delays on Northern line 21st November

Colm Donoghue · 22-11-2006, 14:59

Got to Pearse last night at about 17:43, was a huge crowd on northbound platform, went down to the outside end ( with no mirror

) and waited.
couldn't hear any announcements.
Display said Dundalk next when I passed it.
Dart came next and left.
Then Maynooth train
then after maynooth had cleared the end of the station, signal went yellow, our train stayed south of Pearse for 6 minutes, eventually came in to station.

stopped at killester, no doors opened, driver announced some signaling failure at HJ

Got into Donabate at 18:53, a half an hour late on a journey that's supposed to take 33 minutes...

Mark Gleeson · 22-11-2006, 15:02

There appeared to be a failure of a DART and a failure of the signalling in Howth Junction

DART reliability has plummeted in recent months in no small part thanks to the refurbishment delays

zag · 22-11-2006, 18:18

I got stuck for a while at Clontarf Road about 1830 last night due to the signalling failures.

When I got to the station it said the next southbound train was in 10 minutes, but there was also a message scrolling along to say there were 25 minute delays due to signal fault at Pearse. I tromped on down to the end of the platform and waited, feeling smug that the 25 minute delay was gone since my train was due in 10 minutes.

After a delay a central announcement came on and we were told that trains were running 30 minutes late due to signal faults at Pearse and Howth Junction - the problem seemed to be spreading.

Straight away an announcement came from the ticket office (sounded like it anyway) to say the next train was leaving Howth Junction in 10 minutes. Sigh. Waited. Waited. The trains started flowing out of Connolly with the first one jam packed and the following ones pretty empty. Waited. Waited. Eventually saw a DART coming. Woohoo. Then saw a DART leaving. Boo. What the announcement failed to say was that while the train was leaving Howth Junction, it wasn't going to stop for us. Followed a good 5 or more minutes later by the Enterprise, followed a good 10 minutes later by a DART. I don't know how long the overall delay was (possibly the 30 minutes they predicted) but as usual the platform signage didn't give a realistic time.

I could have walked out of the station, got a bus into town and been home faster. The problem with these generic 'all trains are delayed' messages are that they aren't relative - I don't care if the next train coming in 3 minutes is the 1710 delayed by 34 minutes or the 1744 bang on time. All I need to know is when the next actual train will stop at the platform.

z

Colm Donoghue · 23-11-2006, 08:35

Last night I got to tara just after 6 so I decided to get the next dart to Pearse and get a seat on the 18:15 to Drogheda
The platform displays said 3 mins for next train tara - pearse and 9 minutes for the drogheda train. loads of time I thought.

waited for 11 of those 3 minutes got a dart to Pearse. got over to t'other platform. drogheda train delayed more

Eventually got going about 18:30.

Got into Donabate at 18:50, or 11 minutes of delay on a 24 minute journey

Another thing, there is no speaker in Pearse to announce to passengers standing at the south ends of the platforms and IE have managed to put a useless exit sign in the way of the electronic display, preventing communication.

ThomasJ · 23-11-2006, 09:47

Is it just me or is yesterdays note on maynooth line services resuming still displaying on the irish rail website or was there a problem again this morning if it is i am presuming that the dart problems last night was not updated on the website

ACustomer · 23-11-2006, 10:34

ThomasJ: I don't think it's just you; it's just them. No date or time on the item. Just like a careless person who leaves a "back in 10 minutes" sign on his office door for half the day!

Mark Gleeson · 23-11-2006, 10:38

Its still up, no date or time to go with it

Edit 12:10 IE read thread, 12:12 notice disappears

22-11-2006, 14:59	#1
Colm Donoghue Really Regular Poster Join Date: Dec 2005 Posts: 873	delays on Northern line 21st November Got to Pearse last night at about 17:43, was a huge crowd on northbound platform, went down to the outside end ( with no mirror ) and waited. couldn't hear any announcements. Display said Dundalk next when I passed it. Dart came next and left. Then Maynooth train then after maynooth had cleared the end of the station, signal went yellow, our train stayed south of Pearse for 6 minutes, eventually came in to station. stopped at killester, no doors opened, driver announced some signaling failure at HJ Got into Donabate at 18:53, a half an hour late on a journey that's supposed to take 33 minutes...

