[16-8-2008] Train derailed Monastervin, services heavily disrupted
 

Word from the train indicates it will terminate in Portlaoise with onward by bus

No reason given

Could be flooding but Irish Rail saying nothing

Word of a incident involving another Cork train near Monastervin, no further details.

KFM just announced breaking news that a locomotive has come off the tracks in the Kildare area. Early reports are it hit a tree but all carriages remained on the track.

Just got a phone call to say that a train derailed outside Monasterevin.

It was allegedly the engine part only but I dont know any more details.

Irish Rail saying nothing

Folks on the 10:30 ex Cork just arriving into Portlaoise, have been told nothing as to the reason for buses

Based on the time of occurrence its likely to be the 11:00 Dublin Cork service or the 9:30 Cork Dublin being involved

Someone on boards.ie stated that Barry Kenny was apparently already on Radio 1 about 25 minutes ago, but I didn't hear it or missed him by the time I turned the radio on. RTE News initial report suggests 11:00 Dublin - Cork, no injuries:

http://www.rte.ie/news/2008/0816/train.html

Message now up on Irishrail.ie

http://www.irishrail.ie/news_centre/...ew&news_id=426

No injuries thankfully.

Irish Rail notice now online

Incident time would be 11:40-11:45, Dublin would have known of the incident within 60 seconds, took an hour to get a notice up and then to fake the time on it to 12:30, when it clearly wasn't online until sometime after 12:45.

Roughly half of the passengers on the 10:30 Cork Dublin are still in Portlaoise not enough buses, no staff to be found to take charge

Thankfully since there is a speed restriction beyond Monastervin currently the train would have been traveling a lot slower than normal

I just spoke to someone on the train involved in the collision. They are awaiting bus transfers. Tea and coffee offered, but they have run out of lids, so they aren't giving it out any more.

No mention of refunds. Are they entitled to them?

Well thats open to question

I'm sure the RAIU report which follows which highlight some class of procedural failure within Irish Rail to adequately manage the risk of landslide risk locations

Irish Rail will argue the weather has been exceptional

Line is reopened, single line working Portarlington Portlaoise

Serious delays of up to 3 hours to certain trains, some cancellations.

As usual no indication of refunds etc

What passes for a full service is running for today with the usual Sunday Dublin Cork cancellations

http://maps.google.com/?ie=UTF8&ll=5...15814&t=k&z=16

The exact location is the line of trees outside Portarlington, train came to a halt between the two bridges on the left side. Given the stopping distance it would give an approximate speed of 70mph.

ah i have to say you guys on this site make me laugh a train derailed and
you talk about will people get a refund on there ticket of course they will
get a refund .That there was no mention of it on the website im sure the
staff in operations were a little more concerned for the passengers safety
at the incident i think I.E staff were excellent on the day so come on
and give credit were it is due

not in portlaoise they weren't.

no reason given to passengers on the 1030 ex-cork. no refund forms given out. no reason on arrival at the station. no reason given in heuston station on our arrival there either. no members of staff to be seen, with over 300 passengers on the platform, and only two coaches and a minibus, whose arrival was not announced and which were woefully inadequate.

welcome back by the way, really missed you!!

Could they have done better? Yes, it took 5 hours to get everyone off the train and out of Portarington given the location and proximity of a station, road access and all coaches on the train railed that must be seen as very poor. The scene at 3pm was dry, sunny and the train well away from the risk of another landslide so it doesn't add up.

Its all well and good that the staff followed the rules exactly as trained, but there are no rules about customer service.

Information provided to passengers on other trains after the incident was poor, e.g. 10:30 Cork Dublin. One train spent over 2 and a half hours sitting outside Portarlington station

It took 1 hour to get a notice online to indicate there was a accident

Due to a crazy interpretation of the safety rules the supply of tea and coffee was cut since they ran out of lids for the cups on the incident train

Irish Rail where still taking seat bookings at 1pm for trains they knew would be ridiculously delayed or cancelled

Irish Rail have a very long way to go to becoming a customer focused operator, just compare the information Irish Rail gave today to Enterprise passengers with what Translink gave. Translink staff consistently offer a better passenger experience than Irish Rail staff on the same service, that tells a story.

And of course for those who seek a refund, what does Irish Rail say...
Attachment 803

Edit Its been updated now, but no it doesn't seem to list the 10:30 ex Cork

Text from my friend who was on board: "Two hour wait to be evacuated then three hour bus ride to cork. After seeing the derailed engine happy to be alive"