issues at malahide with DARTs

thomasj

Anyone know what's happening with the DARTs at malahide? There seems to be issues with people "trapped" on trains and Irish rail asking people not to open doors and get off trains .

Anyone aware of what's happening?

A lot of angry people on twitter.

ED E

https://twitter.com/IrishRail/status/1007766364176683009?s=19

thomasj

That's crazy, just seen this

https://twitter.com/Fearghaloc/status/1007772643578339328?s=09

Stephen15

How's it causing disruption so late at night.

thomasj

Stephen15 wrote:

How's it causing disruption so late at night.

There was meant to be services for after the Liam Gallagher concert at malahide castle .

Train broke down.

People on that train got off and started walking the tracks.

Meanwhile disruption to trains heading northbound after the Taylor swift concert.

Someone living beside portmarnock station tweeted to Irish rail that there were large numbers walking the tracks , Irish rail replied that trains are operating at significantly reduced speeds because of this.

Gardai are also attending the situation

devnull

Apparently there was very poor communication and a lack of proper announcements according to a few people on twitter. Not exactly surprised to hear that though.

I was in London last week during tube disruption and the difference between that and Irish rail communication is world's apart.

Del.Monte

devnull wrote: »

Apparently there was very poor communication and a lack of proper announcements according to a few people on twitter. Not exactly surprised to hear that though.

I was in London last week during tube disruption and the difference between that and Irish rail communication is world's apart.

I thought that Irish Rail's Barry Kenny was the top man in the PR world - at least Ciara Kelly, Hook and Newstalk think so. :rolleyes:

Hilly Bill

thomasj wrote: »

There was meant to be services for after the Liam Gallagher concert at malahide castle .

Train broke down.

People on that train got off and started walking the tracks.

Meanwhile disruption to trains heading northbound after the Taylor swift concert.

Someone living beside portmarnock station tweeted to Irish rail that there were large numbers walking the tracks , Irish rail replied that trains are operating at significantly reduced speeds because of this.

Gardai are also attending the situation

The train didn't break down until the fools and inbreds started acting the maggot with the doors.

CathalDublin

I was on the second train, the one which stopped between Portmarnock and Malahide station, it was packed and stopped for 45minutes with no announcements before we(almost everyone) got off and walked to Portmarnock, there was hundreds walking the track, it was so poorly handled by Irish Rail. in the 20mins it took to walk the 1st "damaged" train was still blocking the line in Portmarnock, the people walking only took 15-20mins max which obviously would have delayed the northbound services, we actually did them a favour by walking because at least they then had an empty train to pickup the people who waited and had to get off the "Damaged train"

The rumors we were hearing last night was that a fight broke out on the 1st train which was parked up in Portmarnock and they were waiting on the guards to arrive, we were wondering were the passengers locked on this train in which case I'm not surprised doors got damaged if they were. If a door was damaged and that's why it was stopped, they should have emptied that carriage and informed them in Malahide to keep one carriage empty on the next train, but instead they made no announcements and just trapped people on the train.

The trains were overfull and they hadn't enough staff to handle the crowds, it was a total joke.

Hilly Bill

CathalDublin wrote: »

I was on the second train, the one which stopped between Portmarnock and Malahide station, it was packed and stopped for 45minutes with no announcements before we(almost everyone) got off and walked to Portmarnock, there was hundreds walking the track, it was so poorly handled by Irish Rail. in the 20mins it took to walk the 1st "damaged" train was still blocking the line in Portmarnock, the people walking only took 15-20mins max which obviously would have delayed the northbound services, we actually did them a favour by walking because at least they then had an empty train to pickup the people who waited and had to get off the "Damaged train"

The rumors we were hearing last night was that a fight broke out on the 1st train which was parked up in Portmarnock and they were waiting on the guards to arrive, we were wondering were the passengers locked on this train in which case I'm not surprised doors got damaged if they were. If a door was damaged and that's why it was stopped, they should have emptied that carriage and informed them in Malahide to keep one carriage empty on the next train, but instead they made no announcements and just trapped people on the train.

