Advertisement
If you have a new account but are having problems posting or verifying your account, please email us on hello@boards.ie for help. Thanks :)
Hello all! Please ensure that you are posting a new thread or question in the appropriate forum. The Feedback forum is overwhelmed with questions that are having to be moved elsewhere. If you need help to verify your account contact hello@boards.ie
Hi all,
Vanilla are planning an update to the site on April 24th (next Wednesday). It is a major PHP8 update which is expected to boost performance across the site. The site will be down from 7pm and it is expected to take about an hour to complete. We appreciate your patience during the update.
Thanks all.

Carriages cleared and sealed off after incident on Dublin to Sligo train

Options
  • 25-01-2020 1:59pm
    #1
    Registered Users Posts: 4,055 ✭✭✭


    An ill passenger could not get to a working toilet on time on the 17.10 Connolly to Sligo train on January 24 2020. The poor man had a very bad accident and two carriages were soiled in the process. Apparently he ended up in a disabled toilet in a very bad state. There was nobody to help him on the train. According to sources he managed to get to a toilet but it was out of order and it was too late for the poor man after that.

    This train and most others are regularly so overcrowded that the aisles are full and the spaces between carriages are full. A nightmare for a healthy person, imagine what it is like for a frail person who may be returning home from hospital and has a chronic illness that necessitates proximity to a working toilet. One would think the train is an ideal mode of transport for such a person but the incident on the Connolly Sligo train proves otherwise.

    Irish Rail are always saying that heavy loading is normal on commuter trains but now they cannot debate that heavy loading is a serious health and safety issue.

    Here is a link to an article which is in parts unnecessarily sensational but the incident is not reported anywhere else. According to some other sources some passengers were physically ill as a result of the incident.

    https://www.msn.com/en-ie/news/newsireland/carriages-cleared-and-sealed-off-after-incident-on-dublin-to-sligo-train/ar-BBZiPsF?ocid=spartandhp

    There are no openable windows on the train. The dirt of Irish Rail trains along with the chronic overcrowding makes the train an ideal way to spread and multiply viruses and bacteria (the common cold is acceptable, infectious diseases such Norovirus and Coronavirus are not). Anyone who has a weak immune system who was on that train will have to visit their doctor now.

    I hope for the sake of the travelling public that Irish Rail get this train deep cleaned and decontaminated by professionals. I also hope that the poor man concerned got the help he needed afterwards.

    Even if this was a one-off people regularly collapse or get sick on crush-loaded Irish Rail trains. Passengers boarding a Heuston Waterford train found vomit between two carriages. This is a slip/fall hazard as well as a health hazard.

    Excuses about having to wait 2 or 3 years for extra carriages do not wash. Irish Rail need to take proper care of the health and safety of passengers and clean carriages properly.


«13

Comments

  • Registered Users Posts: 81,115 ✭✭✭✭Atlantic Dawn
    M


    The idea behind non openable windows is that you would always have the AC on so no need to ever open them as a healthy flow of air at a set temperature would be maintained. Opening windows when the AC is on is like opening your fridge door in the belief it will cool down your beer.


  • Registered Users Posts: 24,267 ✭✭✭✭lawred2


    How much ****ting did this particular man manage to do?

    Two carriages destroyed!?

    Poor man. Nightmare for him.

    IR won't give a toss beyond grumbling about the cleaning bill..


  • Registered Users Posts: 39,437 ✭✭✭✭Itssoeasy


    Emme wrote: »
    An ill passenger could not get to a working toilet on time on the 17.10 Connolly to Sligo train on January 24 2020. The poor man had a very bad accident and two carriages were soiled in the process. Apparently he ended up in a disabled toilet in a very bad state. There was nobody to help him on the train. According to sources he managed to get to a toilet but it was out of order and it was too late for the poor man after that.

    This train and most others are regularly so overcrowded that the aisles are full and the spaces between carriages are full. A nightmare for a healthy person, imagine what it is like for a frail person who may be returning home from hospital and has a chronic illness that necessitates proximity to a working toilet. One would think the train is an ideal mode of transport for such a person but the incident on the Connolly Sligo train proves otherwise.

