How safe is Connolly Station?

[ThomasJ]

I know there were exceptional circumstances due to the bad weather but given the numbers of passengers using irish rail over the last few days it asks the question is the underpass at connolly station platforms six and seven sufficent enough for these circumstances?

Looking at the Herald yesterday http://www.herald.ie/national-news/city-news/commuter-chaos-as-trains-feel-the-strain-2445228.html I read:

Last night there were scenes of pandemonium at Connolly Station at the height of rush-hour when thousands of commuters suddenly arrived because it was the only way out of town for them.

Irish Rail was forced to close the station doors for about 20 minutes at 5.30pm to clear the backlog of commuters while hundreds more queued to get tickets.


wedged

Passengers were wedged inside an underpass as they waited for trains, which were facing delays of half an hour as engineers worked to clear frozen points, according to Irish Rail spokesman Barry Kelly.

Some northbound trains were also further delayed after a passenger at Tara Station slipped on the platform, requiring medical attention.


and it reminded me of a picture I saw earlier of crowds in the underpass, http://twitpic.com/3bybhs :eek: I would hate to be getting off a train at connolly yesterday. Any thoughts on this?

PS I'd also love to know is there a strategy in place if there was to be some sort of emergecy on platforms 6 and 7.

[Mark Gleeson]

I was in Connolly at 5:30

I saw no crowd issues, platforms 6/7 were not packed. The queue for tickets was single digits, 5 ticket machines, 3 counters and 3 inspectors

[ThomasJ]

Are you talking about Wednesday Mark,

Its just that with attached picture, I could only imagine what would happen there in an emergency situation.

There was something about a woman who got to connolly at around 5-5:30ish said it was closed and she walked home, not sure where i heard it though.

[Mark Gleeson]

Both evenings, Wednesday was busier and one of the ticket machines was out of order and receiving attention.

I walked in the door at 5:25 on Wednesday

[ColmmacO]

I think that big rush happened about 3/3.30 pm though in connolly when the buses stopped .
I went through about 7 and there was hardly anyone around.

[Colm Moore]

While certainly busy, that photo looks slightly misleading. There appears to be a 22000 (you can see the yellow front) at platform 6 and a DART at 7. While the photo is a still, giving the impression everyone is stopped, there is a line of people walking down from the platform on the right (their left). I wonder if a lot of people were trying to keep out of hte wind on the platform.

That said, there is no room for complacency in a crowd situation.