Comment & Analysis: Train travellers share experiences of what one describes as a crackdown on ticket flexibility is the description of Conor Popes Pricewatch column in The Irish Times this week, but Im left feeling we ask the wrong questions at the wrong times.I think flexibility, even outside the rules of whats classed as flexible tickets, is needed. The point of ticket inspection should be to (1) find those who are avoiding paying, (2) set people right who are making mistakes, and (3) maybe a bit of berate people a bit for using a ticket at the wrong time when the train is packed. Why? The focus should be on cracking down on people who dont pay or purposely underpay. People on a later train, because they missed their connecting bus, the bus never turned up, or a meeting ran late, really should not be the focus of revenue protection. After revenue protection is prioritised, there should be a focus on rules to improve passenger comfort. But enforcing rules for the sake of it is not what Irish Rail or public transport should be about.But the examples in the columns of people being berated or even fined for taking earlier, less busy trains are ridiculous. There should be a system that allows people, even without flexible tickets, to board earlier trains. This would free up later trains for passengers who need the space doing a lot more for passenger comfort than rigidly enforcing rules.The system could, for example, allow people to assign their ticket to the service that they are about to board. This would prevent anyone from seeking a refund before their later train departs.In fairness to Irish Rail, people have been complaining about the change in flexible tickets for ages, and it has been clear on the booking system for years. The changes were made in 2020. Greater flexibility should be returned to the flexible ticket, but, in the meantime, lets not pretend that its a new change. Nobody should be under the impression that it is.IMAGE: The Irish Rail booking system showing just how flexible the flexible tickets are.One reader wrote: One of the problems is Irish Rails flexible ticket, which is barely flexible at all. Once you start your journey, the return leg cannot be changed. Open tickets cannot be bought online, so you have to leave extra time for queuing at a ticket machine.While the other criticisms are valid, if you select a QR code as your ticket type (as opposed to a printed ticket), you can change flexible tickets online up to 60 minutes before the departure of your original train booking.Of course, some ticket combinations still do not allow QR codes, which means a flexible ticket becomes even less flexible. QR codes should be an option for all ticket combinations, and Irish Rail really needs to fix this issue. Another reader said that they were reprimanded by the conductor more than once for getting an earlier train, even though I was freeing up space on a rush-hour train, I started buying my day return from the ticket machine.When using a day return, she was then stopped from boarding a train and told that those with seat bookings were being allowed on first. The reader took great issue with this, but why? There is a logic to allowing people with seat reservations to board first so that there are fewer misunderstandings over seats (one of the largest issues on intercity trains).Day tickets and open returns offer flexibility, but do not guarantee a seat. This seems to be something that many train users cannot accept. But having a system with flexible tickets, such as day and monthly return, means that sometimes there will not be a seat for everyone.Irish Rail could move to a system with 100% bookable seats, but that would be the opposite of flexibility. People needing to travel at the last minute for a range of reasons would not be able to. As someone who sometimes needs to travel by train at short notice, I think the current system is better than seeking a form of perfection that would leave people unable to travel at short notice. Unlike buses, people standing up on trains is safe.There are a lot of issues with Irish Rails ticketing system that could be improved (IrishCycle.com has a list of questions for Irish Rail on some of these). While the next-generation ticketing programme is to be rolled out nationally at some vague time in the future, maybe we should be asking now: What system do we want?Sadly, no system will keep everybody happy, but the goal should be a fair system, not one that targets people who make small mistakes or were delayed because their bus was slow, or they were caught in traffic. More flexibility is needed. Making flexible tickets as flexible as they used to be should be a key part of this.