Connolly Station and those idling diesels

lawred2

Connolly station is a disgrace...

For years now - diesels trains are sitting under the roof 'idling' pumping out noxious gases that have nowhere to go because that Victorian roofing structure offers zero ventilation..

The sooner these disgusting trains are dismantled the better

end of the road

the DMU shuts down after a few minutes unless departing quite quickly. diesels will exist for a long time yet.

lawred2

end of the road wrote: »

the DMU shuts down after a few minutes unless departing quite quickly. diesels will exist for a long time yet.

A few minutes? I don't believe that. Not based on what I see every day.

strandroad

lawred2 wrote: »

A few minutes? I don't believe that. Not based on what I see every day.

Agreed.

Atlantic Dawn

Anyone permanently working there would be safer working down a coal mine from the 1800's.

filbert the fox

Don't you understand - if they shut them down they mightn't start again...:eek:

Losty Dublin

lawred2 wrote: »

A few minutes? I don't believe that. Not based on what I see every day.

If the train is in traffic and due to run in service then the engines will be on. When out of service the engines are powered off.

Jamie2k9

The 2900s on an open platform are bad enough, any running over 25-30 minutes should not happen.

Shn99

Losty Dublin wrote: »

If the train is in traffic and due to run in service then the engines will be on. When out of service the engines are powered off.

The 16:55 Limerick-Ballybrophy was started up at 10 to 4 today. Luckily it was outside

lawred2

Losty Dublin wrote: »

If the train is in traffic and due to run in service then the engines will be on. When out of service the engines are powered off.

Well I've never witnessed a powered off train under the roof so they must always be due to run in service

goingnowhere

If the drivers key is not in place the units start to auto shutdown after 15 minutes

29000 units will shutdown the main engine and then shutdown the auxiliary engine after a further period of time. 22K will shutdown all engines bar one in a set. This is done to keep the heating/AC running

Any unit in Connolly idling has either just arrived or is leaving shortly

suicide_circus

^^^^I assume your in the know but they just seem to be idling constantly any time I'm in there

tabbey

suicide_circus wrote: »

^^^^I assume your in the know but they just seem to be idling constantly any time I'm in there

Do you wait for 15 minutes to check?

I appreciate your concern because there is too much exhaust fumes in the train shed at Connolly, especially when the 1650 to Belfast, 1705 to Sligo and 1715 to Longford are all burning fuel, but maybe the other posters are correct in their observations.

L1011

The loco and EGV for the Belfast should both be outside the roof

goingnowhere

1650 does not emit any fumes under the roof

tabbey

L1011 wrote: »

The loco and EGV for the Belfast should both be outside the roof

The EGV is very close to the roof and depending on the wind direction, sometimes pollutes the trainshed.

Even standing on platform 4 outside the shed, it can be unpleasant.
Something should be done about the auxiliary engines in the EGVs. I read some months ago that the engines had been replaced before being adapted for the DeDietrich stock, but clearly they are not fit for purpose. They would not pass an NCT if such a test was extended to rail vehicles.

strandroad

Yes I don't know which ones are running and for how long each but the resulting fumes overall make for a horrible experience. I saw a person start coughing than retching on a particularly bad day, he needed to be led away and assisted for a longer while, he was so overcome with fumes. It's bad on open platforms too. Connolly is the worst for that, but Pearse or even GCD have their serious issues as well. It's a health hazard.

end of the road

tabbey wrote: »

The EGV is very close to the roof and depending on the wind direction, sometimes pollutes the trainshed.

Even standing on platform 4 outside the shed, it can be unpleasant.
Something should be done about the auxiliary engines in the EGVs. I read some months ago that the engines had been replaced before being adapted for the DeDietrich stock, but clearly they are not fit for purpose. They would not pass an NCT if such a test was extended to rail vehicles.

they may not have been brand new engines though.

Losty Dublin

lawred2 wrote: »

Well I've never witnessed a powered off train under the roof so they must always be due to run in service

There are DMU's parked and powered off in Connolly any day of the week.

Colonel Claptrap

Does anyone know If regular measurements of air quality are carried out inside the station?

tabbey

end of the road wrote: »

they may not have been brand new engines though.

That was my suspicion.

When refurbishing them for the Enterprise, they (IR/NIR) should have done it right, for the sake of the flagship service, and refurbed coaches.

Hilly Bill

Colonel Claptrap wrote: »

Does anyone know If regular measurements of air quality are carried out inside the station?

Never heard of it being done, they test staff for alcohol and drugs more often and couldn't give a fiddlers of their staff having to breath in the fumes all day.

