Portarlington meeting?

[2Funki4Wheelz]

Not sure where to post this - does anyone have any information on a meeting by the Portarlington Rail User Group? I overheard people on the train mentioning something about Wednesday but I didn't spot a notice in the station this morning.

[Stephen O'Leary]

Hi

The meeting is been held in the Pint O' Port Upper Main Street Portarlington on Wednesday the 25th October at 8.00pm

[2Funki4Wheelz]

Thanks for that

[kilman]

2Funki,
There were leaflets been passed out one of the mornings last week.
I'm hoping to get to this meeting tomorrow but if not can you post up details.
I believe they are to have the timetable.

[2Funki4Wheelz]

Will do, me and some neighbours are going. I was off work last week so that must be why I missed the leaflets.

[2Funki4Wheelz]

See attached proposed timetable Dublin-Portarlington (although Myles said this has gone to the printers and is ready for proofing - that doesn't sound that 'draft' to me!)

proposed timetable.doc

Due to the 'Kildare Line Project' (to 2009) delays of 5 - 7 mins are to be expected and these delays have been incorporated into the timetable, so I guess we'll be getting up earlier to get in for the same time
There a few extra services and it was felt overall that it was the best timetable Port had ever had.

The Portarlington platform is to be extended on both sides, this project is expected to start around February and is scheduled for approx 10 months. Level of disruption unknown.

The track is also to be straightened at some time in the future, although this is for non-stop services and is of no benefit to Port residents.

No later services than the 21.00 out of Dublin to Port or Portlaoise, due to a lack of rolling stock and the works(which will take place mostly at night), although at a push Myles said he hoped for some movement on this maybe in 2007, as it was one of the most requested services. Until then though, there is no real scope for improvement.

The car park is on a priority list for CCTV (digital) and the IE Board had approved the spend. It was confirmed that the Gardai had agreed to do twice daily runs around the car park. A few shocking stories - cars overturned, doors off etc. The station staff have refused to get involved and will not alert the Gardai if they observe any activity.

Paid security patrolled car park schemes have been piloted in Mallow @€2.00 a day and people asked that this be included in there tickets where possible and it was suggested this may discourage the people that drive from 5 minutes away.

Extension of the car park was also being investigated, a paper had been submitted to the IE board on this.

Numerous calls were made to do something about the 'Calcutta express', the nickname for the 17.10 out of Dublin, which is sardine packed until Newbridge/Port, has leaks and is basically rotting away. Again, nothing can be done about this until new stock arrives.

The attendees asked that 'hosts' as per the new Cork trains, be provided on the trains with the poorest service (17.10 & 17.55 out of Heuston) as the PA rarely worked and they suffered the most/worst delays. As the Cork train has a (fully) functioning PA, it seems ridiculous to 'double' cover the train, with PA and host. Myles confirmed that serious customer service changes were underway and the 'Host' concept was getting excellent feedback. It was hoped to get this service across all routes in the future.

Customer Service in general received a hammering at the meeting, especially rudeness from IE staff. Name badges are to be introduced in the future which may encourage the staff to feel more responsible for their actions and Customer Service training is underway. (Though as someone pointed out, basic common sense and courtesy would be a good start, no need to spend money on that!)

One person asked Myles to give more actual times for the developments above, with sepcific deadlines etc and Myles is to revert to the Rail Users Group within a month. He also hopes to meet with the group around 4 times annually and another public meeting can be held if necessary.

Let me know if I missed anything! Very long post I know but I take minutes a lot in my job so I have plenty of notes!!), well done to Stephen for organising, and well done to everyone who turned up on a horrible rainy night.

[CharlieBranch]

Originally Posted by 2Funki4Wheelz

One person asked Myles to give more actual times for the developments above, with sepcific deadlines etc and Myles is to revert to the Rail Users Group within a month.

Well I hope that the PRAG will put pressure on Myles on these issues, as from reading other threads, it can take some time to get dates and commitments from him.