    Irish Rail are always saying that heavy loading is normal on commuter trains but now they cannot debate that heavy loading is a serious health and safety issue.

    Here is a link to an article which is in parts unnecessarily sensational but the incident is not reported anywhere else. According to some other sources some passengers were physically ill as a result of the incident.

    https://www.msn.com/en-ie/news/newsireland/carriages-cleared-and-sealed-off-after-incident-on-dublin-to-sligo-train/ar-BBZiPsF?ocid=spartandhp

    There are no openable windows on the train. The dirt of Irish Rail trains along with the chronic overcrowding makes the train an ideal way to spread and multiply viruses and bacteria (the common cold is acceptable, infectious diseases such Norovirus and Coronavirus are not). Anyone who has a weak immune system who was on that train will have to visit their doctor now.

    I hope for the sake of the travelling public that Irish Rail get this train deep cleaned and decontaminated by professionals. I also hope that the poor man concerned got the help he needed afterwards.

    Even if this was a one-off people regularly collapse or get sick on crush-loaded Irish Rail trains. Passengers boarding a Heuston Waterford train found vomit between two carriages. This is a slip/fall hazard as well as a health hazard.

    Excuses about having to wait 2 or 3 years for extra carriages do not wash. Irish Rail need to take proper care of the health and safety of passengers and clean carriages properly.

    According to you anyway. You realise that train carriages and locomotives don't grow on trees and have to be built ?


  • Registered Users Posts: 1,670 ✭✭✭IE 222


    Emme wrote: »
    An ill passenger could not get to a working toilet on time on the 17.10 Connolly to Sligo train on January 24 2020. The poor man had a very bad accident and two carriages were soiled in the process. Apparently he ended up in a disabled toilet in a very bad state. There was nobody to help him on the train. According to sources he managed to get to a toilet but it was out of order and it was too late for the poor man after that.

    This train and most others are regularly so overcrowded that the aisles are full and the spaces between carriages are full. A nightmare for a healthy person, imagine what it is like for a frail person who may be returning home from hospital and has a chronic illness that necessitates proximity to a working toilet. One would think the train is an ideal mode of transport for such a person but the incident on the Connolly Sligo train proves otherwise.

    Irish Rail are always saying that heavy loading is normal on commuter trains but now they cannot debate that heavy loading is a serious health and safety issue.

    Here is a link to an article which is in parts unnecessarily sensational but the incident is not reported anywhere else. According to some other sources some passengers were physically ill as a result of the incident.

    https://www.msn.com/en-ie/news/newsireland/carriages-cleared-and-sealed-off-after-incident-on-dublin-to-sligo-train/ar-BBZiPsF?ocid=spartandhp

    There are no openable windows on the train. The dirt of Irish Rail trains along with the chronic overcrowding makes the train an ideal way to spread and multiply viruses and bacteria (the common cold is acceptable, infectious diseases such Norovirus and Coronavirus are not). Anyone who has a weak immune system who was on that train will have to visit their doctor now.

    I hope for the sake of the travelling public that Irish Rail get this train deep cleaned and decontaminated by professionals. I also hope that the poor man concerned got the help he needed afterwards.

    Even if this was a one-off people regularly collapse or get sick on crush-loaded Irish Rail trains. Passengers boarding a Heuston Waterford train found vomit between two carriages. This is a slip/fall hazard as well as a health hazard.

    Excuses about having to wait 2 or 3 years for extra carriages do not wash. Irish Rail need to take proper care of the health and safety of passengers and clean carriages properly.

    I think your post is more sensational.

    Your only short naming him and sticking his picture up.


  • Registered Users Posts: 4,055 ✭✭✭Emme


    IE 222 wrote: »
    I think your post is more sensational.

    Your only short naming him and sticking his picture up.

    Nobody mentioned naming the man or showing his picture until you did.

