Irish Rail customers who buy their tickets online have noticed a 'hack' that means they can travel from Cork to Dublin for half the price - but what they might not realise is that it's actually against the rules.
Those who travel from Cork to Dublin by an Irish Rail train will know that tickets can be quite expensive, with a flexible return ticket usually costing €32.99 each way. So if you are travelling from Kent station in Cork to Heuston station in Dublin, passengers are likely to pay around €66. It's slightly cheaper if you go for a semi-flexible ticket.
However, some people have spotted a trick to cut the price down to almost half, according to Cork Beo. Warning for those who are thinking of trying this - it's against the rules and you could be hit with a fine.
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It appears that if you buy a ticket from Cork to Galway (which passes through Dublin), you can get the ticket for €17.59 each way (flexible). Then you just hop off at the changeover in Heuston. A semi-flexible ticket on this route is €16.29.
People have been left confused as to why the Cork-Galway service going though Dublin is cheaper than just a straight ticket to Heuston.
One person said: "It's cheaper to buy a train ticket from Galway to Cork that switches in Dublin, than it is to buy a train ticket from Dublin to Cork. I don't understand this country.
"I guess the price is just calculated based on the start and end destinations as there are services that take you to Limerick junction w/o needing to go to Dublin."
CorkBeo has asked Irish Rail about the system and are waiting for a response. According to their rules the practice is against CIE byelaws, and if someone's caught doing it they could face a fine.
The law states: "When the fare to an intermediate station exceeds the fare to a more distant station, no person shall, for the purpose of travelling to such intermediate station, take or use or attempt to use a ticket for the more distant station with intent to avoid payment of the additional fare to such intermediate station.
"The liability to or infliction of any penalty incurred by the contravention of this Bye-Law shall not prejudice any right of the Board to treat such ticket as forfeited and to recover the full fare for the distance actually travelled by the offender."
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