Translink cross border train seating row: Councillor vows to write to company about 'crazy' situation after frustrations spill out on social media
and live on Freeview channel 276
The issue came to light when social media user @LilyPinkBaker posted her frustrations on Bank Holiday Monday morning."Turned up 20 mins early for train to Dublin and it’s oversold," she said.Although she booked four tickets a month ago she was told this did not entitle her to a seat - which had to be reserved seperately. However she was even more surprised that she was not even able to get onto the train to travel standing up.On her return journey the next day she posted: “Well we are on the floor but at least we are on the train home. Another chaotic experience. Seems very unfair you can’t reserve a seat on Translink but you can if you book from Irish rail for no charge too."Her comments prompted dozens of similar posts.Belfast SDLP Councillor Gary McKeown responded: "This is crazy. It's clearly unacceptable to expect someone to stand for a two-hour journey on a 'premium' cross-border service. Young families would've been on this train. Ticket sales should reflect genuine capacity. I'll be writing to Translink about the need to address this."The News Letter asked Translink if it is true that travellers must reserve a seat in addition to buying a ticket?
A spokeswoman replied: “We aim to provide comfortable journeys with appropriate capacity for passengers," she said. "All trains are designed to safely accommodate standing passengers when demand is high. Customers also have the flexibility to travel on later services when trains are busy. Seat reservations can be made for Enterprise Plus travel when travelling from Belfast to Dublin."This paper also asked why ticket sales could not be restricted to match the number of seats?She responded: “Plans are advancing for a new booking system for Enterprise, the procurement of new fleet and enhancements to frequency to deliver an hourly service on the cross-border Enterprise service, dependent on funding”.She added that there was "a surge in demand" for cross border Enterprise services on Bank Holiday Monday and apologised to passengers "for any inconvenience caused".Additional staff were on duty and a relief training was quickly organised, she added.