[Mark Gleeson]

Don't bother with Myles he is most unreliable, only if you have discovered something nasty are you likely to get a answer. He was well and truely caught in Templemore when the mayor reported numerous attempts to get in touch with no response. The crowd in Newbridge almost lynched him in March when he made the mistake of talking, needless to say Steve Murphy did the rest of the talking. The bulk of the promises made elsewhere have either been forgotten or have taken months longer than promised.

Big tip here is form your own local rail users group and all of a sudden IE will ring you and beg to meet you

Portarlington has done well owing to its junction location, it appears that all trains on the Galway line will now stop. Myles probably didn't explain the true scale of the new longer journey times

I have seen the timetable for a number of stations (not telling which) but no one has seen the full page which is a move by IE to ensure no one can actually find holes in the system since you cant see how trains relate to each other, you dont even know which trains call where, which have catering, which have first or even where they are going

The one consistent issue is that of customer service, its simple and doesn't cost money. Staff are consistently unhelpful and unfriendly, uniforms seem optional and name badges are rare, complaints are not acknowledged, I've got some of the stats and its clear IE are lying, 90% of letters should be answered in 14 days, well its probably closer to 10%, I'm 7 weeks waiting now, the Newbridge crew can confirm widespread delays in correspondance with the office in Heuston

I want to make it clear that there are some great staff out there I've met quite a few of them but sadly the system doesn't recognise their efforts

Now think about a situation where the current stand around attitude is replaced by staff showing up on time in proper uniform and you would see a significant improvement in the running of the service for no cost

[2Funki4Wheelz]

Originally Posted by Mark Gleeson

Staff are consistently unhelpful and unfriendly, uniforms seem optional and name badges are rare, complaints are not acknowledged,Now think about a situation where the current stand around attitude is replaced by staff showing up on time in proper uniform and you would see a significant improvement in the running of the service for no cost

A shocker from last night, the unions have always objected to and held up the introduction of name badges until recently, these are also to be implemented 'in the future'. Who's in charge?? Customer facing staff dictating whether their wear badges or not??

Name badges introduce some responsibility, and uniforms may help with work ethic but as mentioned on this forum before, it is up to people to ask for staff member names and make note of specific incidents and formally complain, complain, complain.

[Mark Gleeson]

Clearly as we all could have guessed name badge means complaints are easy since you have a name, which means the complaint sticks. Take a trip up north and you will find staff turned out smartly with ID badges (staff id numbers not names which makes even more sense since there is no chance of getting it wrong) , the whole thing looking way more professional, so the service is shaky but the customer service attitude is light years ahead

Complaining is good once you are specific about dates and times. Take note of the day you send it in and if you hear nothing within 3 weeks please contact us all we need is your name, date of complaint and subject of complaint

IE say they answer complaints promtly well they don't but proof is essential

And remember

Passengers can't dictate the service

Wonder who said that.................

[Oisin88]

Originally Posted by 2Funki4Wheelz

Paid security patrolled car park schemes have been piloted in Mallow @€2.00 a day and people asked that this be included in there tickets where possible and it was suggested this may discourage the people that drive from 5 minutes away.

Obesity nation or what???

[Garrett Cummins]

Did I read this right or did Portarlington just volunteer for a €386 increase in tickets peryear, assuming a 193 day year? Surely the whole idea of public transport is to encourage people to take the train - need to change the mentality to see 'park and ride' in the overall scheme of an integrated strategy to promote public transport!

[Mark Gleeson]

If you want to stop non rail users from using the car park you simply implement a system where you need a valid rail ticket to exit otherwise charge a fee which is marginally greater than what ever the local authority charges for pay and display in order to discourage non rail users

At the moment the car parking situation is a farce, IE think they have a escape clause in the terms and conditions where they are liable for nothing. Put it this way if a train where to derail and come through the fence and wreck your car IE will claim they are not liable

Any attempt to apply charges will be resisted by all parties. the big question is paid or not IE have a duty of care to keep the car park in a reasonable condition question is how far can that be pushed

[Stephen O'Leary]

Portarlington Railway Action Group did not agree to any pay parking facilities been introduced at the train station and will strongly oppose any attempt to do so.

