Balbriggan train station
 

Hi, new to te board etc...

Lately I've noticed that it is very tight (especially getting off the 17.13 ex Pearse) getting out of Balbriggan station in the rush hour. The door out from the platform can only fit 2 abreast. Meanwhile there is a gate beside the train station building that is constantly locked. Surely IE could open this gate at peak times to allow more people through faster. (At the moment it takes a good 5 mins to just get off the platform and into the carpark) I'd hate to be rushing to catch a train going into Dublin whenever a train gets in from town!

Anyway, rant over, I'm sure many other stations have similar problems.

i get off at Balbriggan aswell, mostly get the 640 from connolly,There's usually a huge group of people trying to get through one of 2 turnstiles,and the small gate is usually open in the station. Don't think they want to open it as it means they would have to man it with a ticket collector?

Malahide has a similiar problem. Is the station building in Balbriggan an old building?

yeah,Probably the same building that has stood there since the rail,its probably protected. Skerries has the same problem in that its exit, exits onto the narrow road into the station. Its one person at a time.

Whats the rush? I use that train once or twice a week and get off at Balbriggan, I'm one of the last getting through the door as I get on the very last carriage on the train departing Dublin - everyone clears the platform and exits the station in around 3 minutes. Are you in that much of a rush that you can't wait, it's hardly something the needs changing.

The gate at the side always used to be open back in the day when in the evenings Balbriggan was mainly (only) used by people arriving on trains, now however Balbriggan station is used a lot more in the evenings by departing passengers too. Having the gate open would allow people to stroll into the station free of charge. At that time of the evening the station is manned by one person, so they can't monitor the gate and the ticket office at the same time.

As I said above - is 3 minutes that much of a hassle? You should be thankful there is not exit ticket validation.

people usually rush to try and get out to the cars,as the the road exit can sometimes que for a while

the big problem with malahide is that entry and exit is through the same very narrow doorways (two doorways each only one person wide). inevitably the small area just inside these is full with people queuing at the ticket machines and the ticket window, so at least one of these is blocked, if not both. when a diesel arrives in the morning and there are a lot of people, especially schoolkids, getting off, you haven't a hope in hell of getting onto the platform before the train leaves

I don't mind waiting to leave the station, as Bluetonic says, what's a wait for a minute or so at the end of your journey? but it's galling when you can see the train in the station but you can't get on it because of the number of people getting off it

same problem in Greystones - 2 narrow doors from the platform into the station, and one narrow door out into the street

the stupid thing is that Greystones station was entirely rebuilt when the Dart was extended (its an old building but it was gutted and redesigned) and because there are so few darts serving the station they're generally packed when they arrive. So this could have been forseen and the station design modified to accomodate it.

Could be real fun if exit validation is added to the mix at these stations!

Dear Lord please don't let that happen! At least give us more than 2 turnstiles.

i think the ticket validation could be more interesting at connolly, anyway know where they are going to put em there?