Irish rail - Plans to close Lansdowne Road due to football matches at Aviva

thomasj · 18-10-2019 1:39pm #1

I see a note on Irish Rail's Ireland v Denmark page that DARTs will not serve Lansdowne Road for most of the evening, and based on it being trialed ahead of the EUROs, it might be just the start!

Interesting though that Grand Canal will be open.

https://www.irishrail.ie/offer/The-Boys-in-Green-are-back-in-the-Aviva-Stadium

Please Note - Lansdowne Road DART Station will close temporarily on the evening of Monday, 18th November 2019 for the Republic of Ireland vs Denmark UEFA EURO 2020 Qualifying match.

This closure, which will take place between 17:30hrs and 23:00hrs, is part of a trial operational exercise ahead of the Aviva Stadium’s hosting of four games during UEFA EURO 2020 next summer. DART services will continue as scheduled, but passengers will be required to disembark at either Grand Canal Dock DART Station or Sandymount DART Station during the closure.

Dravokivich · 18-10-2019 1:44pm

That's weird. It's usually the other way around.

coylemj · 18-10-2019 2:56pm

I thought matchday trains didn't stop at Grand Canal Dock because the platform wasn't long/wide enough to handle the number of passengers expected to disembark?

thomasj · 18-10-2019 4:35pm

coylemj wrote: »

I thought matchday trains didn't stop at Grand Canal Dock because the platform wasn't long/wide enough to handle the number of passengers expected to disembark?

Yeah I was wondering that myself , passengers are being told to use a station that has been closed previously on advice by the gardai?

strandroad · 18-10-2019 5:02pm

coylemj wrote: »

I thought matchday trains didn't stop at Grand Canal Dock because the platform wasn't long/wide enough to handle the number of passengers expected to disembark?

Grand Canal Dock being over the water is hazardous in case of any overcrowding, I too am surprised that they want to close Lansdowne instead?

Collie D · 18-10-2019 5:07pm

I think it’s a security thing with Lansdowne DART station falling within the perimeter. Match ticket holders and residents only within a certain radius?

L1011 · 18-10-2019 5:32pm

The low capacity path down to Sandymount is going to be ridiculously crowded then...

coylemj · 18-10-2019 5:48pm

Collie D wrote: »

I think it’s a security thing with Lansdowne DART station falling within the perimeter. Match ticket holders and residents only within a certain radius?

Security me arse - the stadium is full for every Six Nations match and passengers can alight at the Lansdowne Road station. What's new about a soccer international?

The platform in Lansdowne Road gets pretty jammed as soon as the doors open but there's usually IR staff there it's never felt unsafe to me. The crowd quickly splits in two - on northbound trains one half goes down the tunnel to go under the track to the Marian College side and the other half goes straight down the platform to the exit by the level crossing. Not stopping at LR means the Dart passengers will now clog up local streets and laneways.

Collie D · 18-10-2019 6:23pm

coylemj wrote: »

Security me arse - the stadium is full for every Six Nations match and passengers can alight at the Lansdowne Road station. What's new about a soccer international?

You’ll have to ask the organisers that one. Euros in France had a similar setup. An international football tournament is probably deemed more at risk of terrorist attacks/hooligans/whatever, rightly or wrongly.

I’m only surmising. I doubt they’re doing it just to annoy people.

GM228 · 18-10-2019 6:45pm

The closure is a trial ahead of the Euro2020.

It was pushed for by the FAI, Dublin City Council and the Department of Transport in conjunction with the Gardaí.

Collie D · 18-10-2019 7:03pm

sugarman wrote: »

No they didnt

I traveled by train / tram to all 4 of our games in 4 different cities to the stadium stops.

Same with Euro 2012 in Poland and all the other qualifiers I traveled to in between where the stadiums were served by train/train.

Stade de France had two or three different cordons, Bordeaux and Lyon seemingly had none. Can’t remember Lille or Poland for various reasons.

EDIT: As far as I remember there was still a good couple of minutes walk from tram/train to stadium in most (or all) of those stadiums? Open to correction. Lansdowne is pretty much right beside the stiles once you come down from platform.

