Customer Panel

[Rashers]

I seen a notice on one of the railcars ex Drogheda this morning from IE looking for customers to join a customer panel.
I could only 1/2 see the notice, but it mentioned the Belfast, Northern suburban, and Rosslare lines. There were definetly more though.
There was a phone number and email address to get more details...

[Mark Gleeson]

We have been aware of this for some time, there are 4 such notices hidden in Connolly no notices in Pearse

We have requested P11 members to join or attempt to join through a notice on the members section. Don't expect miracles these panels per say have existed for many years and where even used to justify the mess in Kildare last year since it was claimed the change was in line with local wishes Kildare passengers seemed to want fewer trains. All the lines listed fall under the jurisdiction of a ex UK manager which explains a lot

Basically they are looking for

Drogheda, Belfast, Sligo, Maynooth and Rosslare

Passengers

customer.usergroups@irishrail.ie
01 703-1747

Hint don't mention P11 since it will automatically disqualify you since these groups are really a cover to satisfy a agreement given to the DoT

You will notice the absence of DART on the list which is no surprise (yeah where I'd qualify), the Dart manager is a wall of silence, ignores letters, denies issues and as always promises results but has yet to deliver anything. We have it in writing that there is a new map for the DART and suburban fleet, dated Feb 5th 2006. We have a copy of said map since July (and we got it from a non IE source) but you won't find it online or on the trains

[Nigel Fitzgricer]

About 4 years ago on the Sligo line they handed out surveys to passengers to fill in which were very good I thought. They asked questions about things like "Do You Prefer More Trains a Day?" and information on how many times a year you took the train and so on. They should have something like that on their website running constantly. A lot of the US public transit sites have on-line surveys I think you just need a ticket number to validate it.

[Derek Wheeler]

While this IE endeavour sounds good, I fear its just an attempt to stem any form of real action under the guise of looking like they care.

Mark G and I went up north over the summer and seen the translink posters for their user groups (that have been running for a while now). I subsequently got in touch with reps from the Larne line user group and they told me that an independent user group had been established due to Translinks complete inertia in relation to the group they created. Nothing was actually being done.

It is safe to assume that any similar iniative by IE would yield the same results. Its somewhat perverse, that a well known representation body like P11 has not been contacted in relation to this. However, we have already submitted our intent to be involved and would encourage anyone on the lines mentioned, to do likewise.

The RPA actively engage with P11. The DOT actively engage with P11. The Railway Safety Commission actively engage with P11. (all mentioned, initiate contact without prompting and on the basis of our proven role in the area of rail transport) We are even approached by transport related bodies that we wouldn't even begin to know existed. (see european survey thread) But IE continue to distance themselves.(Invitations to ride on a new train don't count) Longterm this will damage IE far more than P11

[Rashers]

I first had my name listed to join the panel for the Northern Suburban line last September (during the Ryder Cup to be precise). After no one coming back to me, I rang again in October to get the form, and duly completed it. Despite a couple of follow up emails by me, and a couple of 'we'll get back to you' replies, still nothing.
Another classic example of the joke IE refer to as Customer service. 5 full months of complete inaction. They really don't seem to care at all, and only put the posters up to give the impression they wanted to hear what their customers thought of the service they provide.

[Mark Gleeson]

Oh the fun we can have with this

[Derek Wheeler]

Originally Posted by Rashers

I first had my name listed to join the panel for the Northern Suburban line last September (during the Ryder Cup to be precise). After no one coming back to me, I rang again in October to get the form, and duly completed it. Despite a couple of follow up emails by me, and a couple of 'we'll get back to you' replies, still nothing.
Another classic example of the joke IE refer to as Customer service. 5 full months of complete inaction. They really don't seem to care at all, and only put the posters up to give the impression they wanted to hear what their customers thought of the service they provide.

Im disappointed you had this experience Rashers. But Im not surprised in the slightest. Ive been busy on another thread tonight trying to explain why the P11 committee have very little faith in dealing with IE. We had kind of thought the guts fell out of this proposal as we had seen nothing happening on the ground. However, don't be surprised if it is due to lack of interest. While my learning curve in this endeavour has shown me the inertia displayed by IE, Government and politicians in general, Ive also witnessed something similar with rail users themselves. The only difference is the IE and politico heads are paid to care, but the humble passenger just wants to get to and fro.