[30-31/12/2009] DART services Lansdowne to Dun Laoghaire

[plant43]

Per IR Twitter

Dart suspended Lansdowne to Dun Laoghaire til
1800hrs approx, idiot truck driver causes major overhead wire damage http://bit.ly/57r8Kr

On the website

30th December: DART suspended Lansdowne Rd to Dun Laoghaire, truck damages overhead wires at Merrion by Corporate Communications


30th December, UPDATE 10.20hrs

DART services are currently suspended between Lansdowne Rd and Dun Laoghaire, due to a truck causing major damage to Merrion Gates and overhead wires.

Dublin Bus will accept rail tickets for customers whose travel is disrupted.

Iarnród Éireann apologises for the inconvenience caused. DART services are operating from Howth/Malahide to Lansdowne Road, and from Greystones/Bray to Dun Laoghaire.

Unfortunately, it is not expected that services will return to normal before 6pm this evening.

12.05 Connolly to Gorey is also cancelled, although other Gorey/Rosslare services are expected to operate normally.

The genius truck driver in question had a lifting arm on the back of the truck which pulled down barriers, and extensive overhead wiring (as well as phone wiring in the area), and he subsequently fled the scene. Prosecution will follow.

[ACustomer]

From IE website

"30th December: DART suspended Lansdowne Rd to Dun Laoghaire, truck damages overhead wires at Merrion by Corporate Communications


30th December, UPDATE 10.20hrs

DART services are currently suspended between Lansdowne Rd and Dun Laoghaire, due to a truck causing major damage to Merrion Gates and overhead wires.

Dublin Bus will accept rail tickets for customers whose travel is disrupted.

Iarnród Éireann apologises for the inconvenience caused. DART services are operating from Howth/Malahide to Lansdowne Road, and from Greystones/Bray to Dun Laoghaire.

Unfortunately, it is not expected that services will return to normal before 6pm this evening.

12.05 Connolly to Gorey is also cancelled, although other Gorey/Rosslare services are expected to operate normally.

The genius truck driver in question had a lifting arm on the back of the truck which pulled down barriers, and extensive overhead wiring (as well as phone wiring in the area), and he subsequently fled the scene. Prosecution will follow."

For once an IE announcement which pulls no punches. Let's hope they find the idiot.

[Mark Hennessy]

Originally Posted by ACustomer

The genius truck driver in question had a lifting arm on the back of the truck which pulled down barriers, and extensive overhead wiring (as well as phone wiring in the area), and he subsequently fled the scene. Prosecution will follow."

For once an IE announcement which pulls no punches. Let's hope they find the idiot.

Indeed, that sounds like a lot of work to fix too.

EDIT: RTE news says it will be 6pm before services resume

[Mark Gleeson]

Merrion Gates itself is obviously closed to traffic as a result

The juice is off between Sandymount and Blackrock so any train stranded is stranded.

Edit: the morning Rosslare Connolly diesel train should be somewhere near Dun Laoghaire so it could drag the stranded DART's back, problem is a 3 coach railcar isn't really up to dragging a 8 coach DART

[Thomas Ralph]

Originally Posted by Mark Gleeson

Edit: the morning Rosslare Connolly diesel train should be somewhere near Dun Laoghaire so it could drag the stranded DART's back, problem is a 3 coach railcar isn't really up to dragging a 8 coach DART

That's OK, DARTs were virtually all 4 coaches this morning.

[Thomas Ralph]

Incidentally, what a complete langer. That level crossing must be one of the most heavily signposted in the country. Surely someone driving for a living in the Dublin area must at least have some small measure of cop-on that there are overhead wires around.

[Mark Gleeson]

The least Irish Rail can do is release the video from the CCTV of this idiot so we can

a) Validate the facts
b) Assist in the location of the vehicle

[Colm Moore]

Originally Posted by Thomas Ralph

Incidentally, what a complete langer. That level crossing must be one of the most heavily signposted in the country. Surely someone driving for a living in the Dublin area must at least have some small measure of cop-on that there are overhead wires around.

