Bridge Twit gets to be on Twitter

Losty Dublin · 19-11-2013 2:41pm #1

As Dublin was affected by yet another truck striking a bridge, Irish Rail takes to Twitter to help capture the driver at fault. An unusual and novel way to address this, it must be said.

http://www.irishtimes.com/news/ireland/irish-news/we-know-who-you-are-irish-rail-tweets-driver-who-hit-bridge-1.1599850

Muahahaha · 19-11-2013 3:48pm

Pretty serious that he didn't stay at the scene of the accident. What if no one reported it and the next train came through and collapsed the bridge ? Very irresponsible from someone who is supposed to be a professional driver. Deserves to lose his license IMO

Mycroft H · 19-11-2013 3:54pm

It's a legal requirement to report a bridge strike. He's going to be in a bit of hot water....

Alun · 19-11-2013 4:01pm

Sorry, but if they have his reg, how is tweeting it going to help in his capture? Plus the chances of said truck driver following Irish Rail's twitter feed, or any other one for that matter, are probably close to zero.

Mycroft H · 19-11-2013 4:05pm

Alun wrote: »

Sorry, but if they have his reg, how is tweeting it going to help in his capture? Plus the chances of said truck driver following Irish Rail's twitter feed, or any other one for that matter, are probably close to zero.

It's an offence to strike a rail bridge and not report it. Gardai could follow it up.

Losty Dublin · 19-11-2013 4:13pm

Muahahaha wrote: »

Pretty serious that he didn't stay at the scene of the accident. What if no one reported it and the next train came through and collapsed the bridge ? Very irresponsible from someone who is supposed to be a professional driver. Deserves to lose his license IMO

A bridge outside Gorey was struck and dislodged by a lorry and excavator on New Years Eve, 1975. Tragically it happened 2 minutes before a train was due which derailed, killing 4 people and injuring about 40 passengers and staff. Aware of the trains imminent arrival, a local man who lived by the accident scene got onto the track and tried to wave the train to a stop. He managed to slow the train down and undoubtedly saved more lifes.

corktina · 19-11-2013 4:18pm

Mycroft H wrote: »

It's an offence to strike a rail bridge and not report it. Gardai could follow it up.

and should, however I doubt they do have these details and even doubt that is an official tweet.

Mycroft H · 19-11-2013 4:27pm

corktina wrote: »

and should, however I doubt they do have these details and even doubt that is an official tweet.

CCTV

Alun · 19-11-2013 4:29pm

Mycroft H wrote: »

It's an offence to strike a rail bridge and not report it. Gardai could follow it up.

OK, but what's that got to do with my question?

green123 · 19-11-2013 4:35pm

Alun wrote: »

OK, but what's that got to do with my question?

his response to your post made no sense at all.

Mycroft H

why did you make that response to aluns post ?

Michael D Not Higgins · 19-11-2013 4:35pm

Surely this is just a customer relation spin that deflects rage from the company onto the truck driver. Nothing to do with actually getting the guy whether they have his details or not.

corktina · 19-11-2013 4:45pm

Mycroft H wrote: »

CCTV

if that's the case, why not just leave it to the Gards?

DO you know that or did you guess?

davetherave · 19-11-2013 4:52pm

Michael D Not Higgins wrote: »

Surely this is just a customer relation spin that deflects rage from the company onto the truck driver. Nothing to do with actually getting the guy whether they have his details or not.

How is it Irish Rails fault if some tosser hits a bridge with his truck and leaves the scene causing delays to rail services?
Surely the truck driver is the one that delayed passengers should be angry at?

intellectual dosser · 19-11-2013 4:56pm

I think IE are simply using Twitter to tell people that its important to raise awareness about Bridge Strikes. With all the main Irish newspapers carrying it on their websites they've done a pretty good job.

markpb · 19-11-2013 4:57pm

davetherave wrote: »

How is it Irish Rails fault if some tosser hits a bridge with his truck and leaves the scene causing delays to rail services?
Surely the truck driver is the one that delayed passengers should be angry at?

If they had said nothing, the press coverage would have been

'Rail chaos for thousands after bridge strike'

Now it's

'Truck driver hits rail bridge and flees the scene'

Spot the subtle difference that IR have managed to introduce?

Dravokivich · 19-11-2013 5:11pm

corktina wrote: »

if that's the case, why not just leave it to the Gards?

DO you know that or did you guess?

They never posted his details on the twitter, they just made it known that they have them. It's also to divert attention away from them because they rarely give any information about why a train is being delayed, unless they can take a picture of someone who crashed into a level crossing.

Losty Dublin · 19-11-2013 5:41pm

markpb wrote: »

If they had said nothing, the press coverage would have been

'Rail chaos for thousands after bridge strike'

Now it's

'Truck driver hits rail bridge and flees the scene'

Spot the subtle difference that IR have managed to introduce?

It's the newspapers who write the headlines, not Irish Rail. If Jane Cregan and Barry Kenny can help them along the way to shape the story then fair balls for it, part of their job is to massage the press and press releases where possible.

