The Dublin Coach Experience

KyussB

I explained what I expect in my original post.

Stephen15

KyussB wrote: »

I explained what I expect in my original post.

You mention DC should be doing more to support their drivers but you don't say how

belfast stephen

There has been over the last few months an increase in the number of passengers traveling between belfast and Dublin who are transporting somthing that they should not be ie Drugs

devnull

Their latest accounts are in.

Last Bus made a profit of 2,684,255 EUR whilst Citi Bus made a loss of 591,198 EUR

Draw your own conclusions.

Cakewheels

Travelling the on M9 Route on Sunday, the bus was freezing and there seemed to be a severe draft. This is the second or third time I've experienced this on Dublin Coach buses and I don't remember it ever happening on any other bus whether BE or one of the other private operators. Do other people regularly experience this too and what's the reason? Does heating constantly break down just because the buses or old or they don't maintain it, or are they deliberately leaving it off for fuel economy or something?

Also the emergency escape in the roof of the bus looked as if it might be missing a cover, there was loose wires etc. on it that I don't recall seeing on other buses. Not hanging down or anything so probably not really an issue (unless it was the cause of the draft) but I'm not sure if would make make it any trickier to open.

punisher5112

Cakewheels wrote: »

Travelling the on M9 Route on Sunday, the bus was freezing and there seemed to be a severe draft. This is the second or third time I've experienced this on Dublin Coach buses and I don't remember it ever happening on any other bus whether BE or one of the other private operators. Do other people regularly experience this too and what's the reason? Does heating constantly break down just because the buses or old or they don't maintain it, or are they deliberately leaving it off for fuel economy or something?

Also the emergency escape in the roof of the bus looked as if it might be missing a cover, there was loose wires etc. on it that I don't recall seeing on other buses. Not hanging down or anything so probably not really an issue (unless it was the cause of the draft) but I'm not sure if would make make it any trickier to open.

The cable is the pull release as it pulls down towards you.

If it's been pulled they tend to just wrap it back up

XPS_Zero

belfast stephen wrote: »

There has been over the last few months an increase in the number of passengers traveling between belfast and Dublin who are transporting somthing that they should not be ie Drugs

...and not just on the bus.


A plain clothes armed support unit had to stop a guy going up to Belfast on the Enterprise to do a hit (yeh a hit ala the f---g Sopranos) with a handgun on him a few months ago. They pretended to be a junkie couple arguing, by all accounts did a really realistic job (since they've encountered many in their job I'd say they had lots of material to draw on), then suddenly grabbed the guy.


I assume they thought sending a full uniformed team charging into the carriage yelling "armed police" might give the fool time to draw the gun and think he can shoot his way out of the situation, which would be particularly dangerous if he looked out the window and saw them coming first. There would have been passengers right in the line of fire in both directions, it could have been a disaster, they managed it well. They must have got their information late and could not grab him before he got to the train.




I think with DC, and any company, the staff you buy tickets from have a duty to not sell to someone who is hammered. It's also not rocket science spotting a scumbag is it? Not to stereotype but if you have someone who looks that way AND is drunk, don't let them on your companies bus, you have a right to refuse service in "good faith" as long as you are not discriminating based on the 9 grounds: use it. Of course there is nothing you can do if they get hammered mid journey, but this type don't strike me as the type to only start drinking and get hammered in the 90-100 min journey to Belfast on DC...they strike me as the type who have been drinking since the sun came up.

belfast stephen

XPS_Zero wrote: »

...and not just on the bus.


A plain clothes armed support unit had to stop a guy going up to Belfast on the Enterprise to do a hit (yeh a hit ala the f---g Sopranos) with a handgun on him a few months ago. They pretended to be a junkie couple arguing, by all accounts did a really realistic job (since they've encountered many in their job I'd say they had lots of material to draw on), then suddenly grabbed the guy.


