Irish Rail gatekeeper parks car on line

[MOH]

From the examiner, via boards:

Irish Rail gatekeeper parks car on line
By Dan Collins

HUNDREDS of train passengers were caught up in lengthy delays when an Irish Rail gatekeeper parked her car on the main Cork-Dublin line yesterday in a row over the closure of the level crossing at Kyle, Co Tipperary.

Ann Flavin, who is fighting cancer, has been gatekeeper for 30 years at Kyle level crossing, which is due to be closed with the completion of new road works.

Yesterday afternoon she drove her car onto the line when a contractor attempted to carry out work at her rail-side home, which she will have to vacate.

"At the moment I have nowhere to move to and my severance agreement with Irish Rail has not been finalised," she said.

While her union SIPTU had been negotiating severance terms, Ms Flavin said she had been given an assurance that no work would be carried out on and near her home until all discussions were finalised and agreement with the company was concluded.

There were still outstanding issues to be sorted out, such as the demolition of a shed that the Flavins built adjacent to the gate lodge, "but no talks have been held to finalise anything", she stressed.

The 55-year-old gate-keeper contradicted claims by the company that she owned her own house nearby. Vacating the gate lodge would be a huge upheaval for her and her husband, she said.

"We have nowhere else to go," she said.

Last May, Ann underwent an operation for breast cancer and has been on a programme of chemotherapy since then.

"Last September, when I was in hospital having chemotherapy, the contractor attempted to carry out work at my home despite the fact that the company said this would not be done until everything had been agreed," she said.

Last Thursday, another attempt was made to carry out hedge removal works near the gate lodge, she claimed.

"I told Irish Rail last week, if that ever happened again I would block the line and that’s what I did today."

A spokesperson for Irish Rail said the contractor should not have attempted to carry out any work at Kyle level crossing yesterday. Talks between the company and Mrs Flavin are expected to be held on Friday.

A number of services were affected for 40 minutes before Mrs Flavin removed her car from the line and there had been a consequent "knock-on" effect on schedules, the spokesperson said.

Trains running on the Dublin, Limerick, Waterford and Limerick Junction services were affected.

GardaÃ* were called to the scene yesterday after which a spokesman said a file was being prepared for the Director of Public Prosecutions.

[chris]

yep, criminal nuisance amongst other things.

[Mark Gleeson]

If someone has a grievance got no problem with that, there are normal well defined procedures.

Parking on a level crossing is incredibly stupid.

The level crossing cottage comes with the job, no job = no cottage. Now since the cottage isn't needed one of two things happens

Cottage is bulldozed to make room for the modified crossing or its rented back to the former cottage keeper

If in this case a overly generous severance package is given out, we must as the question if this was the same across the network as several hundreds of crossings have been closed or automated. Might go someway to explain why there hasn't been the expected reduction in operating costs

[dowlingm]

As I said on boards, this was clearly a huge overreaction and if the signals hadn't stopped traffic we could have had a serious incident. That said, this seems to be the escalation of an ongoing issue where this individual and her family were given undertakings which were reneged on.

If as is reported she warned IE that she would block the line in this instance, someone in IE has account for two issues:

1. Why the Guards were not called. This is threatening action likely to endanger the rail system and its users
2. Why they went ahead and reneged - essentially daring her to carry out her threat.

Also - are gatekeepers unionised and if so, why wasn't the union taking effective action to step between the Company and an employee who in her view was being victimised, or did the union decide she was in the wrong?

A lot of questions and the Minister for Transport should be looking for answers as it would have been his job on the line if the signals failed as in Wexford and a train impacted that car.

[sublimity]

I don't agree with the closing of level-crossings. that woman has every right to be angry, the amount of jobs that will be lost as a result of this. Our railways are safe enough as it is. Absolute no need for closing them.

[sean]

Originally Posted by sublimity

I don't agree with the closing of level-crossings. that woman has every right to be angry, the amount of jobs that will be lost as a result of this. Our railways are safe enough as it is. Absolute no need for closing them.

not only do these crossings present a safety risk, but they also tie up the roads for 8 minutes prior to each train as well as limiting the throughput of the railway line, why anyone would object to closing a level crossing is beyond me.
In addition, you did read about the financial trouble CIE/Irish Rail is in, didn't you? Why keep unneeded jobs in a company that's in trouble - do you want a HSE style operation in Irish Rail?

Overall a very confusing post.

[Colm Moore]

Originally Posted by sublimity

I don't agree with the closing of level-crossings. that woman has every right to be angry, the amount of jobs that will be lost as a result of this. Our railways are safe enough as it is. Absolute no need for closing them.

Several people a year get killed at level crossings. After tresspassers, its the second highest number of deaths on the railway. Bridges are generally cheaper than level crossings to install and run. So, we can either have level crossings and gate keepers or we can have bridges and money left voer to spend on things that are needed more - whether thats a better train service or if the money is spent elsewhere in the economy, e.g. health.

[dowlingm]

Over here Transport Canada demand removal of LCs where a threshold of peak movements per hour is passed. Presumably the Rail Safety Commission takes a similar view? (This might apply more to the Maynooth line closures than the mainline in Tipp though)

Unfortunately it's a worldwide phenomenon that where there are LCs there are people rushing through because they are impatient or people who breakdown at just the wrong time or people just trying to off themselves with no regard to the impact on the unfortunate driving the train. There's a big financial hit (capital cost + payoff for the gate operator) but it beats having the front of a DVT stove in.

[Mark Gleeson]

The metric is based on average daily usage, type of crossing, frequency and speed of trains, crossings are graded accordingly and the highest risk are eliminated where possible

Kyle Crossing has seen a doubling of trains, the speed through the crossing is quite slow, it will be 80mph next year. In fact its the first level crossing with a public road out of Heuston. The bridge option over a medium and long term is bar far the cheapest and safest option

[Colm Moore]

How many crossings are left on main lines? Is there a list anywhere?