Why does Grand Canal Dock DART station close when an event is on at the Aviva?

Colonial

So wanted to get home from work. Checked dart on journey planner, all is fine for grand canal. Run to grand canal to make the time to find out it's closed due to the match. It's boarded up with a closed sign. Have to go to Landsdowne, missed train, next one is 30 mins... And it's not the ideal train direction, leaving me an hour and a half late getting back...

At least they could update journey planner... I don't want to have to be aware of what's going on in Aviva in order to get home...

Why does grand canal close for matches? I cannot think of a reason.

Moved from After Hours. Commuting and transport charter now applies.

LXFlyer

The reason is quite simple - crowd control.

The island platform and footbridge would be far too congested, and you would need an awful lot of staff to make it safe.

Irish Rail focus all their efforts on Lansdowne Road where they deploy extra staff after matches.

ProudDUB

The Landsdowne Road station has a tunnel that goes under the tracks & leads directly into the Aviva. So people can get to/from the stadium without having to cross over the train tracks, or go over any footbridges.

There are also special gates on the stadium side of the platforms, that open directly into the forecourt of the Aviva. That means that big crowds crowds can be funneled to/from the stadium, without needing to use the regular (very small) door leading from the station and onto the street.

Grand Canal Dock has none of these facilities. It would be too dangerous to have thousands of people trying to cram thru one narrow door and over one narrow bridge. So they shut the station down when a packed house is expected at the Aviva. It's not usually closed for long. It's generally just an hour or so before and after the match/game/concert.

Colonial

Thanks for the information would be good if they updated all their apps to show it was closed though.

Losty Dublin

Colonial wrote: »

At least they could update journey planner... I don't want to have to be aware of what's going on in Aviva in order to get home...

I've seen posters in the station and Pearse warning of impending closures, which only happen when matches or the occasional outdoor concert takes place. When there are closures and special traffic arrangements made for events, they are well reported in the media as well as on Transport for Ireland app, travel websites such AA Roadwatch or Garda.ie and via Irish Rail's website, Twitter and Facebook or even a workmate saying that the station is closed on such a day.

bikeman1

I agree that it should be updated on the journey planner.

It is well publicised that it is closed. It is now only closed after the match and not before, and at that only for less than an hour.

As other posters have said it is down to crowd control. Being a regular at rugby matches at the Aviva, it is one of the few things IE do well and this closure of Grand Canal is part of the overall plan.

Also if you are going Northbound or Southbound on a match day, head to Pearse not Lansdowne Road. Because if you are heading north you are going in the right direction or if going south you'll get a seat and avoid the crowds.

markpb

Losty Dublin wrote: »

I've seen posters in the station and Pearse warning of impending closures, which only happen when matches or the occasional outdoor concert takes place. When there are closures and special traffic arrangements made for events, they are well reported in the media as well as on Transport for Ireland app, travel websites such AA Roadwatch or Garda.ie and via Irish Rail's website, Twitter and Facebook or even a workmate saying that the station is closed on such a day.

All that is very laudable and should continue but the journey planners should still have the info. I don't take the Dart very frequently so I won't see the posters. Likewise, I don't follow them on Twitter or Facebook. I only listen to the radio when I'm driving so those announcements would pass me by. If I'm planning to take the Dart somewhere, I check the trip times on the journey planner and act accordingly. I may sound awkward but I'm sure I'm not the only one.

Losty Dublin

markpb wrote: »

All that is very laudable and should continue but the journey planners should still have the info. I don't take the Dart very frequently so I won't see the posters. Likewise, I don't follow them on Twitter or Facebook. I only listen to the radio when I'm driving so those announcements would pass me by. If I'm planning to take the Dart somewhere, I check the trip times on the journey planner and act accordingly. I may sound awkward but I'm sure I'm not the only one.

Granted there is no news section on the Irish Rail app and that is a drawback.

That said, there is only so much any body can do in relation to publicising temporary closures. If you miss them in the mass and social media platforms and when on the service itself then who's fault is that?

LXFlyer

Actually, from past experience, the station closure is normally entered onto the journey planner on match/event days.

devnull

Surely there needs to be a long term solution to this, for example upgrading the station?

LXFlyer

devnull wrote: »

Surely there needs to be a long term solution to this, for example upgrading the station?

There is not a lot you can do given that the northbound platform is a relatively narrow island platform.

coylemj

devnull wrote: »

Surely there needs to be a long term solution to this, for example upgrading the station?

Bear in mind that it's a relatively new station so they probably did the best they could within limited space in a part of town where real estate is comparatively expensive and which was already built-up when they decided to open a station there.

Carawaystick

I presume it's similar to Tara station being closed when there's some big event on in Dublin city, IÉ provide such a poor service, that there would be crowd control issues.

ProudDUB

coylemj wrote: »

Bear in mind that it's a relatively new station so they probably did the best they could within limited space in a part of town where real estate is comparatively expensive and which was already built-up when they decided to open a station there.

I agree. The station came after all of the offices and apts were built in the area. They had a limited amount of space to deal with. The train tracks are also above ground, they are not at steet level (the way that they are by the time the train gets to Landsdowne Rd) so bridges and what not would still be needed to take people down to street level and out of the station.

It is not like Landsdowne Rd, where as soon as you get off the train, you are pretty much inside the stadium. Buildings stairways and bridges that are big enough & wide enough to take all the people going to a match, would take more space than they had to work with. It would also involve a lot of expense that probably wasn't worth it, given that there are only about 8-10 times a year that the Aviva has a full house & the GCD station needs to be closed. 2/3 Six Nations games, 2/3 Leinster games, 2/3 soccer internationals & a couple of concerts would be about the extent of it.

Cookie_Monster

devnull wrote: »

Surely there needs to be a long term solution to this, for example upgrading the station?

Well they missed the opportunity to put a third track and platform under the stand in the Aviva when redeveloping. Could have held trains off the main then too instead of having to have gaps in the standard service.

coylemj

Cookie_Monster wrote: »

Well they missed the opportunity to put a third track and platform under the stand in the Aviva when redeveloping.

You'd need four tracks to take northbound and southbound trains off the lines to dedicated platforms while allowing other trains to pass through, you'd also need to install points and signalling at each end. The real estate is simply not there within the stadium to accommodate that infrastructure plus it's not Irish Rail property so can't them doing it even if the space was there.

Cookie_Monster wrote: »

Could have held trains off the main then too instead of having to have gaps in the standard service.

Gaps in the standard service? The vast majority of events in the Aviva are either on Saturday or Sunday (rugby) or weekday evenings (soccer and concerts) so what does it matter if regular services are delayed for a few minutes or some trains bypass certain stations for an hour or so?

There is a principle called the 'greater good' which say that it's ok to inconvenience a minority if there is a benefit to the majority.