    A man fell ill on an Irish Rail train. Due to overcrowding and out-of-order toilets he had an accident. The nature of the accident was a health hazard to other passengers, some of whom were physically ill. Norovirus outbreaks on cruise ships sometimes follow this pattern but that does not mean the man had norovirus. He may have been a vulnerable person travelling home from a hospital appointment by train. Irish Rail failed him badly.

    Outlining a health hazard which Irish Rail cares nothing about is not a breach of the man's privacy. It only shows Irish Rail's poor passenger care, lack of safety and all round negligence.
    Itssoeasy wrote: »
    According to you anyway. You realise that train carriages and locomotives don't grow on trees and have to be built ?

    Again that is no excuse for neglecting basic cleanliness and passenger care on existing carriages. If all toilets on that train had been in working order the accident might not have happened.

    If the other train I mentioned had been properly cleaned there would not have been a slip/fall and health hazard.

    Irish Rail needs to step up to the plate, clean trains properly and treat passengers with respect.


  • Advertisement
  • Registered Users Posts: 1,258 ✭✭✭bikeman1


    Would this not have happened on an empty train with a defective toilet? If he was struggling to make it to one, then it would be irrelevant if it was busy to get to the next one a carriage down, maybe say a few seconds pushing past people.

    I find the sensational nature very unfortunate, as a way to link an Ill man to busy trains.

    Show me one train in the world that is not full leaving a capital city at the height of rush hour?

    More trains will come and more trains will be full to the top.


  • Registered Users Posts: 1,670 ✭✭✭IE 222


    Emme wrote: »
    Nobody mentioned naming the man or showing his picture until you did.

    A man fell ill on an Irish Rail train. Due to overcrowding and out-of-order toilets he had an accident. The nature of the accident was a health hazard to other passengers, some of whom were physically ill. Norovirus outbreaks on cruise ships sometimes follow this pattern but that does not mean the man had norovirus. He may have been a vulnerable person travelling home from a hospital appointment by train. Irish Rail failed him badly.

    Outlining a health hazard which Irish Rail cares nothing about is not a breach of the man's privacy. It only shows Irish Rail's poor passenger care, lack of safety and all round negligence.



    Again that is no excuse for neglecting basic cleanliness and passenger care on existing carriages. If all toilets on that train had been in working order the accident might not have happened.

    If the other train I mentioned had been properly cleaned there would not have been a slip/fall and health hazard.

    Irish Rail needs to step up to the plate, clean trains properly and treat passengers with respect.

    Irish rail is a rail operator not some sort of medical transport company. If he was I'll well then it's the HSE that failed him badly. Toilets are provided as a courtesy. If the man has a health issue of such it's his responsibility to ensure he has easy access to a toilet.

    Completely over the top reaction. These types of incidents or people vomiting happen daily in public areas without any outbreaks. I really don't understand why you feel the need to publicize this any further. This is clearly an embarrassing situation for the man to be in and I doubt he appreciates you discussing this here.


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 945 ✭✭✭Always Tired


    Publishing a story on this is a sh*tty thing to do.


  • Registered Users Posts: 4,055 ✭✭✭Emme


    IE 222 wrote: »
    Irish rail is a rail operator not some sort of medical transport company. If he was I'll well then it's the HSE that failed him badly. Toilets are provided as a courtesy. If the man has a health issue of such it's his responsibility to ensure he has easy access to a toilet.

    Completely over the top reaction. These types of incidents or people vomiting happen daily in public areas without any outbreaks. I really don't understand why you feel the need to publicize this any further. This is clearly an embarrassing situation for the man to be in and I doubt he appreciates you discussing this here.

    Nobody is identifying the man. Why are so many people defending Irish Rail? One person said that if the train wasn't as full the problem would still have arisen if the toilet he approached first was still defective. Maybe not, you can move freely down the aisles of a train that isn't packed.

    Irish Rail are not a medical transport company but that doesn't give them an excuse to crush load passengers to the point of collapse. People have the right to travel in dignity and reasonable comfort.

    Irish Rail are horrified that this incident has been reported in an alternative media source because it shows up the incompetence they keep trying to hide.

