Monday’s episode of Liveline brought tales of a “spiral into chaos” on Irish Rail services last weekend.
Passengers affected by the delays and disruptions on DART services on Sunday (24 July) have blasted the service, describing the experience as a “spiral into chaos”.
A number of affected rail service users spoke about their experience on RTÉ’s Liveline programme on Monday (25 July).
One listener even went as far as to state that travelling on the train to Bray from Dun Laoghaire “was like something out of Schindler’s List”.
A caller by the name of Damian described disembarking from the train and walking back to Bray along with his partner, two young children and a buggy.
Barry Kenny, Communications Manager of Iarnród Éireann, was also a guest on the show and apologised for the distress caused by the event. “To you, to your kids, to other people, we’re very sorry this happened,” Kenny said.
The communications manager once again acknowledged the issues caused by passengers walking on the track but accepted that people “did not take the decision [to go on the tracks] lightly.”
“We’ve had the air show, we’ve had extra services before, we haven’t had problems before, we’ll be investigating as to why it happened now.”
A second listener, Kevin, described the conditions in Bray as “so unorganised”, and that it took him around four hours trying to get out of the town.
Another passenger, Ray, said that the situation was “a masterclass on how to not transport a large number of people”.
Linda, a fellow listener, said that she had suggested to an international student she’s hosting to visit the Bray Air Show, but when she arrived at the station, opted not to travel as the carriages felt “unsafe”.
When asked whether new trains would be brought to the country, Kenny confirmed that an order for 94 new carriages was placed in December of 2021, and that they should be in operation in 2024.
“Is that 20.24 as in around half eight tonight or 2024 the year?” Duffy quipped in response.
Kenny said that refunds and arrangements are being made for those affected by the delays and disruptions.
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