Unmanned Docklands station - passengers diverted

daymobrew · 02-10-2007 7:54am #1

My friend texted me from Docklands station. He got the 7am service from Coolmine.
When they arrived at Docklands there was no staff and the gates were closed.
The train driver got everyone back on the train and they went to Connolly!!

The train only had to go under the northern line to get a 'side track' into Connolly.

godtabh · 02-10-2007 9:20am

daymobrew wrote:

My friend texted me from Docklands station. He got the 7am service from Coolmine.
When they arrived at Docklands there was no staff and the gates were closed.
The train driver got everyone back on the train and they went to Connolly!!

The train only had to go under the northern line to get a 'side track' into Connolly.

I've only been to the Docklands once but isnt there usally a gate that is left open in unmanned stations?

daymobrew · 02-10-2007 9:59am

kearnsr wrote:

I've only been to the Docklands once but isnt there usally a gate that is left open in unmanned stations?

You have to go through the station to/from the platform. It sounds like no one turned up to the station or maybe there was some vandalism that prevented staff opening the station.

I know that the 2nd entrance to the station (the one that is on the south side of Upper Sheriff Street) is sometimes closed - an Irish Rail employee said that it was because of vandalism.

daymobrew · 02-10-2007 10:10am

I rang Irish Rail. They were very apologetic for the error. They said there was a staff problem that wasn't realised until the train arrived at the station.

MarkoP11 · 02-10-2007 10:48am

This is a total screw up, there have been several incidents like this where staff didn't show up, there was the Killarney crow bar incident.

In fact the staff are meant to phone in to confirm/ or head office phone the stations to verify they are good to go

vandermeyde · 02-10-2007 11:00am

the 8:20 from Clonsilla also went straight into Connolly....

they made an announcement about "operational" difficulties in Docklands but surely they could have had someone down to the station given the first arrival is at 7:21 and the 8:20 isn't due in until 8:41.

there were c0ck-ups yesterday as well :rolleyes:

loyatemu · 02-10-2007 11:54am

vandermeyde wrote:

the 8:20 from Clonsilla also went straight into Connolly....

they made an announcement about "operational" difficulties in Docklands but surely they could have had someone down to the station given the first arrival is at 7:21 and the 8:20 isn't due in until 8:41.

whatever about the original problem, this is unbelievable. Docklands is 10 minutes walk from Connolly, yet an hour later they still hadn't sent anyone over to open up. Its not as if they don't have loads of people standing around Connolly doing nothing...

godtabh · 02-10-2007 12:56pm

loyatemu wrote:

whatever about the original problem, this is unbelievable. Docklands is 10 minutes walk from Connolly, yet an hour later they still hadn't sent anyone over to open up. Its not as if they don't have loads of people standing around Connolly doing nothing...

Maybe its not in their job disrcption to walk?

Union stuff may mean they cant deploy some one there. Sounds stupid but would it surprice you?

loyatemu · 02-10-2007 3:02pm

kearnsr wrote:

Maybe its not in their job disrcption to walk?

I think you meant to say work there...

GerardKeating · 02-10-2007 5:26pm

loyatemu wrote:

whatever about the original problem, this is unbelievable. Docklands is 10 minutes walk from Connolly, yet an hour later they still hadn't sent anyone over to open up. Its not as if they don't have loads of people standing around Connolly doing nothing...

That assumes the problem as actual staff shortage, maybe someone superglued the locks, or those present in Connolly did not have a key to oen up.

daymobrew · 03-10-2007 8:15am

GerardKeating wrote:

That assumes the problem as actual staff shortage, maybe someone superglued the locks, or those present in Connolly did not have a key to oen up.

They said it was a staff issue - see post #4:

daymobrew wrote:

I rang Irish Rail. They were very apologetic for the error. They said there was a staff problem that wasn't realised until the train arrived at the station.

If it was vandalism they would have been very quick to blame that.

lostexpectation · 03-10-2007 10:54pm

kearnsr wrote:

Maybe its not in their job disrcption to walk?

Union stuff may mean they cant deploy some one there. Sounds stupid but would it surprice you?

*union union blaa blaa union blaa explodes*

Captain Chaos · 03-10-2007 11:03pm

The same used to happen at Howth Junction a year ago when the re built the station into the massive heep of sh1te it is now. I got down there at 6am and the only gate to platform 1 was locked so I and a few other people climbed the 8ft high gates in the pissings of rain. Some people just walked across the four tracks to get to the platform!!!. It was either that or get fired for being late for work.

