[04-08-2007] Northern Line Disruption

[Terrontress]

The single 29000 set which works the 0800 ex Donabate has broken down in Rush and Lusk.

This is coupled to the fact that there is signal failure between Sandymount and Sydney Parade.

21st Century Ireland

[Mark Gleeson]

Platform pa in Drogheda is stating up to 1 hour delays and to make alternative arrangements

compare that to the lame notice IE have

Service Disruption to Northern Services by Corporate Communications

Due to a failure at Rush Inbound services north of Rush are experiencing delays

<< Back

[Mark Gleeson]

Enterprise is sitting in Drogheda going nowhere

[Terrontress]

We have been told that the delays were up to one hour. That was one hour ago. Still seems no closer to resolution.

I can see Donabate station from where I sit and there are plenty of people there waiting for the train still.

Difficulty is "alternative arrangements" don't exist from Donabate without getting a bus to Swords and then a bus to town. There are three trains that leave within the space of 25 minutes. 2 of which are 8 cars, one a 4 car.

How many people would get onto these trains and how many people would fit onto the half hourly 33B, which is an RV, beyond those who are already using it?

[Mark Gleeson]

Ireland.com reports
Last Updated: 04/09/2007 09:31
Northern trains into Dublin resume

Thousands of rail commuters into Dublin faced delays this morning after a line failure at Rush station halted inbound services.

No inbound trains were able to pass the Rush station for over an hour.

A spokeswoman for Irish Rail said services have now been restored. Dublin Bus ferried a large number of stranded rail passengers into the city, she added.

No change to the IE notice

[ThomasJ]

http://www.breakingnews.ie/ireland/mhcwgbmheyau/

Rail commuters between Dundalk and Dublin are being severely disrupted this morning due to a technical fault at Rush station.

A line failure has left one train stuck in the station and prevented any inbound trains from passing Rush.

Iarnród Eireann says a different line is being opened to deal with the problem, but passengers are still facing major delays and Dublin Bus will be honouring all rail tickets to help commuters get to their destinations.


a different line?

[Mark Gleeson]

Enterprise due to arrive at 9:05 arrived 10:26

Just remember refunds http://www.platform11.org/passenger_info/refunds.php#their_fault

[Terrontress]

The train in question finally arrived into Dublin Connolly at 10.02, as opposed to the 08.28 timetabled time.

What was ridiculous was that they had the guy in the "No Ticket, No Travel" booth, eyeing everyone up and the barriers closed.

I'd say that if they tried to catch someone out on a minor technicality on their ticket, they would have received quite some reply!

I had to travel Donabate - Connolly, Connolly - Pearse and then get a 46A to work from Nassau St. Usually I am at my desk for 9am. Today it is 10.35.

[ACustomer]

It's now 1155, and the IE Website still carries the same one-line message about the delay!! Someone should run a sweepstake on when they wake up and post some up-to-date information.

[Mark Gleeson]

It took 16 minutes, see the read this site

[ThomasJ]

do aa roadwatch read this site as well??? currently appearing on the site as at 12.39pm

http://www.aaroadwatch.ie/rail/story.asp?id=3779

4/9/2007 Northern Rail services affected by line failure.
Due to a line failure at Rush all inbound Northern services are affected.
No inbound trains will be able to pass the Rush Station.

[ACustomer]

Something seems to have changed. From the usual sequence of notices, a Martian might guess that IE got their information by reading the AA site!.

[seamus kilcock]

Is it true there are 'rescue locomotives' at different locations between Dublin & Cork? Where are they located?

Rush is only 30 minutes apx from Connolly where there are 'spare' engines including the 201 class to 'rescue' the Enterprise.

Is it that difficult to organise a rescue for a 29000 set?
It is possible to run an engine 'wrong' road to Rush to carry out a resue - surely?

I look forward to one of the 'experts' on this board to bring me up to date.

Seamus

[ThomasJ]

do aa roadwatch read this site as well??? currently appearing on the site as at 12.39pm

http://www.aaroadwatch.ie/rail/story.asp?id=3779

same message appearing at 5.38pm.

[Thomas J Stamp]

Is it true there are 'rescue locomotives' at different locations between Dublin & Cork? Where are they located?

Seamus

There is one at Limerick Junction and one at Portlaoise (I think).

As for avalaibility of a loco to rescue a 29000 at Rush I just dont know.

[Thomas J Stamp]

I look forward to one of the 'experts' on this board to bring me up to date.

Seamus

Dont annoy me.

[Mark Gleeson]

We don't know why the train in question failed however the achilles heal of the 29k railcar is the brakes, if they go wrong you ain't going anywhere and no amount of rescue locomotives make a difference.

