The JOKE that is Irish Rail!!!

nedoo

Got the train back from Galway yesterday lunchtime. One of our group was made go to the ticket booth by one of the two ticket inspectors who had security with them too. He was sent back as his ticket was a weekender and was €2.15 short!
As we had booked our seats on line, we shoud have names on each one, guess what, none on the signs. No catering carrage, a cart went down once with 2 sandbos(and I mean 2), red bull (two tins), tea and coffee and a few chocolat bars. No water, coke etc. The thing that was serving from this dropped some lids on the floor. She just kicked them under the table. Her nails were filthy as was her uniform. Pink hair, way to much jewlery etc etc.
Ok, a little picky I know but here is the best bit. Two scum bag droning smack heads get on in Athlone. They both sit down behind us, make a phone call at the top of their voices confirming a deal, proceed to count out €1000 in cash and then smoke heroine for the rest of the trip. No security, thing with the trolly said what could she do about it, had to move. By the time we have got out of the carrage, most of us were sick as dogs from the smell of the heroine. Getting out quickly I left my ticket on the table. The guy at the stalls was making me go back to find it until I started kicking up hell about the two scumbags that had by now jumped the fence in full view of all. Security with stab jackets just watch them go off on their stoned way.

Great job Irish Rail!!! Good to see the tax payers €31 Billion is going on a top class rail system. Letter of complaint gone in, lets not hold breath for a reaction!

Cookie_Monster

nedoo wrote: »

<snip>
Letter of complaint gone in, lets not hold breath for a reaction!

Should be an interesting read, if they even reply.

loyatemu

http://gobus.ie/

Africa

Yeah... posting a thread on the bus... handy...

I agree with the terrible, terrible service. Especially on rural routes. the problem with them is who have they got to compete with - in England at least there is more than one train company and they have to be competitive for this reason. Here any proposal is quashed by the government and no permission is given to other companies to build new tracks/hubs/etc.

I have been on the service several times when there are blatantly people going into the bathrooms to do drugs. 7 or 8 of them crowding around the tiny cubicles you see on the Dundalk/Wexford lines (the green trains).

I have been on the Galway line 4 times before and twice i have witnessed drugs on the carriages. Of course no security. I remember going to get food and there was nearly nothing available, and what was was such a rip off i didnt bother.

As for the tickets - first off the machines often have different prices from the actual booth, sometimes more, sometimes less. Often it is cheaper to get two tickets than the one as well. Also, the biggest problem i have found - fares from balbriggan in north co. Dublin to Dublin is 4.30. This is a rip off itself if you ask me... but go to laytown, the stop after Balbriggan (a total of 7 minutes after it) it will cost you €11... SINGLE.

And they complain about people driving to Balbriggan and filling up their car parks!

faceman

The PR guy Barry something is on George Hook's show on Newstalk regularly, he's probably your best bet to contact.

Re the heroine, I'd have called the gardai if I felt that staff didnt take the complaint serious

godtabh

nedoo wrote: »

Got the train back from Galway yesterday lunchtime. One of our group was made go to the ticket booth by one of the two ticket inspectors who had security with them too. He was sent back as his ticket was a weekender and was €2.15 short!

He was short. Thats not Irish Rails fault. You are meant to have a valid ticket for you journey

nedoo wrote: »

No catering carrage, a cart went down once with 2 sandbos(and I mean 2), red bull (two tins), tea and coffee and a few chocolat bars. No water, coke etc. The thing that was serving from this dropped some lids on the floor. She just kicked them under the table. Her nails were filthy as was her uniform. Pink hair, way to much jewlery etc etc.

Do Irish Rail have to provide a catering carrage? I'm assuming its there to make them additional money (and I think its out sourced as well).

nedoo wrote: »

Two scum bag droning smack heads get on in Athlone. They both sit down behind us, make a phone call at the top of their voices confirming a deal, proceed to count out €1000 in cash and then smoke heroine for the rest of the trip. No security, thing with the trolly said what could she do about it, had to move. By the time we have got out of the carrage, most of us were sick as dogs from the smell of the heroine.