[Navan Junction]

Originally Posted by Stephen O'Leary

Portarlington Railway Action Group did not agree to any pay parking facilities been introduced at the train station and will strongly oppose any attempt to do so.

Maybe Mark's other suggestion of ticket exiting then?

[2Funki4Wheelz]

Playing devil's advocate here, in relation to the parking, most park-and-ride schemes are paid for (Red Cow Luas?), a company will always give the reason of the cost involved in security patrolling a car park/barriers etc. Doesn't the Heuston car park have to be paid for?

Realistically, a fare increase would be sought if IE couldn't get people to pay for parking and that hits the people that don't have cars/get taxis etc.

Also I'm guessing if IE is already having pilot schemes elsewhere, it will make the protesting by other stations against paying a lot tougher.
Apologies if my note suggested Port agreed, as Stephen said, they didn't but the question was raised that if there was a paid car park could it be incorporated into their ticket. Most people were against any extra charge but I guess some people just want their car to be safer even if it will cost money.

[kilman]

Did they provide arrival times for these trains?

[2Funki4Wheelz]

What do you think

Nope, and Myles kept saying he assumed they were correct, as he had not had a chance to check over them. Basically, every train journey is expected to lengthened by 5-7mins hence some of the times being moved backwards (e.g. 7.35 back to 7.24). We will see how this 5-7 mins pans out in practice.

[2Funki4Wheelz]

http://www.laoistoday.ie/ViewArticle2.aspx?SectionID=3806&ArticleID=1851734

Train service continues causing grief
THE dispute over local rail services heated up last Wednesday (October 25) night, when the Portarlington Commuters' Action Group convened in the town's Pint O' Port public house to voice their dismay at the current service between Portarlington and Dublin.
Lead by committee chairman, Stephen O'Leary, the disgruntled group laid bare their discontent at a rail service that accepts as the norm overcrowded carriages, delayed and damaged trains, inaccessible public toilets and inadequate car park facilities at the station.
Although acknowledging that some improvements had been implemented by Iarnr"d Eireann, the group lamented a poor quality service that not only includes delayed departures and an absence of proper sanitary facilities, but dangerous overcrowding that threatens passengers' health. The abusive attitude of railway staff was also a matter of concern.
The Portarlington Commuters' vocal discontent follows fast in the wake of a recent Laois County Council meeting which heavily criticised the Ballybrophy train service. With the 10.15am Dublin train from Ballybrophy already discontinued, Cllr Martin Phelan claimed that the proposal to also lose the 7.15am train would be "devastating," pointing out that up to 25 commuters used this service every morning to reach their jobs in Dublin.
Cllr John Turley expressed his own dismay, describing the early train service from Portlaoise as 'not good.'
Cllr Phelan also highlighted the scarcity of parking spaces at Portlaoise railway station and levied the accusation that, 'CIE seems to totally ignore their customers in western Laois.'
Cllr Jerry Lodge also bemoaned the CIE's lacklustre attitude to the local area, claiming that 'writing a letter to CIE is like writing to the Minister for Health: you will not get a reply.' Cllr Lodge's proposal for the Council to seek a meeting with the CIE Chairman was unanimously supported.
At last week's Portarlington Commuters' Action meeting, Iarnr"d Eireann's service planning manager, Myles McHugh, addressed the group's concerns and promised that action would be taken towards reducing delays and improving the general quality of service. Mr McHugh added:
'We are starting to listen and I think you'll see significant improvements over the coming months. We're working towards reducing delays and people will be genuinely surprised by the new trains we hope to introduce between 2007 and 2009.'

-Ryan Dunne and Seamus Dunne
31 October 2006