That was because the 8.11 Balbriggan - Bray was severely delayed yesterday. The train stopped south of Balbriggan, Skerries, Rush and Lusk and Donabate for about 5 mins each time with no explaination. Didn't arrive into Connolly until about 9.30.

see http://forum.platform11.org/showthread.php?t=893

11-7-2006
 

9:45 Dublin Cork (B200)
Maps sat down near Templemore, volume was a tad low
PA made at Mallow inaudible got the keywords signal and waiting for

12 July 2006, 8:20 Drogheda-Connolly
 

The 8:20 Drogheda-Connolly was a 4-car 2600/2800 combination. Given that it wasn't terribly crowded, I presume it had originated in Dundalk, and that there's an Enterprise set stranded somewhere north of the border.

The Enterprise followed on about five minutes later....

14 Jul 2006 8:20 Enterprise Drogheda-Connolly
 

The Enterprise this morning was a 4-car 2900 set. Judging by the crowding levels, I'd guess it came from somewhere north of the border. The Friday morning train is usually lightly loaded on a Friday (though this time of year you get more people coming down for the weekend), but when you pack an 8-car train into 4 coaches, some overcrowding is to be expected.

18 July 11:00 Galway to Dublin
 

The famous "Cú na Mara" heap of a train had a door problem in Athlone which delayed it 45 minutes. In the words of the train announcer the problem "proceeded" to Clara where maintenance was performed.

Nobody told anyone in Tullamore. Even station gaurd was sitting out on the platform with the Fasttrack and didn't know anything until the "down" Galway train left (15 minutes late) having run out of patience (it's a single line track)

No proper news and the train was always being promised until it actually rolled in 45 minutes late. Then there was no sandwiches left (on a lunch-time train) I bought the last can of softdrink, though it looked like there was plenty of bud.

Only person happy with the day was the taxi-man that got paid by me as I was too late to get where I was going by Luas.

The announcement also entertained the punters. The quicker they dump the 6202 series carriages the better. They are a heap of junk and worse than the slam door deathtraps, which at least don't have electrics so can't break down!

ps
 

Ps does anyone know if you have to get a taxi to get to an appointment can you claim from IÉ? I have seen the info on the home page.

Nope but if your train was so late as to arrive after public transport had shut down for the evening IE are meant to pay up

Which of course, isnt possible. Last Luas is 00.30. Nitelink is also public transport (I know it dosnt serve Heuston, but its the definition that courts) and they go till 4.00am......

I assume that if your train was scheduled to arrive in time for public transport to take you within a reasonable distance of your destination, and if no public transport is available to take you a similar distance, you should have a valid claim.

And if you have to get a Nitelink as a result of a late train, you should be able to claim the hefty premium DB charge for thouse services (though I doubt you can).

5 Oct 2006, 7:00 Enterprise from Connolly had no lights working in coach B.

Actually, it might not be a bad idea to have some semi-dark coaches in the evenings, but there ought to be at least enough light that people can make their way through the coach without risk of tripping over unseen obsticles.

12th Oct 09:40 Galway-Heuston

Halted Dublin side of Athlone for best part of an hour due signal power failure. Arrived Heuston 13:25, 65 minutes late.

That's a good idea now that you mention it. The dazzling interior lights of a 29000 class aren't particularly welcoming at six in the morning. Especially when you spend most of your working day under similar lighting.
In fact on 29000s I reckon IE could get away with fitting every second flourescent tube only (think they did this on the Mk2s?)

can't find the thread on reserved seating but had another great experience with reserved seating this weekend

sat 6 Jan 07 14:30 Dublin -> Athenry - seats not labelled
sun 7 Jan 07 18:18 Athenry -> Dublin - seats not labelled

what was really clever though was that the first class carraige (6202) (where my standard class seats were to be located) was absolutely freezing! like most others we quickly deserted it for the warmer confines of the normal carraiges

so not only have IE managed to make first class no better than standard, they now make it worse

i have booked seats about 10 times now and have yet to sit in my alloted seat.

also the irritating yet indicative (and probably influential) whats-hot-and-whats-not column in the weekend indo listed IE reserved seats as 'not' because you can reserve seats and yet have to queue with all the other punters... of course you could just sit in the pub and wait until the others had boarded and then go and fight for your unlabelled seat!!

ryanair have shown that priority queueing is a cheap and effective way to make people book ahead (online checkin) - could IE ever reach these heady heights of marketing competence?