The trains were overfull and they hadn't enough staff to handle the crowds, it was a total joke.

Anyone who got off and walked the tracks were idiots and a cause of the delays.

devnull

Irish Rail are abysmal with their communication though.

Every single time one of these situations happen that always comes through loud and clear and it's far easier to blame other people for their actions than try and prevent them happening in the first place.

I've been on trains that are stranded in many places over the last 10 years and it's no co-incidence that the ones I've been on that have been calm have been those with communication and the ones where people turn around and start doing things such as apparently happened last night, are where there has been no communication.

Pointing the finger at the passengers and saying it is all their fault and viewing communication with passengers during an incident is optional is laughable but says what we already know - passengers are an inconvenience to Irish Rail that they must tolerate but would rather they didn't have to.

yesto24

Hilly Bill wrote: »

Anyone who got off and walked the tracks were idiots and a cause of the delays.

I disagree.
Having been the victim of a lack of communication from Irish rail I think the more people do this and the more disruption they cause they because of the this the better. It should make Irish rail up their game with regards to communication.
Long may this"disruption" continue.

devnull

yesto24 wrote: »

I disagree.
Having been the victim of a lack of communication from Irish rail I think the more people do this and the more disruption they cause they because of the this the better. It should make Irish rail up their game with regards to communication.
Long may this"disruption" continue.

Unfortunately if Irish Rail haven't learnt from past incidents or changed their approach or issued new operational procedures that mean staff must keep passenger informed, I doubt they are going to change now.

Many operators in the UK for instance have it in their customer charter that if a train is stopped for a certain period staff are required to make announcements and that the staff are required to do this as part of their job. Irish Rail could do the same tomorrow if they really wanted.

But the attitude I've seen in relation to these matters before here is why should IR take steps to prevent the situation re-occuring when you can let it happen over and over again and just point the finger at someone else. Finding someone else to blame seems far more important than prevention in these cases.

prinzeugen

This thing with people self evacuating/detraining is a recent trend. Completely unheard of 10 years ago here and in the UK.

The problem is not lack of communication.

The problem is society nowadays. Everyone is impatient and thinks they know best. Even if there had been an announcement, impatient people would have still retrained.

I was stuck on a train in the UK that had caught fire for 2 hours years ago. It was a bit smokey and there was no announcements as all the power had been cut, but people sat tight and didn't complain or try to jump off.

prinzeugen

yesto24 wrote: »

I disagree.
Having been the victim of a lack of communication from Irish rail I think the more people do this and the more disruption they cause they because of the this the better. It should make Irish rail up their game with regards to communication.
Long may this"disruption" continue.

So you think people should detrain every time there is a delay? Thats fine until people get killed by a passing train.

This is another problem with modern society. Few think about the consequences of their actions. If something happens it is always someone elses fault.

Hilly Bill

devnull wrote: »

Irish Rail are abysmal with their communication though.

Every single time one of these situations happen that always comes through loud and clear and it's far easier to blame other people for their actions than try and prevent them happening in the first place.

I've been on trains that are stranded in many places over the last 10 years and it's no co-incidence that the ones I've been on that have been calm have been those with communication and the ones where people turn around and start doing things such as apparently happened last night, are where there has been no communication.

Pointing the finger at the passengers and saying it is all their fault and viewing communication with passengers during an incident is optional is laughable but says what we already know - passengers are an inconvenience to Irish Rail that they must tolerate but would rather they didn't have to.

It was the passengers who caused the delays, nobody else to blame.. Announcements would have been made and the only person able to do it on a train would have been out checking the train. What did you expect them to do, get the driver to walk through a train full of drunk people acting the maggot and inform them that they are the ones causing the delay.

devnull

prinzeugen wrote: »

The problem is not lack of communication. The problem is society nowadays. Everyone is impatient and thinks they know best. Even if there had been an announcement, impatient people would have still retrained.

