I’ve commented in the past that stepping into a station or onto a train managed by Irish Rail is like stepping back into the 1970s, which was confirmed to me yet again this week when I travelled from Dublin Connolly to Sligo.

The picture above, which is a bit blurry because I took it with my mobile phone, shows a group of passengers having their tickets checked before they are allowed access the platform where their train awaits.

Is there anything unusual about that?

Well, yes there is in fact. The picture also shows the brand new automatic ticket checking gates that Irish Rail have recently installed at Connolly, through which the queuing passengers would have been required to pass literally seconds before having their tickets checked again by an Irish Rail employee.

Yes, that’s right. An Irish Rail employee is re-checking tickets that have already been checked by ticketing gate literally seconds before.

I couldn’t really believe this, and when it came to my turn to have my ticket checked, I asked the Inspector why he was re-checking tickets. He said it was to ensure that passengers were getting on the right train. I said I was going to Sligo and knew that the train on that platform was going to Sligo, so did he need to check my ticket? Yes, he did, he said, after which he ignored me when I asked why Irish Rail had spent no doubt millions of euro on ticket checking gates when he was still required to check tickets.

The following day, I rang Irish Rail Customer Relations to ask the same questions. The lady who answered the phone politely referred me to what she called the “Revenue Protection Unit” and gave me their number. I called this number at approx. 10am in the morning, but got no answer. The phone eventually rang out.

Irish Rail never cease to amaze me. I had hoped that the deployment of the new rolling stock on the Dublin-Sligo line would lead to an improvement in the attitude of management and staff, but based on my experiences this week, it looks like the North West is still in the land Darby O’Gill and the Little People when it comes to public transport.

Garreth