Irish Rail - 6-carriage DART at Rush Hour Instead of the Usual Eight

MysticalSoul

I get on at Portmarnock, which is only the second stop on the journey. Every day so far this week, the 8.11 train has been short two carriages. Even at this time of year, the the train is already full by the time it arrives, so as you can imagine, it is far from pleasant by the time it reaches Killester. Anyone know if it would be worth writing to Irish Rail about this, as the odd time you get over it, but 3 days running is beyond a joke. Anyone know who would be best to send an email off to?

ixoy

Hey fellow commuter - I got on the same train at Portmarnock and was going to post something similiar! It's been very chaotic - people racing down the platforms because the train isn't at the expected positions and, on later stations, people being left behind because the carriages are utterly crammed.

Do Irish Rail reduce capacity in summer or something equally idiotic? There have been two different types of 6-carriages in the last couple of days - are some carriages being refurbished? Or does management believe that 25% of people give up work for the summer?

Run_to_da_hills

CIE probably assume that there are less commuters with schools and collages are closed for the summer months and they can cut back on dart sizes. This saves them money on maintenance and cleaning.

godtabh

I was getting a dart yesterday and it was a 4 carriage dart at 5:30. Was madness trying to get on

ixoy

Run_to_da_hills wrote: »

CIE probably assume that there are less commuters with schools and collages are closed for the summer months and they can cut back on dart sizes. This saves them money on maintenance and cleaning.

CIE are idiots if that's the case - any casual glance at platforms in the morning will clearly indicate that students don't make up 25% of the numbers. Even if they did, schoolkids rarely go all the way into town: For example those who got on at Portmarnock would often get off at Raheny thus allowing for more people to get on at later stops.

MysticalSoul

They didn't do it last summer, so that logic makes no sense. I wonder is there some problems going on in their Union? Also considering that by the second stop, the train is always already full, it would make no sense to reduce capacity. Although it is Irish Rail, so common sense rarely equates to their thoughts.

KC61

The length of DART trains is not an issue with drivers.

There could be a unit out with a mechanical defect possibly.

MysticalSoul

KC61 wrote: »

The length of DART trains is not an issue with drivers.

There could be a unit out with a mechanical defect possibly.

It has happened on occasion in the past, but NEVER for 3 days straight, so 3 days straight, I can't help but begin to question why.

Ham'nd'egger

There was faults on a DART set late last week (Friday lunchtime) that I understand is still being sorted out. This has left one set short of carriages; I suspect that this set may have been rostered to work the service in question.

It is commonplace for suburban lines to cut down on rolling stock in the summer given lower passenger numbers (And in some networks, even canceling services) in order to cut running costs/overhaul train sets etc; I don't think Irish Rail actually do this, though.

elekid

Hamndegger wrote: »

There was faults on a DART set late last week (Friday lunchtime) that I understand is still being sorted out. This has left one set short of carriages; I suspect that this set may have been rostered to work the service in question.

The type of train we got this morning was different to the type we had the previous two mornings and there were still only 6 carriages, so surely it can't just be because one set is out of service? Getting into work has been hell so far this week

Ham'nd'egger

elekid wrote: »

The type of train we got this morning was different to the type we had the previous two mornings and there were still only 6 carriages, so surely it can't just be because one set is out of service? Getting into work has been hell so far this week

It can do, from time to time.

Some DART's run with 6 car sets; others have 8 which is the norm these days. Were one of the older 8100 DARTs to fail; it means that an 8 car set loses 2 cars. If a 6 car set loses 2 cars (Or in extreme cases, a 4 car set), the shortfall has to be made up which can mean an 8 car set loses 2 cars in order to keep as many sets with 6 cars as possible.

There is a severe shortage of sets in service which makes it harder to have ready to go back up sets in the event of failures (Bear in mind that some units are not be operational on a day to day basis for servicing etc.). Some sets are being refurbished and are unavailable. To run 8 car sets every ten minutes each way requires 96 cars, excluding sets awaiting to depart from Bray, Malahide or Howth.

KC61

elekid wrote: »

The type of train we got this morning was different to the type we had the previous two mornings and there were still only 6 carriages, so surely it can't just be because one set is out of service? Getting into work has been hell so far this week

There are several 6-car and 8-car combinations in use. Just because it's a different type does not mean that there couldn't be a 2-car set out due to a mechanical defect.

With the last remaining DART's away being refurbished at the moment, there is a very tight availability (as there has for the last number of years).

elekid

Ok, that makes more sense. Anyway I complained via the IR website just to see what kind of response I would get if any and this is the reply:

Dear Sir

Thank you for your email. The cause of the short trains the last couple
of mornings is due to a derailment at Bray on the 10th June leaving us
short 16 carriages for the mornings services. This was an isolated
incident and hopefully the shortage will not continue for much longer.

From time to time carriages need to be withdrawn from service for short
periods for essential maintenance. Because the safety of our passengers
is a priority, carriages are not released from our maintenance
department until we are sure they can carry our passengers safely.

We regret the inconvenience caused to our passengers on these occasions.

Regards

Customer Service
DART.

Run_to_da_hills

You are better off travelling on a 6 car dart set containing uniform cars than an 8 car dart set containing mixed cars because mixed Dart units do not look aesthetically pleasing. Iarnrod Eireann have already tried mixing the 8100's with the 8500's.

dermo88

That last statement was some more horse manure from the trainspotter gang lead by head in the clouds.

Who cares if the cars are mixed, or about aesthetics, as long as it operates on time, for the right price, and can accomodate passengers, then it works.

fh041205

dermo88 wrote: »

That last statement was some more horse manure from the trainspotter gang lead by head in the clouds.

Who cares if the cars are mixed, or about aesthetics, as long as it operates on time, for the right price, and can accomodate passengers, then it works.

It is possible that mechanical problems are more likely when mixing these sets also. Its happened a lot with the 2600-2800 combination on the dundalk-dublin line. Maybe thats the reason.......

KC61

fh041205 wrote: »

It is possible that mechanical problems are more likely when mixing these sets also. Its happened a lot with the 2600-2800 combination on the dundalk-dublin line. Maybe thats the reason.......

The sets are all compatible with each other - that would not be the reason.

armada104

Run_to_da_hills wrote: »

You are better off travelling on a 6 car dart set containing uniform cars than an 8 car dart set containing mixed cars because mixed Dart units do not look aesthetically pleasing. Iarnrod Eireann have already tried mixing the 8100's with the 8500's.

You say they "tried" as if it was some sort of failed experiment. Please stop thinking that your trainspotting concerns are more important than the comfort of people trying to get to work ("boring commuters" as you'd call them).

Run_to_da_hills

armada104 wrote: »

You say they "tried" as if it was some sort of failed experiment. Please stop thinking that your trainspotting concerns are more important than the comfort of people trying to get to work ("boring commuters" as you'd call them).

I haven't seen any 8100/8500 2+6 combos in a while since they got the 8200's back up and running along with more refurbished 8100's returned from Siemens. But I have noticed a considerable drop in number of 8 car sets of both 8100 & Jap 8500's throughout the day, these being replaced by 6 car and even a few 4 car sets (Usually 8100's). The Alstom 8200's I have seen recently were in 6 car formation without any intermediate cars.