Incorrect passenger information provided on Dart.

[ngmcd]

15.45 service from Howth to Bray (today, Sunday 6 May)

After we passed Clontarf Road, the electronic sign in the carraige remained stuck on Clontarf Road. Meanwhile, the voiceover kept announcing the station that was two stops ahead - as we pulled into Connolly we were told that we were arriving at Pearse, as we arrived in Pearse we were told we were arriving into Lansdowne Road, etc. There were a lot of tourists and visitors on the train who were understandably perplexed and confused.

1) Can the driver head the announcements being made? Does the driver in fact control the announcements?
2) This seems to be a problem on the 8500, 8510 and 8520 Classes but not the 8100s

[Thomas J Stamp]

duplicate of your other post, but thats fair enough and thanks.

the dublin lads will reply, but as far as i know the driver keys the service into the train on starting off, and from them its all automatic. why it would change halfway there i dont know, i do know it happens a good bit.

i have been on intercity trains doing the same thing, same chaotic result.

[Colm Moore]

Originally Posted by Thomas J Stamp

the dublin lads will reply, but as far as i know the driver keys the service into the train on starting off, and from them its all automatic. why it would change halfway there i dont know, i do know it happens a good bit.

It is possible that the driver changeover at Clontarf meant that the new driver put in a new, different code and someone got it wrong.

[Inniskeen]

The on-board DART information systems (especially on the Japanese sets) are a bit of a joke - trains routinely run around the system showing the incorrect destination and incorrect next station. The lighted route maps over the doors are routinely extinguished.

The regulars don't expect anything different but unsuspecting tourists probably find it a touch frustrating and unprofessional to say the least.

[Destructix]

Any real need for this. The driver could just announce it like they did on the mk 3's. I remember getting a direct Limerick 22k service from Thurles and it said something 'we will shortly arrive at Limerick Junction' Its not exactly a big issue for locals but would probably freak out tourists thinking they are on the wrong train.

[Mark Gleeson]

Both visual and audio announcements are required.

The problems are many
1) Driver doesn't set up the equipment before departure
2) Driver removes his/her master key during the journey can reset the system
3) Shockingly bad programming of the system in the first place

[LlewellynJones]

Originally Posted by Destructix

Any real need for this. The driver could just announce it like they did on the mk 3's. I remember getting a direct Limerick 22k service from Thurles and it said something 'we will shortly arrive at Limerick Junction' Its not exactly a big issue for locals but would probably freak out tourists thinking they are on the wrong train.

The first time I took DART was to Dun Laoghaire to catch a ferry to Wales, and I was completely unfamiliar with the stop order and did not have a schedule, and the display and announcements kept on saying "Tara Street", and I remember frantically trying to read the signs of the stations the train was stopping in while searching through the coach for a map so I would not miss my stop.

[ngmcd]

Apologies for the late reply. I sent the same message to Irish Rail Customer Service (for what it's worth).

As far as I remember there was no driver change at CLontarf.

A similar thing seemed to happen this morning - I was waiting at the Level Crossing at Lansdowne Road, a Greystones-bound DART entered the station with the exterior information system saying the next station was Sydney Parade.

[Mark Gleeson]

If the change happened at the platform you would never notice.

Its fundamentally a human issue of not enabling the system correctly, its not rocket science and the instructions are very simple

I've lost count of the number of email exchanges and phone calls with Irish Rail management concerning this issue.