Irish Rail Disasterous

ArdRi79

I just had a fun time on the train. There was gangs of lads in Connolly causing hassle and nothing was said... until they got on the train and split 2 people open. The train stopped in Broombridge with the doors open and I am not making this up, the lads got thrown off but they came back with 20ish mates and started throwing rocks in the doors. Then they came onto the platform with petrol and matches. The security lads did their best but they werent allowed close the doors and the driver said he wasnt allowed drive on until the Gardai arrived.

So trapped in a hostile and needlessly dangerous situation there and the train was 10 minutes late arriving at connolly and 40 minutes late getting to maynooth. Fantastic service. You can really tell when a company prefers preventing insurance claims to preventing injury to their passengers.

Can I complain and even get a refund for the journey do you think? I could probably sue them if I had the money... The lads that got hurt defo could.

We should really privatize the railways like they did in the UK if a typically loss making semi state like Irish rail cant even provide a moderately useful service for people.The taxes could be going some where they are genuinely needed.

wmpdd3

The security lads did their best but they werent allowed close the doors and the driver said he wasnt allowed drive on until the Gardai arrived.

What would yo have like to see happen?

And no I would hate to see Ireland privatise its railway.

ArdRi79

wmpdd3 wrote: »

What would yo have like to see happen?

And no I would hate to see Ireland privatise its railway.

Why would you hate to see the railways privatised?

Ideally id like to have the security in Connolly station stop them from going through the turnstiles to the platform. If they didnt catch them then Id like to have seen security stop them getting on the train when they were causing hassle on the platform. If they didnt know they were there until the incident on the train Id have liked whoever the driver called for instructions to have said "sod the insurance lads drive on to the next station since the problems off the train. Ill send the gards there."

n0brain3r

wmpdd3 wrote: »

What would yo have like to see happen?

I'd of thought close the doors at the very least! That surely made it impossible for security to secure the train and exposed the passengers to unnecessary risk?

foggy_lad

wmpdd3 wrote: »

What would yo have like to see happen?

And no I would hate to see Ireland privatise its railway.

Protect the passengers on the train firstly by closing the doors and if necessary moving on to the next station or at least out of reach of the scumbags attacking the train at Broombridge!

All the people with huge salaries in Irish Rail and not one of them could make a competent decision about something so safety critical!

bikeman1

You can privatise the railway but you can't change the scum that sadly infects part of our society. Also a privatised railway could end up costing the state even more money. Just look at the UK.

dowlingm

Surely the question of train procedures in a situation of disorder is at least partially a matter for the Railway Safety Commission?

As far as I'm concerned IE should suspend service to Broombridge until the various civil authorities agree on a way to keep order in the area. IE should not have to retain a paramilitary force to be able to run their service.

"You can really tell when a company prefers preventing insurance claims to preventing injury to their passengers." Perhaps you could make that argument to the High Court Judges who would make awards to such claims rather than dismiss them?

ArdRi79

I dunno if Ive have the readies to go to the high courts hah. Itd be nice if we could all do that though.

Irish Rail didnt respond to me on twitter, email or facebook so I got on to the metro herald and apparantly the same thing happened again today andIrish Rail are blaming rival gangs. Out of their control... yeah. That wasnt what I saw happening at all it was bad process but atleast they arent blaming Irish Rail workers for it. Probably because theyd shop them out to the media if they did.

Im concerned that if they arent accepting responsibility for their actions the processes arent going to change. But they arent invested in change really, that bridge in malahide collapsed for the sake of basic maintenance a few years ago. Id say not caring about passenger safety is fairly consistant for IRish Rail.

defo privatise them. We could have any one other than a semi state running it and expect changes.

Markcheese

I'm not sure if I agree about privatising the rail service (who'd take it without a massive gov subsidy anyway ) but I did like the bit about private paramilitary police .... Would they be able to shoot scumbags on sight or have to wait for them to kick off ??
Seriously though I don't see who IR were protecting by not closing the doors and moving off....sounds like they're worried about scumbags, not their passengers...give a warning, close the door, drive on ....

