Everyday, thousands of students, families and commuters on their way to work use Irish Rail services to travel. Despite continuous evidence of hundreds of individuals having to stand on a daily basis, Irish Rail has continued to ignore passenger complaints. Every individual on these trains pays the required fee to travel, yet many must stand for much of their journey, due to lack of seating.

As a student who travels home roughly 5 times a term on the Dublin Heuston to Galway Ceannt line, I have paid my fee of €22.50 to use the service, and stood many times. Continuously elderly individuals in their 70s and 80s have boarded the train unable to get a seat and unless a commuter is so kind as to offer them a seat, they often have to stand.

My most recent experience with Irish rail seen me standing for much of the joueney, but what has most annoyed me is what I seen while on board. A woman in her 70s boarded and was unable to find a seat. She had already been on a train to Athlone and told me she stood on that. She then had to stand for a portion of the journey to Dublin also.

I am also a sufferer of chronic pain and know that many people with invisble illness are forced to regularly stand.

To add insult Irish Rail have raised their ticket prices most recently as December 2018. My own student return fee has raised from a charge of €22.50 to €25.00. 

Irish commuters should not have to accept continuously increasing ticket prices, when the rail company can’t even provide adequate seating. Even one extra carriage on many of these inter-city journeys would resolve the majority of seating issues. 

As I write this i share a space at the back of a Galway to Dublin carriage with a female pensioner, two men in their 40s and another student.

What I am asking for is for students, workers who commute, the chronically ill and pensioners who regularly avail of these services and have had many similar experiences, to sign this petition and share their stories.

As we approach the Christmas rush, the overcrowding on rail services will likely worsen, with Irish Rail ignoring complaints.

People who pay the same price for a ticket as a seated customer should not have to stand.