Thats a bit ****. Mind you if I was security I wouldnt go near them. God knows what they are riddled with/carrying.

Did you call the Garda about it?

nedoo wrote: »

Getting out quickly I left my ticket on the table. The guy at the stalls was making me go back to find

I'd make you go back from it. What makes you different from the lads who jumped the railings without a ticket? How was the ticket checker meant to know if you left it on the table?

asdasd

in England at least there is more than one train company and they have to be competitive for this reason.

Not true. Trust me, I've been on First Great Western and IrishRail ( mostly the Dublin Cork line) and IrishRail is astronomically better.

penexpers

faceman wrote: »

The PR guy Barry something is on George Hook's show on Newstalk regularly, he's probably your best bet to contact.

Re the heroine, I'd have called the gardai if I felt that staff didnt take the complaint serious

Honestly, Barry Kenny and the whole "corporate communications" crowd are a waste of space. BK will never admit that there's anything wrong with Irish Rail and that Irish Rail is a top-class transport company and that any problems with Irish Rail are imagined.

Africa

Dear Sir/Madam,

Long time user of the rail system in Ireland. Not a happy user though, and today it really has boiled over.

First off the price and your recent price hikes - for no reason the prices of tickets rose. Its disgraceful, and does not encourage people to use the trains nor be truthful about their journies. Yesterday i was charged €4.30 to travel from Rush and Lusk, the same price from Balbriggan. However this is not what bothers me the most - how can the company justify €11 from Laytown where i lived until just two months ago? Including parking at the stations now (which i think is a total crime) it can cost a fortune to get in from Laytown to Dublin. No wonder the company has lost a good deal of service to the local bus service. This is a town that is considered to be on the commuter belt but does not pay commuter prices!!

Second, on the line last night, i was delightfully 'entertained' by a load of junkies blatantly smoking heroin in one of the small toilet cubicles. About 7 or 8 crowded into the tiny area and the smell of the drug filled the whole carriage. Many had to leave because of the sickening smell. No security to be seen or anything.

This was not the first time i have seen this. People doing cocaine, smoking hash, shooting up or excessively drinking are becoming more common on the lines. When they get to the station as well I nearly always see them hop barriers or jump in behind people with tickets, and nothing is done about it.

Never mind the intimidating behavior. Now im not a small chap but i can feel intimidated when a whole load of junkies are shouting 'what are you lookin at' or 'you keep that up youll have a big smile to go with the stare'. On other occasions i have seen young girls, some not older than 15, have obsenities shouted at them. Come on lads, we really need some security on the train. And not like one or two, im talking at least 4 or 5. How are 1 or 2 security men supposed to deal with 8 drunken stoned maniacs?

I hope you can deal with some of these issues. Because its terrible.

Thanks,

Left that for them on their complaints page.

Not true. Trust me, I've been on First Great Western and IrishRail ( mostly the Dublin Cork line) and IrishRail is astronomically better.

Hmmm... i dont even know where they service. so perhaps they should expand a bit more from the hole they are cowering in from the big bad irish rail!

Also. If irish rail say they are providing a catering cart or bar they have to have it stocked and open. It says on the boards in the stations and on the tickets. Otherwise that would be false advertising.

And whats different about it?? they shouldnt have junkies on the train in the first place, they are placing their passangers in danger, and i think that if the person told them about the junkies and they didnt do anything about it, they are not doing their jobs properly. Why should you pay for a service where you are going to be feeling in danger????

nedoo

kearnsr wrote: »

He was short. Thats not Irish Rails fault. You are meant to have a valid ticket for you journey



Do Irish Rail have to provide a catering carrage? I'm assuming its there to make them additional money (and I think its out sourced as well).



Thats a bit ****. Mind you if I was security I wouldnt go near them. God knows what they are riddled with/carrying.

Did you call the Garda about it?





I'd make you go back from it. What makes you different from the lads who jumped the railings without a ticket? How was the ticket checker meant to know if you left it on the table?

He was short and went back with no objections. I had left my ticket and yes should be made go back but when you take the fact that you can smoke heroine in your seat, dont you think they should sort these issues first?