    Are we supposed to grin and bear it quietly and wear hazmat suits for our daily train commute?


  • Registered Users Posts: 1,670 ✭✭✭IE 222


    Emme wrote: »
    Nobody is identifying the man. Why are so many people defending Irish Rail? One person said that if the train wasn't as full the problem would still have arisen if the toilet he approached first was still defective. Maybe not, you can move freely down the aisles of a train that isn't packed.

    Irish Rail are not a medical transport company but that doesn't give them an excuse to crush load passengers to the point of collapse. People have the right to travel in dignity and reasonable comfort.

    Irish Rail are horrified that this incident has been reported in an alternative media source because it shows up the incompetence they keep trying to hide.

    Are we supposed to grin and bear it quietly and wear hazmat suits for our daily train commute?

    Why are you so anti Irish Rail?

    It's not Irish rails responsibility to provide a toilet to this man. What if the toilet wasn't out of order and someone was infact using the said toilet, have you investigated with Irish Rail to see if the toilet was infact out of order.

    Their in the business of moving people. Do you think they should refuse people the chance to travel once all seats are full. It's a public transport operator not a luxury travel option.

    Don't see how they'd be horrified, its completely out of their control. NTA and Government purchase and control the level of rail stock. Again more sensationalist comments with your hazmat suits. Take it you wouldn't walk through a hospital without your suit.


  • Advertisement
  • Registered Users Posts: 2,801 ✭✭✭CrabRevolution


    IE 222 wrote: »
    Irish rail is a rail operator not some sort of medical transport company. If he was I'll well then it's the HSE that failed him badly. Toilets are provided as a courtesy. If the man has a health issue of such it's his responsibility to ensure he has easy access to a toilet.

    Completely over the top reaction. These types of incidents or people vomiting happen daily in public areas without any outbreaks. I really don't understand why you feel the need to publicize this any further. This is clearly an embarrassing situation for the man to be in and I doubt he appreciates you discussing this here.


    Are the HSE expected to somehow prevent everyone in Ireland from ever getting the sh*ts or vomiting?

    This incident was unfortunate but a long way down the list of reasons to criticise IE.


  • Registered Users Posts: 1,670 ✭✭✭IE 222


    Are the HSE expected to somehow prevent everyone in Ireland from ever getting the sh*ts or vomiting?

    This incident was unfortunate but a long way down the list of reasons to criticise IE.

    No but the previous poster was suggesting he may have been returning from a hospital. If that was to be the case they would be more responsible than IE for his care.


  • Registered Users Posts: 88 ✭✭cbb1982


    I commuted on this line for 3 years it is an absolute joke, over crowding, defective toilets, lack of staff, late running of trains, journey time in this day and age you would be quicker on a bike extortionate cost. My train never ever once arrived at destination going either direction on time!!!

    Poor man that got caught short, over crowding wouldn’t have helped.


  • Registered Users Posts: 88 ✭✭cbb1982


    I commuted on this line for 3 years it is an absolute joke, over crowding, defective toilets, lack of staff, late running of trains, journey time in this day and age you would be quicker on a bike extortionate cost. My train never ever once arrived at destination going either direction on time!!!

    Poor man that got caught short, over crowding wouldn’t have helped.


  • Registered Users Posts: 4,055 ✭✭✭Emme


    cbb1982 wrote: »
    I commuted on this line for 3 years it is an absolute joke, over crowding, defective toilets, lack of staff, late running of trains, journey time in this day and age you would be quicker on a bike extortionate cost. My train never ever once arrived at destination going either direction on time!!!

    Poor man that got caught short, over crowding wouldn’t have helped.

    This is why I don't like Irish Rail. I commute on another line with exactly the same issues. Also trains are dirty beyond belief. Trains don't arrive at their destination on time but tell outright lies about train arrival time on their website.


  • Registered Users Posts: 88 ✭✭cbb1982


    Emme wrote: »
    This is why I don't like Irish Rail. I commute on another line with exactly the same issues. Also trains are dirty beyond belief. Trains don't arrive at their destination on time but tell outright lies about train arrival time on their website.