DerekP11 · 03-10-2007 11:43pm

Everyone has missed the point that the space was found in Connolly to accomodate these redirected trains. Makes you think.

Oh wait...it just makes me laugh.

Captain Chaos · 03-10-2007 11:49pm

True actually, that they managed to get a slot at Connolly on the fly at that hour of the morning.

daymobrew · 04-10-2007 8:25am

On the Docklands platform are emergency escape route maps. I wonder if they could have been used by passengers on Monday.

dodgyme · 04-10-2007 11:48am

ah I always thought the docklands station was a waste of time. getting slots on the fly proves this

godtabh · 04-10-2007 1:13pm

DerekP11 wrote:

Everyone has missed the point that the space was found in Connolly to accomodate these redirected trains. Makes you think.

Oh wait...it just makes me laugh.

Whats the point your trying to make?

That Irish just didnt leave the people there fair play

or

Why didnt the train go there in the first place?

Or something else?

godtabh · 04-10-2007 1:13pm

dodgyme wrote:

ah I always thought the docklands station was a waste of time. getting slots on the fly proves this

Its for the future for people working/living in this area. Might not be much use to you but thats not the point

paulm17781 · 04-10-2007 1:29pm

kearnsr wrote:

Its for the future for people working/living in this area. Might not be much use to you but thats not the point

No it's not. It's a temporary station to remove overcrowding in Connolly until the Interconnector is built. This proves there is at least one additional slot in Connolly.

godtabh · 04-10-2007 2:05pm

paulm17781 wrote:

No it's not. It's a temporary station to remove overcrowding in Connolly until the Interconnector is built. This proves there is at least one additional slot in Connolly.

Where did you here that?

The Docklands station is a decent station doenst look temporary to me.

As for the extra slot another train could have been pushed back to allow this one to come in

paulm17781 · 04-10-2007 2:12pm

kearnsr wrote:

Where did you here that?

It's a widely know fact. Have a look around the IE site for information on it. It was built for 10 years so will be demolished in a little over 8. Developers interests come before public transport.

kearnsr wrote:

As for the extra slot another train could have been pushed back to allow this one to come in

I would doubt it very much. They're more likely to leave it sit there / send someone down to the Docklands station.

godtabh · 04-10-2007 2:39pm

paulm17781 wrote:

It's a widely know fact.

If its a widely know fact can you post a link. The IR website serach is worse than boards search

MarkoP11 · 04-10-2007 2:54pm

http://www.dublincity.ie/AnitePublicDocs/00131643.pdf

murphaph · 04-10-2007 2:58pm

kearnsr wrote:

If its a widely know fact can you post a link. The IR website serach is worse than boards search

Why don't you go and educate yourself instead of asking him to do it for you. I also know (by taking an interest in these things and not just accepting spoonfed sh!te from politicians and newspapers) that planning permission was only granted on a temporary (10 year) basis and that the station is planned for demolition when the interconnector opens. The fact that Irish Rail magically found slots in the morning rush is crucial here. We were told Docklands was to relieve a congested Connolly. If you delve int the planning applications for a remote housing development on the Meath/Dublin border however you will find the REAL reason for Dockland's existance!

godtabh · 04-10-2007 3:03pm

MarkoP11 wrote:

http://www.dublincity.ie/AnitePublicDocs/00131643.pdf

Thanks

murphaph wrote:

Why don't you go and educate yourself instead of asking him to do it for you.

Thats what I've been trying to do. But thanks for the help

daymobrew · 04-10-2007 3:11pm

dodgyme wrote:

ah I always thought the docklands station was a waste of time.

I love it. Closer to East Point Business Park than Dromcondra (I know I could Clontarf/Connolly/Maynooth line but it takes as long).
As it is a bit of a niche service it is not as busy as Connolly-bound trains. It's actually civilised public transport

murphaph · 04-10-2007 4:30pm

kearnsr wrote:

Thats what I've been trying to do. But thanks for the help

My apologies. Bad mood triggered by return to Dublin 'transport' from Berlin. Shouldn't have taken it out on you kearnsr.

godtabh · 04-10-2007 7:28pm

murphaph wrote:

My apologies. Bad mood triggered by return to Dublin 'transport' from Berlin. Shouldn't have taken it out on you kearnsr.

No worries

markpb · 05-10-2007 10:24am

murphaph wrote:

My apologies. Bad mood triggered by return to Dublin 'transport' from Berlin. Shouldn't have taken it out on you kearnsr.

I'll second this one. When I was younger, I used to hate coming home because of the weather. Now I hate coming back because _everywhere_ has better public transport than Dublin (Shush Cork people...

