Train announcements

[hoopsheff]

Hi

I get the 6.30 portlaoise to Heuston train every morning (its one of the new ones)....I 've noticed that it always auto-announces that the train is going to stop at Clondalkin...which is followed by the driver announcing that the train WONT be stopping there!!


Also in the past few mornings the announcement message seems to play really slow when it names the station....brings a smile to everybody's face!


Then after work I get the 6.05 train back to Portlaoise. 2 mins prior to boarding there is an announcement telling people who are not intending to travel to get off the train....I dont know of anybody who gets on the train not intending to travel?? You have to show your ticket prior to boarding..so this announcement is a bit pointless/stupid.

Also up until recently it announced that the first stop was "Hundred" ....obviously they mean Adamstown! there was one day where the driver said afterwards that "hundred is computerspeak for Adamstown"


I think its a bit of a joke that IR cant even get the announcements right on these trains...they are new so they had to know what the routes were prior to loading the data into them.



anybody else heard any other poor quality announcements from IR?

[MOH]

Originally Posted by hoopsheff

Hi

I get the 6.30 portlaoise to Heuston train every morning (its one of the new ones)....I 've noticed that it always auto-announces that the train is going to stop at Clondalkin...which is followed by the driver announcing that the train WONT be stopping there!!


Also in the past few mornings the announcement message seems to play really slow when it names the station....brings a smile to everybody's face!


Then after work I get the 6.05 train back to Portlaoise. 2 mins prior to boarding there is an announcement telling people who are not intending to travel to get off the train....I dont know of anybody who gets on the train not intending to travel?? You have to show your ticket prior to boarding..so this announcement is a bit pointless/stupid.

Also up until recently it announced that the first stop was "Hundred" ....obviously they mean Adamstown! there was one day where the driver said afterwards that "hundred is computerspeak for Adamstown"


I think its a bit of a joke that IR cant even get the announcements right on these trains...they are new so they had to know what the routes were prior to loading the data into them.



anybody else heard any other poor quality announcements from IR?

Aside from the quality of IRs announcements, which are a joke, I've often been on a train when not intending to travel. If you're seeing an elderly relative off, or someone with a lot off luggage, you're often allowed board the train with them and make sure they get settled OK. Besides which, my annual ticket allows me through the turnstiles at Connolly anyway, so I can easily do it there.

Mind you, I've always been sure to be off the train at least 5 minutes before it's due to go.

[Mark Gleeson]

Its a fairly traditional pa to make in Heuston.

There are from time to time staff onboard as well who need to get out, the seat reservation people once got stuck on board!

Witnessed the Adamstown issue at first hand on the 18:05 myself, typical lazy Irish Rail not having solid validation of the systems before putting them in service

[clockwork orange]

Originally Posted by hoopsheff

Hi

I get the 6.30 portlaoise to Heuston train every morning (its one of the new ones)....I 've noticed that it always auto-announces that the train is going to stop at Clondalkin...which is followed by the driver announcing that the train WONT be stopping there!!


Also in the past few mornings the announcement message seems to play really slow when it names the station....brings a smile to everybody's face!


Then after work I get the 6.05 train back to Portlaoise. 2 mins prior to boarding there is an announcement telling people who are not intending to travel to get off the train....I dont know of anybody who gets on the train not intending to travel?? You have to show your ticket prior to boarding..so this announcement is a bit pointless/stupid.

Also up until recently it announced that the first stop was "Hundred" ....obviously they mean Adamstown! there was one day where the driver said afterwards that "hundred is computerspeak for Adamstown"


I think its a bit of a joke that IR cant even get the announcements right on these trains...they are new so they had to know what the routes were prior to loading the data into them.



anybody else heard any other poor quality announcements from IR?

If i'm not mistaken that particular train may well have been timetabled to stop in Clondalkin according to the national book of timetables you can get. However, a list of corrections informs that it doesn't actually stop there. That might explain the PA.

[comcor]

There's a similar auto-announcement problem on the 21:00 Heuston-Cork. When it gets to Mallow, there is an announcement that "Passengers for Banteer, Millstreet, Rathmore, Killarney, Farranfore and Tralee should change at Mallow". This is immediately followed by a manual announcement that there is no connecting service on the Kerry line.

[Laois Commuter]

Originally Posted by comcor

There's a similar auto-announcement problem on the 21:00 Heuston-Cork. When it gets to Mallow, there is an announcement that "Passengers for Banteer, Millstreet, Rathmore, Killarney, Farranfore and Tralee should change at Mallow". This is immediately followed by a manual announcement that there is no connecting service on the Kerry line.

The 1805 Dublin - Portlaoise makes a similar claim at Portarlington for the Galway and Westport lines. OK for Galway, but Westport??? Never heard a manual override.

Also on 1805, the station "confirmation" announcement occurs as the doors are closing....

LC

[MrX]

It comes down to the fact that Iarnrod Eireann simply cannot get the fine detail right EVER.

There's no quality control or consistency of service. One train does things right, the next doesn't. Some trains have catering some don't it's totally random.

Announcements are just symptomatic of a culture within that organisation. It simply does not give a damn about those details. The attitude seems to be 'aren't you lucky we let you on the train at all'.

I've actually stopped using Irish Rail after a few bad experiences on the Cork-Dublin line. I now drive or fly instead. I'd rather put up with the traffic the deal with not knowing if I have a pre-booked seat, having no idea if I can eat or not and having to put up with unemptied stinky toilets.

Sadly, they're a joke of an operation despite all the recent investment. No amount of shiny new trains will fix the lack of competent management and the lack of customer focus.

It's not really improving and I doubt it ever will. Sure the trains are a bit more frequent, but they're as slow as and as badly run as ever.

[Oisin88]

Originally Posted by Laois Commuter

The 1805 Dublin - Portlaoise makes a similar claim at Portarlington for the Galway and Westport lines. OK for Galway, but Westport??? Never heard a manual override.
LC

You could change at Port to the Galway train, go to athlone, stay overnight, and catch the train at about 10am the next day to Westport

Any train going through Portarlington, including ones coming from Galway and Westport, seem to get an announcement for passengers for Galway and Westport to change here!!