To Q or not to Q
 

Monday 12 December

Arrived at Hueston at 20 past 6 to get the 18:35 hours train to Portarlington which I think is the Limerick train. I figured I had enough time to queue for a coffee from Butlers to help with the freezing cold up that end of the station while waiting to board the train. So after picking out a nice free chocolate I hiked up to platform 7 at about half past. As usual not only was the actual train nowhere to be seen but the queue to get on it was halfway down the taxi drop-off area. Past experience told me not to even bother queuing because as this is such a usual occurrence I knew they'd just open the two doors and not check the tickets and just let people on. I was right, there was a big gathering up near the doors and a big rush once they were opened - every man for himself. Do I feel guilty for technically skipping the queue? Not a bit! Whether that's right or wrong, I don't care. A few of the day-drippers doing their Christmas shopping were throwing a few dirty looks at the regulars alright for skipping the queue but nobody looked like they cared and I knew I certainly didn't. Within the space of 5 minutes the whole crowd was on the train and we left not too much after 25 to 7.

1. Why does this train never board on time? As far as I've seen it's always a big rush job at the last minute
2. Do situations like this make it alright to skip queues? Should I have stood like an eejit at the end of the queue while everyone else hung around near the door pretending to be queuing for something else? I have to admit I'm a serial queue skipper, although only in certain situations. If a train is boarding on time and in a normal way then obviously I queue. But at the first sign of a crowding problem or delay of some sort I hear myself saying, feck it, I pay €2300 a year for this crap, I'm going to make sure I at least get a seat for my money. Should I feel bad about this??

Irish people are hopeless queuers at the best of times, even when there's an orderly queue people hop up from the seats and push their were into the front. Or else there's about 4 queues feeding into one.

I queue (and will throw q-jumpers dirty looks :p ) but I accept your point and totally understand why people do it, it does feel a bit like a moral excercise when everyone just piles on anyway.

The only way to sort this is to use barriers but that would be too organised for Heuston altogether. And do something about that hopeless 6:35 like moving it from the North Pole for a start.

I kinda do the Luas version to this. I get on at the same stop every day at rush hour when the trams are crammed full and but I know exactly where the tram stops and where the doors will line up so I always position myself on the edge of the platform right where the doors line up and I am always first onto the tram. A good few times I seen the tram coming so I ran to the platform right where the doors line up, squeezed on the tram leaving the people who had been waiting on the platform for 5+ minutes behind because the tram was too full. Get plenty of dirty looks :D

It is everyone for themselves on suburban service.

If you know your numbers you can stand inch perfect for the doors, Pearse in the evening has clusters of people exactly placed

18:35 is a big problem consistently

There's loads of room on that service anyway. I do the exact opposite, and sit down watching all the idiots queue and then fighting each other to get through the door. Then I just stroll up when everyone has gone.

Is there any particular reason they don't use a barrier system to make things more orderly?

Not particularly.