A special £3 boarding card charge for rail passengers travelling to Dublin tomorrow for the Ireland-Scotland rugby match has been defended by Iarnrod Eireann. The "trial measure" is being adopted to try to curb overcrowding, according to its public relations manager, Mr Barry Kenny.
Meanwhile, senior gardai and RUC officers met at the Border yesterday to highlight the decision by the two forces to co-operate to try to prevent serious traffic accidents when Northern rugby fans travel to Dublin for the match.
The Iarnrod Eireann spokesman said overcrowding was a problem at weekends, particularly when rugby internationals were on. This was mainly due to lack of rolling stock, but the company was confident the use of boarding cards, which must be bought in advance, would ease the problem.
While they were free of charge in the past, this was because promotional fares had been withdrawn on match days. This weekend, competitively priced promotional day return fares would be on offer, he said.
The cards would "virtually guarantee passengers a seat" once they had bought one, as the total number of cards available was less than the total number of seats, he said. Special arrangements were being made for other passengers, including older people.
The rail company would review the success or otherwise of the system, and customer reaction, Mr Kenny said.
One extra train service is being provided from Cork, Galway, Limerick and Waterford tomorrow, while NIR is putting on an extra train from Belfast.
After the RUC/Garda meeting, Garda Chief Supt John O'Brien of the National Traffic Bureau said: "This is the first busy sporting weekend of the year and we want people to travel safely."
An RUC counterpart, Supt Eugene Kearney, said the two men had spoken often. "We share the same problems, but on separate sides of the Border. Injuries and deaths do not respect borders and we will be policing heavily this weekend. We want good driving and people to get there safely."
Chief Supt O'Brien said gardai continued to be concerned about the level of road deaths, particularly in the Louth/Meath division. Its accident rate led to it being targeted under Operation Lifesaver.
Since it was introduced last July, speeding has decreased markedly and there has been a marked reduction in the number of serious injuries in the division. Chief Supt O'Brien said that 10,000 speeding tickets had been issued since last July and a high proportion were to Northern drivers or vehicles.
Figures indicate 40 per cent of all recent Louth accidents and 50 per cent of all fatal accidents involved Northern motorists.