The cops were called but the scum were gone when we got into the station. Should have called and had them meet us at an earlier station!

godtabh

nedoo wrote: »

you can smoke heroine in your seat

I dont think you can they just did

BuffyBot

in England at least there is more than one train company and they have to be competitive for this reason.

Not true. While there is some overlap in franchises, for the post part you're stuck with one operator on each route - and as pointed out, they can be pretty damned awful.

godtabh

Out of interest does anyone know if Irish Rail have to provide a dining carriage or is it up to them?

penexpers

kearnsr wrote: »

Out of interest does anyone know if Irish Rail have to provide a dining carriage or is it up to them?

It's up to them. Only if you book Citygold service and no Citygold service is provided that you are entitled to a refund (7 euro in this case I believe).

KC61

kearnsr wrote: »

Out of interest does anyone know if Irish Rail have to provide a dining carriage or is it up to them?

No they don't have to provide a dining coach.

Only 10 of the new Intercity railcars are equipped with one, the other 5 6-piece trains and 31 3-piece sets do not.

There are only certain trains where a full dining coach is required on Monday/Friday - these are indicated with a knife and fork symbol in the public timetable. There is no such facility (except on the Belfast route) at weekends.

On all other trains where catering is advertised it's just a catering trolley.

The catering is now privatised and run by Rail Gourmet.

nedoo

Five working days later and no reply yet from Irish Rail. Got an automatic reply saying it would be passed on to the correct manager........

fh041205

nedoo wrote: »

He was short and went back with no objections. I had left my ticket and yes should be made go back but when you take the fact that you can smoke heroine in your seat, dont you think they should sort these issues first?

The cops were called but the scum were gone when we got into the station. Should have called and had them meet us at an earlier station!

So the only issue really is with the lads smoking funky stuff yes?? Which is a matter for the gardai.
So unless the staff refused to call the gardai, i'm not sure what else Irish Rail can change.

(I've excluded the names above the seat thing which is a genuine reason to complain but has been discussed to death to no avail).

Our man in Havana

If you had complained to the trains guard the gardaí would be called to the next station to deal with the junkies.

Judgement Day

Correct me if I am wrong but I thought train guards were no longer present on inter-city railcars? It appears the demanning of trains is having the same result as the demanning of stations but why am I not surprised.

Our man in Havana

I assume there is an intercom to talk to the driver?

nedoo

Got a reply:


Thank you for your email. Firstly, I would like to apologise for my delay in replying to you and also for the distress and inconvenience you experienced on this occasion.



I am very sorry to learn of the incident experienced when travelling from Galway to Dublin on 10th May 2009. Please be assured, Iarnród Éireann does not condone or accept such undesirable passenger behaviour and reserves the right to remove such offenders from our rail services with the assistance of the Gardaí. Regrettably, due to the nature of our rail services and limited staff availability we are not in a position to guarantee a member of staff on all scheduled services. However, we do have a number of emergency cords located on each train which, when pulled, will bring the locomotive to a stop and will alert the Driver’s immediate attention. Should passengers feel threatened or distressed onboard and are unable to avail of a staff member we would advise them to locate and utilise the emergency cord. The feasibility of introducing Security onboard rail services will be addressed in the near future.



I will report this matter to the Station Manager, Galway.



Our catering services are provided by a third party company, Railgourmet. They are committed to providing the advertised catering facilities on selected scheduled trains. All complaints or passenger feedback regarding catering services are reported to the Catering Manager and Onboard Standards Manager for their full investigation. I am very sorry to learn of the lack of catering facilities provided to you. Please be assured I have reported this fall down in service to the Catering Manager for his direct attention. The Catering Manager will also re-brief staff members to ensure all catering trolleys are fully stocked to meet expected passenger demand.



I would like to thank you for taking the time to report your journey feedback to us. Once again I wish to apologise for the inconvenience and distress caused to you.









Yours sincerely,




So there you are, it look like we just have to put up with this or pull a cord that we could get fined for doing so!!

