Dublin Heuston to Athy - arrrrrghhhh!!!!!!

murphyaii · 10-07-2013 11:20am #1

:mad::mad::mad: I haven't checked the other threads yet but boy am I pi£££d off with irish rail

I got on the train yesterday at heuston station at 5.35pm

I was supposed to take a 55 minute journey to athy

take a guess how long it took?

I arrived in athy extremely annoyed and livid at 9.25pm

it took nearly 4 hours for a one hour journey

if there was ever a bad day to get on a train it was yesterday.

first, somebody got killed around 10 am in Kildare on the track. ( this is where I think the problems came from)

then around 3.30pm a train brokedown in newbridge

then from 5pm to 9pm there was signal faults all the way from heuston to beyond newbridge which I have never seen before :mad::mad::mad::mad:

how is it possible for signal faults all the way beyond newbridge is what I don't get?:eek::eek::eek:

n0brain3r · 10-07-2013 12:05pm

You may be entitled to a refund at least as some compensation. Where you just held hostage on the train or was any effort made to let to disembark?

I got stuck with a signal fault on the Maynooth line and the train held outside the station for 30minutes with the platforms insight before being cleared to approach I made the mistake of taking the return train later the same day after being told the fault was rectified only to get stuck again for another couple of hours outside Connolly!

laoisfan · 10-07-2013 12:33pm

There was only one signal issue, at Cherryville, Kildare.

The problem was they had to operate a signal track line due to this fault. So you had all the southern train trying to come up to Heuston and also train which left Heuston trying to head south. One big mess!!

I was on the 5:05pm to Ballybrophy. Normally gets to Ballybrophy at 6:00pm. Did not arrive until 9:30pm.

foggy_lad · 10-07-2013 2:16pm

A bad day for irish rail with that tragic incident in Kildare in the morning then two faults later leading to severe delays for all services using cherryville junction. At least on a bus you can get off along the route and make alternate arrangements which it sems irish rail did very little of yesterday. There was very few bus substitutions.

murphyaii · 10-07-2013 3:01pm

I've downloaded the compensation form anyway from the irish rail website.
seems if you are delayed by more than 2 hours you get a full refund in discount vouchers.

I rang their customer relations dept in Connolly and they apologised which is something at least

davidlacey · 10-07-2013 3:20pm

foggy_lad wrote: »

A bad day for irish rail with that tragic incident in Kildare in the morning then two faults later leading to severe delays for all services using cherryville junction. At least on a bus you can get off along the route and make alternate arrangements which it sems irish rail did very little of yesterday. There was very few bus substitutions.

Can we have a day when a bus is not mentioned?

Hilly Bill · 10-07-2013 5:32pm

davidlacey wrote: »

Can we have a day when a bus is not mentioned?

Agreed but he has a point though about getting off the bus.

Hilly Bill · 10-07-2013 5:33pm

foggy_lad wrote: »

A bad day for irish rail with that tragic incident in Kildare in the morning then two faults later leading to severe delays for all services using cherryville junction. At least on a bus you can get off along the route and make alternate arrangements which it sems irish rail did very little of yesterday. There was very few bus substitutions.

Irish Rail dont have buses parked up ready to go so they need to source them from somewhere and getting a fleet of them at short notice isnt easy.

Slunk · 10-07-2013 5:49pm

Plus the 5.35 was sat on the platform like many others allowing people on and off if they pleased. They were not trapped onboard. It's unfortunate set of circumstances in one day but what can you do

Jamie2k9 · 10-07-2013 6:46pm

Slunk wrote: »

Plus the 5.35 was sat on the platform like many others allowing people on and off if they pleased. They were not trapped onboard. It's unfortunate set of circumstances in one day but what can you do

Good point, I was stuck on a train for 6 hours....

dowlingm · 13-07-2013 3:39am

murphyaii wrote: »

:mad::mad::mad: I haven't checked the other threads yet but boy am I pi£££d off with irish rail

I got on the train yesterday at heuston station at 5.35pm

I was supposed to take a 55 minute journey to athy

take a guess how long it took?

I arrived in athy extremely annoyed and livid at 9.25pm

it took nearly 4 hours for a one hour journey

if there was ever a bad day to get on a train it was yesterday.

first, somebody got killed around 10 am in Kildare on the track. ( this is where I think the problems came from)

So a number of people had significantly worse days than you. A matter for irritation granted that your travel was impacted, perhaps but some perspective is in order?

foggy_lad · 13-07-2013 9:50am

dowlingm wrote: »

So a number of people had significantly worse days than you. A matter for irritation granted that your travel was impacted, perhaps but some perspective is in order?

That said though they have had a miserable week of delays and failures. There is even a notice up in heuston as you approach platform 2 as a sort of apology but it is more like a pat on the back for how well they did handle everything considering how badly the sh1t hit the fans.

murphyaii · 15-07-2013 3:28pm

perhaps some perspective is in order. dowlingm

hmmm I think perspective goes out the windows after a 4 hour delay mate.

i'd love to see your perspective after a 4 hour delay

laoisfan · 15-07-2013 3:40pm

dowlingm wrote: »

So a number of people had significantly worse days than you. A matter for irritation granted that your travel was impacted, perhaps but some perspective is in order?