What have a pack of scumbags in Broombridge got to do with state ownership of the railway?

gobnaitolunacy

Close Broombridge and nuke the area.

vitani

I was on that train on Tuesday night, and I can't fault Irish Rail for how they handled the situation at all.

There was a group of about 30/40 teenagers who got on the last two carriages at Connolly, on their way back from the beach. A little way into the jouney, near one of the doors, a couple of the lads starting squaring up to each other and security arrived after we'd gone past Drumcondra station to sort them out. They tried to get one of the lads off the train at Broombridge and he got off, picked up a glass bottle (god knows where he got that from) and threw it back in to the carriage. That's where any injuries came from. The two lads who'd been worst hit were part of the group of teenagers, but they hadn't been causing any trouble.

This happened within seconds of him getting off so there wasn't time for the security to close the door. This all happened around one door of the carriage but one passenger stood up and started giving out about the other door being left open, and ran down to close it.

The security guys stood outside on the platform with the lads who'd been causing trouble and insisted that the doors were kept closed to keep passengers safe, while they waited for the Guards to arrive. At one stage there was maybe 4 guys who'd been on the train milling around that little green space behind the platform but they certainly didn't have petrol or matches, and they weren't throwing rocks in the doors.

It was a horrible situation and quite scary at the time, but the security guys handled it well, and after the troublemaker had been kicked off, the rest of us were in no danger. And for once, Broombridge had nothing to do with it - it could have been any station.

ArdRi79

vitani wrote: »

I was on that train on Tuesday night, and I can't fault Irish Rail for how they handled the situation at all.

There was a group of about 30/40 teenagers who got on the last two carriages at Connolly, on their way back from the beach. A little way into the jouney, near one of the doors, a couple of the lads starting squaring up to each other and security arrived after we'd gone past Drumcondra station to sort them out. They tried to get one of the lads off the train at Broombridge and he got off, picked up a glass bottle (god knows where he got that from) and threw it back in to the carriage. That's where any injuries came from. The two lads who'd been worst hit were part of the group of teenagers, but they hadn't been causing any trouble.

This happened within seconds of him getting off so there wasn't time for the security to close the door. This all happened around one door of the carriage but one passenger stood up and started giving out about the other door being left open, and ran down to close it.

The security guys stood outside on the platform with the lads who'd been causing trouble and insisted that the doors were kept closed to keep passengers safe, while they waited for the Guards to arrive. At one stage there was maybe 4 guys who'd been on the train milling around that little green space behind the platform but they certainly didn't have petrol or matches, and they weren't throwing rocks in the doors.

It was a horrible situation and quite scary at the time, but the security guys handled it well, and after the troublemaker had been kicked off, the rest of us were in no danger. And for once, Broombridge had nothing to do with it - it could have been any station.

Do you work for Irish Rail? We saw completely different things and that makes me a little suspicious.

I was in the carriages in the front of the train where I could see the entrance to the station. The train was parked there for about 20 minutes with the doors open while younglads fired stones in the door. They came up the entrance with petrol and matches and one of the passengers in my carriage challenged them to come on. If there was only 4 lads why was there so many police cars?

You know what, if youre Irish rails social media crew you need to spin and not just come in and say it never happened. Read the metro herald today.

Just FYI the same thing happened again on the train last night. So yeh know. It didnt just not happen it happened atleast twice.

pappe

I think this problem is not to be addressed to irishrail but with social security in Ireland. Phoenix Park, Portmanock, Red Line Luas to name a few have been areas where antisocial behaviour happened at times but nothing has been done toward those criminals. I happened to witness situations where for example dangerous unsocial people not paying the fare in red line luas are simply asked kindly to leave the luas from the orange vests.

Those people will continue to commit crimes if nothing is done.

n0brain3r

ArdRi79 wrote: »

Do you work for Irish Rail? We saw completely different things and that makes me a little suspicious.