I’m not agreeing with the decision by the way, I am sure it’s a hassle for people like yourself. I’m just trying to understand why. Perhaps the trial run at Denmark game will be a disaster but there’s really only one way to find out and as I’ve said I’m sure the reason isn’t to make life awkward for fans.

john boye · 18-10-2019 7:25pm

Is this a UEFA plan per chance? I've seen them do similar things in stadiums at other big championships.

cython · 18-10-2019 7:54pm

coylemj wrote: »

I thought matchday trains didn't stop at Grand Canal Dock because the platform wasn't long/wide enough to handle the number of passengers expected to disembark?

That must be a football thing, as I've alighted at GCD to walk if in enough time/train busy enough for rugby games, and definitely recall a stop there before the game other days. However, closure after the games seems to be pretty universal under normal circumstances.

howiya · 18-10-2019 7:59pm

cython wrote: »

That must be a football thing, as I've alighted at GCD to walk if in enough time/train busy enough for rugby games, and definitely recall a stop there before the game other days. However, closure after the games seems to be pretty universal under normal circumstances.

It’s open before games for the football too. It’s after games that GCD is usually closed.

coylemj · 18-10-2019 8:04pm

john boye wrote: »

Is this a UEFA plan per chance? I've seen them do similar things in stadiums at other big championships.

Yes, it appears that UEFA are driving this. Not for the Denmark match but the Irish authorities are using that match as a dry run for the security policies that UEFA want implemented for Euro 2020 matches played in Dublin.

Which is that there should be a wide cordon to stop ticketless fans getting too close to the stadium. If trains stopped at Lansdowne Road, fans with no tickets would be able to get right up close and UEFA do not want this to happen.

Organisers of the Euro 2020 matches said it was expected a large number of supporters would travel to Dublin city for the tournament, some of whom would not have match tickets. A large cordon is planned to surround the outside of the stadium, which supporters without tickets would not be permitted to enter.

Lansdowne Road station to close for Ireland-Denmark match

Jamie2k9 · 19-10-2019 9:25am

strandroad wrote: »

Grand Canal Dock being over the water is hazardous in case of any overcrowding, I too am surprised that they want to close Lansdowne instead?

Really?, Platforms are GCD are bigger particularly for fans returning from game.

coylemj wrote: »

Security me arse - the stadium is full for every Six Nations match and passengers can alight at the Lansdowne Road station. What's new about a soccer international?

Rugby fans are better behaved that a lot of fans that Euro 2020 could attract depending on games.

ted1 · 19-10-2019 9:31am

coylemj wrote: »

What's new about as.

It’ll be two non Irish teams playing possibly England and Russia. Many might turn up without a ticket. Both have habits of fighting.

Irish people won’t turn up with out a ticket.

It’s a different kettle of fish.

Ohmeha · 19-10-2019 9:34am

I mostly use Grand Canal station to commute to work and I'm a FAI season ticket holder, Grand Canal station will be a total disaster for this post-match, the station or the surrounding area is not designed to filter thousands of converging footballing fans, you don't need to do a trial run to conclude that

ted1 · 19-10-2019 10:38am

Ohmeha wrote: »

I mostly use Grand Canal station to commute to work and I'm a FAI season ticket holder, Grand Canal station will be a total disaster for this post-match, the station or the surrounding area is not designed to filter thousands of converging footballing fans, you don't need to do a trial run to conclude that

Sandymount, Sydney parade , Tara street and Connolly are all short walks. Lansdowne isn’t to far away from town

coylemj · 19-10-2019 11:03am

Jamie2k9 wrote: »

Rugby fans are better behaved that a lot of fans that Euro 2020 could attract depending on games.

That would be a valid reason to let trains stop at Lansdowne Road - fans would have less walking to do so would be less likely to annoy local residents with unruly behaviour.

I've provided the explanation for the new policy in post #18 above.

Shedite27 · 21-10-2019 1:49pm

sugarman wrote: »

No they didnt

I traveled by train / tram to all 4 of our games in 4 different cities to the stadium stops.

Same with Euro 2012 in Poland and all the other qualifiers I traveled to in between where the stadiums were served by train/train.

Poznan, Gdansk, Bordeaux all had fairly significant walks once you got off the last tram stop. Bordeaux had exact same issue actually, the line went all the way to the stadium, but the last stop was closed and we had a longer walk to the stadium

coylemj · 21-10-2019 4:50pm

Shedite27 wrote: »

Poznan, Gdansk, Bordeaux all had fairly significant walks once you got off the last tram stop. Bordeaux had exact same issue actually, the line went all the way to the stadium, but the last stop was closed and we had a longer walk to the stadium

+1 this is consistent with what UEFA are asking for in relation to the Euro 2020 matches which will be played here.