Appearently there isn't meant to be a notice above the seats with your name on it

We have complained about it and a before unseen notice with no name but clearly stating the seat had been reserved appeared in the last 2 weeks

I really really want to let loose and cause a scene but so far I haven't had the chance but god help the staff member the day it happens. I've been lucky recently but then again every time I board a train in Heuston in the last month or so the head of intercity business development has been standing on the platform

Travelled from Killarney to Dublin on the 7th Jan , I was on the 12:30 Cork-Dublin which was one of the new trains.

Nice enough trip , however the seat reservations LED displays were not working , I have never ever seen these working , is the software working/available I wonder ?

On 10 Jan 2007 the 17:30 from Heuston to Limerick was delayed due to some failure of a train ahead of it. I was sitting in the "dining" carriage but did not hear any announcements. Apparently there were announcements made (to the tune of "we'll be moving shortly") but these announcements were only audible in some carriages.

This is a common situation on this train (not the delay but the inability to hear announcements).

Are you a marked man on the booking system? He gets a memo anytime you reserve a ticket?

You must be too well known, Mark. Time to break out the false moustache and go incognito!

Friday 12 Jan 2007: 18:00 from Heuston

At 18:05 (we still hadn't pulled out of Heuston) all passengers were informed to disembark from the train due to the need to test the doors. We all got off.
We stood out in the cold wind while the doors closed and opened a couple of times.
We all got back on.
The train pulled out (late).

My question is why the heck we had to get off the train so that they could test the doors? (Mark Gleeson is going to have an answer for this one, I can feel it in my bones as I type) I reckon myself it's because there was a risk that when they closed the doors we would all be trapped in an unthinkable form of hell....:eek:

Also, why did they wait until 5 minutes AFTER the train was due to depart before testing the doors? We were on the train 20 minutes at that stage.:mad:

You don't need to be a engineering guru to work it out

Door tests are different since guess what they have to open the doors on both sides now clearly that not good with passengers on board.

In an emergency every door has a release, its the red handle over the door, brake glass pull down then give the door a shove outwards

Of course the test should be done before the train hits the platform, time is allocated to do this

Apologies for my ignorance. I wasn't aware that they were testing the doors on both sides of the train - in fact when they tested the doors only the doors on the platform side opened and closed. I don't have the insider information that others appear to have...

Thanks for your explanation. And the safety demonstration. I didn't realise there were emergency door releases. Is this a new thing? Those guys come up with some really cool inventions.:rolleyes:

I must renew my guru card and sit the test again.

Bad experience at Portarlington today (Jan 19th)
 

Flew in from Paris today. 747 to city centre. Met a friend. Got the Luas (jammed) to Hewston. Got the 17:50 Galway train to Portarlinton. Train left on time, good train journey overall. Was in a good mood until we got (or half got) to Portarlington:

Train crawls into the station. Myself and two other passengers were at the door waiting for the platform to appear. We were at then back of the 3rd last carraige. No platform appeared.

Looked out a half open window and noticed that we were at the station but the platform was too short, then noticed people at the front end of the carriage disembarking. No announcements had been made.

Quickly hauled my luggage to the front and got off the train. The inspector was at the door so I asked him was it normal. He said that there appears to have been a signalling problem and that the train had pulled into platform 1 (eastbound) instead of the usual platform 2. I didn't mention anything about the lack of announcements.