Jamie2k9

tabbey wrote: »

That was my suspicion.

When refurbishing them for the Enterprise, they (IR/NIR) should have done it right, for the sake of the flagship service, and refurbed coaches.

I believe they are new engines.

Cookie_Monster

Hilly Bill wrote: »

Never heard of it being done, they test staff for alcohol and drugs more often and couldn't give a fiddlers of their staff having to breath in the fumes all day.

report it to the union, I'm sure they could make a big song and dance about unsafe conditions or whatever, more money being the obvious cure!

GM228

Colonel Claptrap wrote: »

Does anyone know If regular measurements of air quality are carried out inside the station?

Toxic fume/air quality monitors were installed in Connolly last year by the HSA/EPA who independently monitor them following complaints by passengers.

GM228

tabbey wrote: »

I read some months ago that the engines had been replaced before being adapted for the DeDietrich stock, but clearly they are not fit for purpose.

They retain their original refurbished generators.

The Detroit and Cummins generators were all re-engineered in the EGVs around 2001 and were more smokey than ever since that was done, only 7601 (the Belmond EGV) has received new Volvo generators.

Hilly Bill

Cookie_Monster wrote: »

report it to the union, I'm sure they could make a big song and dance about unsafe conditions or whatever, more money being the obvious cure!

Nah, I've other plans

loyatemu

there should be extractor fans - serious diesel fumes in Connolly shed when there's a couple of trains in. It's bad enough in Pearse where the trains are only passing through.

lawred2

Gotten to epic levels of toxicity in recent months.. it's just not acceptable.

Was there not a plan for some sort of roof upgrade?

Shn99

Same in limerick colbert, absolutely horrific sitting on the train this evening waiting for it to depart. the smell in the train....train was fulla tourists too.not leaving a good impression

L1011

Obvious blue haze in the train shed right now with the the various slightly after 1705 Sligo 1715 Longford and wharevr time that Balbriggan goes at all running and ready to go. Probably the worst specific time for it and also when theres a lot of passengers around.

Reopening the Commuter entrance would reduce the latter part of the problem anyway but they may need to look at some forced ventilation regardless

I'm really surprised the unions are not demanding healthier working conditions

Muahahaha

How do they deal with this problem in other countries?

L1011

Muahahaha wrote: »

How do they deal with this problem in other countries?

Electrification mostly. Forced ventilation otherwise or rarely shore power to run train systems until a few minutes before they go but that increases staffing costs hugely.

If a large fleet of bi-mode multiple units is bought they'll need to electrify all the roads in to each platform to allow the ones that have run in from Maynooth or Drogheda electrically to terminate there and the bulk of the issue would be sorted - but that's a decade away even if they issued the tender for the trains and the electrification today

XPS_Zero

Deleted User wrote: »

I'm really surprised the unions are not demanding healthier working conditions

Kicking up a fuss over this would not degrade the service or harm the passenger experience or bankrupt the company, so the unions would naturally have no interest in it.

Hilly Bill

XPS_Zero wrote: »

Kicking up a fuss over this would not degrade the service or harm the passenger experience or bankrupt the company, so the unions would naturally have no interest in it.

Maybe it's already with the unions.

Stephen15

L1011 wrote: »

Electrification mostly. Forced ventilation otherwise or rarely shore power to run train systems until a few minutes before they go but that increases staffing costs hugely.

The whole thing about having roof over the platforms and tracks is not as common as it is here and in the UK. It's only the really big that have roofs on the continent.

On the continent diesel trains are usually confined to local branch branch lines with few passengers.

Jamie2k9

Hilly Bill wrote: »

Maybe it's already with the unions.

If it was I'm sure action would be demanded however it might be a problem they cannot solve.

Dravokivich

lawred2 wrote: »

Gotten to epic levels of toxicity in recent months.. it's just not acceptable.

Was there not a plan for some sort of roof upgrade?

Is this statistic posted anywhere?

IE 222

Take the roof off and be done with the complaining.

Actually then they'll be complaining its to wet and cold.

GM228

Hilly Bill wrote: »

Maybe it's already with the unions.

The unions raised the issue following passenger complaints which had led to toxic fume/air quality monitors being installed in Connolly in 2017 by the HSA/EPA who independently monitored them, I'll double check but my understanding is that the HSA/EPA found no concerns.

tabbey

GM228 wrote: »

toxic fume/air quality monitors being installed in Connolly in 2017 by the HSA/EPA who independently monitored them, I'll double check but my understanding is that the HSA/EPA found no concerns.

