Luas overcrowding
 

Some funny things happend to me last Friday on one of my ventures up to Dublin, the train related ones are going to be posted elsewhere but I thought I'd just remark on the severe overcrowding on the, ahem, Chav (redline) LUAS. Now, for a start it's a bit stupid really for me to get the damned thing from the Four Courts to Heston and hope for anything other than Calcutta on a Friday afternoon, but what the hell.

I watched as three of the things stopped so packed that each one left people at the stop as there wasnt enough room to get on. Eventually myself, the brother and sisterinlawofthomasjstamp decided we'd get on come what may on the next one. This resulted in us splitting up and leaving said sisterinlaw behind as she couldnt get in. Cue martial breakdown as debrudder had to get off at Smithfield and run back like a botched chivilier of olden times with the ringing endorsement of "ya feckin egjit" from mise being the only words of advice i could possibly give. Anyhoo, sisterinlaw used the tube and paris metro an awful lot and said that Chav LUAS is much much worse. So, given that Connex is so wonderful, where the feck are these shuttles from Connolly to Heston to give us some relief??

Oh, I was also on Posh Luas on Friday. The ticket vending mechine wouldnt talk to me. Is this normal, i thought it was very rude.

One number for you mate:90.And people who can afford to live on posh luas dont like talking to common foreigners ;)

90/91/92 is the way to go, and it cheaper and gets you a lot closer to the front door as well

Not forgetting its often quicker and more reliable as well.And the staff seem to be more friendly than anywhere else on DB.And it has proper space to dump your bags other than the floor.Any other reasons for avoiding our brilliant new flashy trams anyone?

Yes, yes, i know all about the 90 and that but the question is what has happend to the shuttles on the Chav twixt Heuston and Connolly?

That's a good question. I saw them a couple of months back, but haven't seen any recently. I would expect the Abbey-Heuston section to be extremely busy, but it does generally clear out fairly quickly beyond Heuston.

Platform 11 were, of course, correct that 40m trams were needed from the outset.

90 will make a big comeback when the port tunnel opens.

The real trick is to walk to the civic offices and get on there.

Once you get past Parliament Street the bus makes brisk progress, but the first 500m from Aston Quay can take 15 minutes at times

I walk unless there is a bus at the stop or insight

Whats happening to it then?

Presumably the trucks will be off the quays.

Decided yesterday to walk. Viola, as i strolled from Four Courts to Heuston five bleedin LUAI went past. Typical.

Sometimes the LUAS is so full, Connex or RPA or someone must be in breach of several Health and Safety regulations. Definately at peak times must be well over the stated capacity. Any Saturday or Sunday, if I in town, I make sure to get on at Abbey Street rather than Jervis Street, at least that way its possible to get a seat for the ride home. On Sunday recently, 'People' squeezed in at Smithfield, having been at the Horse Fare. The smell of Horse Manure was almost overpowering. At least I hope it was horse manure. RPA should put on extra Trams immediately, theres always loads parked up in Red Cow and at week ends increase the frequency between 12 .00 and 18.30. and stop the BS.:confused:

The law doesn't protect the passenger, we are aware of no formal way to persue a action. The Rail Safety Commission have a great way out, It might be a little easier with Luas unlike the heavy rail business the Luas is a licenced road vehicle it has a stated capacity shown on the tram. Problem is its not practical to actually match the permitted level in the real world

The stated DART capacity is 202 when in reality 175 is what you get in

Or even the HS. :-)

I presume nobody has tried to bring their horse on to the tram?

Wouldnt be surprised to see that on certain sections of the Bread line :D

LUASANNA surely? your latin training showing?

Maybe Luases............

RPA have conceeded that 40M trams should have been on the line from the outset. Additional sections have been ordered. Talk of 50M is also floating around. This overcrowding issue goes right back to when the Luas was first mooted. Those designing it knew it was a cheap version of what was really needed and perhaps had absolutely no idea of demand levels between Heuston and the city centre. However the little jack Russel on the corner of Kingsbridge knew.

As for the dedicated shuttle. Connex provided one from Heuston at approx 8am recently. I assume its still running. But that appears to be it. All it takes is one Luas unit dedicated to it all day.

Unfortunetly, I fear a serious accident may occur, particularly on Saturdays. In short it needs more money for more units asap.

Instead of wasting the time to send the trams back or order the extra bits they should fit the auto-coupling attachment which lets the trams run in multiple. The platforms are for the most part long enough although they might need edge-detectors on the doors.

Platform lenghts on the red line are stuck at 40m it would be tricky if not impossible to extend them owing to road junctions

The stated capacity can change I've noticed on the buses:

RH: 47 up / 27 down / 20 Standing
RA: 47 up / 27 down / 13,11,9 Standing
RV: 47 up / 27 down / 9 Standing

all of these are substantially the same bus, with identical bodywork (only things such as lights, PA speaker locations, window trims and door handles differ).

Obviously someone in DB was made change the idiotic 20 that were allowed standing - could this be done on the LUAS (and enforced, with sufficient following trams to avoid irate passangers).