Irish rail not there yet as new rights sidestepped

PASSENGER PROTECTION:RAIL PASSENGERS will have to wait at least five years before they get the same consumer rights as other Europeans after the Government opted out of new EU rules.

The regulation, which came into force this week, gives rail passengers in the EU similar consumer rights to those for air passengers.

These include the right to compensation for delayed or cancelled journeys and the loss of baggage, payments in the event of death or injury on the railways and new rights for disabled passengers.

However, the Department of Transport has taken up its right to derogate from most of the regulations on domestic services. The new rules will apply to international rail services – including the Dublin-Belfast route – but other services have been exempted “pending conclusion of discussions with Irish Rail regarding issues of its implementation on intercity services”, according to a department spokesman.

The derogation lasts five years but can be renewed twice before the regulation has to come into force. The British government has also exempted domestic services from the rules.

Some general provisions in the regulation, and a provision guaranteeing disabled people access to trains and assistance, will be applied across the Irish Rail network.

The measures not being applied at this point include a right to compensation of up to €1,285 per bag when luggage is lost or damaged by a rail company, and guaranteed advance payments to provide assistance to passengers in the event of injury or death. The payment would be at least €21,000 in the event of death.

Irish Rail spokesman Barry Kenny pointed out that in some respects the company’s guarantees for customers are more generous than the minimums set out in the regulation. Irish Rail, for example, provides compensation of 50 per cent of the ticket price for delays of between one and two hours and 100 per cent for delays of more than two hours, compared with 25 per cent and 50 per cent under the EU regulation.

But the EU rules specify that compensation should be paid in cash; whereas Irish Rail provides customers with vouchers.

Consumers’ Association of Ireland chairman James Doorley welcomed the implementation of disabled passengers’ rights but likened the overall Irish response to the old Irish Rail slogan of “We’re not there yet but we’re getting there”.

“CAI is disappointed that the Government is seeking to exempt Irish Rail from their obligations for domestic intercity rail services, especially when these regulations were agreed two years ago and all concerned had time to prepare for them,” he said. “We hope that the regulations will be applied soon and that the Government will not seek the maximum 15-year derogation.”