Incidentally, Irish Rail did something similar to this on their Facebook page in relation to a truck which hit electric cables at Merrion Gates a few years ago and it worked quite well for them

Rashers72 · 19-11-2013 6:34pm

I was stuck for 40 mins north of Clontarf road station this morning on a Drogheda train. One announcement from the driver during the whole delay saying we would be on our way. We crawled about 1/2 mile in next 20 mins. Very very poor information to passengers on board trains.

markpb · 19-11-2013 6:35pm

Losty Dublin wrote: »

It's the newspapers who write the headlines, not Irish Rail. If Jane Cregan and Barry Kenny can help them along the way to shape the story then fair balls for it, part of their job is to massage the press and press releases where possible.

That's exactly what I said.

LXFlyer · 19-11-2013 6:50pm

corktina wrote: »

and should, however I doubt they do have these details and even doubt that is an official tweet.

Why do you doubt it is an official tweet, given it is clearly on the official Irish Rail twitter account and has been referenced by them several times today.

Frankly, it's about time drivers who do this do get the book thrown at them, and I hope that IE will continue to focus on these people.

LXFlyer · 19-11-2013 6:52pm

Rashers72 wrote: »

I was stuck for 40 mins north of Clontarf road station this morning on a Drogheda train. One announcement from the driver during the whole delay saying we would be on our way. We crawled about 1/2 mile in next 20 mins. Very very poor information to passengers on board trains.

If there is a bridge strike, it is going to take a while to get people to the bridge to inspect it and then carry out the inspection.

There's going to be a limited amount of information that they can give, other than a statement of fact that a bridge has been struck.

I'm not sure exactly what you would expect the driver to say, other than repeating that the bridge has been struck and a team is on the way to inspect it.

Rashers72 · 19-11-2013 9:25pm

lxflyer wrote: »

If there is a bridge strike, it is going to take a while to get people to the bridge to inspect it and then carry out the inspection.

There's going to be a limited amount of information that they can give, other than a statement of fact that a bridge has been struck.

I'm not sure exactly what you would expect the driver to say, other than repeating that the bridge has been struck and a team is on the way to inspect it.

No issue with the inspection etc. But I do not consider one announcement in a 40 min delay sufficient. And in that announcement the driver gave incorrect information. We might have to agree to disagree!

One point I would be curious on is when the bridge stike occured, and when it was declared safe to resume services.

Losty Dublin · 19-11-2013 9:38pm

Rashers72 wrote: »

No issue with the inspection etc. But I do not consider one announcement in a 40 min delay sufficient. And in that announcement the driver gave incorrect information. We might have to agree to disagree!

Perhaps the driver didn't receive any information to pass on. I know it's little comfort to you but if he doesn't know either then there's very little that he can do.

LXFlyer · 19-11-2013 10:31pm

Rashers72 wrote: »

No issue with the inspection etc. But I do not consider one announcement in a 40 min delay sufficient. And in that announcement the driver gave incorrect information. We might have to agree to disagree!

One point I would be curious on is when the bridge stike occured, and when it was declared safe to resume services.

To be fair I would expect more than one announcement too, but in that situation there is going to be very limited information to give, as really the only updates would be that the team has arrived on site, and that the line has reopened.

Mucco · 19-11-2013 10:59pm

lxflyer wrote: »

If there is a bridge strike, it is going to take a while to get people to the bridge to inspect it and then carry out the inspection

I used to commute in the UK and was stuck because of a bridge strike on about 2 occasions. The driver immediately informed us, and the inspection team were out straight away meaning the delay was less than 10 mins both times. This was in the middle of no-where, so, in Dublin, I would expect a similarly fast response.
While good information won't speed up the time taken to inspect the track, it is easy to provide and allows the passengers to phone ahead with an estimated arrival time. There is no excuse not to provide it.

Five Lamps · 19-11-2013 11:23pm

Michael D Not Higgins wrote: »

Surely this is just a customer relation spin that deflects rage from the company onto the truck driver. Nothing to do with actually getting the guy whether they have his details or not.

Exactly it. Read their timeline and you'll see angry passengers venting their views on the delays caused. The tweet reassigns the blame! As a side effect, it also got media coverage - don't strike a bridge and scarper.

LXFlyer · 19-11-2013 11:26pm

Mucco wrote: »

I used to commute in the UK and was stuck because of a bridge strike on about 2 occasions. The driver immediately informed us, and the inspection team were out straight away meaning the delay was less than 10 mins both times. This was in the middle of no-where, so, in Dublin, I would expect a similarly fast response.
While good information won't speed up the time taken to inspect the track, it is easy to provide and allows the passengers to phone ahead with an estimated arrival time. There is no excuse not to provide it.

If you check again above, I did say that I'd certainly expect more than one announcement in that sort of situation, but it can be difficult in those circumstances to give firm information.

