[27-11-08 6.35 Dundalk to bray delayed

[tigger1962]

The train was delayed at drogheda by approx 10 mins. It also made unscheduled stops at malahide and portmarnock. No reasons given as to delay or stops.

[tigger1962]

The train was 15 minutes delayed at Pearse! I enquired at pearse as to why there was a delay.. I was informed that the earleir Rosslare train had broken down and this had led to a backlog!

As per usual with Iarnrod Eireann absolutely no information given on their website about delays or broken down trains..and no onboard announcements or otherwise as to the delay!

[chipper]

Lots of messing in Drogheda this morning.

A work colleague tells me that passengers for the 06:31 service to Rosslare were directed over to platform 2 and onto the train that usually operates as the 06:46. This left at 06:40 and was made quite clear that it was not the Rosslare service.

There was subsequently no train for the 06:46. At 6:55 an announcement was made that sounded like, "Mppmh uurgh, mmmm" but somebody must have heard it because people started back over the bridge towards platform 1 where the 06:59 was due to arrive from Dundalk. Another announcement, eligible this time, "Passengers for the 06:46 please remain on platform 2 as this train will arrive shortly and will depart before the scheduled 06:59". The cattle herded back over the bridge again. I opted to ignore this announcement and go to platform 1 for the 06:59 on the assumption that the first train to leave was going to collect a double load at every stop so the later one would be nice and empty.

06:59 and the train from Dundalk pulls into platform 1. Some people waiting for the 06:46 over on platform 2 start back over the bridge then turn back as another one arrives at platform 2. This new train that was masquerading as the 06:46 waited a few more minutes before departing, followed a couple of minutes later by the scheduled 06:59 which was now almost 10 minutes late.

Note that all of this was done while a train sat on platform 3 with its engine running, ready to operate as the 7:18.

Oddly, my decision to take the second train out of Drogheda did not result in an lighter load. Despite having a train running two minutes ahead, there were still plenty of people boarding along the way. Did the 06:46 miss some stops? The OP says that it stopped at Malahide and Portmarnock. I missed that because I was asleep but does that mean that the previous train did not make those stops as it is supposed to?

[Thomas Ralph]

I'm told that the 0646 Drogheda-Bray skipped Malahide; the 0635 Dundalk-Bray made the extra stops instead and was quite congested.

[chipper]

Originally Posted by tralph

I'm told that the 0646 Drogheda-Bray skipped Malahide; the 0635 Dundalk-Bray made the extra stops instead and was quite congested.

Bad luck if you wanted to go from Drogheda to Malahide because there was absolutely no mention that the 06:46 was not making that stop.

I am also intrigued by how the Rosslare service delayed things in Pearse when it did not make it out of Drogheda. Well that's what they said at 06:31 when my colleague was told to board the train over on platform 2. She says it was made very clear that it was not going to Rosslare. Where was the phantom Rosslare service?