Gardai Join With Irish Rail For Unannounced Ticket Checks At Train Stations Across Ireland

Gardai are backing up ticket inspectors on Irish Rail in an attempt to cut down on fare evaders and reduce anti-social behaviour.

The Irish Sun report that unannounced checks are being used following problems at some stations, with uniformed officers checking tickets at Balbriggan Station last week.

Irish Rail has stressed that “the majority of revenue checks are still carried out by their own employees”.

Barry Kenny of Irish Rail told the Irish Sun: “We have a lot of co-operation with the Gardai on a range of issues and partner them.

“They (Gardai) support us on some revenue protection but also on some anti-social behaviour. There is a resource there to deal with general issues that commuters want us to deal with.”

Fines for dodging a rail fare can rise to as much as €5,000 for repeat offenders, and detection of fare evaders reportedly saved taxpayers close to €800,000 in 2016.