Which is that trains will not drop people at stations very close to the stadium. So that the stewards and local police can establish a wide cordon to stop people with no ticket from getting close to the stadium.

prinzeugen · 21-10-2019 10:38pm

Its explained here -

https://www.fai.ie/ireland/news/temporary-closure-of-lansdowne-road-dart-station?fbclid=IwAR1cuRKB-UZ3QVj1UMfHF1nCu4EH7Gp4Imgw5EVdBB_jjAUSOzctMPSGUsQ

Its is to prevent anyone without a ticket getting near the stadium.

There is 101 other reasons also but I cant go into that here.

There was a similar set up at the Europa final when it was held there years back.

Carawaystick · 21-10-2019 11:09pm

Nothing explains why the station is closed after the match. It's hard to see how the best way to dispperse crowds being stopped, will help disperse crowds post match.

IE 222 · 22-10-2019 12:07am

Carawaystick wrote: »

Nothing explains why the station is closed after the match. It's hard to see how the best way to dispperse crowds being stopped, will help disperse crowds post match.

I'd imagine they'd have routes made up for fans arriving by train to follow which will direct them to the correct stand and advise which station to use. It would be extremely confusing and lead to massive problems to change these routes for after the game. Fans will be separated inside the stadium so it should possible to keep the vast majority separated outside as well.

prinzeugen · 22-10-2019 12:16am

Carawaystick wrote: »

Nothing explains why the station is closed after the match. It's hard to see how the best way to dispperse crowds being stopped, will help disperse crowds post match.

Remember this is a start to finish dry-run for the games next year where the two groups of fans must be segregated leaving the ground.

The circumstances were similar at the Europa Final in 2011. Egress went like this,

Team A fans (North,East and part of South stand) left towards Ringsend/Herbert Bridge/Sandymount Dart.

Team B fans (South & West stands) left via Ballsbridge/Grand Canal Dart.

Both sets of fans leaving in different directions. IIRC Irish Rail altered the stopping pattern of the Dart also so Darts stopping at Sandymount didn't stop at Grand Canal.

They had FanZones also to encourage fans to arrive from different directions. I think one was in Merrion Sq and the other at the Point.

prinzeugen · 22-10-2019 1:07am

sugarman wrote: »

This is a load of rubbish, I'm a season ticket holder and chose my seats to enter via Entrance A because I can have mobility issues (MS) and its only 20m away from the DART station exit. Id usually head in early when the gates open to avoid the crowds too.

But now i'll have to drag myself 1k to/from the bus stop on Baggot St.

I doubt Im the only one that relies on it.

What level/section are your seats? If you are level 3 you can enter by M, A or X regardless.

Ohmeha · 18-11-2019 8:36pm

Farcical scenes tonight

voldejoie · 18-11-2019 10:04pm

Is there any way we can give feedback on the closure, or will it just be decided whether it was a success on high?

thomasj · 19-11-2019 12:47am

Some bright-spark also thought it was a great idea to have roadworks on Pembroke street tonight !

Ohmeha · 19-11-2019 12:51am

My experience anyway

I get a slightly earlier southbound DART than normal for matches, my DART gets stuck sitting in Connolly for approx 10 minutes due to the late arrival of an incoming commuter train thus DART arrives 10 minutes late into Grand Canal adding to pre-match congestion

Hundreds filter out of Grand Canal into Barrow Street and Grand Canal Street Upper with the roads still open for traffic, cars stopped on Barrow Street but moving on Grand Canal Street but plenty of people still walking on the roads amongst the cars there, not safe

Bottlenecks at the entrances to the ground more than normal but the bottleneck I got caught in at junction of Shelbourne Road and Lansdowne Road was ridiculous. Tickets were being checked at barriers but the overcrowding got that bad minutes before kick-off they just had to let everyone through, I could hear security themselves say it's joke. Absolutely no searches, presume it was the same for the ticket check that they had to let everyone through those barriers. The non-existent security won't run with UEFA anyway

I was in the South stand and despite Irishrail saying for Northbound to go Grand Canal I wasn't going near there again so made a swift exit and headed for Sandymount where we caught a DART which was only 6 carriages

Irish rail - Plans to close Lansdowne Road due to football matches at Aviva

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