Whether you think that the lack of communication is a problem or not, that still doesn't mean that no communication at all is acceptable. Caring about other people and reassuring them is very important in situations of panic. As I said it's in many rail operators charter that they have to do this. Why not Irish Rails?

I'm not saying it will reassure everyone but it will help and instead we'd be having a discussion about how staff did all they could but it still happened, rather than the fact that they didn't even try too much to prevent things to happen the way that we did.

Next time there is a serious accident, why don't we just say it's because someone was impatient and it's a problem with society instead of analysing why people did it and how we can make it less likely to happen in the future. That could be the difference between life and death.

That's why when there are major aviation accidents for instance they look at human factors as well as everything that led to the end result, rather than just blaming at the end result.

I was stuck on a train in the UK that had caught fire for 2 hours years ago. It was a bit smokey and there was no announcements as all the power had been cut, but people sat tight and didn't complain or try to jump off.

You sat on a train for two hours that caught fire and people just sat tight like nothing had happened? I'm sorry but I don't believe that, because in situations like that people will panic, I've seen it first hand because that is simply human nature. Reassurance is important and can help to calm people down.

As I've said before, I've been on trains when people have been in somewhat of a panic, and being kept informed has calmed them down somewhat. The only time I have seen people do things which are less than desirable has been when communication is bad.

Hilly Bill

yesto24 wrote: »

I disagree.
Having been the victim of a lack of communication from Irish rail I think the more people do this and the more disruption they cause they because of the this the better. It should make Irish rail up their game with regards to communication.
Long may this"disruption" continue.

It would be an even longer delay if someone gets a bang of a train because they forced a trains door open and walked the tracks..

devnull

Hilly Bill wrote: »

It was the passengers who caused the delays, nobody else to blame.. Announcements would have been made and the only person able to do it on a train would have been out checking the train.

You say they would have been made but all of the reports I've seen about this situation don't suggest that - they stated that communication was essentially non existent and that's backed up by Rail Users Ireland as well.

https://twitter.com/RailUsersIe/status/1007917381480566784

What did you expect them to do, get the driver to walk through a train full of drunk people acting the maggot and inform them that they are the ones causing the delay.

No need to walk through the train - I wouldn't do that myself - but they can still make announcements through the PA system. If it doesn't work then really that's something that maintenance should be dealing with.

Trasna1

prinzeugen wrote: »

So you think people should detrain every time there is a delay? Thats fine until people get killed by a passing train.

This is another problem with modern society. Few think about the consequences of their actions. If something happens it is always someone elses fault.

If you're going to be stuck on a commuter train where the delay could be an hour plus, within spitting distance of a station, then of course the passengers should be detrained.

Hilly Bill

devnull wrote: »

Unfortunately if Irish Rail haven't learnt from past incidents or changed their approach or issued new operational procedures that mean staff must keep passenger informed, I doubt they are going to change now.

Many operators in the UK for instance have it in their customer charter that if a train is stopped for a certain period staff are required to make announcements and that the staff are required to do this as part of their job. Irish Rail could do the same tomorrow if they really wanted.

But the attitude I've seen in relation to these matters before here is why should IR take steps to prevent the situation re-occuring when you can let it happen over and over again and just point the finger at someone else. Finding someone else to blame seems far more important than prevention in these cases.

How would you have made the announcements if you was out checking the doors of a train?

Trasna1

Hilly Bill wrote: »

How would you have made the announcements if you was out checking the doors of a train?

You make the announcement before you leave the cab to check the doors. Perhaps give an update announcement when you get back?

devnull

Hilly Bill wrote: »

It would be an even longer delay if someone gets a bang of a train because they forced a trains door open and walked the tracks..

That's why you do all you can to reduce the likeliness that someone will do that by doing your best to stop the chain of events before they get that far.

