Heading to catch a DART this morning? Then you better be prepared for a squeeze.
Monday mornings suck, no matter how good a weekend you had. And if you are planning to get a DART to work in Dublin this morning, your day might be about to get even worse.
A dispute between the drivers and Irish Rail means that most DART’s running this morning are only four or two carriage ones. This is instead of the eight or six carriage ones normally deployed to deal with the morning rush. A statement on the Irish Rail website explains the row.
Some DART services are operating with reduced peaktime capacity today due to a driver issue.
Peak time DARTs normally operate with a mix of 8-carriage, 6-carriage and 4-carriage trains. The effect of this issue will be that most DARTs will operate as a 4-carriage train, and a small number will operate as a 2-carriage train. We apologise for the inconvenience caused.
This is due to a refusal by drivers to carry out a coupler check before DART trains leave the depot to enter service.
This check verifies that an electrical connection is complete through the train when multiple DART units are connected together. It has been necessitated by a number of incidents in which drivers received false indications on door interlocking.
The check is temporary in nature, as a modification is to be carried out to the fleet which will address the issue. Drivers had been carrying out the check since its introduction last month. However, following SIPTU indicating, outside of agreed procedures, that it would no longer cooperate with this check, they are not being carried out by drivers today resulting in shorter trains.
Might be a good idea to head for a bus unless you fancy a very packed train or being left on the platform.
