[PR] Customers warned of possible disruption to Cork services from Monday 15 May

The cravens coaches are still very much service, the Fridays only Heuston Tralee is a favorite still, they ran the 18:35 to Thurles sometime last week as well

Train manager style operation is common across the UK and Europe, in fact the bulk of IE trains are driver only, no guard no ticket checker, no train manager. You can have as many staff onboard as you like. The whole train manager idea is about improving customer service

Luas drivers have not been infected by the NBRU disease even though that shower have been hanging outside Luas depots trying to radicalise the Luas drivers and get them in the family.

The NBRU are desparately trying to destroy Luas as it shows the shower up in CIE for what they are.

lostinsuperfunk wrote:

AFAIK, it's an unofficial strike, no need for union bashing.

I noticed that the NBRU are condoning the strike and the mediator is meeting with the union chiefs today. Nothing to do with the unions though. :rolleyes:

Ireland.com, Last updated: 16-05-06, 09:18

Iarnród Éireann has warned of severe disruptions to rail services today as a result of continuing unofficial action by train drivers that left up to 35,000 passengers stranded yesterday.

The dispute is over the introduction by the company of a new high-tech train it had planned to bring into service on a trial basis yesterday.

Two Cork-based drivers refused to operate the new train and drivers based in Cork, Limerick and Dublin stopped work in support of their two colleagues.

Iarnród Éireann has warned that there will be no Intercity services to and from Cork, Galway, Mayo, Kerry and Limerick. There will be no Commuter services to and from Portlaoise and Kildare or on the Cork - Cobh commuter route, although some local Limerick services may operate.

There may be some services between Waterford and Dublin.

Dart services and commuter trains between Dublin, Dundalk and Drogheda, along with services to Maynooth, Sligo, Belfast, Gorey, Arklow and Rosslare, are expected to operate normally. Services to and from Connolly station in Dublin have not been affected.

Iarnród Éireann strongly urges intending passengers gers to check the Irish Rail website or ring the information line on 1850 366 222 in advance.

There were no indications last night that an early resolution to the dispute was likely, with the company insisting that it would not negotiate with staff engaged in unofficial action.

A spokeswoman for Iarnród Éireann told ireland.com that the dispute will affect 35,000 passengers per day and "due to the unofficial nature it is difficult to say if there is an end in sight." However she went on to say that senior trade union officials are meeting with drivers' representatives this morning.

Taoiseach Bertie Ahern said yesterday the action was "particularly disappointing" given the investment that had been made in improving facilities for customers on the Dublin-Cork route. He said there extensive mechanisms available through the labour relations machinery to sort out this type of issue without causing major inconvenience to the public.

Iarnród Éireann is seeking to introduce a new generation of trains, known as the "Mark Four", as part of a €117 million investment in its rolling stock. Siptu and the National Bus and Rail Union sought a pay increase of 5 per cent for drivers, and a reduction in working hours, in return for the introduction of the new trains as well as other work changes.

Meath Commuter rail lobby group Meath on Track has called for common-sense to prevail in the current rail strike caused by the introduction of new trains. They say that the last serious rail strike in 2000 resulted in the closure of Kingscourt railway line despite the fact the line had 106 year history of transport freight as Gypsum Industries changed to road transport.

Meath on Track spokesperson Proinsias Mac Fhearghusa said: "Meath and Cavan have seen first hand what prolonged industrial action can do to the viability of railways. We call on all parties involved to start talking and to resolve the dispute over the introduction of the new trains to avoid escalation of industrial action and to save public confidence in Ireland's rail transport system."

© The Irish Times/ireland.com

They should have had the foresight to know they couldn't just pull the Mk4 out of a hat without thinking through the Industrial Relations issues

Its a train isnt it?
The loco is the same, the cab end has the same controls as the loco.
Call me slow, but what is the problem with the drivers just getting in and driving

Red Alert wrote:

the removal of the Mk4 temporairly would mean that passengers at least get the service they're entitled to, as opposed to none at all.

No, because that's capitulating to bully boy tactics.

paulm17781 wrote:

Please don't say "Where does he condone it?". He most certainly does NOT condem it and makes out as though it is every one elses fault.

For the record I think IE management have behaved awfully on this. They're not the ones striking though.

The woman interviewed on the news yesterday outside An Statuin Ticketing Irregularities in Cork after she missed a business meeting in Dublin put it beautifully: "The whole company is a joke and should be privatised".

Privatisation of rail and bus services has been a success from the UK to Denmark. Now it is is Ireland's turn to join in.

CIE cannot be reformed nor rehabilitated into a normal public transport company. There is only one option now and it has to be full privatisation of all bus and rail services with public subidies for lesser used routes.

CIE does function normally on any level - never has, never will. If they have not proved it with this latest circus, then they never will. The decent and professional staff within CIE are just as much victims of this carry-on as the public transport users. Dedicated public transport professionals cannot shine while suffocated within the CIE quagmire as they are always being dragged with the bottom with the worst elements who hold all the cards within CIE.

Sacking the drivers on strike is the way to start the ball rolling. A message must be sent out to these clowns that their skanger tactics will be no longer tolerated.

In my little dream world, heres what would happen.

An announcement would be made by Iaranrod Eireann to the effect of "There will be no train services for the next month while we train new drivers".

Every single driver/etc who has gone on strike would be sacked without any redundancy pay and with no reference. An advertisment (well publicised) would be put out countrywide for new drivers. These new drivers would be given quick, intensive training and the service would resume as soon as they are trained.

I'd love to see the look on the faces of the drivers if they were all told "You're all fired" and were escorted out of the train station by security and/or the army

MarkoP11 wrote:

Problem is it takes 70 odd weeks to train a driver so the drivers know that they can't lose thats the problem, no matter what happens they still have a job

Only problem is it took me 200 weeks to train for my job and I paid for the training. In the last 10 years I have rarely received free training from an employer and would never dream of trying to extort money if offered training. I have done a lot of training in the past 10 years mostly paid for by me. I do whatever I am told to do for 8 hours a day and if I don't change job, I don't expect a pay rise beyond the market rate. If I want more money I train for a better paid job. I am happy with this arrangement. It's fair and it puts me in charge of my destiny. So long as I am employable I get paid. If I don't like my job I give my notice and work somewhere else.

Why has a system been created where people are offered jobs for life? Why is their training paid for? Why do their contracts not require them to retrain to whatever new technology appears? Why have they been allowed to expect that they will be given pay rises for doing the same job throughout that time? Why can't they be fired when they refuse to go to work? Why are their jobs denied to people who would gladly do them without taking the piss?

Why do the politicians sustain this system by supporting the unfair demands of these few and undermining the management against the needs of the people who elected them?

Why do we - the passengers - have to suffer while this circus continues?

I don't blame the workers. I'd do the same if I was in their position. Yum yum- extortion!