Terrontress

Pulling the cord in that scenario is ridiculous in my opinion. All it will do is slow up the journey, meaning you have to endure the junkies for longer. Then you probably have to shout into a concealed microphone where the junkies can hear you. They are probably annoyed at getting delayed too. Finally, the cops cannot get to the train to elect the junkies if it is halfway up the tracks.

Sounds like hands being washed to me!

KC61

With the advent of railcars, there is no longer a requirement for a guard on trains. On certain trains there is no travelling ticket checker either for some or all of the journey, so the train is driver only operated. As a result, pulling the emergency chord is your only option in those circumstances.

Terrontress

KC61 wrote: »

With the advent of railcars, there is no longer a requirement for a guard on trains. On certain trains there is no travelling ticket checker either for some or all of the journey, so the train is driver only operated. As a result, pulling the emergency chord is your only option in those circumstances.

How long would it take, following the pulling of the cord, to get the train back underway?

In the circumstances mentioned, what is the driver trained to do with anti-social behaviour on the train?

BendiBus

If the official recommendation is to pull the emergency code then I would suggest you do exactly that. BUT! I might be better to wait until you are stopped in the next station before doing it.

nedoo

http://www.breakingnews.ie/ireland/mans-body-found-in-toilet-of-train-in-mayo-412331.html


And here is more of it!

godtabh

nedoo wrote: »

http://www.breakingnews.ie/ireland/mans-body-found-in-toilet-of-train-in-mayo-412331.html


And here is more of it!

way to jump to conclusions

Cookie_Monster

kearnsr wrote: »

way to jump to conclusions

Sounds like a junkie to me...

Gardai wouldn't be treating it so "lightly" otherwise.

Jayeire

Looks like the new ticket barriers are now installed in Heuston. BUT.... don't expect them to work... nor expect a standard apology for a delay in service.
Attempted to use the barrier today.. after 5 mins, and my ticket getting stuck the most informative rail attendant that had been watching me the whole time informed me that they weren't working.
How nice of him to tell me after he observed me trying for 5 minutes. Customer service, yeah right.
That was only the start of a VERY bad experience with IrishRail.
Platform of my train was not displayed on the timetable, nor on the main concourse. Further barriers would not work, more rude staff. Reserved seats only to find a man sitting in my friends seat. And had to explain to him why IrishRail hadn't yet put our names above the seats in the LED panel.
.......Our names weren't displayed for the entire journey. So reserving my seat had been pointless....Even though the helpful (...) staff ensured me that it would indeed show up.
Utterly disgusted.

fh041205

So in short, the barriers weren't working and your name wasn't displayed above your seat.

Both valid complaints. But hardly show stopping stuff. Why be so pernickity about it. If it were me, and I booked a seat and got to my destination I wouldn't see a problem. There is a ranting and raving section which I might suggest you would be better off posting in.

You clearly are disgusted with some part of your journey, but I don't quite understand why?

Jayeire

fh041205 wrote: »

So in short, the barriers weren't working and your name wasn't displayed above your seat.

Both valid complaints. But hardly show stopping stuff. Why be so pernickity about it. If it were me, and I booked a seat and got to my destination I wouldn't see a problem. There is a ranting and raving section which I might suggest you would be better off posting in.

You clearly are disgusted with some part of your journey, but I don't quite understand why?

Wouldn't take a rocket scientist to figure out why I'm annoyed. Ticket barriers didn't work as I most clearly stated. Hardly going to make me ecstatic. Extremely poor customer service, again not impressed. And to top it off seats that I'd reserved were NOT displayed as reserved. Now in my humble opinion I'm not being in the least picky (as pernickity is not actually a word).
If I reserved a seat, only to find a gentleman sitting there and my name not displayed then of course I'd be annoyed. Both myself and said customer were inconvenienced due to IrishRail.
"If I were me" .... If you are not you.... then who are you?
Asides from this; we most clearly have a different view of what we deem to be adequate customer service. I believe it's people like yourself that continually accept such dire practice by IrishRail, that has the company the way it is. Perhaps you already workfor IE?