    Yes trains are filthy dirty


  • Registered Users Posts: 10,667 ✭✭✭✭Jamie2k9


    I think people are a little harsh, toilets are out of order from time to time. This guy clearly had a problem. On board staff would not have resulted in the situation been any different.
    IE 222 wrote: »
    No but the previous poster was suggesting he may have been returning from a hospital. If that was to be the case they would be more responsible than IE for his care.

    Unless the person in question was assisted boarding a train and stated he needed proximity to a toilet then IE have no responsibility other than getting him from a to b.
    There are no openable windows on the train. The dirt of Irish Rail trains along with the chronic overcrowding makes the train an ideal way to spread and multiply viruses and bacteria (the common cold is acceptable, infectious diseases such Norovirus and Coronavirus are not). Anyone who has a weak immune system who was on that train will have to visit their doctor now.

    I hope for the sake of the travelling public that Irish Rail get this train deep cleaned and decontaminated by professionals. I also hope that the poor man concerned got the help he needed afterwards.

    Again trains are not particularly dirty, bet they are cleaned more often that parts of your house. Large numbers of people together spread germs, its just national and not unique to IE.


  • Registered Users Posts: 625 ✭✭✭noelfirl


    I find this thread a little bit unsettling to be honest. It's taking an unfortunate incident and conflating it with a bunch of different things, each of which is being stretched out into being a major issue in a very hyperbolic way (see coronavirus in the very first post). Feels like an exercise in point scoring.


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 1,069 ✭✭✭Xertz


    I think Irish Rail could do with more consistent cleaning of trains and, more importantly ensuring that the toilets are working properly. However, incidents like that can and do happen on public transport and in other confined spaces like aircraft and cinemas and so on and unfortunately they're part of the reality that we're biological systems and sometimes things can go wrong.

    The article is a bit over-dramatic.

    I'm not trying to defend Irish Rail on their lack of consistency and occasionally very sloppy services, but there's a level of reality too that is unavoidable when you've a public transit vehicle and unfortunately those kinds of messes can and do happen. I remember a similar incident on the Tube and we'd a guy projectile vomit all over the place on a TGV one day, which was absolutely horrendous too.

    I mean, the only option in a situation like that is basically to pull the train in at the next station and close those carriages off and get a replacement train. However, in an Irish context where some of those lines don't have spare trains handy or much frequency, you could be adding a long delay to people's trips. However, if the coach is unusable, it's unusable. That's just the reality of these incidents. It's no different from a minor accident or a technical issue with an engine or something. You have to replace the train and have it repaired, or in this case deep cleaned.


    The vast majority of new trains, anywhere i've ever been, are fully air-conditioned and don't have opening windows. That's not unusual or unique to Irish Rail either. Their vehicles are pretty much exactly like what you'd expect to see in any modern railway. If you have opening windows, you create huge issues with the air conditioning systems - they either run horrendously inefficiently trying to heat or cool air coming in from outside, or they even end up trying to dehumidify the air outside on very humid days which can swamp them with water.

    If you've no air conditioning, you'll end up with overheated or miserably cold trains, just like we had in the old days.


    ---

    As for the capacity issues it's a bit of an unusual situation which is being caused by Ireland being a small market with a boom-bust economy and a weird set of technical specifications for rail vehicles which means they cannot be just leased from spare capacity elsewhere.

    A few years ago, Irish Rail was being heavily criticised for having a lot of excess capacity after their fleet renewal There were too many intercity rail cars and there were trains, including rail cars and MK4 sets for the Cork line sitting in storage.

    The economy boomed and now they're being criticised for not being able to get new stock onto the tracks fast enough. The reality of the situation is the stock is ordered from the same companies that delivered it last time. Hyundai are delivering those trains pretty much as fast as can be done. They're not slouches when it comes to manufacturing time and the designs are not novel so it's not going to be a big deal to get them rolled out.

