Complaint.

I'd like to complain here about how many people complain about CIE. I get the dart into college and back every weekday, get buses into town for nights out, and nightlinks home, and I've only ever felt let down by Dublin transport once, which is a pretty negligible amount. I check online timetables each time I go out and I get and earlier bus/dart when I know it's snowy/icy. I'm only ever late by my own fault.

It's so annoying hearing people complain that their dart was late when there's 4 inches of snow outside. Come on, is it not obvious that there'll be some delays? People complaining about no darts on stephen's day - there's barely anything open on stephen's day, CIE employees deserve stephen's day with their families and anyway it's one day a year. People complain about sunday services on trains today, but come on, it's been on the website and I think on the announcement boards on platforms for a while now. I'm just an average student, nothing to do with CIE except being a customer. Yet I've heard so many complaints, I feel sorry for the amount of crap that employees have to put up with.

So I'd like to end by saying to any CIE employees on this forum, thank you for the great service, and Happy New Year. Some of us do appreciate the work you do.

patrickbrophy18

I gotta say that I do stand by you on this comment. I would be very worried if CIE were operating for the sake of a select few who would be willing to travel over the Christmas Day - St. Stephen's Day period. After all, it is a time for EVERYBODY to unwind.

Having said that, it is an absolute disgrace how they handle temporary closures of lines such as that between Bray and Dun Laoghaire from today 27th of December 2010 till January 2nd, 2011. They haven't even tried to arrange a temporary shuttle bus for the affected areas. Some of the existing bus routes such as the 59 have insufficient frequencies to be considered a reasonable alternative. Nevermind the unsheltered nature of most of it's bus stops. Basically, people who don't live within walking distance of the 7, 145 and to a certain extent the 45A have a very limited alternative. It is quite pathetic how a small stretch of track work between Dun Laoghaire and Glenageary could put the remaining stretch to Bray out of operation. It's not exactly a good use of resources when they could easily operate between Bray and Dalkey with a bus transfer to Dun Laoghaire Station matching the normal frequency of the DART.

Victor

true-or-false wrote: »

It's so annoying hearing people complain that their dart was late when there's 4 inches of snow outside.

4 inches of snow shouldn't affect things a whole lot. UIC 54kg/m rail is 159mm high - thats 2.5 inches above your snow. Now sure, points and other equipment can be affected, so please fit points heaters, especially on the most important points.

Come on, is it not obvious that there'll be some delays?

Sure, delays are possible. Stopping Cork-Dublin trains for 45 minutes because all the toilets on the train are frozen over and there is only one working cubicle in Thurles is another matter. Sure, dealing with frozen sewage isn't fun and fair dues to the staff doing it, but surely management (and train specifiers / designers) need to think outside the box?

People complaining about no darts on stephen's day - there's barely anything open on stephen's day,

I get the impression shops, cinemas, pubs, restaurants were open.

CIE employees deserve stephen's day with their families and anyway it's one day a year.

Yes, everyone is entitled to have time with their families. Some people rely on the DART to get to their families. Not everyone wants St. Stephen's Day off. Schedule things properly and everyone can have some time off - at times they want it off.

People complain about sunday services on trains today, but come on, it's been on the website and I think on the announcement boards on platforms for a while now.

Sure, but its a Monday, some people do need to get to work. Lots of staff in the IFSC or in retail have to treat bank holidays as ordinary working days.

Vic_08

patrickbrophy18 wrote: »

Having said that, it is an absolute disgrace how they handle temporary closures of lines such as that between Bray and Dun Laoghaire from today 27th of December 2010 till January 2nd, 2011. They haven't even tried to arrange a temporary shuttle bus for the affected areas. Some of the existing bus routes such as the 59 have insufficient frequencies to be considered a reasonable alternative. Nevermind the unsheltered nature of most of it's bus stops. Basically, people who don't live within walking distance of the 7, 145 and to a certain extent the 45A have a very limited alternative. It is quite pathetic how a small stretch of track work between Dun Laoghaire and Glenageary could put the remaining stretch to Bray out of operation. It's not exactly a good use of resources when they could easily operate between Bray and Dalkey with a bus transfer to Dun Laoghaire Station matching the normal frequency of the DART.

A bus transfer from Dalkey station, what a brilliant idea. I vote YOU drive it, I'll bring the chairs and beer so everyone else can sit back and enjoy the chaos.

Danno

Victor wrote: »

Not everyone wants St. Stephen's Day off.

Yet people who do want the day off have no choice but to work... :rolleyes:

Anyways, fair play to CIE for keeping trains rolling during the big freeze.

spareman

Victor wrote: »

Yes, everyone is entitled to have time with their families. Some people rely on the DART to get to their families. Not everyone wants St. Stephen's Day off. Schedule things properly and everyone can have some time off - at times they want it off.

Im a bus driver and I had to work on St. Stephens day, Im sure their are some train drivers who would work on Stephens day, but what about the ones who don't want to work? Will they be forced to work like me?

Victor

spareman wrote: »

Im a bus driver and I had to work on St. Stephens day, Im sure their are some train drivers who would work on Stephens day, but what about the ones who don't want to work? Will they be forced to work like me?

Well, lets start with the list of people who want to work the day first. The "forced to work" list then becomes much shorter or even non-existent.

DWCommuter

spareman wrote: »

Im a bus driver and I had to work on St. Stephens day, Im sure their are some train drivers who would work on Stephens day, but what about the ones who don't want to work? Will they be forced to work like me?

Im sorry that you feel you were forced to worked, but well done for working. You probably don't even realise how much joy you brought to some peoples lives by actually working yesterday, but I bet you brought a lot.

