Train halted by flooding

Alan French · 31-10-2011, 17:36

Does anyone know any more about this story?

On Monday 24th October - one of the nights of the flooding - the 17.55 Rosslare-Dublin terminated at Dalkey because of the flooded line at Dun Laoghaire. I got a phone call from a friend in Drogheda to say that his son - aged about 20 - was on his way from Rosslare to Drogheda when the train was halted at Dalkey. Could I put him up for the night? (I live in Dun Laoghaire.) I said I would, if he could make his way to Dun Laoghaire. But I was curious to know what arrangement had been made for passengers stranded at Dalkey.

Over the course of a few phone calls, it transpired that no arrangement had been made; the driver was as clueless about bus transfers as the passengers were.

When the young man arrived at my house, he told me that between Bray and Dalkey the driver had said that they would be returning to Bray where buses would bring passengers to Dublin. But on arriving at Dalkey, the driver announced that they wouldn't be returning to Bray after all. No further arrangements were made. When I asked him what the other passengers did, he said, "They all got taxis". He had no money, only his return tickets.

Anyway, he stayed the night and continued his journey the next morning. Now, he may not have been the most resourceful of people, in terms of asking people what was happening. But the story seems unresolved - something must have happened, but I don't know what it was.

If in fact the train was abandoned with no thought given to how passengers would continue their journey, then there are serious issues with IR. It reminds me of the thread "Dumped at Clonsilla" (see Maynooth line) - rail staff provided no information, and those who took taxis could have a claim against IR. Does anyone know any more about this incident?

James Howard · 01-11-2011, 18:17

A bit of a deafening silence on this one.

Most people probably find this acceptable. I certainly don't find it surprising as something similar has happened to me a few times over the years. Irish Rail seem to deal with this sort of incident on an an-hoc basis. If it is an Intercity train, you'll generally get rescued by a bus after an hour or two but in the Dublin area you're on your own. I've been abandoned in Broombridge at night which is a lot scarier than Dalkey

As an exercise, replace the victim with 16 year old girl and the consequences with "attacked and raped", and pretend you are Barry Kenny blaming somebody else.

31-10-2011, 17:36	#1
Alan French Member Join Date: Dec 2008 Posts: 89	Train halted by flooding Does anyone know any more about this story? On Monday 24th October - one of the nights of the flooding - the 17.55 Rosslare-Dublin terminated at Dalkey because of the flooded line at Dun Laoghaire. I got a phone call from a friend in Drogheda to say that his son - aged about 20 - was on his way from Rosslare to Drogheda when the train was halted at Dalkey. Could I put him up for the night? (I live in Dun Laoghaire.) I said I would, if he could make his way to Dun Laoghaire. But I was curious to know what arrangement had been made for passengers stranded at Dalkey. Over the course of a few phone calls, it transpired that no arrangement had been made; the driver was as clueless about bus transfers as the passengers were. When the young man arrived at my house, he told me that between Bray and Dalkey the driver had said that they would be returning to Bray where buses would bring passengers to Dublin. But on arriving at Dalkey, the driver announced that they wouldn't be returning to Bray after all. No further arrangements were made. When I asked him what the other passengers did, he said, "They all got taxis". He had no money, only his return tickets. Anyway, he stayed the night and continued his journey the next morning. Now, he may not have been the most resourceful of people, in terms of asking people what was happening. But the story seems unresolved - something must have happened, but I don't know what it was. If in fact the train was abandoned with no thought given to how passengers would continue their journey, then there are serious issues with IR. It reminds me of the thread "Dumped at Clonsilla" (see Maynooth line) - rail staff provided no information, and those who took taxis could have a claim against IR. Does anyone know any more about this incident?

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01-11-2011, 18:17	#2
James Howard Really Really Regluar Poster Join Date: Aug 2009 Location: Sligo Line Posts: 1,115	A bit of a deafening silence on this one. Most people probably find this acceptable. I certainly don't find it surprising as something similar has happened to me a few times over the years. Irish Rail seem to deal with this sort of incident on an an-hoc basis. If it is an Intercity train, you'll generally get rescued by a bus after an hour or two but in the Dublin area you're on your own. I've been abandoned in Broombridge at night which is a lot scarier than Dalkey As an exercise, replace the victim with 16 year old girl and the consequences with "attacked and raped", and pretend you are Barry Kenny blaming somebody else.