfactorily resolved at local or station level.
However, if you prefer or are still not satisfied you can contact:
Customer Services, InterCity, Connolly Station, Dublin 1. (Phone 01-7032613) regarding InterCity / Mainline rail services
Customer Services, Suburban Rail, Pearse Station, Dublin 2. (Phone +353-1-7033592) regarding DART and Dublin Suburban rail services.
It is helpful if you include as much detail as possible, such as date and time of travel, where you were leaving from and going to, and a phone number in case we need more information. It is also helpful if you send your ticket.
If we cannot give you an immediate response, we will send an acknowledgement to your letter within three working days of receiving it, and we aim to respond fully within fifteen working days.
However, if there is going to be a delay, we will let you know the reason and when you may expect to receive a detailed reply.
We want to be able to sort out your problems as quickly as possible and, because we can often do this by talking things through with you, we will not normally reply in writing to an oral complaint.
We will thoroughly and fairly investigate all complaints.
In all cases we will give you a full explanation and an apology when we have made a mistake.
Iarnród Éireann welcomes your comments, suggestions and views on any aspects of our services because this will help us to better satisfy your needs.
To be sure that we are giving you the sort of service you expect, an independent research company will conduct research twice a year to measure our actual performance against the targets published in this charter and to find out how well you think we are doing.
We will publish the results of this research, and more importantly, we shall take action to improve matters where you tell us this is needed.
This charter does not create any new legal relationship with you nor does it affect your legal rights or obligations.
These are shown in our Conditions of Carriage, copies of which are available at main stations.
16. Different Forms of the Charter
This charter is also available in the English and Irish language in brochure form and in addition you can get copies on audio tape from the Marketing Department at Iarnród Éireann, Connolly station, Dublin 1 (phone Dublin 01-7032506 or 01-7032634).
Passenger Information:
Timetable and Fares information for InterCity, DART and Suburban services;
Call Save 1850-366222
Passenger Information: (Phone lines open 08.30 - 18.00 Monday to Friday, Saturday 09.00 - 18.00, Sunday and Public Holidays 10.00 - 18.00).
Website http://www.irishrail.ie
Interactive Aertel; Page 777
'Talking Timetables' (available 24 hours):
Dublin / Cork route 01-8054200
Dublin / Galway route 01-8054222
Dublin / Waterford route 01-8054233
Dublin / Westport route 01-8054244
Dublin / Sligo route 01-8054255
Dublin / Tralee route 01-8054266
Dublin / Belfast route 01-8054277
Dublin / Rosslare route 01-8054288
Dublin / Ballina route 01-8054299
Mobility Impaired Liaison 01-7032634
Marketing Department 01-7032506
Customer Services (Comments, Suggestions, Complaints):
InterCity services 01-7032613
DART and Dublin Suburban services 01-7033592
99% of all scheduled InterCity trains will run as planned.
98% of all scheduled DART / Suburban trains will run as planned.
or
or 021-504544
Dublin / Limerick route 01-8054211
or 061-413355
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