[Nigel Fitzgricer]

Honest, I am not trolling when I say this. Having had a really good look around this board in recent times, I am surprised by how few messages are posted here and how threads seems to die so quickly. The activity level is a fraction of what it should be. P11 is very well known now - but this board isn't hoping like it should be.

There is a lot of interesting stuff, but to be honest there is not enough energy for the average Joe here in tems of keeping them interested. The engineering and techie stuff is grand for enlightening people on why so much stuff on the railway is *******ed, but it is often interjected with "well to be fair to IE...". I think this is a bit off putting as it comes across as an excuse a lot of the time.

There is nothing wrong with people coming on here and being outraged by what goes on with IE/CIE/RPA etc and letting them vent is fine. But most of the problems with IE from what I see are cultural with a "sure it'll do" ethos within that company. Apart from one or two posters and commitee members, this is hardly ever expressed here. This board should be nothing but that when you think about it.

These are the best threads on the board and unfortunately there is not enough of them posted here. Frankly there should be loads as then IE might get the message. I think people need to vent and even if they get a bit hot and heavy well that's OK as you might be dealing with somebody who just went through misery on an IE train and the last thing this person wants to hear is "well to be fair the vacume brake on the Mk4's is the issue..." - sometimes a person just needs to have their feelings about bad rail transport in Ireland validated. There is nothing wrong with this, and nothing unprofessional about the board having this kind of content as it's main content, or at least a greater level of this. If you look at boards like archiseek there is nice balance between ranting and techinical discussion and that board is hopping. A lot of the people on that board and others (obviously not IRN) should be posting here too and they just aren't as there is a common cross-over between rail transport-planning-politics and so on.

I think on the whole the board is very good and interesting, but its needs to be more open to the ordinary Joe Sixpack. I would suggest that people be allowed to rant sometimes. Almost nobody thinks that IE does a good job and this view is held by the vast majority of people who use their "services" if you can call them that. Starting with this reality as a given - the moderators should try to foster and encourage rail user outrage as it is real and it is valid. This is the only way IE and the Government will every get the message.

One suggestion I was thinking about is has P11 ever considered setting up a text messaging service with a number people can text incidents and complaints to as well as sending updates and so on to commuters? For many people this would be easier and more practical than emailing P11 or posting messages to the board as they are on the go when a lot of this garbage happens (they can always check later on the board when they get home) These could be uploaded to the board every evening rather than. Also, with the growth and popularity of i-pods as well there is a chance for something like P11 TV which could podcast issues and press releases to commuters. There are even clubs in Ireland now who do this and it would be perferct for P11 and what the group is about.

Again I am not trolling, the board is very good, but is vastly less popular than it should be. It should be hopping really. It's a warzone out there.