I assume they thought sending a full uniformed team charging into the carriage yelling "armed police" might give the fool time to draw the gun and think he can shoot his way out of the situation, which would be particularly dangerous if he looked out the window and saw them coming first. There would have been passengers right in the line of fire in both directions, it could have been a disaster, they managed it well. They must have got their information late and could not grab him before he got to the train.




I think with DC, and any company, the staff you buy tickets from have a duty to not sell to someone who is hammered. It's also not rocket science spotting a scumbag is it? Not to stereotype but if you have someone who looks that way AND is drunk, don't let them on your companies bus, you have a right to refuse service in "good faith" as long as you are not discriminating based on the 9 grounds: use it. Of course there is nothing you can do if they get hammered mid journey, but this type don't strike me as the type to only start drinking and get hammered in the 90-100 min journey to Belfast on DC...they strike me as the type who have been drinking since the sun came up.

Some of them are not drunk and just look like normal passengers

there was also an aircoach driver was badly assaulted by 2 junkies a few months ago will loading passengers for the belfast at the stop in Dublin city centre

XPS_Zero

belfast stephen wrote: »

Some of them are not drunk and just look like normal passengers

there was also an aircoach driver was badly assaulted by 2 junkies a few months ago will loading passengers for the belfast at the stop in Dublin city centre

Despite 1-2 highly annoying incidents with my pass where I wanted to throttle the driver, I've huge sympathy for PT staff in this country for the amount of crap they have to put up with.


Coming home on a BE today I saw a guy get on and check the bus for something that had clearly been dropped off...he was not even slightly subtle, someone further down the route had dropped something and he was picking it up: but he didn't find it. I could see where he was searching he wasn't looking for plugs or a usb socket because they were all over the place on this bus. I noticed as we went around a roundabout a GARDA car parked on the hard shoulder part of the roundabout and thought that was weird. Maybe they're traffic corps, but there was no traffic corps sign on the car.


We rounded the roundabout, and sure enough after waiting a few seconds the car started up and began to follow us. Maybe they were watching him, maybe they were gonna grab him, I dunno, but it just goes to show the danger staff could be in from things they don't even know about. I was wondering how the cops would even warn the driver there was someone dangerious on his bus and they were going to stop, a Translink guy once told me BE have radios in their busses (they apparently do not, oddly), but surely the guy would hear that too? You'd want to call him on the phone or a hands free/blue tooth or have some kind of radio that goes into the ear like we use in security.


I've had it happen to me personally. I was sitting in the catering car of the enterprise one time when a guy just hit me in the head out of nowhere. I had my security bosses advice in my head from training "de-escalate, always DE-escalate, the days of us throwing people around are long over, your job is to AVOID trouble, things can go south really really fast" and I was able to deal with it in a calm way. THe staff had security waiting when the train arrived, but I was sitting reading and the guy just whacked me in the head - out of nowhere, for no reason.


It's getting out of control in the HowthJunction zone of the DART line as well, not only do we need a transport police but we need a habitual offenders law for violent crimes, I don't agree we following the US where you can clock up 3 strikes then get life (with possible parole) for stupid things like possession of drugs, but we are far too tame with violent crimes in this country.


It should be IMPOSSIBLE to rack up 20,30,40 convictions but we see it all the time. It's not the PT staffs fault, it's not the cops fault, it's the govts (all govts) fault for letting this get so bad over the years. We didn't even have mandatory life sentences for murder until sometime late in the Bertie era, and I think that only changed when juries themselves got so sick of the situation when a farmer was charged with murder for shooting a fleeing intruder that they engaged in jury nullification and ruled him not guilty even though on point of law he was, the jury basically had to rebel to get the law changed and even that was only after he'd launched an appeal when the previous jury was told they could not do that...and even today things that are clearly murder are charged as manslaughter. They know they can walk it.

dhaughton99

I was passing the depot earlier today and I noticed that the warehouse, which is up for sale next door, is fire damaged at the front. Dublin coach were parking buses in the car park of the building and one must have gone up. There’s a Setra with a large amount of internal fire damage out in the front of DC depot and a lot of glass swept into the grass beside the path. They must have been told not to park there anymore as just after passing again and no buses no longer being parked in there. Someone also must have said something to them about the gate to the warehouse. They would keep this large gate open out onto the path, which blocked pedestrian access, and you’d have to walk through into the grass verge. I noticed that they now have the gates properly opened and locked to the fence.