I was on the 17:05 Tralee train, getting off in Ballybrophy. I got to Ballybrophy around 21:20
I commute daily to Dublin.

As the saying goes "$hit happens". It was the lack of having a plan from Irish Rail which shocked me.

Do you think I should have some perspective also ?

LXFlyer · 15-07-2013 4:59pm

It was a highly unusual series of unfortunate coincidences to be honest - it was a day when what could go wrong did, and all at once.

From what I can see the worst part of it all was a lack of proper communication.

The main problems with the evening commuter services were the failure of the tamper which caused the line to be blocked, and the failure of the track signalling circuits which meant nothing could pass along certain sections except at a snail's pace.

It was extremely unusual and unfortunate that all of this happened on the same day, but when track circuits break, there is very little that can be done as the regulations are exceptionally restrictive in terms of how trains can operate (and rightly so).

To be honest, the sequence of events was bizarre in the extreme - the three separate events caused trains to be in the wrong place due to delays caused by the fatality, others were trapped behind the failed tamper, and finally trains were exceptionally delayed due to the failed track signalling circuits.

The real issue was the lack of communication with customers.

Jamie2k9 · 15-07-2013 5:48pm

lxflyer wrote: »

It was a highly unusual series of unfortunate coincidences to be honest - it was a day when what could go wrong did, and all at once.

From what I can see the worst part of it all was a lack of proper communication.

The main problems with the evening commuter services were the failure of the tamper which caused the line to be blocked, and the failure of the track signalling circuits which meant nothing could pass along certain sections except at a snail's pace.

It was extremely unusual and unfortunate that all of this happened on the same day, but when track circuits break, there is very little that can be done as the regulations are exceptionally restrictive in terms of how trains can operate (and rightly so).

To be honest, the sequence of events was bizarre in the extreme - the three separate events caused trains to be in the wrong place due to delays caused by the fatality, others were trapped behind the failed tamper, and finally trains were exceptionally delayed due to the failed track signalling circuits.

The real issue was the lack of communication with customers.

From a passenger I think communication was a major improvement than the past. What pissed off passengers so much was the fact IE allowed the line be blocked form Heuston with trains departing when they knew full well they wouldn't get anywhere. People would of being much happier if all departures were stopped, (anything after the 15.10 to Waterford could of being stopped) and passengers allowed to stay in Dublin and wait or make other plans.

Some services could of operated together but IE should not of tried to run a full train schedule when no one was going anywhere very fast. For example two of the even Portlaoise trains (I think 17.20 and 17.55) could of being joined and operated together and it would of help the situation as others could of. 17.10 to Athlone and 17.30 to Galway for example. Once already busy trains don't get merged together.

I would love to observe operations department on that day and see how IE make such bad decisions. I will agree it was a bad day but weather the machine failed in the morning or the afternoon, it wouldn't of being moved any quicker but impact would be less but still it's not acceptable to have such time wasted when moving failed machines/trains.

laoisfan · 16-07-2013 10:04am

Jamie2k9 wrote: »

From a passenger I think communication was a major improvement than the past. What pissed off passengers so much was the fact IE allowed the line be blocked form Heuston with trains departing when they knew full well they wouldn't get anywhere. People would of being much happier if all departures were stopped, (anything after the 15.10 to Waterford could of being stopped) and passengers allowed to stay in Dublin and wait or make other plans.

Some services could of operated together but IE should not of tried to run a full train schedule when no one was going anywhere very fast. For example two of the even Portlaoise trains (I think 17.20 and 17.55) could of being joined and operated together and it would of help the situation as others could of. 17.10 to Athlone and 17.30 to Galway for example. Once already busy trains don't get merged together.

I would love to observe operations department on that day and see how IE make such bad decisions. I will agree it was a bad day but weather the machine failed in the morning or the afternoon, it wouldn't of being moved any quicker but impact would be less but still it's not acceptable to have such time wasted when moving failed machines/trains.

They told me that they did not have capacity and that they were afraid of over crowding trains. I can understand this to a point but since when did this shower care about over crowding ?

They should have combined services like you've pointed out above. They've done it in the past without even blinking. They've even gone around the station trying to find who is going where and directing them to appropriate platform.

$hit happens I can understand that. But lack of communication and no plan is unforgivable. They should have had some plan. They didn't.

onvacation · 01-08-2013 1:29pm

I was caught up in these disruptions and contacted Irish Rail to complain. They informed me that as an Annual Ticket holder I was entitled to a 99euro rail ticket to travel anywhere on their network. The ticket must be used in 2013 and can only be used for one person i.e. if you wish to travel with your wife or partner you have to pay for them as normal.

This doesn't appear to be well advertised so it is important that everyone affected is aware of their entitlement! Whilst they said people must apply on or before 26th July I cant see them sticking strictly to that.

If you were affected you need to call Irish Rail on 1850 885 865 to obtain your ticket.

Dublin Heuston to Athy - arrrrrghhhh!!!!!!

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