).

I was in Madrid last week and it _just worked_. Proper metro system. Segregated bus lanes. Sensible pedestrian crossing and light arrangements. Lots of police to keep the traffic moving. Underground intercity bus stations with a dedicated lane right onto the motorway. *sigh*

godtabh · 05-10-2007 11:50am

In the countries that people have been to who think the public transport is great can they tell me how old the transport network is? Or even the city they are in how old is that?

A lot of European cities got rebuilt after the war and were able to plan better transport networks as a result.

Taking Dublin as an example the way the city is laid out doesnt lend its self to fancy tram systems nowadays.

Now we just throw money at it but it doesnt work.

I'd love to hear a solution that is workable and deliverable cause I havent heard on yet.

markpb · 05-10-2007 12:02pm

kearnsr wrote:

Taking Dublin as an example the way the city is laid out doesnt lend its self to fancy tram systems nowadays.... I'd love to hear a solution that is workable and deliverable cause I havent heard on yet.

Why do you think it doesn't lend itself to tram systems?

Maybe because it's a messed up, badly planned sprawl? There's the first step, if we had a proper government (+ LAs) who planned with growth in mind instead of their wallets, that would have been a good start.

Or is it because cars are forced through the city because our main orbital route is a traffic jammed joke? We could have built proper motorway intersections and a free flowing toll system instead of letting a private company block a part of the road with a pitiful excuse for a contract which cost millions to buy out of.

Could it be because even when the city tries to improve the bus or tram network, all the car owners and media jump on the 'on no... less room for cars' bandwagon and convince them to water it down or remove parts of it, al the Luas connection.

There's no reason why Dublin couldn't have a perfectly workable mix of metro, luas and bus if we put our minds to it.

godtabh · 05-10-2007 2:09pm

This is all kind getting dragged off topic

markpb wrote:

Why do you think it doesn't lend itself to tram systems?

Due to the physical layout of the city, street sizes, street alginments, corss roads etc.

markpb wrote:

Maybe because it's a messed up, badly planned sprawl? There's the first step, if we had a proper government (+ LAs) who planned with growth in mind instead of their wallets, that would have been a good start.

This problem doesnt start with this goverment or the last goverment but goes back many decades.

markpb wrote:

Or is it because cars are forced through the city because our main orbital route is a traffic jammed joke? We could have built proper motorway intersections and a free flowing toll system instead of letting a private company block a part of the road with a pitiful excuse for a contract which cost millions to buy out of.

not every one is forced to bring there cars into the city. Some have. Many dont but do as the feel there is no alternative.

There are other options bus, rail, walk, cycle, car pool etc

Without private companies alot of the roads we use every day wouldnt be there becasue the goverment couldnt afford it.

The goverment get it in the ear either way. But lets face it they have made mistakes in how they now approach it.

markpb wrote:

Could it be because even when the city tries to improve the bus or tram network, all the car owners and media jump on the 'on no... less room for cars' bandwagon and convince them to water it down or remove parts of it, al the Luas connection.

Vested grups will always spin things they want it to be spined. Some have valid points. Some dont.

Dont get the "al Luas connection" part.

markpb wrote:

There's no reason why Dublin couldn't have a perfectly workable mix of metro, luas and bus if we put our minds to it.

There isnt but have you seen a solution that works yet?

I personally think we need a city wide underground system linking all o f the main suburbs together.

Havent worked out the ins and outs of it but I'm sure it would be expensive

dodgyme · 05-10-2007 2:10pm

markpb wrote:

There's no reason why Dublin couldn't have a perfectly workable mix of metro, luas and bus if we put our minds to it.

Amsterdam works on a mix of trams/bikes and taxis. With great rail system to get out to the sticks. :rolleyes:

daveirl · 05-10-2007 4:40pm

This post has been deleted.

godtabh · 05-10-2007 4:44pm

daveirl wrote:

This post has been deleted.

So they didnt pull theres up when it was the thing to do in Ireland a while back!

murphaph · 05-10-2007 5:52pm

Munich also managed to build most of its mass transit system long after the war, having also escaped mostly unscathed so no "sure they had a blank canvass" excuses for that excellent network. Munich was about to go for a premetro system (trams primarily, but with underground running in very congested parts, similar to Stuttgart/Cologne) but when it got the news it was to host the Olympics it went for a full heavy rail underground and built most of it using cut and cover techniques-horribly disruptive during construction but cheaper than deep bore. They also had a disjointed suburban rail network with the main station in the west (Hauptbahnhof) and the other terminus station in the east (Ostbahnhof). what did they do in 1972? They built an interconnector (Stammstrecke) and it is the backbone of their system today.