Information this morning was useless, we managed to provide far better info from people on the ground, ok admittedly the Northern and Eastern manager was almost certainly on one of the delayed trains there is no excuse, word is there is a new "major incident protocol" in place not like its much different from the old stick head in sand one

Note 50% refund applies all Northern line passengers delayed, even annual ticket holders can apply (annual ticket value / 420 * %age)

Side point the Cork line nearly all failures occur towards Dublin, the locomotive on the rear is typically still running its an electrical fault in the pointy end.

[ThomasJ]

currently appearing on the aa roadwatch site as at 5.39pm

http://www.aaroadwatch.ie/rail/story.asp?id=3779


Quote:
4/9/2007 Northern Rail services affected by line failure.
Due to a line failure at Rush all inbound Northern services are affected.
No inbound trains will be able to pass the Rush Station.

[Rashers]

Arrived into Rush+Lusk on time @7.56 on the 07.03 Dundalk to Connolly.
After a couple of minutes driver declared the train a failure and asked everyone to leave the train. The following 07.16 Dundalk-Bray has already left Skerries and was stuck south of Skerries.
At the same time the displays were advising of 20 min delays to DARTs due to a signal failure at Sandymount. And there was also a 20 minute delay to the 07.55 Pearse-Dundalk service.
From 8am to 9.15am, they were making the same announcement, which was to make alternative travel arrangements. They also advised delay was up to 1 hour, constantly.However, options were limited from Rush and Lusk, and the earlier 33 from Balbriggan, through Skerries, Rush, Lusk to Swords/City centre had broken down in Skerries. And the delays was actually 1.5 hours.
I rang Connolly info a fair few times, and to be fair they told me the truth - i.e. engineers had to be sent by taxi from Connolly to Rush+Lusk, and I seen them arrive at 09.15am. Problem seem to be linked to traction control on the dashboard.
Train eventually left at 09.25am, but then got stuck directly behind a southbound DART from Howth junction to Connolly.
I got a taxi from Connolly to try and catch the end of my 9am meeting, which promptly ended 2 minutes after I arrived.:mad:

[James Shields]

I had been planning to get the 7:40 from Drogheda. By the sound of things, I'd have been worse off if I had, as we'd have been stuck behind the failed train in the middle of nowhere.

I ended up getting to Drogheda station about 8:15. The Enterprise arrived about 8:25. We'd already had announcements along the lines of "due to the failure of a train at Rush & Lusk, commuter services are delayed by up to 1 hour. Passengers are advised to make alternative arrangements." In other words, "Feck off, yer on your own." I don't know if my rail ticket would have been valid on the bus in this instance, but going on previous experience, the bus wouldn't get me there much earlier.

I found a seat on the Enterprise, and tried to get comfortable. The train manager made a similar announcement. The train stayed put. About 9:20 a second Enterprise pulls in to Drogheda. Normally this one doesn't stop in Drogheda.

About 9:25 we set off, but once we hit Malahide, we crawled our way into the city, arriving about 10:25, almost an hour and a half later than advertised;

[Thomas J Stamp]

the earlier 33 from Balbriggan, through Skerries, Rush, Lusk to Swords/City centre had broken down in Skerries.

Looks like an outbreak of bad luck in Fingal yesterday.

I got a taxi from Connolly to try and catch the end of my 9am meeting, which promptly ended 2 minutes after I arrived.:mad:

God bless the work, as a friend of mine used to say. Personally, I'd have written off the morning and gone for a coffee.

[Rashers]

Oh yeh, and seemingly the earlier 07.18 Drogheda to Bray was taken out of service @ Connolly. Not sure what was wrong with that. Would have been outside Connolly at the same moment the problem service developed it's fault at Rush+Lusk, so I wonder was this linked to try and reposition trains for mid morning northbound Drogheda services, which must have been all over the place. All in all, a bad day all round.
On a seperate note: Given the lack of buses, if I had called a taxi to Rush and Lusk and got that into town (via the port tunnel), could I claim for that back off IE? And would they send me a cheque, rather then those vouchers, assuming I had a valid receipt.
Just curious. In the past, I have always just waited, no matter how long the delay.

[Mark Gleeson]

Well under upcoming EU legislation IE will be legally required to refund in cash/cheque upon request

Its always worth a try if only to see what happens :eek: regardless of what happens when then learn something

[Rashers]

Seemingly, not entitled to refund of taxi fare, unless pre-agreed with a staff member. Now, the question is, what staff member would agree to that? I would imagine most would claim they did not have any authorisation (which I would say is correct).
Still amazing to think that for a 20 minute journey, will need to be delayed for 120 minutes (2 hours) before you get a full refund of the ticket you bought.
IMO I think the length of journey should be linked to the refund available. i.e. a 30 min delay on a 5-10 min journey is a lot more problematic then a similar delay on a 4 hour journey. However, presently neither are entitled to any refund.