Irish Rail - are they always this bad?

Got the train on Friday - delayed in the station for 40 mins due to something up with a carriage or something.
Then on the way back yesterday, delayed in the middle of nowhere in some small station for 15mins waiting for another train to come through - everyone got out and was somking on the platfrom.
Then on arrival to Heuston, delayed for 10 mins awaiting "platform clearance".
Is this always the way or was I expecting too much?

What train?

Coming back from Westport - standing room only!

I think that it stops at Manulla on this route (only taken it once), so that's probably usual.

Friday and Sunday are probably the worst days to travel.

If the train was late departing, I wouldn't be surprised if there were knock-on issues.

I wouldn't be a fan of using the train from longer journeys in Ireland (but I use it every day for commuting).

Platform 11 is a good site to get an idea of what the route is usually like and to discuss IE generally.

the westport train stops in manulla as there is a connecting train to ballina but it shouldnt any more than a normal stop. sometimes the train does stop in the middle of nowhere to let another train pass (galway? ) not sure the reason why.
i have never encountered standing room only coming back from westport/castlebar but it does happen departing from dublin.

ludermor said:

the westport train stops in manulla as there is a connecting train to ballina but it shouldnt any more than a normal stop. sometimes the train does stop in the middle of nowhere to let another train pass (galway? ) not sure the reason why.

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Clara or thereabouts maybe?

Tullamore - there's a single track into and out of it, so if there's something coming in the opposite direction, you have to wait.

Yes, the trains are always bad when they go through Tullamore. It's a shambolic service. I ended up giving up public transport and driving to Dublin Airport, it was that bad.

Clara - thats the place - we were there for about 10/15 mins. And it was defo standing room only all the way.
On the bright side, i'm picking my car up today. Thank God.

In answer to your question...yes, I find Irish Rail are always this bad.

I use the commuter service from Skerries to Pearse. It's rarely on time, the express rolleyes: )travels at a snails pace...probably because it's behind some DART. We generally always stop somewhere between Fairview and Connolly for a few minutes. There seems to be only one train an hour outside peak times and pretty much all day Sunday, this might not be entirely accurate but it sure as hell feels this way every time I go to catch one.

I'm like Cinderella coming home as the last train leaves Connolly at 11.20pm so I have to leave friend at before 11pm to make the trek to Connolly station as the last DART to connect to this train leaves Tara St at about 11pm or before. Transport 1821!!

micamaca said:

We generally always stop somewhere between Fairview and Connolly for a few minutes.

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Yes. This is so they can change drivers at the Fairview depot. No chance that they could do it at the station of course.

dont go near any train leaving heuston on a friday, they squash as people as they can into these old 1960's trains, its mayhem, im so glad my commuting days are over

have spent far too much time on trains over the last ten years both here and in the UK and in fairness to Irish Rail it isn't all bad. I commute regularly to Heuston from Carlow and generally find that we arrive "on time" (although how they slow the train up enough so that it takes fifty minutes from Kildare is a pet peeve), leave Dublin on time and I usually get a seat though I am normally one of the last people running for it. The service is very cheap particularly in comparison to the UK (Carlow to Dublin day return €12.80, Colchester to London day return the cheapest (ie non peak) is £29!) but they do have a definite capacity problem both in terms of carriages and network.

The 6.25 to Waterford usually sits almost everyone - the later train to Carlow has helped there, but I have seen people making the trains to Athlone/Galway/Westport and they always seem crammed in the evening. Passenger numbers have leapt over the last few years (from their annual reports, in 2000 they carried 31.7m people in 2006 they carried 43.3m people) and while they have increased the number of trains there are still more planned to come. Furthermore they have several bottlenecks as a result of infrastructure limitations, only some of which are being addressed.

Probably the most problematic are that a significant proportion of the network is single track, that the DART, suburban commuter Arrows and the Intercity trains all use the same tracks (rather than having fast and slow lines) and that the entrance to Heuston is three tracks with limited expansion possibilities. These are all going to take much more work to address and much more time. I suppose I am willing to hope that the promised improvements make a difference so I am willing to give them the time.