Farfromhome02

They seem to consistently advertise for drivers

The drivers reviews on indeed seem to suggest why

patrickc

Farfromhome02 wrote: »

They seem to consistently advertise for drivers

The drivers reviews on indeed seem to suggest why

very interesting reviews

Stephen15

Seriously when is the NTA going to take action against this shower of cowboys

_Kaiser_

Stephen15 wrote: »

Seriously when is the NTA going to take action against this shower of cowboys

Likely only when there's a serious incident and public outcry forcing the politicians into doing something I'm afraid.

It's how we do things in Ireland. Look at the reaction to the eviction in Roscommon and swift moves to regulate private security etc. Latest of many such cases.

WishUWereHere

patrickc wrote: »

very interesting reviews

Hi, what's the link to read these reviews please

howiya

WishUWereHere wrote: »

Hi, what's the link to read these reviews please

https://ie.indeed.com/cmp/Dublin-Coach/reviews

Truckermal

howiya wrote: »

https://ie.indeed.com/cmp/Dublin-Coach/reviews

Lol all the negative comments were marked helpful by 15 people where positive reviews were marked unhelpful...:D

Farfromhome02

Truckermal wrote: »

Lol all the negative comments were marked helpful by 15 people where positive reviews were marked unhelpful...:D

Few of them 5 star reviews are too well written to be drivers haha

punisher5112

I've just thanked all the real ones and thumbs down the bad ones.

Everyone on here should do the same.


Shambles of an operation if you could call it an operation....

devnull

Their Tripadvisor reviews are also interesting
https://www.tripadvisor.ie/Attraction_Review-g186605-d7688592-Reviews-Dublin_Coach-Dublin_County_Dublin.html

Noticeable that a fair few of the 5 star ones are from people who haven't reviewed anything else.

WishUWereHere

devnull wrote: »

Their Tripadvisor reviews are also interesting
https://www.tripadvisor.ie/Attraction_Review-g186605-d7688592-Reviews-Dublin_Coach-Dublin_County_Dublin.html

Noticeable that a fair few of the 5 star ones are from people who haven't reviewed anything else.

Thanks for this link DN. I never thought Tripadvisor would lower their standards so far as to even list Dublin Coach. We used to use them everytime we were heading for the Airport...€10/pp from Newbridge to Cloghran...couldn't beat it. BUT last year the bus was almost an hour late...july day and the inside was like an oven, and at the same time, the stench of deisel in the luggage storage area was overpowering. We stopped, and decided that driving there under our own steam is far better.

On the TA comments I had a good laugh reading the comment on 11 October and DC's response...driver changeover due to tachograph regulations. I am amazed they even know what a tacho is. I also notice they are VERY selective in what comments they reply to, and they haven't made any comment for 5 weeks (as I type ).

60schild

I had the misfortune to work for this crowd. I lasted 3 weeks before handing in my notice. I broke down 4 times in that period. Back luggage doors should have an Alarm on them if they are left open, often they didn't work. A working day of around 11 hours, after counting up money and all, with three 45 minute breaks. Schedule very hard to keep too. Same schedule time at night as in the rush hour. Buses constantly with out air conditioning or heat. Badly maintained buses. I had concerns about the standard and safety and the workload and hassle of it all so left. I refused to take bus out on two occasions because wasn't road legal. To be fair had no problem from company for this, not pressured to take the bus out.
I drive for another company now and am relieved to do so. I often wonder how these buses pass DOE , my car fails NCT for much less some of the problems with these buses.

XPS_Zero

"
A fast growing and healthy environment with lot of learning opportunities"


HR managers whos soul has long since died on the alter of corporate culture and lingo talk like that, real people, esp employees, don't talk like that.

