Irish Rail’s new timetable, introduced on August 26, the most “repeated delays or such widespread passenger anger in many years”.
The daily widespread delays are affecting services operating through Connolly station in Dublin.
Rail Users Ireland, a transport users group, said that the complaints centre on delays, changes where trains were direct previously, overcrowding, and poor and conflicting information.
Mark Gleeson, spokesperson for Rail Users Ireland, said: “We have not seen such repeated delays or such widespread passenger anger in many years. There has been no apology or acknowledgement from Irish Rail.”
He said: “A single delay has a domino effect resulting in knock-on delays across multiple services which cannot be recovered. More passengers must now change at Dublin Connolly, resulting in longer journey times made worse by repeated delays and overcrowding.”
Rail Users Ireland said that while the additional services on Galway, Waterford and Wexford routes have been welcomed and appear to be working well the same can’t be said for services operating through Dublin Connolly station.
The group said that the issues have arisen before students return to college and the dreaded leaf fall season has not yet started, and said that there is a worry that delays will get worse in the coming weeks.
Many of the delays stem from the changes linked to the introduction of hourly Dublin Belfast services which requires a revised timetable which “requires a degree of operating precision never seen before”.
Gleeson said: “We believe the level of delays now meets the criteria under EC passenger rights regulations, that monthly and annual ticket holders have a right to seek compensation for the cumulative sum of delays over a period. Irish Rail has never acknowledged this obligation or defined the criteria to make a claim.”
Rail Users Ireland said that tighter turnaround times have not been met. For example, the new timetable means that a train turning around at Grand Canal Dock now has 5-7 minutes which “allows no margin for error” while before, 8-10 minutes was more typically allowed.
The group said that a train every 10 minutes through a single dead end platform is “pushing the limits and results in trains queuing awaiting a delayed departure to clear the platform.”
Bus transfers between Belfast and Newry until Belfast’s new Grand Central Station is opened for rail services also has “injected delays into services which have a domino effect across Dart and Northern Line commuter.”
Rail Users Ireland is seeking a review of the timetable, more “operational discipline” to ensure trains depart precisely on time, an extra commuter train on the northern line where there is currently a significant gap in service, additional time on the Belfast bus transfer, and implementation of track works at Connelly.
On the extra Commuter service, the group said: “It would be possible to provide a departure at 0750am from Balbriggan to Connolly, if the Belfast train is late this can leave on time and be overtaken at Skerries to minimise delays.”
The group said that if a limited number of trains which are currently terminating/starting at Grand Canal Dock were extended to Dun Laoghaire or Bray it would reduce congestion and provide more direct journeys.
It also Irish Rail needs to progress trackwork modifications at Connolly urgently to increase capacity and flexibility. It added that no planning permission is required and an NTA-funded report made recommendations on these works as far back as 2019.
Irish Rail said that it is monitoring the timetable and has apologised to customers for the issues with the timetable.
Barry Kenny, a spokesperson for Irish Rail, said: “As with all major timetable changes, we closely monitor its implementation to identify any issues which arise which may impact service performance.”
“We have experienced some issues impacting punctuality performance in the first two weeks of the implementation of the new timetable, notably arising from congestion in the Connolly Station area affecting Commuter routes feeding into Connolly,” he said.
Kenny said: “We are analysing these issues to improve punctuality for our customers, examining any minor modifications or platform changes which will assist in addressing these issues. Should this require any minor modifications to service times to resolve, we will liaise with the NTA to seek approval for these and advise customers in advance of any changes, and hope to implement any steps required very soon.
He added: “We apologise to customers for any inconvenience they have experienced, and assure customers we are working to resolve these initial issues.”