Oh and micamaca I wish my last train was 11.20pm!! I need to be in Heuston by 8.05pm

Great thing about Irish rail network is you get to spend time in spots like Portarlington, Manualla, middle of bog in Offally and Limerick Junction (actually somewhere in Tipperary).
I once took train journey from Limerick to Athlone: initial train was actually like Dodge Express and dropped you in Limerick Junction, wait on platform for 20 minutes, get Cork-Dublin train to Portarlington, wait on platform for another 20 minutes for Dublin-Galway train. Then stopped somewhere in Offaly for 5 minutes, I thought we waiting for water for engine or some such, then eventually get to Athlone.
So journey that takes 1.5 odd hours by car took about 3 hours by rail.

Yeah almost as good as the stupid adds for Bus Eireann, they take you wherever you want to go. They should add little disclaimer at the end,
something like "only applies if town lies along route between between cities".

Good post so-crates. Hard to disagree with anything you said.

Well So-crates, you obviously have a lot more experience than I on the train and a lot more miles under the belt, so perhaps you can give a more rounded view on this.

The last time, and I vowed it would be the last time, I took the train out of Dublin was on a bank holiday weekend...yes I know, things are always bad on a bank holiday weekend. But then surely increased passenger load can be planned for. It certainly wasn't that time. I left work early, was down in Heuston for 1pm to queue for some train. The queue stretched around Heuston like a snake in a cage to small for it. We stood on the way down and we stood on the way back. I didn't get on the first train on the way back as the queue was too big. And I paid more than enough for this service. Never again!
I love travelling by train but not here. I agree, our infrastructure may be to blame for a lot of the problems. But not all of them. I think the attitude of Irish Rail is very complacent but then there is no-one else here driving our trains so that's the reason for that. No competition, no choice. My husband is often late due to trains arriving late, trains breaking down, trains not arriving at all. And there is usually very little by way of explanation and precious little apology for a break-down in the service. But then if he were to bus it to town, it would take over 2 hours so he sticks with the train.

And while 11.20 might seem better than 8pm, you'll have to admit for a commuter service for Dublin, it's not very late. The Luas runs into the wee hours of the morning and even Dublin Bus has a nite link. What about the trains!

you can pre book your seats online now, have only done it on the cork train but it works out ok, no need to be there an hour beforehand

I commute from North County Dublin and am well used to delays.
Once I was waiting for a train and the station master announced:

"Iarnrod Eireann would like to apologise for the late departure of the Dundalk train due to the.....late departure of the train".

purpeller said:

I commute from North County Dublin and am well used to delays.
Once I was waiting for a train and the station master announced:

"Iarnrod Eireann would like to apologise for the late departure of the Dundalk train due to the.....late departure of the train".

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Once friend was on train to the West.
The train stopped and the announcer came on stating
"the train will be late arriving in Galway ....<pause> ... it is nobodys fault"

Around the time of the foot and mouth outbreak I was working part-time with CSO on cross border traffic (rail). While I got to sit, for a while, in 1st class on the Belfast-Dublin train (can't remember the name) and felt like I was well looked after, one night we were (around Valentines Day) going just over the border to Newry (I went Dundalk-Portadown). Suddenly the window exploded in the carriage I was in and the train stopped (someone pulled the break). 2 hours later we moved off, with my about to miss my connection back and no chance to do anything other than jump off in Newry and call a friend to collect me. However, in the paper the next day an IE spokesman said the train had not stopped until reaching the next station - which was a total lie. I contacted IE and they flat out denied the story. So I just took it that I lost, then all hell broke loose on Joe Duffy and Gerry Anderson and they had to admit that the train did stop in the middle of nowhere.

I didn't want anything other than to hear the truth come out, especially as I had to ride the rails 3 days a week!

FWIW, if you are delayed by more than an hour, you are entitled to a refund.