22-11-2006, 18:18	#3
zag Regular Poster Join Date: Oct 2006 Posts: 199	Station announcements I got stuck for a while at Clontarf Road about 1830 last night due to the signalling failures. When I got to the station it said the next southbound train was in 10 minutes, but there was also a message scrolling along to say there were 25 minute delays due to signal fault at Pearse. I tromped on down to the end of the platform and waited, feeling smug that the 25 minute delay was gone since my train was due in 10 minutes. After a delay a central announcement came on and we were told that trains were running 30 minutes late due to signal faults at Pearse and Howth Junction - the problem seemed to be spreading. Straight away an announcement came from the ticket office (sounded like it anyway) to say the next train was leaving Howth Junction in 10 minutes. Sigh. Waited. Waited. The trains started flowing out of Connolly with the first one jam packed and the following ones pretty empty. Waited. Waited. Eventually saw a DART coming. Woohoo. Then saw a DART leaving. Boo. What the announcement failed to say was that while the train was leaving Howth Junction, it wasn't going to stop for us. Followed a good 5 or more minutes later by the Enterprise, followed a good 10 minutes later by a DART. I don't know how long the overall delay was (possibly the 30 minutes they predicted) but as usual the platform signage didn't give a realistic time. I could have walked out of the station, got a bus into town and been home faster. The problem with these generic 'all trains are delayed' messages are that they aren't relative - I don't care if the next train coming in 3 minutes is the 1710 delayed by 34 minutes or the 1744 bang on time. All I need to know is when the next actual train will stop at the platform. z

23-11-2006, 10:38	#7
Mark Gleeson Technical Officer Join Date: Dec 2005 Location: Coach C, Seat 33 Posts: 12,669	Its still up, no date or time to go with it Edit 12:10 IE read thread, 12:12 notice disappears Last edited by Mark Gleeson : 23-11-2006 at 12:13.

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22-11-2006, 15:02	#2
Mark Gleeson Technical Officer Join Date: Dec 2005 Location: Coach C, Seat 33 Posts: 12,669	There appeared to be a failure of a DART and a failure of the signalling in Howth Junction DART reliability has plummeted in recent months in no small part thanks to the refurbishment delays

23-11-2006, 08:35	#4
Colm Donoghue Really Regular Poster Join Date: Dec 2005 Posts: 873	Last night I got to tara just after 6 so I decided to get the next dart to Pearse and get a seat on the 18:15 to Drogheda The platform displays said 3 mins for next train tara - pearse and 9 minutes for the drogheda train. loads of time I thought. waited for 11 of those 3 minutes got a dart to Pearse. got over to t'other platform. drogheda train delayed more Eventually got going about 18:30. Got into Donabate at 18:50, or 11 minutes of delay on a 24 minute journey Another thing, there is no speaker in Pearse to announce to passengers standing at the south ends of the platforms and IE have managed to put a useless exit sign in the way of the electronic display, preventing communication.

23-11-2006, 09:47	#5
ThomasJ Member Join Date: Dec 2005 Location: Clonsilla Posts: 2,812	Is it just me or is yesterdays note on maynooth line services resuming still displaying on the irish rail website or was there a problem again this morning if it is i am presuming that the dart problems last night was not updated on the website

23-11-2006, 10:34	#6
ACustomer Really Regular Poster Join Date: Jan 2006 Posts: 767	ThomasJ: I don't think it's just you; it's just them. No date or time on the item. Just like a careless person who leaves a "back in 10 minutes" sign on his office door for half the day!