As I was walking to the exit it occured to me that there may have been people in the last two carriages unaware that we were at the station. I tried pointing this out to a Portarlington station staff member on the platform. This is our conversation:
Me: "Maybe someone should make an announcement because there might be people at the back who might't know we're at the station."
IE guy: (Shruggs shoulders) "Nothing got to do with me."
Me: (Looking at the Iarnrod Eireann logo on his jumper) "It does say Iarnrod Eireann on your jumper, doesn't it?" (I was a bit pissed off, hence the smart ass comment)
IE guy: (getting visibly angry) "Listen! I'm not a train crew member, so it's got nothing to do with me!"
My parents arrived at that moment, so I let it go. The train started pulling off.

There is nothing wrong with the 17:50 to Galway using the Dublin platform, it ensures the 18:00 ex Dublin gets a clear run.

There should be a PA to indicate the platform is short. It is a safety critical requirement

The platform staff can control the situation by requesting the train to pull forward so the rear coaches line up.

For a train to leave it goes platform staff give go -> guard acknowledges -> guard gives go to driver. So it is the platform staff problem and failure to act on safety situation is unacceptable

From the inspector's response I got the impression that the 17:50 Dublin-Galway train does not normally stop on the eastbound platform at Portarlington. My parents told me that there was a bit of chaos at the station 2-3 minutes before the train arrived because passengers were waiting on platform 2 and the station staff were trying to get them over to platform 1.

Mark, how serious a safety breach was today's incident? Would IE even care?

Its fairly serious

17.50 normally stops on platform 2 - PA didn't even announce the stations when I was on it last Tuesday, nevermind short platform warnings.

About the short platform announcements - I'd say 50% of the time they'll announce the platform is short in Portarlington and advise people to move up. I notice it more on the trains that aren't so much commuter based, or in other words for the day trippers.

In other news - I remember seeing on a post ages ago about IE staff getting 'lifts home'. I was on the 21:00 cork train last friday (19th Jan) which is scheduled to stop 1st in Portarlington - at Kildare it slowed down and stopped briefly to let a member of staff in a big orange IE jacket get off the train.

Any of the trains to/from Portlaoise/Thurles/Athlone are short enough to fit in Portarlington so no need for a PA.

The last two coaches of a intercity train will hang over the end of the platform. If there is no PA on one of those trains please advise us of date and time. As I understand it the new Cork train is on shaky legal ground stopping in Portarlington and Templemore

Despite over 1 billion euro of investment not one single cent was spent on the platforms or track in Portarlington.

The classic stop for staff purposes is a ongoing issue, I got it on Saturday evening seems we dropped a parcel off in Portlaoise. As far as I have seen no passenger train or DART has a timetabled non passenger stop for staff reasons of course we all know its a daily occurance

my usual complaint
 

just for the record

21 jan 2007
14:55 Galway->heuston
first carraige (7114) was freezing (may or may not have been first-class - it's hard to tell...)
next carraige (7146) was warm but the volume on the announcement was so high that it lifted you out of it every time - the door wouldn't close all the way either and had stopped working at all by heuston

this thing of late announcements is silly too - not ush point in waiting until the train is at the platform in Clara before announcing it....

Especailly since Clara has a tiny platform

It's coming in Feb allegedly (platform). Although I know it already got delayed a bit so we'll see whan it actually starts...

Well the track was due to be sorted 2001, they only did half of it

Dublin bound is easy enough extend, Cork bound is way more complex, €30 million is the quote for everything

7:16 from Kildare to Heuston driver error?
 

This train arrived in Heuston 6 mins BEFORE it's scheduled time today!

Now before we start celebrating, this rare time shift happened because it failed to stop in Sallins/Naas.