    It's effectively impossible for a small network like Irish Rail to respond to the kind of economic fluctuations we've seen from celtic tiger, through monumental economic crash in 2008 to peak time booms again now. The reality of that is you're going to get capacity squeezes and, if there's another bust, over-capacity again. So, all they can do is work with what they have and order new trains, which they have done.

    They definitely need to pull up their socks on consistency of services, seat reservations on intercity and so on, but they are pretty much damned if they do and damned if they don't when it comes to ordering or not ordering stock.

    The one thing they should do is order actual commuter trains - they're using over-specified intercity DMUs/rail cars on dense commuter routes which isn't ideal. High capacity trains, with a more cut down spec like DART interiors are needed on the commuter routes. They're not intercity.

    I've always found Irish Rail seems to mix and match stock at random. You end up with some commuter DMU going to sligo and some plush intercity DMU doing dense commuter routes. It makes no sense.

    I do think though we need to have a bit of balance in the critique of Irish Rail. It's only able to do what it can do with the stock that it has and given the economic rollercoaster that we've just been on over the last ten years, there's absolutely no way they could have preempted the demand, both because of how dramatic the shifts in the economy were and because of extreme limits on what the state could do under Trokia management a few years ago. I mean, there were plenty of pessimists who seemed to think that the Irish economy was a complete write off back in 2008-11 era and trying to plan railways takes at least 10 years.

    What would be very prudent now would be to put the unexpected windfall taxes into serious capital spending infrastructure projects like a Dublin metro, Cork tramways, future proofing the commuter rail with electrification and so on, rather than just inflate current expenditure on random other stuff. Those kinds of strategic spends would give us competitive infrastructure for decades (even a century+) ahead.


  • Registered Users Posts: 4,812 ✭✭✭Addle


    I travel regularly by rail with an invalid and we always book the seats closest to the disabled toilet.
    Irish rail staff are always very helpful.
    The toilets are always a mess pretty quickly in to our cross country journey, but that’s the fault of some disgusting users rather than the operator.


  • Advertisement
  • Closed Accounts Posts: 1,069 ✭✭✭Xertz


    I'd agree, people can be absolutely unbelievable when it comes to using public toilets. You'd really wonder about them sometimes. It's also not unique to Irish rail. I've walked in some eyewaterinw toilets on the SNCF and DB on occasion too and they were definitely cleaned before the train left the station.

    Short of actually employing a full time cleaner on every train, they're just not going to stay clean after 3 hours or so of service with a full train load of people.

    The only reason that aircraft toilets stay cleaner is they're pretty much patrolled all the time because you've 3 or 4 cabin crew for an absolute maximum of 189 people (in Ryanair configuration on a 737-800). On a train that's quite a different ratio of staff to passengers.

    I mean it's possible to manage a train like an aircraft, but you'd be looking at significantly increasing the costs.

    Take the seated capacity of a Cork - Dublin MK4 is 493 people.

    Ryanair have 1 member of crew for every 47.25 passengers (and that's when the plane is full the ratio's even better on most flights), some other airlines have more than that.

    So, basically you'd be looking at the equivalent of having 10 members of staff on the Cork train to get the same level of coverage of a budget airline which would be utterly ridiculous.

    Cabin crew also have the back up of a lot of legal and enforcement powers if someone does act out and the do chose to act to protect the safety of the aircraft. This is not the case on a train because it's not as high risk a space, but it's a large part of why passengers (generally) behave better on an aircraft. So, you're not going to go in and trash the toilet or break facilities because they'll a) very likely know you did it and b) have ability to track you down through your ticket, ID and so on.

    I do think Irish Rail could do better but, I just think we also lambast them with criticism for things that are beyond their control or that are just down to the nature of Ireland's low population density and crazy economics.


  • Registered Users Posts: 39,437 ✭✭✭✭Itssoeasy


    Emme wrote: »
    Nobody mentioned naming the man or showing his picture until you did.

