Irish Rail: Solution to overcrowding

Father Hernandez · 23-09-2019 06:21PM #1

I thought it was a wind up at first:

Irish Rail asking DART users to stagger morning journeys

https://www.irishtimes.com/news/ireland/irish-news/irish-rail-asking-dart-users-to-stagger-morning-journeys-1.4026704

Basically, when the service doesn’t work... blame the customer.

TuringBot47 · 23-09-2019 06:25PM

Nah, they should just charge more for peaktime tickets.
That should weed out some of the lesser people on the carriages.

BDI · 23-09-2019 06:26PM

Ask people to lose weight

Gregor Samsa · 23-09-2019 06:27PM

So there’s an app that lets you see how full the trains are, so that you can plan to go earlier or later when it’s less busy. A bit like the way Google tells you how busy a shop or museum is at a given time.

Sounds like a good idea, I don’t see the problem here.

Bunny Colvin · 23-09-2019 06:31PM

Irish Rail: "We're not there yet but we're getting there"

They said that themselves ten year's ago OP. Give the lads a break.

kneemos · 23-09-2019 06:32PM

Gregor Samsa wrote: »

So there’s an app that lets you see how full the trains are, so that you can plan to go earlier or later when it’s less busy. A bit like the way Google tells you how busy a shop or museum is at a given time.

Sounds like a good idea, I don’t see the problem here.

People are getting to work presumably. Not sure how they can go earlier or later.

Father Hernandez · 23-09-2019 06:33PM

Gregor Samsa wrote: »

So there’s an app that lets you see how full the trains are, so that you can plan to go earlier or later when it’s less busy. A bit like the way Google tells you how busy a shop or museum is at a given time.

Sounds like a good idea, I don’t see the problem here.

Not a bad idea but what’s the incentive?

Why would I start work at 10 and have less of my evening for the sake of a seat or quieter train, places to be, things to see.

Could get onboard with off peak fares but you’d imagine they’ll only lump up the price of peak times.

The majority of people have to be in work at approx 9

jahalpin · 23-09-2019 06:35PM

The peak time restriction on the free travel pass should be restored, most transport systems have restrictions on concessionary and free travel schemes

BDI · 23-09-2019 06:36PM

Father Hernandez wrote: »

Not a bad idea but what’s the incentive?

Why would I start work at 10 and have less of my evening for the sake of a seat or quieter train, places to be, things to see.

Could get onboard with off peak fares but you’d imagine they’ll only lump up the price of peak times.

I’d get an earlier train or bus if I thought it’d be empty.
It used to make my skin crawl having to sit on the bus trains and buses in the mornings with the stink of garlic, cigarettes and booze.
Other people are horrid with their breathing and living.

0gac3yjefb5sv7 · 23-09-2019 06:37PM

There's only delays on basically every train for operational difficulties...great service.

Can't blame them when they are stuck in traffic, oh wait...there is none...

kneemos · 23-09-2019 06:37PM

Infrastructure needs to keep up with an increasing population.

suicide_circus · 23-09-2019 06:37PM

jahalpin wrote: »

The peak time restriction on the free travel pass should be restored, most transport systems have restrictions on concessionary and free travel schemes

YOU CANT DISCRIMINATE AGAINST THE MOST VULNERABLE IN SOCIETY!!!!1

Father Hernandez · 23-09-2019 06:38PM

BDI wrote: »

I’d get an earlier train or bus if I thought it’d be empty.
It used to make my skin crawl having to sit on the bus trains and buses in the mornings with the stink of garlic, cigarettes and booze.
Other people are horrid with their breathing and living.

So would I. Id be on the first train in the morning and be home by 3 if I could. My job doesn’t allow that unfortunately and certainly not in the minority.

TuringBot47 · 23-09-2019 06:39PM

kneemos wrote: »

People are getting to work presumably. Not sure how they can go earlier or later.

A lot of I.T. companies offer flexible working hours, e.g. 10-6:30, 7:30-4pm etc.

I'm surprised Irish Rail don't promote people to work from home a day or two.
They'd still get their taxsaver ticket revenue and less people on the train.

Allinall · 23-09-2019 06:42PM

Father Hernandez wrote: »

Not a bad idea but what’s the incentive?

Why would I start work at 10 and have less of my evening for the sake of a seat or quieter train, places to be, things to see.

Could get onboard with off peak fares but you’d imagine they’ll only lump up the price of peak times.

The majority of people have to be in work at approx 9

The incentive is that you get a more comfortable journey.

I would say the number of people who have to be in work around 9 is well in the minority.

Most workplaces these days allow s certain amount of flexibility in working hours.

Jet Black · 23-09-2019 06:44PM

Still relevant 10+ years later.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4YmvevAvhyM

BDI · 23-09-2019 06:45PM

Father Hernandez wrote: »

So would I. Id be on the first train in the morning and be home by 3 if I could. My job doesn’t allow that unfortunately and certainly not in the minority.