The vast majority of haulage drivers are self employed, with or without their own vehicle. There is a material lack of employer supervision..

Originally Posted by Mark Gleeson

The least Irish Rail can do is release the video from the CCTV of this idiot so we can

a) Validate the facts
b) Assist in the location of the vehicle

It seems the vehicle was abandoned at the scene.

[Colm Moore]

This is useful for finding alternative buses:

http://www.mkmap.com/dublin
http://www.dublinbus.ie

[Mark Gleeson]

Given Irish Rail have at least 4 CCTV cameras on Merrion Gates it would take only a matter of seconds to confirm the facts and yes the driver of the truck is an idiot and in breach of several laws

Failure to obey level crossing warning (Road Safety Act)
Failure to report damage to railway infrastructure (Rail Safety Act)
Leaving the scene of an accident (Road Safety Act)

No doubt further investigation will reveal that the truck and or driver shouldn't have been on the road in the first place

The video should be fun, given the rain the shower of sparks when the overhead wire is shorted out will make for interesting viewing.

Got to love the line

registration number of the truck has been identified.

Yes its on the truck entangled in the wires


Bus options

City
Bray - 145 or 84
all stops to Blackrock 4/4a/7
Dun Laoghaire 7 (46a takes 20 minutes longer)

Disembark Pearse, up Westland Row, then left and right and left again onto Merrion Square, bus stop at American College for 4/4a/7/84, 145 stop is Nassau Street

[ACustomer]

I see that IE don't expect to have things fixed this evening. I'm not surprised, given the weather. The full force of the Easterly gale and the low temperatures must make for truly awful conditions at Merrion Gates. I think anyone working in such exposed conditions deserves our admiration and our thanks. I know they are only doing their job, but what a job on a day like this.

[sublimity]

Originally Posted by ACustomer

I see that IE don't expect to have things fixed this evening. I'm not surprised, given the weather. The full force of the Easterly gale and the low temperatures must make for truly awful conditions at Merrion Gates. I think anyone working in such exposed conditions deserves our admiration and our thanks. I know they are only doing their job, but what a job on a day like this.

Yes well said. Surprised its not snowing out there given how cold it is although the wind chill effect prob makes it feel colder than it actually is.

If there were spare locomotives in Dun L/ Bray this could have helped by hauling the stranded 8 coach darts!

[Mark Gleeson]

All credit to Irish Rail, for the first time a snap shot of a level crossing incident

http://twitpic.com/vwb96

There are at least 2 other camera angles at a lower level to catch registration plates

[dowlingm]

Solution:

1. Take some Interconnector spoil
2. Infill a stretch from here to here
3. Extend Strand Road along the infill and via an overbridge to the junction of Trimleston Road and Rock Road (maybe build a nice boardwalk or something on the seaward side)
4. Close Strand Road LC.

Now if only we could do that for the remaining LCs on that line - but at least this way doesn't require levelling an Ailesbury Road mansion With a bit of courage to face down the enviroweenies the infill and boardwalk could be done all the way to Dun Laoghaire to reduce the number of times Seapoint gets flooded.

[Colm Moore]

Originally Posted by Mark Gleeson

All credit to Irish Rail, for the first time a snap shot of a level crossing incident

http://twitpic.com/vwb96

There are at least 2 other camera angles at a lower level to catch registration plates

Adds a whole new meaning to "twit"pic.

Additional photo on rte.ie http://www.rte.ie/news/2009/1231/dart.html

http://www.tv3.ie/article.php?articl...agena me=home

[Colm Moore]

http://www.irishrail.ie/news_centre/travel_alerts.asp?action=view&news_id=602

31st December, UPDATE 14.45hrs

UPDATE Works are progressing well, and it is hoped that the line will be reopened before 17.00hrs this evening.

