Is there a CIE policy against informing passengers on trains?

lyda

I'm new to this forum so I apologise if this has been brought up before.

I commute from Balbriggan to GCD on a daily basis and from Dublin to Galway most weekends. Both trips by train. I've been doing it for about four years.

Obviously during that time there have been delays - I wish there were fewer but any large system will have delays at some point so I don't really have a huge issue with that.

What I do have a problem with is very rarely being told what is happening. There's a PA system on the trains - I've heard it used occasionally by drivers. But generally no information is given unless the delay has been 10 to 15 minutes (and that's not a guarantee.

Does Irish Rail have a policy on announcements by train drivers? Are they not allowed/encouraged to inform users about delays or problems?

godtabh

Dont think the drivers always know whats going on

Chris_533976

On Dublin - Galway most times the delay is the wait for the train coming the other way on the (extensive) single track sections. This can be 5 minutes, but has been 30 in my experience.

One time, it got announced within a minute by a driver "5 minute delay". It was a five minute delay.

Another time, after 20 minutes sitting in Clara "5 minutes more", it was another 20.

ixoy

kearnsr wrote: »

Dont think the drivers always know whats going on

But why don't they say as much? Even if it's only "Apologies for the delay. We hope to be moving along shortly". It's sheer professional courtesy, no?

fh041205

ixoy wrote: »

But why don't they say as much? Even if it's only "Apologies for the delay. We hope to be moving along shortly". It's sheer professional courtesy, no?

Agreed ixoy. I've heard it a couple of times where the drivers will announce that they don't know the problem but will let passangers know as soon as there are any updates. I'm not sure of the IR policy on this situation but I think in general, the drivers are encouraged to make announcements even if they have no info to give.

godtabh

ixoy wrote: »

But why don't they say as much? Even if it's only "Apologies for the delay. We hope to be moving along shortly". It's sheer professional courtesy, no?

From my experience they usually do

They say sorry for the delay if its more than a few minutes. Most of the delays are trains coming in/going out of Conolly and you could get stuck there for a few minutes.

My point was they dont know what the problem is and cant tell you about it

Random

I hate messages that say "We appreciate your patience, sorry for the delay" as much as having no messages.

If they're gonna get on and give a message it should be something like
"Right, I don't know why we're stopped but I have a red light and that's that. If I get some news I'll let you know"
or
"Right, we're gonna be sitting here for about 30 mins .. it's raining again ... I'll give you an update if there's anything else"

positron

From my own experience, most of the time there no PA, but when there is, its usually a loud clunk followed by someone casually going '..... .... is Laytown... next station La..... ' another loud clunk. His sound barely reaches the microphone, and tone only understandable to his mother.

A lot of people I know have accepted the poor level of service as norm and couldn't be bothered with it now..!

murphaph

over here if a train is late (rarely) they ALWAYS give a reason. On anything above the equivalent of the DART they will call all connecting services at the next station and from what platform they are going to depart etc. You get a tonne of info over the PA on german trains.

rednik

I would imagine its company policy for the driver to make announcements even if they have no information just to put passengers at ease. Let them know what they know and estimate the delay.

StephenM_smc

Before the railcars were rolled out there was usually announcements at every station on the Westport route. Usually they announce if there is a delay due to a crossing train or a particularly long delay at somewhere like Geashill.

kingshankly

drivers as a rule will make announcements but sometimes the problem can be technical ie the pa.i was delayed last week for 15 minutes outside connolly made three announcements giving exact details as to the problem and how long.then approaching connolly made two announcements to notify passengers that the train was terminating in connolly and where to get the next dart to pearse.unfortunatly the pa was not working in the last 4 coaches and i got lambasted by many passengers and verbally abused by two,i understood their frustrations but some passengers think they can abuse staff.

monument

The strangest delay I've experienced was heading towards Westport -- when the train had started up again after stopping there were cows just outside the window right beside the train.

murphaph wrote: »

over here if a train is late (rarely) they ALWAYS give a reason. On anything above the equivalent of the DART they will call all connecting services at the next station and from what platform they are going to depart etc. You get a tonne of info over the PA on german trains.

While Interrailing last summer, on any intercity DB trains that were just a min or two late (I crossed parts of Germany a few times), on arrival a member of staff were on the platform given out water or apple juice.

MOH

IR's passenger charter charter, states, under the "Quality" (lol, ) section:

We will use our public address systems to keep you informed and we will keep them in good working order. When service delays and disruptions occur, we will tell you what has caused them and how long we expect them to last.

Of course, this is generally as ignored as the rest of the Charter (which they can't even seem to decide the name of - it's called the Passenger Charter and the Customer Charter on the same page).