Utter farce on Maynooth line this morning

James Howard · 14-12-2015, 09:02

Talk about errors piling on top of each other this morning. With an already restricted capacity due to the stranding of most of the Sligo Intercity fleet, we were treated to a level crossing failure this morning.

So once things were moving again, because there was so much room on the shortened 0545, they decided to add the Leixlip stops to make the delays worse and try to squeeze a few more people in. What a surprise then that somebody fainted at Clonsilla leading to yet more delays.

Can anybody be held accountable for this type of messing? I am kind of on the verge of being beyond angry and heading towards just laughing at this.

In the end, because of the ludicrous timetable padding, we'll probably only ned up being about 25 minutes late but there are a lot of people talking about missing meetings. I wonder how many people will get sacked for being persistently late for work over the last couple of weeks. Probably not anybody at Irish Rail.

Inniskeen · 14-12-2015, 12:32

This is the default Irish Rail approach in the event of disruption, stop everything everywhere. It is usually the direct opposite to what is required and invariably makes matters even worse.

Jamie2k9 · 14-12-2015, 12:40

To be fair in recent DART issues I have saw them running non stopping services to get things back on track they are learning. As for Maynooth line prehaps there was a train ahead and they didn't want to stop in middle of nowhere for a period of time as they avoid that where possible now.

Mickey H · 14-12-2015, 12:53

If a train is dangerously overcrowded and continues in operation would not be something that could be referred to the Garda as endangering safety and/or passengers' health?

James Howard · 14-12-2015, 13:14

I figured the same about this morning. I guessed the train might as well stop at the Leixlips as there would have been another train ahead. Perhaps they made one train non-stop to Clonsilla and then expected us to pick up the Leixlip passengers. This would have worked a treat had the train been at normal strength. I would say that the ambulance service must have been very quick as we were stopped at Clonsilla for less than 10 minutes.

It wasn't really dangerously overcrowded in terms of it's not likely to kill anybody, but a 22K is not a nice place to be standing. I don't think the guards would get involved, but you've got to think that if you lost consciousness as a result of the overcrowding, it would be worth consulting a solicitor on whether or not you might have a civil case.

Jamie2k9 · 14-12-2015, 16:33

Not been able to control the heating makes packed over crowded trains worse. I can see why IE don't allow drivers adjust it but surly some software could be developed to have it reset on all units daily.

Dublin13 · 14-12-2015, 19:33

Totally agree, that is what has caused people passing out on the 17:58 from Clontarf, normally being an 85xx class without opening windows and bad air-con and packed like sardines, I've saw people pass out several times on that train.

Incidentally tonight there were 69 people standing on my carriage after leaving Howth Junction on that Malahide DART tonight I got it from Connolly today so was able to get on, the only saving grace was it was unusually an 8100 train with opening windows, but seeing a eight car southbound service leaving Connolly with many banks of four seats totally empty made me feel sick.

The best thing about a lot of the newer units on the continent and metro units is that the Aircon and heating is climate controlled, and automatically adjusted based on the temperature on-board. No doubt the units are not capable of that, but hopefully whenever IE does get new rolling stock they install such a system.

Mickey H · 14-12-2015, 20:13

Latest IE update suggests Sligo line closed until at least the 19th:

Sligo line inc. Longford (Until Further Notice)
•Bus transfers are in place between Carrick-on-Shannon and Longford due to flooding with delays of up to 60mins to each service. This is expected to continue until this weekend at the earliest*.

Source http://www.irishrail.ie/news/weather...-storm-desmond at 2017 14.12.2015 [ The Forum clock is 4 minutes slow ]

James Howard · 15-12-2015, 07:14

We had a new one this morning. A 15 minute wait in Edgeworthstown to sell tickets to the Longford passengers. For some reason it mustn't have been possible to buy tickets in Longford and I haven't seen the ticket checker that normally gets on in Mullingar for a while.

Are you right there Michael are you right? I wonder what time I'll get to work this morning.

Thomas J Stamp · 16-12-2015, 17:02

Quote:

Originally Posted by James Howard

it would be worth consulting a solicitor on whether or not you might have a civil case.

did someone say civil case???

your experience reminds me of why I ended up with RUI (or platform 11 as we then were) way back when....back when there was only one track to maynooth, when we had mrk2 carraiges and the 8 am was packed so bad from Maynooth that I saw someone fall out at Confey when the door was opened and people on the platform rushing on instead of him, leaving him there.

mental that its happening again, no matter what the excuse.

