Should Iarnród Éireann be made into a private company?

Question

At present the those employed in Iarnród Éireann don't really care whether the trains run on time, whether the passangers are satisfied, and the bosses don't care whether Iarnród Éireann makes a profit, mainly because they know that the government has their asses covered. If, for example, the government sold the company and someone like Micheal O' Leary took over, do you think that the service would be better? Would Iarnród Éireann actually start making a profit then?

Answer 1

Michael O'Leary, h**l no.

Rail journeys for a cent, but 30 euro platform charges, 20 euro for the priviledge of sitting down, 5 euro for breathing his air, fuel surcharges, a charge for the wear and tear your backside causes to the seat. remove the jacks so he can put seats where the bogs used to be.

He has already said he doesn't give a rats ar5e what the public think of Ryanair, so why should he care what you would think of I É.

Personally, I live in Co. Donegal which doesn't have a single inch of railway line in the whole county, and we have a sum total of about 10 buses a day in my town, so sorry, but its hard to feel sorry for those who have a choice.

Answer 2

One good thing about trains in ireland is that they have a tendency to stay on the tracks, derailment is a serious incident, 1000 times more destructive than a car crash, taking the speed of the train, the weight amount of carriages, a crash is very horrific.

Britan privatised its rail system in the 80s-90s. The amount of derailments since privatisation, is directly linked to cost cutting measures to make a profit.

The safest option is a privatised system, as the alternative would probably mean non profitable routes would be cancelled.

Michael o leary would not take it as you cant apply the quick turnaround that applies to ryanair to a train, as it would mean that the trains would be on time but would not spend that long in the station, meaning more people would be complaining about missing their trains. Ryan air has a turnaround time of 20 minutes between dropping off and picking up passingers at an airport, apply this to cover all the stations on a line and you are talking seconds not minutes at a station like portharlington.

Answer 3

yes it should be, too many times the train from Drogheda to Dublin has not been on time in the last few months. I've even tried getting the bus to balbriggan then getting the train but I'm still late. can't win with them. an early at least once train would be nice. It'll never happen though, can't see them allowing it to go that way.

they are the only rail company and they know people like me or you can complain all we want, but at the end of the day we don't have much choice, if we want to get from a to b but can't drive and don't want to use the bus you have to take the train. we don't want someone like michael O'leary to own it, bloody h**l he'll hike up the ticket price, it's dear enough as it is, we'll have to pay per carraige or something. despite all the late trains you still see packed carriages in the evenings I don't think it matters who owns the company where profit is concerned.

a business man who doesn't rely on the government if his business is failing would want to keep customers happy so the trains would probably be on time.