Train driver safety........

Fr Dougal

Apologies but not sure if this is in the right forum. Mod, feel free to move it. Also, may have been covered in another thread but couldn't find one.

About 6 weeks ago I was on a morning DART heading to town. At about 8.30, just after the Dart left Killester station the driver came on over the PA system. He was making a complaint to "control" but obviously didn't know he was on the speaker system. His conversation went something along the following lines:

"Good Morning, I want to register a complaint. There is no mirror on the southbound platform in Killester. It's an accident waiting to bleedin happen, ye know. There doing some work in the station and the probably took it down and forgot to put it back up. It's very bloody dangerous. I couldn't see a thing. The train is absolutely jammed. I just closed the f*****g doors and took off. I could have taken 20 of them out of it, I don't know. I'm just trying to cover my ****! I'm just interested in me sausages and rashers at this stage. Something should be done, it's an accident waitin to bleedin happen. Right, cheers. Thanks"

Perhaps someone could have been outside the train but had their coat caught in the door.......
I reported this to IR via their customer services contact page. I asked them what their safety policy is if the driver knew there was an issue.
Their customer contact charter states that they respond within 15 days. However, 6 weeks and two reminder e-mails later I have not heard a word form them.
Were any other boards members on the train?
You assume that the drivers do all within their power to ensure our safety but I think this shows what they're really thinking about.

BrianD

Jeez, first trucks and now we have blind spots on trains...next it will be the planes!! Is the mirror still missing? There should be a guard on the platform to assist the driver. Odd that the driver used such expletives over the radio...

chewy

you have to write a letter to them to get a response... do so...

atleast the driver said something too

Fr Dougal

chewy wrote:

atleast the driver said something too

Yeah, he knew there was a problem but still pulled away without checking....
More interestred in his breakfast.

enterprise

Well has the mirror been replaced? Check tonight on your journey home.

Also it looks like the driver needs a refresher on what button is for the P.A. and the other to contact the Regulator / Signalman!

Seriously though, I think he was going over the top when he contacted, what he though was control. As far as I can remember the platform at Killester is straight - therefore nothing is stopping him from opening the window and looking back down the whole train to see if its ok to close the doors. I would be VERY VERY surprised if he closed the doors, got his "blue light" and pulled away without checking back along the train first.

landser

both my gf and i were on the train. we actually got on in killester in the last carriage, and it was jammers. i think the mirror is back up now. whats more worrying is that the implication would seem to be that the dart can take off with its doors open!!!

Trojan

It is straight, and the mirror is still missing (unless they've moved it miles up, and back from the track to where it can't be seen from mid-way).

enterprise: fair enough he should have hit the right button, but don't shoot the messenger! (Do you work for IE? Sounds exactly like their attitude...)

Fr Dougal

Find it hard to believe he did it myself. Maybe he did look out but I'm just going on what he said.
When he started talking first everyone started laughing but as soon as he came out with "I just closed the f*****g doors and took off. I could have taken 20 of them out of it, I don't know." nobody could believe it.

He had quite a few more expletives thrown in and was havin a bit of a laugh with "Control"

Landser, is that how his conversation went? Not quite verbatim but pretty close, as I recall.

enterprise

Trojan wrote:

enterprise: fair enough he should have hit the right button, but don't shoot the messenger! (Do you work for IE? Sounds exactly like their attitude...)

Trojan, Im not shooting the messenger at all, I am just giving my own opinion of the facts which have been given to us, which everybody else is doing.

enterprise

landser wrote:

both my gf and i were on the train. we actually got on in killester in the last carriage, and it was jammers. i think the mirror is back up now. whats more worrying is that the implication would seem to be that the dart can take off with its doors open!!!

No DART or COMMUTER train with automatic doors can leave a station with its doors open - the traction system is isolated until the doors are all closed and the "Door Interlock" light (aka "Blue light"), which is fail safe has been Illuminated in the drivers cab.

Trojan

Apologies enterprise. I didn't mean to seem aggressive with that question. I picked up on the fact that you were much more critical of the driver for picking the wrong button and blowing it out of proportion, than the fact that the mirror was missing, when every platform on the line has a mirror or CCTV. It sounds quite similar to some of the unwavering "the company is always right" views expressed on here recently.

Fr Dougal

enterprise wrote:

No DART or COMMUTER train with automatic doors can leave a station with its doors open - the traction system is isolated until the doors are all closed and the "Door Interlock" light (aka "Blue light"), which is fail safe has been Illuminated in the drivers cab.

Sorry guys, I never said that any door was open. Nor did I say he did not look out of the cab.

I was sitting in the train so I, like most passengers, just heard the conversation.


However, his own words seem to indicate that he did not look out.

"The train is absolutely jammed. I just closed the f*****g doors and took off. I could have taken 20 of them out of it, I don't know. "

I was really raising this because of his apparent disregard for safety, not because of an actual incident.

landser

Fr Dougal wrote:

Landser, is that how his conversation went? Not quite verbatim but pretty close, as I recall.

pretty much, and the reaction in my carriage was as you described it, initial humour followed by a lot of "f**k me".

as for the platform in killester, it is not 100% straight. there is a small kink in it which means that when a 6 carriage dart pulls up the driver can't see the end carriages, hence the mirror.

as for the doors, i know about the blue light system and was speaking tongue in cheek whwn i mentioned re the doors being open.

enterprise

Trojan wrote:

Apologies enterprise. I didn't mean to seem aggressive with that question. I picked up on the fact that you were much more critical of the driver for picking the wrong button and blowing it out of proportion, than the fact that the mirror was missing, when every platform on the line has a mirror or CCTV. It sounds quite similar to some of the unwavering "the company is always right" views expressed on here recently.

Apology excepted!

I agree with you totally Trojan - the mirror should not have been missing in the first place as it then becomes a safety issue.

However I do think he took it a tad out of proportion as the platform is straight (since confirmed) - therefore there was nothing to stop him looking back down the train and checking the it was safe to close the doors - then contact control and report that the mirror on the southbound platform at Killester is missing (minus hitting the wrong button and the swear words of course!)

Of course what he said over the P.A. didn't reassure the customers - who can blame them!

Fr Dougal

Fr Dougal wrote:

I'm just interested in me sausages and rashers at this stage. .

I wouldn't say he enjoyed his breakfast when word got back that he announced everything to the whole train

enterprise

Fr Dougal wrote:

I wouldn't say he enjoyed his breakfast when word got back that he announced everything to the whole train

I say he prob went quite beetroot in colour!