IRISH RAIL has said its dispute with a Fine Gael senator, over her attempt to travel on an intercity service without buying a ticket beforehand, have been resolved.
Irish Rail said the furore had been “resolved satisfactorily” this evening, after the rail operator’s chairman and chief executive had met with Fidelma Healy Eames at Leinster House today.
Healy-Eames was forced to deny attempting to dodge a ticket fare two weeks ago after a Boards.ie user said they had witnessed the Athenry-based senator being fined for not having a valid ticket before she boarded.
In a subsequent statement Healy-Eames said she had expected to be able to buy a ticket on board the train, as she had done on previous occasions, and said she would be appealing the fine.
An Irish Rail spokesman said its chairman Phil Gaffney and chief executive Dick Fearn had held a “constructive” meeting with Healy-Eames today, where they had discussed the company’s revenue protection policies.
The spokesman added that Iarnród Éireann’s policy remained “that customers must have a ticket at all times prior to boarding a train, where there is an opportunity to purchase or collect an online booking”.
This can be done either from a manually-staffed ticket office or from an automated ticket vending machine, he added.
“Senator Healy-Eames raised some concerns about aspects of the application of this policy, and the Chief Executive agreed to examine the Senator’s concerns and respond to her directly,” the spokesman said.
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