Coronavirus and Public Transport

[Eddie]

Originally Posted by ACustomer

This is a shambles. If there is a requirement to wear masks, it should be enforced. We are getting a lot of scare-mongering about the danger of foreign travel, when we cannot enforce even rudimentary rules for domestic travel. Looking at enforcement of rules in continental Europe it seems to be much more rigorous.

I caught the Dart yesterday evening - my first trip since lockdown. I wasn't intending to catch the train, but was caught out, and so didn't have a mask with me, so tucked my lower face into my fleece to at least show intention. There were about 3 of us in the carriage, so social distancing was easy, and with ventilation occuring each time the door was opened, and windows to open too, everything that we've been hearing suggested to me that this was pretty low risk. Of course, it would be a different story travelling on a packed pre-Covid peak-hour train, and I would definitely plan to wear a mask.

I was impressed with the cleanliness of the trains - the entire carriage looked like it had been treated to a thorough deep clean - even the handrails sparkled like new.

Of the few that were travelling, most were in their teens, and several did not tag in and out of the stations. As far as I understand, it's mandatory to pay your fare, so it would seem a bit odd to ensure compliance of mask-wearing in a near-empty carriage but not fare paying.

[Mark Gleeson]

We have raised this with DART management.

The biggest problem is groups of teens running amok

[dowlingm]

https://twitter.com/joeseward1/statu...050803200?s=21

Passenger removed from 1900 Dublin-Cork by Gardai for failing to wear a mask

[ACustomer]

IE Website reporting 40 min delay to to-day's 0700 Heuston-Cork at Limerick Junction pending arrival of Gardai from Limerick. Another maskless chancer? Good to see enforcement of the rules, so often lacking here.
https://twitter.com/IrishRail/status...l.ie%2Fhome%2F

[Mark Gleeson]

Gardai suddenly have found resources and the response time is prompt

COVID has been very interesting, things which were thought of as being impossible are now possible.

Can we get the gardai to react like this in the future, lets hope so

There is a video going around of someone going all out to provoke a reaction out of an Enterprise guard, guard followed the rule book to the letter, but there are those out there who are attention seeking.

[ACustomer]

Looking at the Irish Rail website for enlightenment on what trains are operating, one comes across the following:
First: Under Service Updates on the Homepage a headline which states that a revised timetable will operate from 11 January 2020. (!!!)
Second, when clicking on upcoming Line Improvement Works a notice headed: Revised timetable from 21 March 2021
Third, clicking on Timetables, a note that a full timetable has been restored from May 4th 2021
Fourth an announcement under News and Service updates dated May 10th, stating that a full schedule was in operation.

Does anyone ever check the website for some degree of coherence?

[Eddie]

Travelled by Dart yesterday (Sunday) on the 1.20pm from Salthill & Monkstown to Howth.

As we travelled north on the southside, Darts in the other direction were obviously packed - we breathed a sigh of relief that we were travelling north.

Then we got to Connolly where there was a huge influx of passengers, mostly under 30s with some travelling in large groups (and presumably transferring from a Maynooth train) and the Dart was at close to pre-pandemic peak-time capacity. The Dart driver couldn't leave the station for about 5 mins because it appeared someone was blocking the doors. In all the time during the last 15 months, it was the most uncomfortable I've felt in terms of being potentially exposed to the virus, though I'm less worried than I might have been having had a vaccine in the last couple of weeks. At Howth Junction, quite a few more squeezed on, and we waited there for another 10 minutes before leaving (no explanation given by the driver this time). Not an ideal situation, with ventilation more limited than from a train in motion. We got off at Sutton, along with a 100+ others. About 20-30 people were not prepared to wait in the exit queue and crossed the tracks to the other platform after the train had departed.

Clearly, the good weather and the upbeat news last week about re-opening changes people's collective behaviour.

With many people still working from home, sunny summer Sundays could be the new peak time for public transport, and Irish Rail might need to run a more frequent service or be able to quickly add capacity as necessary. I presume the current 20 minute Sunday service does not use all the available Dart capacity?

The return on the late-running 7.55pm from Howth was a little less crowded, and happily it ran fast between Raheeny and Connolly to make up time, but was one of those Darts that has no windows to open.