On train information and the lack thereof, post your experience

[Mark Hennessy]

This mornings 06:58 Maynooth Pearse was heading to Newry via the Docklands.

The internal scrolling destination was going to somewhere like SD123.MP3.

[MOH]

Not on the train, but was waiting in Harmonstown Tuesday morning last week.
At about 9:25 am the platform display was helpfully showing the time as 13:35.

[Oisin88]

The eastbound Galway and Westport services have an announcement on the new trains at Portarlington to tell passengers for the Galway and Westport lines to change here!

[fergn]

Yesterdays 1640 Connolly - Gorey train worked by 29022 was displaying on the internal displays the list of stopping stations in irish and nothing else and no automated annoucements and the external displays showing next station at Tara Street for the whole journey. Needless to say plenty of confusing especially with non irish speakers as to where it was stopping.

[KSW]

Mark I remember you sending me a private message, It was to do with this. I wrote to you about the 17.25 Gorey service last year before extended to Enniscorthy why did it not display Gorey as its destination and not Arklow your reply was you could take legal action.

I have heard the 2800 class commuter railcars onboard announcements and they are fast and if better than the 29000 railcars. Why do all Rosslare/Gorey train drivers not turn on this onboard system. If its there use it.

[Oisin88]

Originally Posted by fergn

Yesterdays 1640 Connolly - Gorey train worked by 29022 was displaying on the internal displays the list of stopping stations in irish and nothing else and no automated annoucements and the external displays showing next station at Tara Street for the whole journey. Needless to say plenty of confusing especially with non irish speakers as to where it was stopping.

most of them sound nearly the same.... Bré is Bray... For the Cill Mantain's and the like, I think most people would know them at this stage....

[ThomasJ]

Everything on this train [audio, visual, internal, external] was telling me this train is going to bray.

This is the saturday only service operating to pearse station.

[off-topic, but i met a couple of ACDC fans getting on the train who had bought tickets for docklands and were not going to get on the train because they were waiting for docklands]

[Thomas Ralph]

Who sold them tickets for Docklands of a Saturday?

[ThomasJ]

i'd say it was the auto ticket machine. the ticket offices for coolmine and clonsilla are normally closed on a saturday. they probably bought the tickets on the city bound platform and therefore probably didnt even see the timetable or missed the days run part!

[Thomas Ralph]

Well, Docklands shouldn't show up as an option on weekends then

[Mark Gleeson]

It appears Irish Rail have given up

Just buy a new PIS

http://www.etenders.gov.ie/search/sh...x?ID=APR116715

[drumcondra commuter]

Originally Posted by Mark Gleeson

It appears Irish Rail have given up
...

On this front alone?

Seriously though: timetables are slipping and staff morale can't be very high given the current Government round of cuts / rumours of cuts.

[Mark Gleeson]

Trying is probably a generous term for Irish Rail's efforts

Its classic Irish Rail, capital cost for a routine matter, so much better by PR

We fixed the PIS system

vs

We have installed a brand new one..

[Artur]

I had a really bad experience some time ago (31 March) but only now have time to post the details here (sorry for that).

16:22 Greystones - Howth, run by electric unit 8538, got in at Tara St. at 17:05. Internal display showed destination as Dun Laoghaire, no voice announcement till Connolly.

16:39 Bray - Malahide, run by electric unit 8514, as seen departing from Connolly at 17:23. External display (on the side): destination - Greystones, next stop - Raheny. At the back: destination - Bray (that was just hilarious).

Station displays not working at: Ashtown, Castleknock and Coolmine stations around 6pm. They were working, however, on a far less popular Phoenix Park station. Displays at Coolmine also out of order on 28 March (TBH every time I'm around there they're off).

IR website not showing a good and convenient connection from south Dart to Maynooth. It tells you that in order to catch 17:28 Connolly - Maynooth you have to take the 16:22 Greystones - Howth arriving at Connolly at 17:08. In fact, you can easily take the 16:39 Bray - Malahide arriving at Connolly at 17:21 at the adjacent platform (6, I guess) to the one where the train to Maynooth is waiting (7?) - no need to take the underpass. So it's a very handy transfer, allowing 7 minutes to cross the platform, and a lot of people were doing so. Yet, according to IR website, you won't make it.

Laser card not accepted by two ticket machines at Tara St. although the card worked on the same day in a shop and was previously successfully used in IR machines.

All in all, surprisingly many issues during a short and simple journey resulting in a bad experience that can easily put a lot of people off the trains (not me, mind you).

[Thomas Ralph]

All very valid points. I don't think the station displays beyond Phoenix Park work at all, though, because of signalling limitations. Mark will confirm or deny this shortly.

[Mark Gleeson]

They don't work, the Phoenix Park ones kind of work but are not to be trusted

[KSW]

On train info & the lack thereof, post your experience

Just on that title the lack of Info thereof, on the Gorey & Rosslare trains the onboard info is just unless. All one does is sit on the 2800 commuter train for 1hr50mins until Gorey God help any body who travels further. Damm slow and lazy is the title for the Rosslare line.

[fergn]

On today's (1/05/09) 1640 Connolly - Gorey as I was boarding I noticed that the PIS was announcing and displaying in Irish that the train was going from Drogheda to Rosslare and announcing all the stations starting from Tara Street that morning Rosslare train stops at including Dalkey and Killiney. Is this an indication that we may see an Intercity Railcar working the 0631 Drogheda to Rosslare in the near future?

[Mark Gleeson]

Computer is programmed for every route regardless, if the driver keys in the wrong code you can get some very weird results

[ThomasJ]

I have been on this train three of the last four saturday and the internal and external audio and visual systems have been displaying bray as the destination even though the saturday service doesnt go to bray anymore