There were 2 announcements made telling passengers that the next stop was Sallins - unfortunately both came after we had passed through Sallins. In fact, one came between Clondalkin and Cherry Orchard. Just before we arrived in Heuston there was another announcement apologising saying that the train hadn't stopped in Sallins. But we all knew that already. :D

I actually became concerned when the train sped through Sallins and then through Hazelhatch (for some reason I thought it might stop there instead - perhaps the driver mixed up the stations) - I had visions of a driver slumped over the controls bringing us all to our doom (yeah - I know there's the dead man's lever/pedal/button but what if it failed...?) so I went looking for a guard/ticket checker and no-one was to be found. I went as far as the guards van and shouted into it but no-one responded. It was quite noisy in there anyways.

I know for a fact that this is not the first time that IE drivers have missed scheduled stops (I was on a train scheduled to stop in Kildare one evening a few years ago and it didn't stop - we all had to get out in Portarlington and wait ages for a train back... but that's a different story) and I assumed (maybe incorrectly) that signals should prevent a driver from missing a stop. If this is a case, this driver ran a red/amber light: which I believe is a serious offence in terms of health and safety.

I'm fed up writing to IE, so if anyone wants to raise this issue, feel free. By the way, the locomotive was emblazoned with the Enterprise logo and was called the River Clare.

another driver error?
 

Not sure if it was but I think the 17:50 last night from heuston either made an unscheduled stop at hazelhatch for 2 girls or it forgot to stop for them. Had the headphones on and didn't actually hear the announcement but there was a lot of shaking heads, tutting, and 2 frantic girls legging it off the train!

07:20 from Kildare was also about 5 minutes early - this one did stop in Sallins. Even better - there were seats on it from Kildare, while the 07:16 looked like it would be standing room the whole way in.

That makes 2 trains to miss stops for no reason other than lack of attention in the last week

On a railcar or indeed one of the push pull trains (ones with the automatic doors but openable windows) there is no guard, driver only, the safety systems will stop you no fear of that (well west of Athlone and south of Kildare if going to Athy there are no postive safety systems just the deadmans handle)

If IE are readling and I know they are the Gormanston accident of 21st October, 1974 should loom large in the mind, story goes train ran 23 miles out of control driverless guard didn't take action to stop the train, the report was never published as far as I can determine

Now I wonder what that communication cord will do if pulled ?

15:20 Connolly to Belfast
 

Hi,
This train arrived late and finally left at 15.35.. People were left standing in a queue for up to 50minutes with a freezing wind blowing. One passenger could be heard ringing customer support but he obviously didn't get much information! We eventually got boarded at 15.25. As per usual little or no information wss supplied to thse standing there.

:confused:

Mark IV trip DUB/CRK/DUB
 

Travelled on Mark IV DUB/CRK/DUB on Fri 26 Jan. 0700 to CRK; 1030 return.
Set 4001; Loco 222. Coach 4102 to CRK; 4101 return.

Left on time. Arrived CRK 0945 i.e. 8 mins early. The timetable padding works!!!
Ride no better or worse compared to Mark III.

Found it very difficult to make notes on my laptop - hitting incorrect key with every lurch - on the Thurles/Lim Jun section.
The 100mph section Lim Jun/Charleville was excellent by comparison. Overall a lot of work is required on the DUB/CRK line. As for 125mph – dream on!
Seats comfortable. Info scroll u/s one end of coach. Dining announcements had microphone distortion.
Return journey required an unscheduled stop at Lim Jun; pax bussed from Limerick due failure of DMU set and missed the earlier connection one hour earlier. Despite this arrived DUB 3 mins early. God bless timetable padding – again!!!!

Irish Rail has come a long way during the last 8 to 10 years. Prior to this it got no help from the government – it was starved of funds for investment. The result of the investment is there for all to see – whether it’s intercity, commuter or Dart.

Overall I came away with a good impression of the DUB/CRK/DUB service yesterday. Hopefully the rest of the services will reach the same standard asap.
It is so easy to be critical but credit where its due – everyone please!
My next report may not be as favourable – I am a realist; I’ve been using trains for over 50 years.