I was in the carriages in the front of the train where I could see the entrance to the station. The train was parked there for about 20 minutes with the doors open while younglads fired stones in the door. They came up the entrance with petrol and matches and one of the passengers in my carriage challenged them to come on. If there was only 4 lads why was there so many police cars?

Maybe it was a different train? The guys causing trouble probably doubled back to the station after the guards disappeared? What time where both of you at Broombridge?

vitani

ArdRi79 wrote: »

Do you work for Irish Rail? We saw completely different things and that makes me a little suspicious.

I was in the carriages in the front of the train where I could see the entrance to the station. The train was parked there for about 20 minutes with the doors open while younglads fired stones in the door. They came up the entrance with petrol and matches and one of the passengers in my carriage challenged them to come on. If there was only 4 lads why was there so many police cars?

You know what, if youre Irish rails social media crew you need to spin and not just come in and say it never happened. Read the metro herald today.

Just FYI the same thing happened again on the train last night. So yeh know. It didnt just not happen it happened atleast twice.

I was in the last carriage, where the trouble actually started - as I described in my last post. After everything had calmed down and we were waiting for the Guards, one of the girls from the group actually opened a door in the last carriage to scream at some of the lads to get back on the train (while they were running around that green space). The security guard leaned in to close the door straight away and told her to keep it closed, which makes me suspicious of your account, tbh.

And no, I don't work for Irish Rail. I'm happy to confirm this with a mod if necessary.

The whole '20 lads with petrol and matches' thing just makes no sense to me. Those teenagers weren't from Broombridge - they were still on the train when I was getting off a couple of stops later. So either, there were some opportunistic scumbags hanging around, waiting for a train to stop, or else the reinforcements bloody flew there to get there so quickly after receiving a call from their mates.

vitani

n0brain3r wrote: »

Maybe it was a different train? The guys causing trouble probably doubled back to the station after the guards disappeared? What time where both of you at Broombridge?

I was on the 21.10 train from Pearse.

Fred Swanson

This post has been deleted.

end of the road

ArdRi79 wrote: »

We should really privatize the railways like they did in the UK

yeah, and pay out more money then currently, have their proffits go over seas, have higher fairs, everything cut to the bone whether its needed or not, when replacement of trains happens i dread to think what we'l get, great idea

ArdRi79 wrote: »

The taxes could be going some where they are genuinely needed.

yeah, even more subsidy for the private operators, you think they will want to get the current payment for example for the free travel? now if your suggesting that private operators can use the state owned railways like they can the roads then i agree completely, but complete privatisation of irelands railways will most likely cost us more in the long run

ArdRi79

The cream always rises in a free market economy. An alternate argument is the nationalisation of railways in the US. Where before there were competing services all over the US trying to provide a high quality reliable service now theres no commuter service bar Amtrak and they only operate 300 trains in the entire country. The rest is commercial freight which if you look is exactly where Irish rail are going at the moment.

In the UK with attrition rates on passenger numbers BR will be forced to change or die. Virgin Rail is snapping at their heals for the business. My opinion is Monopolies and semi state bodies are archaic and bad for business and consumers. Irish semi states are worse because we are slow to change and slow to challenge.

@vitani I stand by the metro this morning, Irish rails statement in the metro and what I said. Everyone sees something different but the disparity between what you and I saw and what the papers describe is impossible to explain.

GBOA

ArdRi79 wrote: »

An alternate argument is the nationalisation of railways in the US.

The US is a completely different model and can in no way be compared to rail here or in the UK. Around the main population centres, there are plenty of urban services. Cross-country is almost exclusively freight, passengers choosing to fly such vast distances.

Car manufacturers also carried out extensive lobbying of Congress and were big industry players. They were able to assert undue influence on transport decisions, notably those that favoured car use.

ArdRi79 wrote: »

In the UK with attrition rates on passenger numbers BR will be forced to change or die. Virgin Rail is snapping at their heals for the business.

