Heuston Debacle 2nd November

RadarControl · 04-11-2007, 21:21

I have been travelling through Heuston every work day since March and it is getting worse and worse by the day. Friday was the last straw. I normally get the 18:05 to Portlaoise which departs from Platform 6. I arrived on Friday evening at around 17:40 to be greeted by one all encompassing queue for the Portlaoise train,Westport train and the Waterford train. This one queue then split into three closer to the gates.The back of the queue was spilling out on to drop of point. The Westport train which was suppose to leave at 17:45 didn't start boarding till at least 17:55.
The Portlaosie train didn't start boarding till 18:05 but what made the situation quite dangerous before was the number of people who arrived and tried to board the 18:05 thinking it had already boarded. Everytime somebody went through the door everybody would move closer to the door.Each time the person would be sent back by IE staff. Every couple of minutes there would be an annoucement train will board shortly.

KSW · 04-11-2007, 23:44

Hueston is always packed literally to the max, Thank God the Rosslare service departs Connolly. The situation at Hueston does sound crazy they sould have tighter security or Queuing measures.........

TheBoss · 05-11-2007, 10:24

Have you noticed how all staff seem to disappear from the main area in heuston when queues start appearing.

There should be some sort of order to lenghty queues instead of long lines of people weaving around the station and then others just waiting to run to the top of the line as soon as it moves.

Surely there is a health and safety issue ?

comcor · 05-11-2007, 11:37

It perplexes me why they don't allow people on the train once it is on the platform.

ACustomer · 05-11-2007, 12:11

Assuming a train has arrived on a passenger-carrying service and is not fresh in from the maintenance depot, it has to be cleaned and watered before passengers are let on. Having said that, they could speed up the process a little bit.

comcor · 05-11-2007, 14:01

I've sat on trains in the UK and The Netherlands where the cleaners have worked around passengers who have already boarded. If it can work there, there's no reason it can't work in Ireland.

Trafford · 05-11-2007, 14:14

The 21:00 Heuston to Cork on Friday 2nd Nov was fully boarded and ready to depart when they announced "There is a serious malfunction with this train. All passangers are asked to get their gear (sic) and get off the train". We were then told to wait on platform 6 for the incoming Cork train which would take us instead.
It arrived in, everyone got off and naturally mingling with the full load from our train created havoc and over-crowding on the platform. We attemped to board, and some were seated and with luggage stowed, when we were told we had to get off again so they could clean it. Few of us stayed put and the cleaners had to work around us. I appreciate them wanting us to have a clean train though. I'm not sure what happened with regards the reserved seating arrangements as it seemed a free for all when we boarded this second train.

We then had an announcement that the bar would be serving free tea, coffee and wine!! Cue the stampede to the dining car! A second announcement told us that only tea and coffee would be free.

I was only travelling to Portlaoise but I wouldn't have fancied a trip to Cork with a free bar all the way - I'm sure the noise levels would have been quite something by the end.

The train eventually pulled out almost an hour late.
The thing that struck me is that an hour delay (both ways) is quite the normal on my daily commute, and I've never been offered a freebie

EnterpriseUser · 05-11-2007, 15:30

The Enterprise has travelling cleaners and, when running late, this train can turnaround in five minutes. The service may have its problems but the trains are always clean. My own view is that the passenger concourse areas in Heuston and Connolly are too small to accommodate the level of usage at peak traffic periods. Also it is very hard to see who is in charge at those times so problems like last Friday can become health and safety issues very quickly.

CSL · 06-11-2007, 09:32

"Also it is very hard to see who is in charge at those times" ...

there's a reason for that and it's not the crowds

Mark Gleeson · 06-11-2007, 10:18

The reason you get thrown off the Cork train has nothing to do with cleaning, there are series of tests on the brakes and doors which must be done. It not safe to have passengers aboard with the doors open on both sides.

Odds on the problem was the parking brake on the Mk4

Colm Donoghue · 09-11-2007, 20:08

Why aren't passengers allowed onto platforms before the trains depart? it works in Tara, Pearse Connolly etc...

Thomas Ralph · 10-11-2007, 18:45

Because the trains are actually there and as Mark said can't have passengers on them. If you have passengers and an open train on a platform, the natural consequence is passengers on the train.

Mark Gleeson · 10-11-2007, 19:56

At Heuston trains are regularly shunted into platforms and to stop passengers from boarding a train which may still move passengers are not allowed on the platform. Mk2d coaches do not have central door locks so you can't stop people from boarding

That will end with the intercity railcars

04-11-2007, 21:21	#1
RadarControl Regular Poster Join Date: Nov 2007 Location: Kildare Posts: 55	Heuston Debacle 2nd November I have been travelling through Heuston every work day since March and it is getting worse and worse by the day. Friday was the last straw. I normally get the 18:05 to Portlaoise which departs from Platform 6. I arrived on Friday evening at around 17:40 to be greeted by one all encompassing queue for the Portlaoise train,Westport train and the Waterford train. This one queue then split into three closer to the gates.The back of the queue was spilling out on to drop of point. The Westport train which was suppose to leave at 17:45 didn't start boarding till at least 17:55. The Portlaosie train didn't start boarding till 18:05 but what made the situation quite dangerous before was the number of people who arrived and tried to board the 18:05 thinking it had already boarded. Everytime somebody went through the door everybody would move closer to the door.Each time the person would be sent back by IE staff. Every couple of minutes there would be an annoucement train will board shortly.

05-11-2007, 15:30	#8
EnterpriseUser Member Join Date: Dec 2005 Posts: 60	Heuston 2 November The Enterprise has travelling cleaners and, when running late, this train can turnaround in five minutes. The service may have its problems but the trains are always clean. My own view is that the passenger concourse areas in Heuston and Connolly are too small to accommodate the level of usage at peak traffic periods. Also it is very hard to see who is in charge at those times so problems like last Friday can become health and safety issues very quickly.

06-11-2007, 10:18	#10
Mark Gleeson Technical Officer Join Date: Dec 2005 Location: Coach C, Seat 33 Posts: 12,669	The reason you get thrown off the Cork train has nothing to do with cleaning, there are series of tests on the brakes and doors which must be done. It not safe to have passengers aboard with the doors open on both sides. Odds on the problem was the parking brake on the Mk4 __________________ Unhappy with new timetable - let us know

10-11-2007, 19:56	#13
Mark Gleeson Technical Officer Join Date: Dec 2005 Location: Coach C, Seat 33 Posts: 12,669	At Heuston trains are regularly shunted into platforms and to stop passengers from boarding a train which may still move passengers are not allowed on the platform. Mk2d coaches do not have central door locks so you can't stop people from boarding That will end with the intercity railcars __________________ Unhappy with new timetable - let us know

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04-11-2007, 23:44	#2
KSW Really Regular Poster Join Date: Mar 2007 Location: Rosslare Line Posts: 600	Hueston is always packed literally to the max, Thank God the Rosslare service departs Connolly. The situation at Hueston does sound crazy they sould have tighter security or Queuing measures.........

05-11-2007, 10:24	#3
TheBoss New to the board Join Date: Oct 2007 Posts: 15	Have you noticed how all staff seem to disappear from the main area in heuston when queues start appearing. There should be some sort of order to lenghty queues instead of long lines of people weaving around the station and then others just waiting to run to the top of the line as soon as it moves. Surely there is a health and safety issue ?

05-11-2007, 11:37	#4
comcor Really Regular Poster Join Date: Dec 2005 Location: Cork-Dublin, Cork Commuter and occasionally DART and Dublin-Wexford Posts: 855	It perplexes me why they don't allow people on the train once it is on the platform.

05-11-2007, 12:11	#5
ACustomer Really Regular Poster Join Date: Jan 2006 Posts: 767	Assuming a train has arrived on a passenger-carrying service and is not fresh in from the maintenance depot, it has to be cleaned and watered before passengers are let on. Having said that, they could speed up the process a little bit.

05-11-2007, 14:01	#6
comcor Really Regular Poster Join Date: Dec 2005 Location: Cork-Dublin, Cork Commuter and occasionally DART and Dublin-Wexford Posts: 855	I've sat on trains in the UK and The Netherlands where the cleaners have worked around passengers who have already boarded. If it can work there, there's no reason it can't work in Ireland.

05-11-2007, 14:14	#7
Trafford New to the board Join Date: Jun 2007 Posts: 5	The 21:00 Heuston to Cork on Friday 2nd Nov was fully boarded and ready to depart when they announced "There is a serious malfunction with this train. All passangers are asked to get their gear (sic) and get off the train". We were then told to wait on platform 6 for the incoming Cork train which would take us instead. It arrived in, everyone got off and naturally mingling with the full load from our train created havoc and over-crowding on the platform. We attemped to board, and some were seated and with luggage stowed, when we were told we had to get off again so they could clean it. Few of us stayed put and the cleaners had to work around us. I appreciate them wanting us to have a clean train though. I'm not sure what happened with regards the reserved seating arrangements as it seemed a free for all when we boarded this second train. We then had an announcement that the bar would be serving free tea, coffee and wine!! Cue the stampede to the dining car! A second announcement told us that only tea and coffee would be free. I was only travelling to Portlaoise but I wouldn't have fancied a trip to Cork with a free bar all the way - I'm sure the noise levels would have been quite something by the end. The train eventually pulled out almost an hour late. The thing that struck me is that an hour delay (both ways) is quite the normal on my daily commute, and I've never been offered a freebie

06-11-2007, 09:32	#9
CSL Member Join Date: Dec 2005 Posts: 378	"Also it is very hard to see who is in charge at those times" ... there's a reason for that and it's not the crowds

09-11-2007, 20:08	#11
Colm Donoghue Really Regular Poster Join Date: Dec 2005 Posts: 873	Why aren't passengers allowed onto platforms before the trains depart? it works in Tara, Pearse Connolly etc...

10-11-2007, 18:45	#12
Thomas Ralph IT Officer Join Date: Sep 2007 Location: Greenwich, London Posts: 1,860	Because the trains are actually there and as Mark said can't have passengers on them. If you have passengers and an open train on a platform, the natural consequence is passengers on the train.