[Mark Gleeson]

15:00 was the original plan, 16:40 is the revised time.

1st December: DART suspended Lansdowne Rd to Dun Laoghaire, truck damages overheads at Merrion by Corporate Communications

31st December, UPDATE 14.45hrs

DART services remain suspended between Lansdowne Rd and Dun Laoghaire, due to a truck causing major damage to Merrion Gates and overhead wires.

Dublin Bus will accept rail tickets for customers whose travel is disrupted.

Iarnród Éireann apologises for the inconvenience caused. DART services are operating from Howth/Malahide to Lansdowne Road, and from Greystones/Bray to Dun Laoghaire.

Dublin to Rosslare/Gorey services will operate with bus transfers between Dublin and Bray.

UPDATE Works are progressing well, and it is hoped that the line will be reopened before 17.00hrs this evening.

Over 800 metres of wiring on both tracks were damaged by this morning's incident, as well as support structures. It is estimated to the most significant damage to overhead wires from any incident in the 25 years of the DART service.

Curiously one of the repair trucks was fiddling with the overhead at Booterstown station this afternoon, well away from the actual damaged section. The DART which got stuck yesterday is still parked up for all to see as you whizz past on the bus

[Colm Moore]

http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/...261476583.html

Dart disruption to continue until this evening
GENEVIEVE CARBERY

DUBLIN’S SOUTHSIDE Dart commuters face a second day of disruption today after a truck damaged some 800 metres of overhead lines yesterday.

The driver of the truck identified himself to gardaÃ* at Irishtown yesterday evening.

The lifting arm of the flatbed lorry pulled down wires at the Merrion Gates level crossing shortly after 9am.

It was the most significant overhead wire damage from a single incident in the Dart’s 25 years, Iarnród Éireann said.

Extreme weather conditions and safety concerns forced engineers to abandon work on fixing the lines last night.

As a result, the company revised the initial expected time for services to resume from 6am this morning to this afternoon at the earliest.

The vehicle also caused significant damage to the barriers, with one gate pulled off and a power pole pulled down as the truck crossed from the Rock Road over the Merrion Gates.

Dart services between Lansdowne Road station and Dún Laoghaire station were suspended as a result.

The driver left the scene in the truck without reporting the incident to gardaÃ* or rail authorities.

The registration number of the vehicle was noted by witnesses and Iarnród Éireann has shown CCTV footage of the incident to gardaÃ*.

Iarnród Éireann was “confident that this idiotic and reckless piece of driving, which has caused such disruption to rail services, will result in prosectionâ€�, the company said. GardaÃ* are investigating the incident.

Early statements by the company on the incident referred to the driver as a “genius� and an “idiot�.

About 30 passengers were stuck on one citybound train for more than an hour immediately after the incident because power on the section of the line was automatically cut for safety reasons.

Iarnród Éireann spokesman Barry Kenny expected the costs of the incident to be “significant� due to repairs and payments to Dublin Bus for honouring Dart tickets.

Intercity trains operated as normal apart from services to and from Gorey and Rosslare which were replaced by a bus transfer between Dublin and Bray.

Dart services between Howth/ Malahide and Lansdowne Road and from Greystones to Dún Laoghaire operated as normal.

Drivers may also face disruption as Merrion Gates are due to remain closed to traffic until this evening and motorists are advised to avoid all approaching roads.

[dermo88]

I was booked on the 18.30 to Rosslare on the 30th December. I'd pity any repair crew working in those conditions. My feelings for the driver of the flatbed truck are unprintable, and it is beneath contempt.

Whatever about the inconvenience caused to myself, thousands of other commuters and travellers were disrupted by this act. I wonder how he got a drivers licence. Did he collect crisp packets and submit them to the Vehicle Licencing Department?

[Mark Gleeson]

Latest news is Thursday afternoon as the weather has put an end to work tonight