Irish Rail had to assist passengers left stranded on Bray Head late on Thursday night after an incident with overhead wires rendered the DART unmovable.
Up to 60 passengers were left without transport for over three hours on Thursday night and the early hours of Friday morning after a DART travelling between Bray and Greystones broke down mid-route.
The southbound DART could no longer move from Bray Head to its final destination of Greystones after overhead wires became tangled on the Dart’s pantograph (the arm that comes off of the train) and were torn down and damaged.
Speaking to JOE, Barry Kenny from Irish Rail said that, due to the location of the train, and the extent of the damage, passengers couldn’t simply wait for the next DART and travel home.
“Because of the extent of the damage, overhead power was gone and the train was no longer movable. It couldn’t have happened at a worse location either as it’s between two tunnels,” Kenny said.
“The nearest access point was 2km away and it was simply not feasible to walk a group of 60 people, of various mobility, in the dark on, essentially, an exposed cliff face to there.
“Walking them down was just not an option, from a safety point of view.”
The incident, which happened just before 9.30pm on Thursday night, meant that Irish Rail had to send a number of its own staff to the scene to escort customers to a diesel train which had been sent out to collect them.
“Wires were down so we couldn’t get another DART to retrieve them,” Kenny added.
“The driver informed customers on board of the task at hand and we got staff to walk down the track to them at around 10.30pm to the diesel commuter train, as DART trains were no longer an option.
“In scenarios like this, it means that the diesel commuter train in this situation has to go at a very reduced speed because it’s passing signals it’s not used to passing.
“Just after midnight at Bray Head, six staff members escorted 60 customers over to the transfer train. As far as I remember, there were a few people with children and an elderly man with a walking stick – and the team took them all down a ladder one-by-one and walked them to a train surface onto another train.
“They were back into Bray Station at 12.40am with bus and taxis, provided by us, waiting.”
And the long night for Irish Rail didn’t end there.
“Because of the extent of the damage, the DART only got out of the site at 5.15am this morning. Crews were working through the night, something that we are very grateful about,” Kenny said.
“Morning services were slightly affected, with no train from Bray to Greystones running until 8am this morning, but services are fully restored now.”
Line now reopening between Greystones and Bray. 05.35 Rosslare to Dublin/Dundalk departing Greystones now, followed by additional 08.10 from Greystones (limited stop service, see next tweet) and 08.30 Greystones to Howth DART. Full service thereafter
— Iarnród Éireann (@IrishRail) April 6, 2018
Iarnród Éireann released a statement on their website regarding the incident, apologising for the delays and confirming that schedules are now officially back on track.
“Iarnród Éireann advises customers that rail services have resumed between Greystones and Bray following overhead line damage. The damage occurred at 21.30hrs last night, and crews have worked through the night to repair the lines.
“DART services are now resuming, with the first DART from Greystones departing at 08.30hrs and a full service operating thereafter.
“Gorey and Rosslare services will operate to a full schedule. We apologise to customers for the inconvenience caused.”
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