Breezer

Vic_08 wrote: »

A bus transfer from Dalkey station, what a brilliant idea. I vote YOU drive it, I'll bring the chairs and beer so everyone else can sit back and enjoy the chaos.

I'm failing to see the problem with this If it's the narrow roads in Dalkey that are the problem, the bus could be run from Glenageary.

Heisenberg1

Breezer wrote: »

I'm failing to see the problem with this If it's the narrow roads in Dalkey that are the problem, the bus could be run from Glenageary.

If the trains ran to glenageary there would be no way back. A big thank you to all Irish rail staff for your excellent work during the recent cold snap Happy New Year to you and your familys.Keep up the great work.

Breezer

luzon wrote: »

If the trains ran to glenageary there would be no way back. A big thank you to all Irish rail staff for your excellent work during the recent cold snap Happy New Year to you and your familys.Keep up the great work.

There's no point between Bray and Glenageary where a train can cross to the opposite track? (genuine question)

And yes, well done to the staff. The service is still pretty shoddy but it was well-maintained during the bad weather.

n97 mini

Do we need to congratulate people who get paid for turning up for work?

If they were doing it for free that would be different.

No-one has ever congratulated me for turning up for work.

patrickbrophy18

Vic_08 wrote: »

A bus transfer from Dalkey station, what a brilliant idea. I vote YOU drive it, I'll bring the chairs and beer so everyone else can sit back and enjoy the chaos.

Why do you have to be such a smart ass?

cute_cow

true-or-false wrote: »

So I'd like to end by saying to any CIE employees on this forum, thank you for the great service

I also want to thank CIE staff especially at Connolly Station on 23rd December.

Thank you to the driver to closing the door on me, twice, and also thanks for the bruise I have now. Also want to thank the 3 CIE staff at Connolly the same day who stood there laughing at me when it happened.

Just a big massive thank you for over selling tickets for the Dublin to Rosslare train and not having any ticket checkers, and thanks for not honouring any seats that people had booked.

And on behalf of the amount of people who had booked seats for this service, who were left standing on the platform (at Tara Street, Pearse Street, Dun Laoghaire and Bray) as we pulled off without them THANK YOU.

And just also to agree with n97 mini, thanks for showing up for a job you are paid to do. Many congratulations.

:rolleyes::rolleyes:

Vic_08

Breezer wrote: »

There's no point between Bray and Glenageary where a train can cross to the opposite track? (genuine question)

Dalkey, which is not suitable for bus transfers. Glenageary is not great either. To even consider it parking along Station Rd would have to be barred, the turn to Albert Rd is very tight with poor visiblity over the bridge and that road is also full of parked cars.

patrickbrophy18 wrote: »

Why do you have to be such a smart ass?

<Must resist the urge to respond in kind, even though that open goal is a mile wide>


You say you live in Dalkey but you are completely unaware that Castle St, Cunningham Rd and every other road near the station are narrow and full of (legally and not) parked cars?

Breezer

Vic_08 wrote: »

Dalkey, which is not suitable for bus transfers. Glenageary is not great either. To even consider it parking along Station Rd would have to be barred, the turn to Albert Rd is very tight with poor visiblity over the bridge and that road is also full of parked cars.

You say you live in Dalkey but you are completely unaware that Castle St, Cunningham Rd and every other road near the station are narrow and full of (legally and not) parked cars?

The cars on Station Road are mostly there due to the station. I doubt banning parking at one end of it while the station is closed would cause much of a problem. The 59 runs up and down Albert Road (Upper, which isn't as bad as the lower segment, but still has plenty of parked cars) and turns at the bridge onto and off St Catherine's Road, which also has plenty of parked cars.

The 8 and 46N run to Dalkey.

It wouldn't be as easy as cruising along a motorway, but to suggest that a bus couldn't possibly be run from either location is a bit much IMO.

-Chris-

Vic_08 wrote: »

<Must resist the urge to respond in kind, even though that open goal is a mile wide>

That's a very wise move...

monument

Train in snow:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fa3RUJVKSpU

BostonB

I've got the train/dart a lot. Can't say I agree with the OP. Our trains/Dart, information, facilities, customer service, timekeeping, lack of integration, shelter, are the worst I've experience anywhere in Europe.

I expect if you only use the Dart, because of their frequency, its not that noticeable if ones late or early. But if they are you connection to other trains/services, its perhaps more apparent. Ditto as you not likely to be hanging around long, the lack of basic facilities, isn't really an issue.

Heisenberg1

n97 mini wrote: »

Do we need to congratulate people who get paid for turning up for work?

If they were doing it for free that would be different.

No-one has ever congratulated me for turning up for work.

I assume you do a job were you deal face to face with hundreds of people every day were some people treat you like they have just stepped on something nasty if you do i congradulate you for turing up for work.

Heisenberg1

BostonB wrote: »

I've got the train/dart a lot. Can't say I agree with the OP. Our trains/Dart, information, facilities, customer service, timekeeping, lack of integration, shelter, are the worst I've experience anywhere in Europe.

I expect if you only use the Dart, because of their frequency, its not that noticeable if ones late or early. But if they are you connection to other trains/services, its perhaps more apparent. Ditto as you not likely to be hanging around long, the lack of basic facilities, isn't really an issue.

I have got plenty of trains in the UK were there was no basic facilities the DART we have is alot better IMO.

n97 mini

luzon wrote: »

I assume you do a job were you deal face to face with hundreds of people every day were some people treat you like they have just stepped on something nasty if you do i congradulate you for turing up for work.

Yup, you nailed it. There are ignorant people in all walks of life.

I get appreciated through my pay packet. I'm not looking for any further congratulations.