Your job doesn’t let you get in abit early? Does the spar across the road refuse your custom if you try buy a coffee there 20 mins before work starts?

Edgware · 23-09-2019 07:12PM

jahalpin wrote: »

The peak time restriction on the free travel pass should be restored, most transport systems have restrictions on concessionary and free travel schemes

I know an oul fellow that does courier work between Dublin and Cork. Goes down on early train and delivers items to office in Cork city, brings stuff back to the Dublin office. Two/three times a week. Nice little earner on free travel. Reading the paper and having bit of grub on the train. (Brings his own sambos)

B0jangles · 23-09-2019 07:17PM

I remember when they put up posters telling people to turn up on time so that the DART wouldn't be always running late.

That went down SUPER well!

ChikiChiki · 23-09-2019 07:21PM

Infrastructure does indeed need to keep up with an increasing population. Remember the gall of IR a few years back to increase fares and at the same time trim back number of carraiges on their rush our services.

Awful company.

Wesser · 23-09-2019 07:27PM

Sounds like a great idea. why do we all have start work at 9. if even 10 % moved their time it would probably make a massive difference

kneemos · 23-09-2019 07:32PM

Wesser wrote: »

Sounds like a great idea. why do we all have start work at 9. if even 10 % moved their time it would probably make a massive difference

Desperation more like. A temporary relief at best.

God forbid we have forward planning.

Gregor Samsa · 23-09-2019 07:39PM

kneemos wrote: »

Desperation more like. A temporary relief at best.

God forbid we have forward planning.

Spreading demand across capacity is an excellent example of forward planning.

kneemos · 23-09-2019 07:49PM

Gregor Samsa wrote: »

Spreading demand across capacity is an excellent example of forward planning.

Suggesting your customers change their lives because you can't cope with demand isn't.

Plugging a hole won't solve the problem.

Gregor Samsa · 23-09-2019 08:18PM

kneemos wrote: »

Suggesting your customers change their lives because you can't cope with demand isn't.

Plugging a hole won't solve the problem.

You have a cinema with 300 seats. You have a movie at 6pm. You have 600 people looking to buy tickets to see the movie. Which is the better use of resources to solve the problem:

A) putting on extra showings at 4 pm and 8 pm

building a new cinema and having a second showing at 6pm

C) extending the capacity of the existing cinema by 300 seats and keeping the existing showing at 6pm

23-09-2019 08:19PM

This is like some soviet-era diktat.

We incur all the costs of a market economy, with all of the inefficiency (ie no derived demand) of a planned economy. In other words, you pay your money and you get no choice.

I have a sibling who lives in Dun Laoghaire who has to get a DART in the direction of Bray in the mornings, then at some point switch back to a city-bound DART where she can manage to board safely with her kids. In any other system, the service would just make trains more regular to meet demand, ie obey the basic laws of economics and generate a profit.

What really drives me up the wall is the stock response of Ministers when confronted with this overcrowding... "We are victims of our own success, we now have more people going to work than ever before"... The inefficiency of Irish public transport, along with lack of housing, is going to be a serious impediment to economic growth in the coming decades and these fcukers need to get the finger out fairly pronto.

kneemos · 23-09-2019 08:28PM

Gregor Samsa wrote: »

You have a cinema with 300 seats. You have a movie at 6pm. You have 600 people looking to buy tickets to see the movie. Which is the better use of resources to solve the problem:

A) putting on extra showings at 4 pm and 8 pm

building a new cinema and having a second showing at 6pm

C) extending the capacity of the existing cinema by 300 seats and keeping the existing showing at 6pm

Analogies are usually pointless,this one even more so.

voldejoie · 23-09-2019 08:31PM

Honestly, it would serve Irish Rail better to ask that people move down the fcuking train instead of congregating at the doors like dopes, but seemingly that is too much to ask

Atlantic Dawn · 23-09-2019 08:34PM

Simple things like not putting the heat to unbareable temperatures would help too, the heat makes people take off their coats and thus make less room for people.

Gregor Samsa · 23-09-2019 08:37PM

kneemos wrote: »

Analogies are usually pointless,this one even more so.

Oh dear, that’s not an answer that inspires confidence in your ability to defend your position!

The answer’s A.

23-09-2019 08:39PM

voldejoie wrote: »

Honestly, it would serve Irish Rail better to ask that people move down the fcuking train instead of congregating at the doors like dopes, but seemingly that is too much to ask

The Luas issues the same automated request and it makes absolutely no difference.

"Please move down the tram", Doireann Ní Bhriain gently exhorts, as people stare blankly at their smartphones. But the Luas, for the most part, is sufficiently frequent. Waiting times for the DART are beyond a joke.

Irish Rail: Solution to overcrowding

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