Simply blaming a mistake someone made at the end of a long chain of events is a very dangerous culture to have when it comes to safety, since it shows that there is no focus on preventing the same issues happening again and again because it's easier to blame someone else for everything.

devnull

Hilly Bill wrote: »

How would you have made the announcements if you was out checking the doors of a train?

You make the announcement before you check the doors? Fairly common sense I would have thought.

But I guess they're just passengers, they don't matter too much.

Hilly Bill

devnull wrote: »

You say they would have been made but all of the reports I've seen about this situation don't suggest that - they stated that communication was essentially non existent and that's backed up by Rail Users Ireland as well.

https://twitter.com/RailUsersIe/status/1007917381480566784



No need to walk through the train - I wouldn't do that myself - but they can still make announcements through the PA system. If it doesn't work then really that's something that maintenance should be dealing with.

That's like saying that it was backed up by someone on boards.ie
How much noise do you think may have been on those packed trains? How many would even pay attention to any announcements? It can't be non existent if the twitter feed was going on overdrive.

Hilly Bill

devnull wrote: »

You make the announcement before you check the doors?

I'd say that was the first thing that was done before the driver had to check 8 carriages. Whilst he was doing this some goons decided that they weren't waiting and forced the closed doors open and walked the track which esculated the problem. Did you want the driver to go after them to make another announcement?

devnull

Hilly Bill wrote: »

That's like saying that it was backed up by someone on boards.ie

As far as I'm aware Rail Users Ireland is a Rail Users Organisation and the people who are involved in it are publicly named on their website using their real names rather than using an alias on Boards.ie so I wouldn't necessarily agree that it was the same since honestly.

How much noise do you think may have been on those packed trains? How many would even pay attention to any announcements? It can't be non existent if the twitter feed was going on overdrive.

When an incident like this happens, Irish Rail should be providing the information to the people on the train. They should not have to go on Twitter to find out. The simple fact is there have been several reports of lack of communication and however much you try to deflect that in a way that a certain PR spokesman does, there is no getting away from it.

Hilly Bill

devnull wrote: »

You make the announcement before you check the doors? Fairly common sense I would have thought.

But I guess they're just passengers, they don't matter too much.

Those that forced the doors open and walked the tracks were idiots not passengers. They caused the delay but somehow your sole issue isn't with them but an announcement.

Hilly Bill

devnull wrote: »

That's why you do all you can to reduce the likeliness that someone will do that by doing your best to stop the chain of events before they get that far.

Simply blaming a mistake someone made at the end of a long chain of events is a very dangerous culture to have when it comes to safety, since it shows that there is no focus on preventing the same issues happening again and again because it's easier to blame someone else for everything.

Idiots and drink don't mix, make them get the bus next time.

devnull

Hilly Bill wrote: »

I'd say that was the first thing that was done before the driver had to check 8 carriages.

Well you'd say, but there are accounts from a Rail Users organisation suggesting otherwise and numerous other reports of a lack of other communication and pretty much nothing to back up any point of view to the contrary.

Come on, both of us know that maybe people were drunk and didn't act the best way, but you know that Irish Rail are hopeless at handling communication, it's nothing new to anyone who commutes with them regularly. The 5 day a week commuter knows how it is!

EdgeCase

I'd agree their communication leaves a lot to be desired. I remember having to resort to Twitter to find out what was going on on a delayed intercity train on more than one occasion.

Pawwed Rig

prinzeugen wrote: »

I was stuck on a train in the UK that had caught fire for 2 hours years ago. It was a bit smokey and there was no announcements as all the power had been cut, but people sat tight and didn't complain or try to jump off.

Just like many of those poor souls in Grenfell did.

In the case of a fire get to the open air. That is the safest place for you. Sitting on a locked train in this situation is beyond idiotic no matter how it actually turned out.

Hilly Bill

devnull wrote: »

As far as I'm aware Rail Users Ireland is a Rail Users Organisation and the people who are involved in it are publicly named on their website using their real names rather than using an alias on Boards.ie so I wouldn't necessarily agree that it was the same since honestly.



When an incident like this happens, Irish Rail should be providing the information to the people on the train. They should not have to go on Twitter to find out. The simple fact is there have been several reports of lack of communication and however much you try to deflect that in a way that a certain PR spokesman does, there is no getting away from it.

OK, i get it that you are involved with that other anti rail site.

On a train packed with drunken rowdy passengers who wasn't listening to announcements made to stand clear of the doors in the first place, what other means of communication would you have used?

prinzeugen

Trasna1 wrote: »

If you're going to be stuck on a commuter train where the delay could be an hour plus, within spitting distance of a station, then of course the passengers should be detrained.

There is more to detraining than just opening the doors. Its not that simple.



You have live wires, trip hazards (especially in the dark), persons that may not be able to get off the train, risk of getting hit by a passing train etc.



The list of reasons why people should stay on the train is longer than why they should get off one and walk down the track.

devnull

Hilly Bill wrote: »

Idiots and drink don't mix, make them get the bus next time.

Ah, so the other usual deflection tactic that I commonly see, if you can't find someone else to blame for a problem, try and make the problem that of someone else in future so it's no longer a worry of yours.

Anything to avoid actually dealing with taking actions to help prevent the same things happen in the future I guess. My recent time in a new job with ex and current public sector workers has taught me that mentality is pretty common.

If we took that attitude towards safety in aviation for instance, we'd have a lot more fatal accidents because if you keep blaming the people who make bad decisions rather than analysing why they made those bad decisions, the bad decisions will keep happening.

devnull

Hilly Bill wrote: »

OK, i get it that you are involved with that other anti rail site.

On a train packed with drunken rowdy passengers who wasn't listening to announcements made to stand clear of the doors in the first place, what other means of communication would you have used?

I have no involvement with Rail Users Ireland whatsoever.

I've seen nothing to suggest announcements were made. You've appeared to speculate that you think they may have been made, but I'm seeing very little to back that up, whilst there are many people who have come out with accounts that suggest there was no communication, including a Rail Users Group who are happy to put their real names to their statements.

prinzeugen wrote: »

The list of reasons why people should stay on the train is longer than why they should get off one and walk down the track.

In most cases yes, but not all and you have to remember when a human brain is in a state of panic or becomes worried or confused then it does not think as rationally or calmly as someone like you or me who is typing a message on a keyboard in reply to this thread. Human beings are not robots.

Hilly Bill

devnull wrote: »

Well you'd say, but there are accounts from a Rail Users organisation suggesting otherwise and numerous other reports of a lack of other communication and pretty much nothing to back up any point of view to the contrary.

Come on, both of us know that maybe people were drunk and didn't act the best way, but you know that Irish Rail are hopeless at handling communication, it's nothing new to anyone who commutes with them regularly. The 5 day a week commuter knows how it is!

You are using that rail users thing as if they are part of the NTA or had a roving reporter live on the scene monitoring events as they unfold
They were getting info off twitter and you are going by your feelings towards IR.

Hilly Bill

devnull wrote: »

Ah, so the other usual deflection tactic that I commonly see, if you can't find someone else to blame for a problem, try and make the problem that of someone else in future so it's no longer a worry of yours.

Anything to avoid actually dealing with taking actions to help prevent the same things happen in the future I guess. My recent time in a new job with ex and current public sector workers has taught me that mentality is pretty common.

If we took that attitude towards safety in aviation for instance, we'd have a lot more fatal accidents because if you keep blaming the people who make bad decisions rather than analysing why they made those bad decisions, the bad decisions will keep happening.

Still not accepting that idiots caused the delays i see.

prinzeugen

devnull wrote: »

You sat on a train for two hours that caught fire and people just sat tight like nothing had happened? I'm sorry but I don't believe that, because in situations like that people will panic, I've seen it first hand because that is simply human nature. Reassurance is important and can help to calm people down.

As I've said before, I've been on trains when people have been in somewhat of a panic, and being kept informed has calmed them down somewhat. The only time I have seen people do things which are less than desirable has been when communication is bad.