TallGlass

'Then a minor accident on the n7 route pulled into the office over it even though it was not my fault and sacked'

Are the RSA, NTA and the Garda just going to stand by and wait for these clowns to literally kill a bus load of people?

The licence needs to be ****ing revoked ASAP if you ask me, they have had more than enough time to get the house in order.

Kopparberg Strawberry and Lime

TallGlass wrote: »

'Then a minor accident on the n7 route pulled into the office over it even though it was not my fault and sacked'

Are the RSA, NTA and the Garda just going to stand by and wait for these clowns to literally kill a bus load of people?

The licence needs to be ****ing revoked ASAP if you ask me, they have had more than enough time to get the house in order.

The NTA won't interfere with them

I've a feeling it's because Dublin coach are actually carrying so many people that if they got closed down, the NTA wouldn't know what to do to get extra services out there, because their routes are not PSO and not funded.

Bus Eireann wouldn't be able to cope either and go ahead don't come into this situation at the moment.

I'd say that's why they're being left there

TallGlass

Kopparberg Strawberry and Lime wrote: »

The NTA won't interfere with them

I've a feeling it's because Dublin coach are actually carrying so many people that if they got closed down, the NTA wouldn't know what to do to get extra services out there, because their routes are not PSO and not funded.

Bus Eireann wouldn't be able to cope either and go ahead don't come into this situation at the moment.

I'd say that's why they're being left there

It amazing, really is it's plain to see to anyone seeing one of these buses, they are clearly not fit to be on the road. Yet it's a mockery to road safety.

As you say, the others can't cope, so until one comes along and kills a few people, then nothing will change, I just hope I am not caught up in the mess and incident. Sad to say, it's a sooner rather than later logic at play here.

Stephen15

Imagine the war there would be if DB, BE or GAI were operating buses in the state that Dublin Coach were. But yet DC get away with it.

XPS_Zero

Stephen15 wrote: »

Imagine the war there would be if DB, BE or GAI were operating buses in the state that Dublin Coach were. But yet DC get away with it.

Is there no bus version of the NCT?
Who conducts it?


How are they passing?


Are they actually passing? There is an enormous amount of cash changing hands with regards bus contracts in Ireland and I dont' mean settling bills, so perhaps something like that is possible here but it seems like anyone doing that would have to be incredibly lacking in conscience to put the lives of a lot of people in danger.


If they are actually passing is the criteria good enough?

AlekSmart

XPS_Zero wrote: »

Is there no bus version of the NCT?
Who conducts it?
How are they passing?
Are they actually passing? There is an enormous amount of cash changing hands with regards bus contracts in Ireland and I dont' mean settling bills, so perhaps something like that is possible here but it seems like anyone doing that would have to be incredibly lacking in conscience to put the lives of a lot of people in danger.

If they are actually passing is the criteria good enough?

There is,and it is far from an easy-pass.

https://www.cvrt.ie/en/Pages/default.aspx

In addition the RSA have a dedicated path for making a (confidential) complaint relating to CVRT/Roadworthiness,which may well provide somewhat better resukts than the Boards.ie route ?

https://www.cvrt.ie/en/Operator-Driver-Obligations/Pages/Make-a-confidential-complaint-.aspx

KyussB

In principal, could a determined enough person just hang about one of their bus stops, document and picture/video all the issues with roadworthyness, and the drivers response - and then go to talk directly with an RSA official as described above, and/or an NTA official if they are responsible for the PSO, and record their response to the issues raised?

Then if the response is not good enough, contact a handful of people with the worst stories to tell about Dublin Coach (should be piss easy...), find some journalists interested in paying off for a tip on the news (should be worth their while and money) and pretty much hand them a ready-made story?

It'd take effort on behalf of a person - but it'd be an effective way to try and force the hand of the authorities responsible - or publicly cover them in shite for abdicating their responsibility.

I've a strong suspicion a blind eye is being turned - and that this is a big indication that further moves towards privatizing presently state-run services, will include a very big dose of crapification along the way, with little oversight.