[12-05-2008] Some services are delayed... Pearse - Connolly

[James Shields]

...due to points failure at Pearse.

Nothing moving at Grand Canal Dock. Northbound DART stuck just north of station, and Drogheda train just to the south. No indication of how long it's likely to be.

[Mark Gleeson]

A very long line of people heading from Pearse towards the IFSC presumably for docklands at the moment

[James Shields]

Northbound DART retreated to platform, booted everyone off, and became a south bound DART. Drogheda train arrived shortly after and proceeded to advance to the same spot as the DART where we waited for another while. Just arrived in Pearse, approx 50 mins late. I wonder if we can lose another 10 mins along the way and fill in another refund form?

Announcements in Pearse say DART will return to normal shortly.

[Terrontress]

Some services? All services more like.

We were advised to head from Pearse to Connolly. There was a massive snake of people walking across the new bridge, through the ifsc and into Connolly.

I'm here now. They are saying that trains are 15 min delayed yet we are waiting for the 5.35 ex Pearse. That's 50 minutes delayed by my book. I have never seen the place so crowded. Very dangerous if you ask me.

[Mark Gleeson]

In classic IE form

DART & Commuter service delays by Corporate Communications

Iarnród Éireann advises customers that DART and Commuter services travelling in the Connolly-Pearse area are delayed by up to 40 minutes due to a points fault at Pearse Station.

Dublin Bus are accepting rail tickets for affected areas.

Iarnród Éireann apologises for the inconvenience caused.

Einstein and Hawkin would be proud of Irish Rail's ability to bend the laws of physics everything is on time unless your train goes between Connolly and Pearse which is eh 95% of trains

[MOH]

I was on the one stuck just north of Pearse. Got there about 17.20, already running 5 mins late. After 7 or 8 minutes got a mumbled announcement that there was a point issue, we shouldn't be delayed for long. About 10-12 minutes later another announcement that they were working on it, not much more delay. Eventually about 17.45 announced the delay would continue for at least another hour, so we were reversing back to GCD and we could make our own way home while the train went back to Bray.

When we got off at GCD it was chaos, I reckon by the time I made it up the stairs about half my train had left, but there were still 170-200 people on the norhbound platform. A lot of people who had been in the station didn't seem to know about the problem, don't know if they'd just arrived or if there had been no announcments made. The train waited about 2-3 minutes then headed of too Bray almost empty since with a DARTload of angry commuters trying to get across and out of the station, no one who had been waiting on the opposite platform was going to make it over in that time.

It took ages to get up and across the bridge, a few people just ran across the tracks. No staff in sight anywhere. Had to walk as far as Connolly before I could get a taxi since half the train was looking for one, didn't help that traffic was mental. As we passed Connolly looked up and the DART platforms there looked insanely crowded. I don't know how nobody got injured in GCD or Connolly, and I presume other stations were as bad.

Having absolutely no technical knowledge, I don't really get how the points could have failed between us leaving GCD and arriving at Pearse. Surely they'd be set up whatever way they needed to be before we left GCD? And at least instead of having a trainload of people sweltering for 30 minutes then all trying to exit the station at once, they could have left in dribs and drabs as the delay lengthened if we were still on the platform at GCD.

Given that we were already 30 minutes late and the driver told us the delay would be at least another hour, and to make our own way home, I'm pushing them for my paltry refund.

[drowned_in_sound]

ah yes, Grand Canal Dock was fun, i was there waiting on a northbound train when the Dart terminated and dumped its passengers onto the already packed platform. It must have taken 15 minutes for everyone to get across the footbridge, and the slack jawed gawkers standing on the steps of the footbridge didn't help the congestion much. The station is already bad enough stinking of sh*te from Ringsend sewage plant but this was just ridiculous, so i walked back to work and left again at 7pm...upon arriving back at Grand Canal station at 7pm was presented with a nice 25 minute wait until the next Dart. After the maynooth line fiasco a few weeks ago, i was pleasantly surprised the service was back at all this evening.

It's days like that when i start thinking about Buenos Aires.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2007/may/16/argentina

[Colm R]

Leaving work last yesterday I got the bus as I heard what was happening. I joined the droves of people crossing the foot bridge at the IFSC heading to Connolly. When I was getting my bus on Amiens Street, the bus driver refused to accept other peoples tickets. I was paying cash so obviously had no problem.

One woman was adamant that she was told in Pearse that she could use the ticket. It was the 31 heading for Howth so I would presume elegible for use on the bus. I had seen other bus drivers accept them.

The driver refused to accept the ticket and the woman and a number of other passengers refuesed to pay. The driver won as they got off the bus choosing to get the next one.

The driver was claiming that he heard nothing on the radio to say he could accept the ticket. With a little bit of common sense, the driver should have noted the sheer volume of people on the street and the unusually large number of people waiting for buses and deduce that something was up. We were there for a good 8 minutes. Even if he looked up and noted that not one train had passed over the train in that time.

An integrated ticket system would prevent such a mess I believe.

[shweeney]

the usual IE response to unexpected problems: