Irish Trains: Your thoughts please

**max power** · 13/02/2006, 1:52 PM

i am one of the unlucky people who use the train service every day to get to work. Trains are constantly late, cancelled etc and no explaination given, i know a lot of others who are also sick of this.

i am thinking of putting a forum up for people to air their views on this subject. eg train to x was late, train to y was cancelled etc.

any thoughts on this would be welcome,

mods, hope its ok just want to put out a feeler before i put up forum.

**Maz** · 13/02/2006, 1:54 PM

Originally Posted by max power

i am one of the unlucky people who use the train service every day to get to work. Trains are constantly late, cancelled etc and no explaination given, i know a lot of others who are also sick of this.

i am thinking of putting a forum up for people to air their views on this subject. eg train to x was late, train to y was cancelled etc.

any thoughts on this would be welcome,

mods, hope its ok just want to put out a feeler before i put up forum.

Are you talking about general train services from Sligo to Dublin for example as well as Dart services in Dublin

**Block G Raptor** · 13/02/2006, 1:57 PM

Have to say I use the Maynooth line from Clonsilla to Connolly regularly and going in to town in the morning's it is seldom if ever late but do find in the evening going home that either the maynooth or longford train is nearly always delayed lately

**max power** · 13/02/2006, 2:04 PM

i mean all train services, i pat 2100 for my ticket and yet your made feel like you've spent 20 euro with them, its a joke and i've had enough,

i left my house at 7.10 this morning and got into work at 9.50, i should have been here around 8.45

**Maz** · 13/02/2006, 2:09 PM

Last year when commuting from Longford to Maynooth, I had major problems with trains not running and always delayed, this year I get the 10.10 on a monday morning (gonna be 7am anymore). Get the 5.55 from Maynooth on a thursday (sometimes delayed but not too much).

I know the local radio station in Longford kept a log of all calls and complaints they got regarding the service and called the head guy (name I dont know) and put the problems to him. He didnt know how to answer. He started going on about leafs on the line making it slippy so trains could not run...usual rubbish

**max power** · 13/02/2006, 2:24 PM

thats the reason for the forum, all people can post and not just longford , i'll get some press for it etc and see how it goes, the legal side is the only one and i'm looking into that, but let them try how trains actually run on time

**dahamsta** · 13/02/2006, 2:54 PM

I'll happily host sites like this for free, as long as they're kept on-topic.

adam

**pete** · 13/02/2006, 2:55 PM

Thread title changed.

Surely if trains are regularily late then they are failing in primary role? Its not like a bus where dependent on other traffic. Irish Rail is like a bus service with its own roads so no excuse for being late.

**max power** · 13/02/2006, 3:03 PM

Originally Posted by dahamsta

I'll happily host sites like this for free, as long as they're kept on-topic.

adam

the only reason for this is to highlight the desperate state of the service, i intend to contact press etc.

the four main areas i was thinking of are,

train delays

trains canceled

customer service recieved

improvment ideas.

also anyone have an idea of a name for the site and would the forum sotware used here be ok.

also a mod for each section would be great too.........

if you get the train this is in your interest so join in.

**monutdfc** · 13/02/2006, 3:42 PM

Yeah but aren't you all happy that the cost of your tickets have been used to pay Craig Doyle to stare off in the distance in that ad?

**Lionel Ritchie** · 13/02/2006, 5:19 PM

gotta admit they're hilarious ads though.

"we're sh1t and we know we're sh1t but the important thing is we've finally paid an actor to appear in an advert to let you know that we know we're sh1t. But we're ready to take possession of some trains that are currently in Spain but we don't know how long it'll take to lay the tracks to get 'em up here ...which reminds me -did anyone measure the width of the tracks?...lads? ...lads?"

**Partizan** · 13/02/2006, 5:41 PM

I regularly use the Waterford to Limerick service which consists of three carriages, no snack bar, runs on infrequent times (no Sunday service) and an engine that frequently breaks down. (The official explanation being 'engineering works' on the line)

The state of public transport as well as wider infrastructure in this county is shocking giventhe fact that we are one of the richest and most developed economies in the world.

Cullen IMO is an embarassment and incompetent & arrogant buffon and his so called Transport 21 Plan was nothing more than a PR window dressing on the shoddy state of public transport. The major cities in the State like Cork, Waterford, Galway and Limerick do not have proper (if any) rail commuter transport services forcing many onto our already overcrowded roads that are just about struggling to cope with the increasing traffic volume.

The only way to solve the problem is to re-invest in the railways, to provide a proper and reliable service which would get cars off the roads and cut pollution. its more cost effective than building by-passess with tax payers money and then forcing us through private companies to pay tolls. If thats not corporate Thatcherite capitalism, I dont know what is. I just cant wait for the next election to vent my anger at this incapacitated government that is being held hostage by numerous vested interests, grown fat on its sheer incompatence, smug arrogance and widespread public ignorance and apathy. The next government artist tells me to buy a car, I'll go to town on him.

If FF get back into power, I'll pack my bags and leave this Banana Republic.

**Paulie** · 14/02/2006, 1:21 PM

I use the Drogheda to Connolly/Pearse line daily. As Irish public transport goes it's pretty good but it's still prone to lapses. Generally it arrives within about 5 minutes of it's allocated time. For some reason though if it's late one day it's late for 2 or 3 in a row. This generally happens every 3 or 4 weeks. I remember a few months ago hearing a radio interview with one of the head guys in Iarnrod Eireann. He was defending their record by stating that their trains had a 90% success rate of arriving on time. This effectively means that, based on a five day working week, you will be late on average once every fortnight. If his staff were arriving in to work late once every fortnight I doubt he would find it quite as acceptable.

**Kingdom** · 14/02/2006, 1:33 PM

Every 2nd week I've to get the 6.05 train into town, and over the past month the weather has been absolutely freezing at that time in the morning, with no heating on any of the carriages. It got so bad that I was forced to submit an online complaint.

"Dear sir/madam,

I have a small complaint to make regarding the standard of the carriages on the train this morning and yesterday morning. As I'm sure you are aware, the weather has been quite cold the past few days, but the good people at Iarnród Éireann must think we are in the middle of a heatwave as we have had no heat in the carriages this week. Frankly it was warmer outside of the carriage than inside the carriage. Surely there are heaters on the carriages that can be used on the journey? I see a great deal of advertising in the national media about how Iarnród Éireann are going places and improving the journey. Perhaps that money spent on advertising would be better used in physically showing the customers the improvements being made rather than telling us. I feel, and I know I'm not alone in this opinion, that we pay enough money per annum on train fares to expect a decent standard of service.

I look forward to hearing from you."

To which I got no response.

However yesterday when I was trying to get a quote of a train ticket from Brussels to Dortmund (yes for that reason!) I got a reply within 25 mins.
Great eh?

**dahamsta** · 14/02/2006, 1:41 PM

Put it in writing Kingdom, i.e. old fashioned pen and ink. Since they're semi-state, they're required to reply.

adam

**Ash** · 14/02/2006, 1:47 PM

I used to use trains regularlybut try to avoid them if at all possible now.
I used to commute from Athlone to Dublin and it was a nightmare, the
carraiges would be either freezing cold or unbearably hot.

Worst one was when I used to get the Dublin-Sligo line. When winter would
arrive CIE would take out massiver adverts in the newspapers telling
passengers to wrap up warm as the heating on the train wasnt working.
Surely it would have been better to fix the bloody thing instead of paying for
the ad's!

The only advantage of trains is toilets, although they're usually in too bad
a state to even dare go into!

I remember when I was working in Oz and the station master would announce
that trains are running approx 2 minutes late, and true to their word 2
minutes over the timetable time the train would arrive. The locals use to go
mental about the late trains

for their next ad campaign they should use clips from the Disney Club,
cos their service is Mickey Mouse

**Risteard** · 14/02/2006, 1:57 PM

Originally Posted by Kingdom

To which I got no response.

When did ya send that?
Politicians & Companies close to the Irish government are notoriously slow for responding to anything.

BUT

Have to say lads, i've only great experiences of iarnrod eireann. Even with the €10 bus fare, i'd still get the train if i was coming/going to Dublin.
To be fair thats nothing to do with Bus Eireann who now have a reliable comfortable fleet of vehicles who are sadly subject to Irish traffic.

I've never had any troubles with CIE timewise on the Cork to Dublin, Cobh or Ennis routes.
Also think they're very comfortable etc. save for the toilet (hard to get a comfortable toilet on a train anyway. Never seen one in any country), can be mank.

Granted ye Drogheda and Bray lads are better placed to comment if ye commute every day but Irish Rail gets a big thumbs up from me.
Just wish they had a Cork to Waterford route and a station in Donegal.

BTW Transport 21 is a close equivalent to putting some of Irelands many unfinished infrastructure projects in a binder and saying
"We might get around to these sometime."

**Kingdom** · 14/02/2006, 2:12 PM

There are many problems with Iarnród Éireann,but the prices are the least of them.
One of the aspects of the advertising for the new carriages is the amount of conning the head honchos are doing. These new carriages will only be available for the direct Dublin to Cork services. Which is ****** man!

I commute from Portarlington and the service is probably the most frequent of all the Intercity stations (excluding the obvious commuter routes!). In the morning there are 5 trains to Dublin from 6.05 to 7.52. Which isn't a lot. The next train isn't until 10.00. Which is ludicrous! This is supposedly down to the fact that there are only 2 lines available in and out of Heuston.
This will be changed in the Transport 21 plans, because the govt are buying enough land from Inchicore to Kildare under Land Compulsory Orders. Some CIE guy wouldn't budge when I questioned what land would they be buying from Inchicore out as far as Lucan as no land was available.

They never seem to have a contingency plan in place either. If a train ever de-rails here God help all the commuters!
Good idea for a forum though/

**Kingdom** · 14/02/2006, 2:17 PM

Always though it ridiculous that there is no direct service between the major towns. The likes of Cork -Waterford , Cork- Limmi, Galway-Limmi and perhaps Sligo-Galway.

Also the areas of the country that have no train service is a joke. Meath. MEATH! Imagine how much traffic that will be freed up when the train line eventually gets up and running. The joke is that it has taken this long to propose the route.

**max power** · 14/02/2006, 2:34 PM

Originally Posted by Kingdom

I commute from Portarlington and the service is probably the most frequent of all the Intercity stations (excluding the obvious commuter routes!). In the morning there are 5 trains to Dublin from 6.05 to 7.52. Which isn't a lot. The next train isn't until 10.00. Which is ludicrous! This is supposedly down to the fact that there are only 2 lines available in and out of Heuston.
This will be changed in the Transport 21 plans, because the govt are buying enough land from Inchicore to Kildare under Land Compulsory Orders. Some CIE guy wouldn't budge when I questioned what land would they be buying from Inchicore out as far as Lucan as no land was available.

They never seem to have a contingency plan in place either. If a train ever de-rails here God help all the commuters!
Good idea for a forum though/

i get the same train and its 5 if they turn up and i'd say they are on time about once a week.

in the evening there is a train at 5.10 5.55 and 6.00. 2 in 5 minutes another joke.

i even drive to kildare some mornings because the last train home is at 9, we are meant to be a commuter town and 9 is the last train

cars are broken into on a weekly basis ( including mine ) and all we here is, we are on the list ah sure we must be next