Commuters quickly get to grips with new change on buses, trains

The expected delays on buses and trains as thousands of employees returned to work after the Christmas and New Year break failed…

The expected delays on buses and trains as thousands of employees returned to work after the Christmas and New Year break failed to materialise yesterday, according to Iarnród Éireann, Bus Éireann and Dublin Bus.

Delays had been anticipated as hundreds of thousands of commuters returning to work used the euro for the first time.

"We've had no reports at all of any difficulties anywhere throughout our system. We have had no indications that there were any delays to services as a result of it," said a spokesman for Bus Éireann.

He said the company had employed additional staff in its ticket offices and was encouraging people to buy tickets before boarding buses.

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"That worked well in speeding up the boarding of buses and avoiding problems on the buses themselves," he added.

A spokesman for Dublin Bus said that 40 per cent of ticket sales in its central office yesterday were in euro. A quieter than normal day and the widespread availability of the new currency ensured that there were few problems, he said.

"All of our services this morning operated to timetable," he added.

Iarnród Éireann said it had employed 50 extra temporary staff at its busier stations to assist in the changeover.

"Certainly there were no euro-related problems," said a spokesman. "Queues were pretty normal for a commuting day."

The spokesman dismissed a complaint by one commuter that public announcements at Castlebar railway station indicated only euro would be accepted there.

"There were two ticket desks open at Castlebar - one for converting from Irish to euro and the second to purchase tickets. The announcement was offering to change the money before purchasing the ticket. People with Irish money were catered for," he said.

Taxi drivers' organisations also reported few problems, despite the fact that only 40 per cent of drivers are estimated to have converted their meters in advance of the changeover. But a queue of between 300 and 400 taxis was reported outside one garage which recalibrates meters.

Mr Paul McCarthy, parking enforcement officer with Dublin Corporation, said it had received complaints in relation to four of its 800 parking meters not accepting euro. He said that all of the meters had been programmed to accept both currencies.