Irish Rail, a pain in the neck - literally!

eth0_

Am I the only person who has developed what feels like chronic whiplash from using Irish Rail commuter trains? I'm 5' 8" - tall but not exactly massive - and these trains were designed for Japanese people who are usually a good bit shorter than Irish people. As a result, I cannot sit comfortably in these trains. If I fall asleep on them I wake up in a huge amount of pain. I'm taking neurofen on a daily basis now, if I didn't I don't think I could work! I'm now planning on seeing a chiropractor it's gotten so bad.

Why the feck did they buy these trains! If you've travelled on commuter trains in the UK you'll know what a nice, comfortable commuter train is like.

Thoughts please!

sliabh

I know the seats on the Arrow trains are a pain in the arse (and other places) for people like me with long legs. I still have bad flashbacks to the time I found myself on one coming all the way from Galway to Dublin

fletch

I'm 5'10" and have no problems with space...
At either end of each carraige(the new ones anyway) there are seat with extra leg room designed for old people and disabled...masses of legroom.
The trains offer way more legroom than the buses it has to be said

eth0_

Well lucky you, you mustn't get any busy trains if you're able to pick and choose what seat you want. The leg room thing doesn't really bother me as much in comparison to the neck thing.

fletch

eth0_ wrote:

Well lucky you, you mustn't get any busy trains if you're able to pick and choose what seat you want. The leg room thing doesn't really bother me as much in comparison to the neck thing.

Yeh I get the 1st train in2 town in the mornings and go home after rush hour :-) They are commuter trains afterall and not designed for sleepin on (altho I've slept on them many a morning)

eth0_

I know they're not designed for sleeping on! I can hardly stop myself from falling asleep at 7.30am now can I. Falling asleep isn't the root cause of my problem

BuffyBot

and these trains were designed for Japanese people

They were built (some of them) in Japan, not designed for Japanese people. The interiors would be what Iarnrod Eireann specificed.

Also commuting trains in the UK comfortable? There maybe some, but most I experienced while living in London are quite old, with extremely uncomfortable 5 across seating.

FX Meister

Do you have some sort of back/neck problem already? It's not as if you have to crank your neck due to a lack of height or anything. Do the seats raise up higher than your head? I know Dart ones stop about shoulder height. Maybe you should start getting to work a different way. Perhaps it's your own fault for falling asleep.

fletch

BuffyBot wrote:

They were built (some of them) in Japan, not designed for Japanese people. The interiors would be what Iarnrod Eireann specificed.

I think he was being smart....in that Japanese people are not as tall as Irish

FX Meister

It didn't sound to me like she was being smart (it is a she isn't it?) Regardless of height though doesn't a carriage have to have a certain amout of air space in relation to the amount of passengers it is certified to carry.

eth0_

I wasn't being smart, I didn't know the trains were specifically designed for Irish commuters, I thought they were bog standard Japanese trains.
FX Meister - No I don't have an existing back or neck problem. Maybe I could employ you to prod me with a stick if I nod off??!?!?!?!

fletch

eth0_ wrote:

Maybe I could employ you to prod me with a stick if I nod off??!?!?!?!

I am emplyed already to do that....there is this girl that I usually end up sitting beside in the mornings(don't know her from Adam but I know where her stop is) and nearly every morning she nods off 'n I jus kinda elbow her a little when her stop is comin up.

Traffic

Im not sure about this but i think there is no actual limit to the number of pax a train is legally allowed to carry.

Anyone know if this is correct?

fletch

Traffic wrote:

Im not sure about this but i think there is no actual limit to the number of pax a train is legally allowed to carry.

Anyone know if this is correct?

Well if there is it certainly is not enforced

FX Meister

eth0_ wrote:

I wasn't being smart, I didn't know the trains were specifically designed for Irish commuters, I thought they were bog standard Japanese trains.
FX Meister - No I don't have an existing back or neck problem. Maybe I could employ you to prod me with a stick if I nod off??!?!?!?!

Perhaps you could, the money better be good though if I have to get up that early, what part of the sticks do you live in?

John R

Most of the trains were built in Spain not Japan, not that that has had any effect on the comfort and legroom though. They are just off-the-peg seat designs. Each batch of commuter trains have had different types of seat fitted and none of them are great, the nost recent ones which are used on Drogheda and Maynooth trains seem to be the best.
Not a patch on the old high-backed CIE seats from the 1960s that were in the slam-door trains, they were perfect for a long snooze.

eth0_

You can't get a slam door train from Drogheda to Dublin anymore. I miss them, they were really comfy!
I've never seen a sign with max passengers on a train, you see them on all buses though...wonder why there is no limit for trains?

weehamster

I think I have to answer your question and say that, yes you are the only one. You give me one train service in the world that caters for people dozing off. The same can be said for the bus. And Irish service are just as confortable as the UK and in many cases , more confortable (of course its different if you dont have a seat )

If you keep dozing off, then this is your problem, not Irish Rails.

Look heres a possible solution. Why dont you buy an inflatable pillow.

eth0_

Don't be such an idiot. Read what I've posted before you reply.

FX Meister

weehamster wrote:

You give me one train service in the world that caters for people dozing off.

Have you ever been outside of Ireland? They have tons of them all over Europe, the seats slide down so you sleep in them. And I'm not talking about sleeping compartments.

Victor

Buy an inflatable pillow like the ones for airplanes. I'm sure you could get them in auto shops.

fletch

eth0_ wrote:

You can't get a slam door train from Drogheda to Dublin anymore. I miss them, they were really comfy!

Yeh I love the old intercity trains...they're so quiet if you're near the back cause u can hear the diesel engine up front

landser

leavibg aside the rights and wrongs, you should complain to CIE about the matter and explaint your problem to them... see what they say

enterprise

landser wrote:

leavibg aside the rights and wrongs, you should complain to CIE about the matter and explaint your problem to them... see what they say

So after IE gets his letter - they will go out and change all the seats just for him! Thats great!

RuggieBear

enterprise wrote:

So after IE gets his letter - they will go out and change all the seats just for him! Thats great!

Hey...if the army can win those deafness cases then i think passengers winning a case for spinal type injueies isn't beyond the realms of possibility....