14-12-2015, 09:02	#1
James Howard Really Really Regluar Poster Join Date: Aug 2009 Location: Sligo Line Posts: 1,115	Utter farce on Maynooth line this morning Talk about errors piling on top of each other this morning. With an already restricted capacity due to the stranding of most of the Sligo Intercity fleet, we were treated to a level crossing failure this morning. So once things were moving again, because there was so much room on the shortened 0545, they decided to add the Leixlip stops to make the delays worse and try to squeeze a few more people in. What a surprise then that somebody fainted at Clonsilla leading to yet more delays. Can anybody be held accountable for this type of messing? I am kind of on the verge of being beyond angry and heading towards just laughing at this. In the end, because of the ludicrous timetable padding, we'll probably only ned up being about 25 minutes late but there are a lot of people talking about missing meetings. I wonder how many people will get sacked for being persistently late for work over the last couple of weeks. Probably not anybody at Irish Rail.

14-12-2015, 12:53	#4
Mickey H Really Regular Poster Join Date: Oct 2007 Posts: 279	If a train is dangerously overcrowded and continues in operation would not be something that could be referred to the Garda as endangering safety and/or passengers' health? __________________ 26271 12-60

14-12-2015, 20:13	#8
Mickey H Really Regular Poster Join Date: Oct 2007 Posts: 279	Latest IE update suggests Sligo line closed until at least the 19th: Sligo line inc. Longford (Until Further Notice) •Bus transfers are in place between Carrick-on-Shannon and Longford due to flooding with delays of up to 60mins to each service. This is expected to continue until this weekend at the earliest*. Source http://www.irishrail.ie/news/weather...-storm-desmond at 2017 14.12.2015 [ The Forum clock is 4 minutes slow ] __________________ 26271 12-60

15-12-2015, 07:14	#9
James Howard Really Really Regluar Poster Join Date: Aug 2009 Location: Sligo Line Posts: 1,115	We had a new one this morning. A 15 minute wait in Edgeworthstown to sell tickets to the Longford passengers. For some reason it mustn't have been possible to buy tickets in Longford and I haven't seen the ticket checker that normally gets on in Mullingar for a while. Are you right there Michael are you right? I wonder what time I'll get to work this morning. Last edited by James Howard : 15-12-2015 at 07:17. Reason: Wait became closer to 15 minutes than 10

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14-12-2015, 12:32	#2
Inniskeen Really Regular Poster Join Date: Oct 2010 Posts: 951	This is the default Irish Rail approach in the event of disruption, stop everything everywhere. It is usually the direct opposite to what is required and invariably makes matters even worse.

14-12-2015, 12:40	#3
Jamie2k9 Really Really Regluar Poster Join Date: Jun 2010 Posts: 2,146	To be fair in recent DART issues I have saw them running non stopping services to get things back on track they are learning. As for Maynooth line prehaps there was a train ahead and they didn't want to stop in middle of nowhere for a period of time as they avoid that where possible now.

14-12-2015, 13:14	#5
James Howard Really Really Regluar Poster Join Date: Aug 2009 Location: Sligo Line Posts: 1,115	I figured the same about this morning. I guessed the train might as well stop at the Leixlips as there would have been another train ahead. Perhaps they made one train non-stop to Clonsilla and then expected us to pick up the Leixlip passengers. This would have worked a treat had the train been at normal strength. I would say that the ambulance service must have been very quick as we were stopped at Clonsilla for less than 10 minutes. It wasn't really dangerously overcrowded in terms of it's not likely to kill anybody, but a 22K is not a nice place to be standing. I don't think the guards would get involved, but you've got to think that if you lost consciousness as a result of the overcrowding, it would be worth consulting a solicitor on whether or not you might have a civil case.

14-12-2015, 16:33	#6
Jamie2k9 Really Really Regluar Poster Join Date: Jun 2010 Posts: 2,146	Not been able to control the heating makes packed over crowded trains worse. I can see why IE don't allow drivers adjust it but surly some software could be developed to have it reset on all units daily.

14-12-2015, 19:33	#7
Dublin13 Regular Poster Join Date: Dec 2015 Posts: 130	Totally agree, that is what has caused people passing out on the 17:58 from Clontarf, normally being an 85xx class without opening windows and bad air-con and packed like sardines, I've saw people pass out several times on that train. Incidentally tonight there were 69 people standing on my carriage after leaving Howth Junction on that Malahide DART tonight I got it from Connolly today so was able to get on, the only saving grace was it was unusually an 8100 train with opening windows, but seeing a eight car southbound service leaving Connolly with many banks of four seats totally empty made me feel sick. The best thing about a lot of the newer units on the continent and metro units is that the Aircon and heating is climate controlled, and automatically adjusted based on the temperature on-board. No doubt the units are not capable of that, but hopefully whenever IE does get new rolling stock they install such a system.