EPA probably visited when the wind was favourable, ie blowing the fumes away from the trainshed.

GM228

tabbey wrote: »

EPA probably visited when the wind was favourable, ie blowing the fumes away from the trainshed.

The wind can only blow into the station (which would drive fumes further inwards - it would need to be a very strong wind to reach the lenght of the roof), not out of it!

tabbey

GM228 wrote: »

The wind can only blow into the station (which would drive fumes further inwards - it would need to be a very strong wind to reach the lenght of the roof), not out of it!

Most of the time the wind blows from the west, which prevents smoke from the Enterprise EGV entering the trainshed. It also creates a suction to draw out some of the smoke from the 1705 and 1715 westbound trains.

The real problem is when a northeasterly wind blows the smoke from the EGV of the 1650 Enterprise into the station combining with the exhaust of the two westies.

IE 222

tabbey wrote: »

Most of the time the wind blows from the west, which prevents smoke from the Enterprise EGV entering the trainshed. It also creates a suction to draw out some of the smoke from the 1705 and 1715 westbound trains.

The real problem is when a northeasterly wind blows the smoke from the EGV of the 1650 Enterprise into the station combining with the exhaust of the two westies.

Then what's the fuss about if its been blowing away the majority of the time.

I'm sure there have been a few occasions when it has been a northeasterly wind blown in since 2017. EPA nor the HSA found it to be an issue.

Air quality is most likely to be worse on the road outside Connolly.

lawred2

IE 222 wrote: »

Then what's the fuss about if its been blowing away the majority of the time.

I'm sure there have been a few occasions when it has been a northeasterly wind blown in since 2017. EPA nor the HSA found it to be an issue.

Air quality is most likely to be worse on the road outside Connolly.

Looks like you don't commute through there on a daily basis..

And thus have zero idea what you're talking about. Nor does this affect you. So not sure what reasoning you have for adding such pithy empty comments.

How exactly would the air quality be worse outside the station than inside the confines of the station?

Dravokivich

lawred2 wrote: »

How exactly would the air quality be worse outside the station than inside the confines of the station?

You've got the bus station and also a lot of bus stops where there's almost constantly a queue of buses either stopped, or waiting to use a stop.

Most of the rail traffic through Connolly is Dart, no?

lawred2

Dravokivich wrote: »

lawred2 wrote: »

How exactly would the air quality be worse outside the station than inside the confines of the station?

You've got the bus station and also a lot of bus stops where there's almost constantly a queue of buses either stopped, or waiting to use a stop.

Most of the rail traffic through Connolly is Dart, no?

The buses are outdoors.

The trains are sitting under a cantilever roof with no ventilation.

It's like saying five cars idling on your driveway would be worse than one idling in your living room.

The Dart platforms are not under the roof at Connolly.

IE 222

lawred2 wrote: »

Looks like you don't commute through there on a daily basis..

And thus have zero idea what you're talking about. Nor does this affect you. So not sure what reasoning you have for adding such pithy empty comments.

How exactly would the air quality be worse outside the station than inside the confines of the station?

How did you come to that conclusion.

My comments are not empty and are backed up by both the EPA & HSA. Why you feel you need to dispute and ignore their results is a bit empty on your behalf.

The train shed is ventilated at the end. Most fumes pass out through the opening. Obviously if you walk past a trains exhaust you will smell the fumes just like you would a car's.

The city's streets don't have great air quality. Amiens street in particular has a large volume of traffic passing by along with a large number of idling buses and car's.

If it was as bad as you seem to think it was the roof would've been removed long ago during the days of steam or loco haul.

lawred2

IE 222 wrote: »

How did you come to that conclusion.

My comments are not empty and are backed up by both the EPA & HSA. Why you feel you need to dispute and ignore their results is a bit empty on your behalf.

The train shed is ventilated at the end. Most fumes pass out through the opening. Obviously if you walk past a trains exhaust you will smell the fumes just like you would a car's.

The city's streets don't have great air quality. Amiens street in particular has a large volume of traffic passing by along with a large number of idling buses and car's.

If it was as bad as you seem to think it was the roof would've been removed long ago during the days of steam or loco haul.

Not empty at all. I travel through Connolly every single day. Some days not so bad. Some days absolutely terrible with a blue grey pall of smoke in the air.

Do you use Connolly station every day?

IE 222

lawred2 wrote: »

Not empty at all. I travel through Connolly every single day. Some days not so bad. Some days absolutely terrible with a blue grey pall of smoke in the air.

Do you use Connolly station every day?

Nah only 3 - 4 days a week why is that of importance. Do trains produce different fumes on different days.