Irish Rail have hit the brakes on wily passengers using an anomaly in ticket prices to get cheaper fares.
The operator had been offering promotional rates to encourage more passengers on routes between Cork and Galway along the Western Rail Corridor.
However, eagle-eyed commuters spotted these fares could be booked for Cork-Galway services which connected through Dublin instead of Limerick.
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Passengers would then get off at Heuston Station in the capital instead of going on to Cork or Galway – and in the process save themselves a pretty penny.
Instead of paying average prices of between €43 and €66 return, they were able to bag rates of between €31 and €35 return.
After the hack began to circulate on social media in early August, Irish Rail’s corporate communications manager emailed colleagues.
He said: “It does seem to be the case... low to flex for Cork to Galway [via Heuston] ranges from €15.59 to €17.59, whereas for Cork to Heuston it’s €21.49 to €32.99.”
In internal discussions, Irish Rail’s tech team said they needed to look at changing fare “buckets”. Over the following week, staff grappled with how to close off the hack, with one fix failing to resolve the problem.
An email said: “It didn’t work, so don’t expect this to work either – however, I plan to offer the cheap fare only when the Western Rail Corridor is used.”
By August 19, the cheap tickets were no more, according to records released under Freedom Of Information, with 26 new fare tariffs required to close the loophole.
A spokesman for Irish Rail said: “Following this anomaly coming to light, we have now resolved it so the promotional fare is available via the Limerick to Galway line only.”
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