    A man fell ill on an Irish Rail train. Due to overcrowding and out-of-order toilets he had an accident. The nature of the accident was a health hazard to other passengers, some of whom were physically ill. Norovirus outbreaks on cruise ships sometimes follow this pattern but that does not mean the man had norovirus. He may have been a vulnerable person travelling home from a hospital appointment by train. Irish Rail failed him badly.

    Outlining a health hazard which Irish Rail cares nothing aboutis not a breach of the man's privacy. It only shows Irish Rail's poor passenger care, lack of safety and all round negligence.



    Again that is no excuse for neglecting basic cleanliness and passenger care on existing carriages. If all toilets on that train had been in working order the accident might not have happened.

    If the other train I mentioned had been properly cleaned there would not have been a slip/fall and health hazard.

    Irish Rail needs to step up to the plate, clean trains properly and treat passengers with respect.

    That's a fairly big claim to make and presumably you have the proof to back up those claims ?


  • Registered Users Posts: 39,437 ✭✭✭✭Itssoeasy


    Emme wrote: »
    This is why I don't like Irish Rail. I commute on another line with exactly the same issues. Also trains are dirty beyond belief. Trains don't arrive at their destination on time but tell outright lies about train arrival time on their website.

    Again you'd want to fairly sure about that claim.


  • Registered Users Posts: 250 ✭✭MastiffMrs


    It's a very unfortunate incident. I travel on that particular train most days and never get a seat. It's always overcrowded with people standing in every carriage until maynooth. I noticed on Thursday that there was a toilet out of use and the sign said "sorry this toilet is out of use 09/01/2020". Don't know if this was the exact same train, but seems a long time to be out of use.
    I feel sorry for the poor man involved. Not Irish rails fault though. The extra carriages will be long overdue by 2022.


  • Registered Users Posts: 4,055 ✭✭✭Emme


    Itssoeasy wrote: »
    That's a fairly big claim to make and presumably you have the proof to back up those claims ?
    What proof do you need? A full bacteriological analysis of both trains? That is not possible now. Common sense dictates that human waste in a public area is a health hazard, more so if it is a slip/fall hazard as well.

    There was vomit between two carriages on another train that day and it hadn't been cleaned up before the journey. That indicates to me that Irish Rail care little about their passengers and the health hazard from the vomit. Mothers with children often have to stand or sit on the ground in the spaces between carriages. Irish Rail knows that yet vomit was still left in that space.
    Itssoeasy wrote: »
    Again you'd want to fairly sure about that claim.
    My boss called me in one morning after I arrived late due to my train getting into Heuston late. He asked me what time the train got in. I told him the time it got in (I had checked the clock at Heuston and my phone) and he accused me of lying. It turned out that Irish Rail put a time 10 minutes earlier than the actual time the train got in.

    If Irish Rail put the time the driver put his foot on the brake at Heuston as the arrival time this is not a true reflection of the time the train got in. Doors have to be opened and morning trains are so crush loaded that it easily takes over 5 minutes for all passengers to disembark. Then people have to get through the barriers at the top of the platform and there are often queues for that. If Irish Rail say the time a train gets in is the second the driver brakes at Heuston it is stretching the truth. However I do not know their criteria for deciding train arrival times except that it seems to be at variance with the time on the clock at Heuston.


  • Moderators, Category Moderators, Arts Moderators, Sports Moderators Posts: 48,295 CMod ✭✭✭✭magicbastarder


    Emme wrote: »
    My boss called me in one morning after I arrived late due to my train getting into Heuston late. He asked me what time the train got in. I told him the time it got in (I had checked the clock at Heuston and my phone) and he accused me of lying. It turned out that Irish Rail put a time 10 minutes earlier than the actual time the train got in.
    sounds like your IR issue is an industrial relations issue.


  • Registered Users Posts: 6,039 ✭✭✭Hilly Bill


    Emme wrote: »
    An ill passenger could not get to a working toilet on time on the 17.10 Connolly to Sligo train on January 24 2020. The poor man had a very bad accident and two carriages were soiled in the process. Apparently he ended up in a disabled toilet in a very bad state. There was nobody to help him on the train. According to sources he managed to get to a toilet but it was out of order and it was too late for the poor man after that.

