[PR] Greystones is Ireland's Best Station!

Greystones is Ireland's Best Station! by Corporate Communications
Greystones Station took the coveted title of Overall Best Station for the first time today at the 16th annual Waterford Crystal-sponsored Iarnród Éireann Best Station Awards.
The award was presented to Lenny McCarthy, Greystones Station by CIÉ and Iarnród Éireann Chairman Dr. John Lynch at a ceremony at Croke Park Stadium, with Greystones also collecting the Best DART Station prize.

The Waterford Crystal Iarnród Éireann Best Station Awards reward excellence in customer facilities, cleanliness, innovation and customer service in the country’s 137 railway stations, with Greystones scoring highly in all categories.

Lenny McCarthy of Greystones station was joined by Joe Everard, Station Manager for the area and Harry Booker, a Greystones resident who has contributed massively to the heritage displays in the station as well as the fabulous flowers on the platforms to accept the magnificent Waterford Crystal sculpture of an Iarnród Éireann locomotive for the station as part of the prize for winning the Best Overall Station title.

They had their arms full as they also collected a Waterford Crystal trophy specially designed for these awards for winning Best DART station. The judges were fulsome in their praise for Greystones, saying the award was “A monument to the ongoing commitment of both the dedicated staff and the loyal local community.”

Greystones scored particularly highly in the customer information and tourist information categories making Greystones DART station an integral part of the community.

In other categories, Kent Station, Cork collected the hotly contested Conservation Award, a title awarded to the Station for the remodelling of the station concourse into a bright spacious and comfortable waiting area, whilst in tandem relocating, cosmetically restoring and providing additional information on Loco No. 36, an engine dating from 1847, offering customers a unique example from the birth of the railway system – before stepping onboard the New Intercity carriages.

The excellent work of Cork Station Colleagues has ensured that our rich railway heritage is conserved for generations to come.

Kent wasn’t the only Cork station to scoop awards, Mallow won the Best Major Stations category, with Millstreet coming second in the Intercity Halts category and Fota was named the most improved station in the Unmanned Halts category.

Elsewhere, there was almost a clean sweep for the Midlands with the Norman McAdams Intercity Stations award going to Athlone following on from their overall victory in 2005 the judge praised: “The combination of modern facilities and classic design all contribute to the excellent presentation of the station” Tullamore and Carlow received honourable mentions on the day.

The West also did well on the day with Castlebar scooping the top award in the Louis Mongan Intercity Halts Category for a record 10th time. Castlerea took 3rd place in the same category. Woodlawn took third prize in the Unmanned Halts Category with Collooney taking the top prize in the category. John Joe Queenan from picturesque Carrick-on-Shannon station received the Mary Linehan Floral Award for the elegant floral displays that provide a welcome sight for staff and customers alike.

Skerries Station continued its remarkable run in the Best Suburban Halt category, with last year’s overall winner collecting Best Suburban Halt for the 12th year in a row. Near-neightbours Donabate were runners-up, with Castleknock Station Most Improved.
Ennis was also a winner, in the Best Staff Effort category.

Speaking at the awards, Iarnród Éireann Chief Executive Dick Fearn congratulated Greystones Station for its overall win, saying “It is great to see Greystones station scooping the top award for the first time. The success of Greystones is a great example of how linking with the local community can enhance facilities and provide and even better station for all the community”

He added that “our investment programme continues to transform so many aspects of the service to allow our colleagues deliver their best – the infrastructure we operate on, the station environments for our customers and for our staff, the technology and systems to deliver better customer service, and critically, our fleet. Our new Intercity railcars are now in service on the Sligo, Mayo and Limerick routes and they will shortly be operating on the Galway, Rosslare, Waterford and outer commuter routes offering increased frequency, comfort and reliability on our Intercity routes”.

ROLL OF HONOUR
MAJOR STATIONS
First Prize: Mallow
Second Prize: Dundalk
Most Improved: Connolly

INTERCITY STATIONS
First Prize - Norman McAdams Award: Athlone
Second Prize: Tullamore
Third Prize: Arklow
Most Improved: Carlow

INTERCITY HALTS
First Prize - Louis Mongan Award: Castlebar
Second Prize: Millstreet
Third Prize: Castlerea
Most Improved: Newbridge

DART STATIONS
First Prize: Greystones
Second Prize: Howth
Third Prize: Dalkey
Most Improved: Booterstown

SUBURBAN HALTS
First Prize: Skerries
Second Prize: Donabate
Most Improved: Castleknock

UNMANNED HALTS
First Prize: Collooney
Second Prize: Hazelhatch
Third Prize: Woodlawn
Most Improved: Fota

BEST STAFF EFFORT: Ennis
MARY LINEHAN FLORAL DISPLAY: Carrick-on-Shannon
CONSERVATION AWARD: Kent Station, Cork
BEST STATION OVERALL: Greystones