It may have escaped your attention that BR ceased to provide services in 1997. Private operators started to take over in 1994.

UK services are not only influenced by the operators but by the state too. Look at Scotrail, a private operating company (First Group). The previous Scottish government were very much in favour of rail and the network north of the border has seen many expansions and upgrades though the current government has cut back on this somewhat.

Hilly Bill

Ardi, how come you blame irish rail for a trouble on a train but not the scum that caused it? Privatising wont stop the scum from stoning trains nor will removing the station. The only thing that will happen with privatising is higher fares , no free travel and not be able to blame irish rail.

Con Logue

Hilly Bill wrote: »

Ardi, how come you blame irish rail for a trouble on a train but not the scum that caused it? Privatising wont stop the scum from stoning trains nor will removing the station. The only thing that will happen with privatising is higher fares , no free travel and not be able to blame irish rail.

Yes, I find blaming 1. Broombridge Station for existing and 2. Irish Rail for scumbaggery, bizarre and possibly an excuse for a lurid article in the Sindo about the Luas Cross City project.

Blame the scumbags. Better still, could we have the Garda Siochana actually act as a police force and the Judiciary to stop gladhandling these little fcuks?

Cordelia2010

I'm really tired of delays on Irish rail. It's one thing after another with signal faults.
Thing is...cos I'm on it every day, I notice the hiccups more.
I was on that train on Tuesday evening too. The security guards were grand.
But the runkus started in Connelly.
The fight came the whole way from the bottom cab to the top.
It was 30 mins late getting to maynooth that night.

Things went smoothly enough the rest of the week, till this evening. Like, its my own fault. I should have checked the Irish rail twitter and stayed on. Hopped from Tara to Connelly, got the direct one then. (6.05) Ten mins late leaving. But it will push on now. I was at Tara since 5.30 waiting on a 5.40 that never came. Well I waited till ten/five to six and hopped on the dart to get the direct.

One thing i want to know though, is a 'signal ' problem a bullsh*t term they use for everything?

With all its faults, it still all right... 97% of the time... All the time :-)

Losty Dublin

Hilly Bill wrote: »

Ardi, how come you blame irish rail for a trouble on a train but not the scum that caused it? Privatising wont stop the scum from stoning trains nor will removing the station. The only thing that will happen with privatising is higher fares , no free travel and not be able to blame irish rail.

Imagine the efficiencies if we privatised the scum? They'd potentially cause 20% more hassle

XxMCRxBabyxX

Cordelia2010 wrote: »

I'm really tired of delays on Irish rail. It's one thing after another with signal faults.
Thing is...cos I'm on it every day, I notice the hiccups more.
I was on that train on Tuesday evening too. The security guards were grand.
But the runkus started in Connelly.
The fight came the whole way from the bottom cab to the top.
It was 30 mins late getting to maynooth that night.

Things went smoothly enough the rest of the week, till this evening. Like, its my own fault. I should have checked the Irish rail twitter and stayed on. Hopped from Tara to Connelly, got the direct one then. (6.05) Ten mins late leaving. But it will push on now. I was at Tara since 5.30 waiting on a 5.40 that never came. Well I waited till ten/five to six and hopped on the dart to get the direct.

One thing i want to know though, is a 'signal ' problem a bullsh*t term they use for everything?

With all its faults, it still all right... 97% of the time... All the time :-)

I get the impression that its often to do with vandalism on the signalling and the line on general.

Dravokivich

XxMCRxBabyxX wrote: »

I get the impression that its often to do with vandalism on the signalling and the line on general.

Then Its not a signal fault. Last week a car crashed into a crossing g and they just announced signal fault. I was stuck on a train for an hour yesterday with not a word from the driver at all, only to see their twitter eventually say "signal fault." It means absolutely nothing. Worse thing is, its the only way I can get to work right now...

smcgiff

Cordelia2010 wrote: »

One thing i want to know though, is a 'signal ' problem a bullsh*t term they use for everything?

The signal excuse is a signal *touches side of nose with index finger*