    This train and most others are regularly so overcrowded that the aisles are full and the spaces between carriages are full. A nightmare for a healthy person, imagine what it is like for a frail person who may be returning home from hospital and has a chronic illness that necessitates proximity to a working toilet. One would think the train is an ideal mode of transport for such a person but the incident on the Connolly Sligo train proves otherwise.

    Irish Rail are always saying that heavy loading is normal on commuter trains but now they cannot debate that heavy loading is a serious health and safety issue.

    Here is a link to an article which is in parts unnecessarily sensational but the incident is not reported anywhere else. According to some other sources some passengers were physically ill as a result of the incident.

    https://www.msn.com/en-ie/news/newsireland/carriages-cleared-and-sealed-off-after-incident-on-dublin-to-sligo-train/ar-BBZiPsF?ocid=spartandhp

    There are no openable windows on the train. The dirt of Irish Rail trains along with the chronic overcrowding makes the train an ideal way to spread and multiply viruses and bacteria (the common cold is acceptable, infectious diseases such Norovirus and Coronavirus are not). Anyone who has a weak immune system who was on that train will have to visit their doctor now.

    I hope for the sake of the travelling public that Irish Rail get this train deep cleaned and decontaminated by professionals. I also hope that the poor man concerned got the help he needed afterwards.

    Even if this was a one-off people regularly collapse or get sick on crush-loaded Irish Rail trains. Passengers boarding a Heuston Waterford train found vomit between two carriages. This is a slip/fall hazard as well as a health hazard.

    Excuses about having to wait 2 or 3 years for extra carriages do not wash. Irish Rail need to take proper care of the health and safety of passengers and clean carriages properly.

    At what point in the journey did this happen? Were you on the train?


  • Registered Users Posts: 1,670 ✭✭✭IE 222


    Emme wrote: »
    My boss called me in one morning after I arrived late due to my train getting into Heuston late. He asked me what time the train got in. I told him the time it got in (I had checked the clock at Heuston and my phone) and he accused me of lying. It turned out that Irish Rail put a time 10 minutes earlier than the actual time the train got in.

    If Irish Rail put the time the driver put his foot on the brake at Heuston as the arrival time this is not a true reflection of the time the train got in. Doors have to be opened and morning trains are so crush loaded that it easily takes over 5 minutes for all passengers to disembark. Then people have to get through the barriers at the top of the platform and there are often queues for that. If Irish Rail say the time a train gets in is the second the driver brakes at Heuston it is stretching the truth. However I do not know their criteria for deciding train arrival times except that it seems to be at variance with the time on the clock at Heuston.

    It was probably the 10 minutes it took you to take your hazmat suit off.

    Once the train stops that's the arrival time, what other possible way could they do it? How did your boss check the arrival time for comparison? Why would IE alter the arrival time by 10 mins when they have a 10 min window before been classified as a late arrival. The stats would show as on time even if 10 mins late.


  • Registered Users Posts: 78,243 ✭✭✭✭Victor


    IE 222 wrote: »
    Once the train stops that's the arrival time, what other possible way could they do it?
    Irish Rail are slightly disingenuous and count the time the front of the train reaches the platform, not the stop time of the doors open time.
    IE 222 wrote: »
    How did your boss check the arrival time for comparison?
    There is an online feed available.


  • Advertisement
  • Registered Users Posts: 1,670 ✭✭✭IE 222


    Hilly Bill wrote: »
    At what point in the journey did this happen? Were you on the train?

    Article says the train was delayed for 30mins in Mullingar so presumably somewhere between there and Enfield.

    It also suggests passengers were crammed into the remaining 6 cars as 2 cars where closed off. Is this not a 7 car operation? I doubt it was even badly soiled, the 17:17 to Longford would of been just behind it and they could of easily taken the set out of service and used that or even split the set if it was that bad.

    The OP is milking the story to suit their agenda.


This discussion has been closed.
Advertisement