12th July 1992. We had just passed through Berwick Upon Tweed when the driver hit the anchors and we stopped at Spital just south of Berwick. Coach A (the last coach) was filling with smoke. People started to move into coach B as the power was killed.


Guard came and tried to use an extinguisher, didn't work so he closed and locked the doors between the coaches. All the while trains were passing on the other line.

We watched as the fire brigade scrambled up and down a steep embankment to get to the coach. About 2 hours later we were moving again and the train was taken out of service when we reached Newcastle.

We had a fire in the Aviva Stadium a few years back during a football match. Lots of smoke but people did not panic or run from the building so its not true that that is what people will always do.

Most people usually start to panic at the last minute when they are in real danger.

EDIT - Just to add the cause of the fire/smoke on the train was a binding brake and the smoke had got sucked into the coach via the A/C system.

Hilly Bill

devnull wrote: »

I have no involvement with Rail Users Ireland whatsoever.

I've seen nothing to suggest announcements were made. You've appeared to speculate that you think they may have been made, but I'm seeing very little to back that up, whilst there are many people who have come out with accounts that suggest there was no communication, including a Rail Users Group who are happy to put their real names to their statements.



In most cases yes, but not all and you have to remember when a human brain is in a state of panic or becomes worried or confused then it does not think as rationally or calmly as someone like you or me who is typing a message on a keyboard in reply to this thread. Human beings are not robots.

The fact that the twitter feed was in overdrive would knock the suggestion of no communication out the window.

Stephen15

prinzeugen wrote: »

We had a fire in the Aviva Stadium a few years back during a football match. Lots of smoke but people did not panic or run from the building so its not true that that is what people will always do.

Most people usually start to panic at the last minute when they are in real danger.

Was it caused by ultras with flares. Fans involved with pyro displays at football matches are hardly going to panic due something they did on purpose.

devnull

Hilly Bill wrote: »

The fact that the twitter feed was in overdrive would knock the suggestion of no communication out the window.

When an incident like this happens, Irish Rail should be providing the information to the people on the train. They should not have to go on Twitter to find out for themselves.

Saying that when an incident happens that people should have to go searching for the information rather than providing it to them is essentially stating that the passengers should look after themselves because Irish Rail aren't going to try to.

All this from a so called public service as well that just leaves the public to fend for itself. They exist to serve the public but don't want to make any effort to do so and instead expect the public to do it themselves.

Personally I just care about people and giving them the best service, communication and experience possible. I don't see them as an inconvenience. I guess I just have higher standards than many others.

prinzeugen

Stephen15 wrote: »

Was it caused by ultras with flares. Fans involved with pyro displays at football matches are hardly going to panic due something they did on purpose.

No it was caused by a unknown member of the bar/catering/cleaning staff having a fly smoke in one of the many bin stores and dumping the still lit cigarette in one of the bins.

Hilly Bill

devnull wrote: »

When an incident like this happens, Irish Rail should be providing the information to the people on the train. They should not have to go on Twitter to find out for themselves.

Saying that when an incident happens that people should have to go searching for the information rather than providing it to them is essentially stating that the passengers should look after themselves because Irish Rail aren't going to try to.

All this from a so called public service as well that just leaves the public to fend for itself. They exist to serve the public but don't want to make any effort to do so and instead expect the public to do it themselves.

Personally I just care about people and giving them the best service, communication and experience possible. I don't see them as an inconvenience. I guess I just have higher standards than many others.

You still have failed to provide a solution to giving passengers information when the driver is out of the cab. If he made the announcement before he left the cab are you happy then or did you expect him to pop back and forth with updates until he's finished checking the train?

