Your event only works if people can get there. A missed train, a tight connection, or a service that does not run on a Sunday will sink the plan before the first activity starts.
Today you learn to read a real transport timetable the way a planner does: find a departure, find an arrival, work out the journey time, and spot whether you need to change services. Those routes go straight onto Transport Options for the event portfolio.
A timetable is a grid. Stations run down the side. Services run across the top. Each cell is a clock time.
| Concept | Why it matters | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Timetable — stations in rows, services in columns, a clock time in each cell | One wrong cell and the whole group is an hour early or an hour late | Cork (Kent) row, 07:00 Cork column → departs 07:00 |
| Journey time — elapsed time from depart cell to arrive cell on the same service | It is what you put in the itinerary and what you cost against | 07:00 Cork to 09:35 Heuston = 2 h 35 min |
| Interchange — leaving one service and joining another mid-route | Venues are rarely on the main line; most event plans need a second leg | Rail to Limerick Junction, then a local bus into town |
| Service frequency — how often the route runs | Low frequency means a missed train has a long wait; high frequency gives flexibility | 07:00, 09:00, 11:00 = about one every two hours |
Look at the Cork to Dublin table on the board. The 07:00 Cork service is already highlighted: it leaves Cork (Kent) at 07:00 and reaches Heuston at 09:35.
Working the journey time yourself (hours first, then minutes):
09:35 − 07:00
Hour-boundary example (when minutes on the later time are smaller, or you cross a full hour): Limerick Junction 07:55 to Heuston 09:35.
Notice the intermediate stops — Mallow, Limerick Junction, Thurles, Portlaoise — because those are the places an interchange would happen. You will practise one change on the next step before you build routes for your own event.
Open the timetable. Tap a departure cell, then an arrival cell on the same service. Before you trust the interactive, say the elapsed time yourself using hours first, then minutes.
Work these five with the class before you touch your own event:
For each one, say the depart time, the arrive time, and the elapsed journey time out loud before you move on.
Now apply the same method to your own event. In pairs, pick the journey your event cannot do without (home town to venue, station to venue, or venue to overnight base).
Find two different routes for that journey. For each route write down:
Sample fares and connections on the board (use these if you cannot look up a live price in class):
Support path: if you want a head start, take Route A as rail Cork → Heuston on the 09:00 (stations already fixed). You only calculate journey time, decide whether to add Bus A as an interchange, and write the fare(s). Then build Route B yourself as a different option (different service, or rail + Bus B via Limerick Junction).
Both routes must be ones the group could actually take on the event date — check the day of week matches the timetable you are using.
Choose the key journey for your event. Find two workable routes. For each route record mode, depart, arrive, journey time (hours then minutes), interchange (if any), and adult single fare. Support path: Route A can start as 09:00 Cork → Heuston with journey time and fares to fill in.
Work through these in order:
Your two routes are only portfolio evidence once they are written so somebody else can follow them. Copy both routes onto a Transport Options page in your Maths Portfolio. Show the times, the journey length, any interchange buffer, and the fare. Finish with the total transport cost for one adult on each route and a one-line recommendation.
Instructions: One row per route. Put a unit after every time and every money figure. If a route has an interchange, spell out the change station and the minutes you leave to make it.
Two costed, timed transport routes for the event journey you cannot do without. File as Transport Options — Collecting evidence for MA2 KA1.
Write these down the page, leaving room under each for your answer:
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