Madam, - This weekend thousands of music fans will travel to Kilkenny to hear Bob Dylan play Nowlan Park.
For fans who do not want to stay the night in the city, State train company Iarnród Éireann has put on the "Kilkenny Express" at the price of €45.
It leaves Dublin on Saturday and returns the same night after the gig.
However, this train can only be booked through the private company Ticketmaster, which also sells tickets to the gig.
Ticketmaster charges €5.95 more on top of each train ticket, bringing the total cost per passenger to €51.95.
When I rang Iarnród Éireann to price a normal Saturday day return ticket to Kilkenny, it quoted me €21.50.
If you want to book in advance over the internet or on the phone, Iarnród Éireann already has its own system in place, for which there is no extra charge.
Firstly, although I accept that there must be extra costs involved in running a one-off, late-night train, why has Iarnród Éireann more than doubled the basic ticket price from €21.50 to €45?
Secondly, and more importantly, when it already has its own booking system in place for which it charges nothing, why has the rail company which is owned by the State - ie, you and me - handed a private company, Ticketmaster, the opportunity to take €5.95 off each person who gets on a publicly owned train? - Yours, etc,
ALAN CAULFIELD, Dalkey, Co Dublin.