Infini

In all honestly unless there's a serious threat to one's life noone should be leaving the train end of story. I honestly couldn't care what excuses people make or try to say about this the only time breaking window's or opening door's should be happening is only if there's a risk to life. Communication aside certain people breaking a window and just walking onto an ACTIVE RAIL LINE IN THE BLACK OF NIGHT because they simply cannot wait is stupidity of the highest order. No matter what anyone says your putting yourself in serious danger doing this and especially under those condition's as if a train was going the other way and didn't have word of what was happening people would be getting dismembered for crying out loud!

hatrickpatrick

prinzeugen wrote: »

So you think people should detrain every time there is a delay?

Yes. Irish Rail's policy with regard to delays should be, as a first priority, to give onboard passengers the choice to get off the line and walk to their destination or seek an alternate mode of transportation. Stopping a train full of passengers for an extended period of time and effectively falsely imprisonong them onboard is complete bullsh!t - if a train is going to be delayed, they should find a way to facilitate people getting off at a matter of urgency. Some people have deadlines to make, other modes of public transport to catch, etc which make being trapped on a train for an extended period of time totally unacceptable, particularly in the middle of the night.

Once again, the issue is Irish rail not treating their customers as the most important element in any "situation". As a public service, this is what they should do without exception. Train is delayed, fine - it happens. Passengers get a choice to remain onboard and wait, or get off and make their own way to wherever they were going. There are multiple ways in which this could easily be facilitated, from pulling up another train to transfer people to as is done on Dublin Bus, to temporarily closing that stretch of track so as people can safely walk to the nearest station platform.

It's Dublin City FFS, it's not as if there's ever more than a ten minute walk between dart stations anyway. Whole situation could be resolved within 20 minutes in terms of getting passengers off a broken down train and to the nearest platform if they actually have a bollocks about not screwing up peoples' plan for the rest of their day.

hatrickpatrick

Hilly Bill wrote: »

You still have failed to provide a solution to giving passengers information when the driver is out of the cab. If he made the announcement before he left the cab are you happy then or did you expect him to pop back and forth with updates until he's finished checking the train?

Give the drivers walkie talkies or even apps that let them communicate with the passengers remotely through the PA. Maybe let HQ do the same. We're in the 21st century, wireless communication while away from one's desk is kinda a thing these days :pac:

Rashers72

Would be great to get the actual timeline (or approx.) on events on Friday night. They seem to start with issues at Malahide station with complete and semi planned overloading (according to customers on it). I have experienced this first hand where the first train after the concert is delayed for long periods as opposed to sending it away at 75% capacity. Maybe it's DART driver shortages?
More ironically why IE did not use the empty one to two 8 carriage commuter trains to run an express train into Connolly (maybe stopping at Howth Junction) to relieve pressure. Ironically they could then have picked up all the Taylor Swift customers looking to head North back towards the depot in Drogheda. A complete win win.
On another note the NTA should really step in to represent the customers. Don't know who genuinely represents IE customers these days....

Del.Monte

CIE/Irish Rail believe that passengers and freight feck up the smooth operation of the railways and do their best to discourage both. Their communications suck and while passengers de-training on to a live railway line is dangerous, it is understandable if information is not forthcoming. If the train was full of drunk people coming from a concert (?) this should have been anticipated and additional IE staff and security should have been present on the train.

I had a 40 minute delay in Bray a few weeks back - at the platform - while trespassers were removed from the line between Bray and Greystones - do you think that there were any on board announcements, station announcements or station staff telling passengers anything.....what a ****ing joke of a railway company.

plodder

I was in Malahide yesterday evening (not at the concert) but it looked quite well organised outside the DART station with plenty of Gardai and stewards moving the crowd safely into the venue. I wonder did Irish Rail have extra staff on duty in Malahide station and city centre. They certainly should have, and security on the trains to manage any situations before people start abandoning the train. Communication is essential.

Hilly Bill

hatrickpatrick wrote: »

Give the drivers walkie talkies or even apps that let them communicate with the passengers remotely through the PA. Maybe let HQ do the same. We're in the 21st century, wireless communication while away from one's desk is kinda a thing these days :pac:

It's a dart not a city tour bus.