Dravokivich · 20-11-2013 2:09am

lxflyer wrote: »

If there is a bridge strike, it is going to take a while to get people to the bridge to inspect it and then carry out the inspection.

There's going to be a limited amount of information that they can give, other than a statement of fact that a bridge has been struck.

I'm not sure exactly what you would expect the driver to say, other than repeating that the bridge has been struck and a team is on the way to inspect it.

Whenever there is a problem they tend to just say "Signal Fault" on the announcements on trains or at platforms.

Zebra3 · 20-11-2013 6:39am

Muahahaha wrote: »

Pretty serious that he didn't stay at the scene of the accident. What if no one reported it and the next train came through and collapsed the bridge ? Very irresponsible from someone who is supposed to be a professional driver. Deserves to lose his license IMO

Deserves jail time.

Could have been responsible for scores of deaths.

Banjoxed · 20-11-2013 2:02pm

davetherave wrote: »

How is it Irish Rails fault if some tosser hits a bridge with his truck and leaves the scene causing delays to rail services?
Surely the truck driver is the one that delayed passengers should be angry at?

Indeed. Perhaps it was Irish Rail's fault that a railway line was in the way of the truck?

cython · 20-11-2013 2:18pm

Dravokivich wrote: »

Whenever there is a problem they tend to just say "Signal Fault" on the announcements on trains or at platforms.

Nah, they've gotten even more vague recently, with the all-encompassing "operational problems"...... Really? You mean trains running stupidly behind schedule aren't in fact an indication of no issues whatsoever having arisen?! Well who'd have thunk it?!

Or the other recent chestnut of "poor rail conditions" that they seem to have started trotting out when they finally realised how ridiculous it sounds to say that services are running late "because of leaves on the track".

To get back on topic though, I would be delighted to see the driver pursued for this and as far as I understand they have his details from the DCC crew that reported the bridge strike in the first place. Unfortunately information does seem to have been severely lacking, and while the drivers may not have had the information pass on, then it needs to be made known to those further up the chain that better dissemination of information is required, or even that any information passed down should at least be accurate, which is not always the case.

Dravokivich · 21-11-2013 9:19am

cython wrote: »

Or the other recent chestnut of "poor rail conditions" that they seem to have started trotting out when they finally realised how ridiculous it sounds to say that services are running late "because of leaves on the track".

That one actually is a problem though.

Rashers72 · 21-11-2013 4:23pm

Some negative feedback in the letters section of the Metro yesterday. Not to do with the actual bridge strike, but how customers were treated and communicated to afterwards. Don't think I was alone in thinking IE handled it very badly. Something has gone rapidly down hill in Irish Rail in the last year in relation to how they treat their customers during service failures. And no one seems accountable.

Michael D Not Higgins · 21-11-2013 4:28pm

Rashers72 wrote: »

Some negative feedback in the letters section of the Metro yesterday. Not to do with the actual bridge strike, but how customers were treated and communicated to afterwards. Don't think I was alone in thinking IE handled it very badly. Something has gone rapidly down hill in Irish Rail in the last year in relation to how they treat their customers during service failures. And no one seems accountable.

The fact that their twitter account gives more information than the drivers who are updating the affected passengers is a problem. Perhaps the union have said that those announcements aren't part of their contracts like door testing after coupling DARTs.

Dravokivich · 21-11-2013 4:54pm

Michael D Not Higgins wrote: »

The fact that their twitter account gives more information than the drivers who are updating the affected passengers is a problem. Perhaps the union have said that those announcements aren't part of their contracts like door testing after coupling DARTs.

It generally doesn't. That bridge strike the other day was an exception for their twitter feed and that's because they could pin the tail on another donkey.

Michael D Not Higgins · 21-11-2013 5:00pm

Dravokivich wrote: »

It generally doesn't. That bridge strike the other day was an exception for their twitter feed and that's because they could pin the tail on another donkey.

Yes and the marketing dept saw the opportunity and pounced on it. Great bit of PR, but if they knew about it, the operations side knew about it, the drivers must have known about it, so why didn't they update the passengers?

Dravokivich · 21-11-2013 5:09pm

Michael D Not Higgins wrote: »

Yes and the marketing dept saw the opportunity and pounced on it. Great bit of PR, but if they knew about it, the operations side knew about it, the drivers must have known about it, so why didn't they update the passengers?

Who knows man. I'm on it every day and I feel like nothing more than a nuisance to'em.

Copyerselveson · 21-11-2013 5:40pm

Any word on whether the driver was caught yet?

Hilly Bill · 22-11-2013 2:06am

Rashers72 wrote: »

Some negative feedback in the letters section of the Metro yesterday. Not to do with the actual bridge strike, but how customers were treated and communicated to afterwards. Don't think I was alone in thinking IE handled it very badly. Something has gone rapidly down hill in Irish Rail in the last year in relation to how they treat their customers during service failures. And no one seems accountable.

How did they handle it badly?

Bridge Twit gets to be on Twitter

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