McHugh's Miscellany: 'Free' bus travel not helped by ‘phantom’ train bookings

I suppose it never dawned on me before that a free travel pass was anything other than what it stated -  free.

So it was with a sense of interest that I read that pensioners can now book and reserve seats on Expressway services online (and have for some time) in advance and online for just €2 per trip! 

They say that bookings can also be made from ticket machines in stations and priority boarding will be given to those who book in advance. 

“Travel without a booking is still more than welcome if you prefer, provided we have space on board,” they say.

My question is, if the booking is done online, who gets the two quid and what administrative work is done other than the pensioner booking the ticket either printing the ticket out or presenting the online confirmation of having the ticket, through their mobile phone?

Again, it’s the principle involved in these things, not the additional cost, as miniscule, as some people might think it is?

If a pensioner is booking online, there should be no additional charges or it should be reimbursed in some manner shape or form.

It is also debatable that the people more likely to use this service are those who are receiving the basic state pension of €265.30 per week or €37.80 per day.

The last pension increase was €12 per week and with rampant inflation and a few online bookings for bus tickets, that benefit, if any, has already turned to dust.

If a popular shopping chain already knows that every little helps, that goes beyond the food budget for every person. 

But just as I was set in my opinion, I came across an even more interesting piece in this week’s Irish Independent, which threw a bit of balance, if not wobble, to the debate in question. 

Under the heading, “Pensioners filled up train services with ‘phantom’ free bookings”, the story revealed that Irish Rail had to shut a loophole “which saw pensioners and other free travel pass holders reserving seats on multiple trains each day to give themselves flexibility over what service to actually take”.

A matter of Record - The Donegal Democrat down the years

This week’s offering again looks through the 104 year history of the Donegal Democrat newspaper. This week Michael McHugh looks at a few stories that made the pages of the Donegal Democrat in more recent decades including Donegal's first McKenna Cup Final victory against Cavan 50 years ago

In one example cited in the article, one train with a capacity of 290 passengers, ”where 138 seats had been booked without the person paying anything - and some of them were likely to be phantom reservations”. Oh dear!  

Agus ar deireadh

No doubt, a good part of the country were transfixed to their televisions on Friday night to see young Patrick Kielty make his debut as the host of the Late Late Show.

It was an interesting choice, and with an interesting life story himself, I can only hope that his LLS contract will see new impetus into the show, as I thought that it had become a little two dimensional in recent years.

Most people think that he finely balanced the pathos required, with that of light hearted banter and genuineness required for the iconic programme. 

LLS host Patrick Kielty was on safe ground in his first time presenting the show with fellow county native, former President of Ireland, Mary McAleese. 

(Pic: Andres Poveda)

As for Mr Tubridy, I wish him well on his new ventures and like many things Irish, the Prodigal son, will no doubt, return to the fold, in one way or another. It appears he also wished his successor well, which was a nice gesture, notwithstanding the pressure he has been under himself, in recent months.

Yes, I thought that getting paid more than the Taoiseach was a bit much for Mr. T, but ultimately my bone of contention with paying the TV licence fee, had more to do more with how much we were paying for soap operas from yonder ponds and the likes of the Premiership on a terrestrial channel, than it was with worthwhile and important investment in TV programmes like the upcoming dark comedy series of ‘Obituary’, which was mainly filmed in Ballyshannon. 

And it will be interesting how the request by the Dail Oireachtas committee for the salary earnings of the top 100 earners within the 1,800 staff will be dealt with by RTÉ, as with the State broadcasters announcement on Wednesday of an immediate recruitment freeze.