I'm sure Muenchners are happy now. While we have tossers arguing about taking space from private cars and the cost to the taxpayer of our underground tram system. Transport projects are scrutinised beyond belief by hecklers but they benefit more people more often than schools, hospitals and all manner of other things that literally swallow money.

parsi · 06-10-2007 2:54pm

murphaph wrote:

I'm sure Muenchners are happy now. While we have tossers arguing about taking space from private cars and the cost to the taxpayer of our underground tram system. Transport projects are scrutinised beyond belief by hecklers but they benefit more people more often than schools, hospitals and all manner of other things that literally swallow money.

See that's the nub of it. Down here when the Luas was being built in Dublin all the reports were about how the building was causing disruption and loss of business. And this was being pandered to rather than folk being told to shut up and look to the benefits _after_ construction. It's all a form of NIMBY'ism and its endemic .

daymobrew · 18-10-2007 6:13pm

I wrote to Richard Fearn on the day of the issue. I received the reply today.

He said that the member of staff due to open the statoin fell ill prior to taking duty. His supervisor, also a key holder, was called out during the night to a level crossing problem. He was still attending to it when the Docklands station required opening.

To avoid a repeat of this, a full set of keys is being held at Connolly.

Ham'nd'egger · 18-10-2007 6:55pm

daymobrew wrote: »

I wrote to Richard Fearn on the day of the issue. I received the reply today.

He said that the member of staff due to open the statoin fell ill prior to taking duty. His supervisor, also a key holder, was called out during the night to a level crossing problem. He was still attending to it when the Docklands station required opening.

To avoid a repeat of this, a full set of keys is being held at Connolly.

A frustrating situation but understandable by the sounds of it.

godtabh · 18-10-2007 7:08pm

daymobrew wrote: »

To avoid a repeat of this, a full set of keys is being held at Connolly.

I would have thought that would be done already be it here or some where central that could be easily accesable if needed

aliveandkicking · 18-10-2007 8:02pm

Hamndegger wrote: »

A frustrating situation but understandable by the sounds of it.

Understandable? Two keyholders for a whole station and no spare keys at the headquarters of the company 5 minutes away. Understandable? Words fail me :mad:

Have you ever heard of a contingency plan. It's taught at Junior Cert Business Studies. Maybe we should get Irish Rail management to resit their Junior Cert? Lets face it a 15 year old would have thought it a good idea to have a spare set of keys in Connolly for emergencies but no Irish Rail managers had to wait until the station had to be closed in the middle of rush hour and divert several packed trains away from their destination before they thought of doing this.

Would having a spare set of keys left somewhere not be some sort of Health and Safety requirement anyway?

murphaph · 18-10-2007 8:06pm

aliveandkicking wrote: »

Understandable? Two keyholders for a whole station and no spare keys at the headquarters of the company 5 minutes away. Understandable? Words fail me :mad:

Exactly! There are 3 keyholders at my work and a further 2 sets of keys are held at head office with a keyholder on call 24hrs a day, just in case. But we're a private business with a profit to make.

Ham'nd'egger · 18-10-2007 8:31pm

aliveandkicking wrote: »

Understandable? Two keyholders for a whole station and no spare keys at the headquarters of the company 5 minutes away. Understandable? Words fail me :mad:

Have you ever heard of a contingency plan. It's taught at Junior Cert Business Studies. Maybe we should get Irish Rail management to resit their Junior Cert? Lets face it a 15 year old would have thought it a good idea to have a spare set of keys in Connolly for emergencies but no Irish Rail managers had to wait until the station had to be closed in the middle of rush hour and divert several packed trains away from their destination before they thought of doing this.

Would having a spare set of keys left somewhere not be some sort of Health and Safety requirement anyway?

I didn't say justifiable; I merely said understandable. It makes sense only to allocate keys to those who use them regardless of what you may think; indeed many large buildings work fine with just one keyholder at any one time

murphaph · 18-10-2007 8:38pm

Hamndegger wrote: »

I didn't say justifiable; I merely said understandable. It makes sense only to allocate keys to those who use them regardless of what you may think; indeed many large buildings work fine with just one keyholder at any one time

A highly risky strategy however! Maybe these large buildings you mention have 24hr staffing so in practice are never locked?

BuffyBot · 18-10-2007 11:51pm

New station + unforseen circumstances = bound to happen.

Like anything in life, people live and learn. Now if it happened again, then I think people could be a tad more angsty about ot.

Unmanned Docklands station - passengers diverted

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