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Irish Mirror

National

Clare McCarthy

Irish Rail apologise to DART passengers for 'ruining a day out' as investigation launched into 'chaotic' incident

DART (Organization) Irish Rail Barry Kenny Bray

Irish Rail have apologised for "ruining a day out" after Dart passengers forced open the doors and and walked along the tracks to the Bray Air Display on Sunday.

Thousands of people were travelling on the DART to Wicklow when delays to the services meant that trains stopped outside Bray as they waited for a clear platform.

But passengers travelling southbound reported waiting on the trains in the heat without air conditioning, open windows, or enough information on how long the delays would be.

Passengers on board eventually opened the train doors, abandoned the train and walked along the tracks with others following.

As a result, all services to and from Bray were then suspended from 2.55pm when people began leaving the DART, until 5.15pm when the line reopened.

A spokesperson for Irish Rail, Barry Kenny, told RTE's Morning Ireland that a full investigation into the “chaotic and upsetting” incident will be conducted.

Mr Kenny said people who left the Dart had "genuine concerns" for their safety which led to the disruptions on the lines.

He said: "This is one of the busiest and traditionally best days on the Dart and it became chaotic and very upsetting for a lot of people and certainly I think we’ve ruined the day out for a lot of people and we understand that."

He apologised to customers who were involved in the "very distressing situation" and explained why the delays occurred saying that once people were walking on the line it had a knock-on effect on the whole service as more people kept leaving the trains to walk on the tracks.

Mr Kenny said: "It was obviously a hugely busy day, at 2.55pm, the last of what was nine additional Darts that we operated for the Bray Air Show was waiting for a platform just outside of Bray Station.

"On that Dart, a small number of people pushed open a door, notwithstanding the fact it was literally a couple of minutes until the Dart was going to proceed onto the platform.

"And once those people did that and were on the track, we obviously couldn’t operate any train in or out of Bray Station until it was confirmed that the track was clear.

"This then caused a knock-on effect because the delay became definite because the conditions were very difficult, it was very busy on board, and it was a warm day as well. Others then decided, because of the delay and indeed because of genuine concern, to leave the train."

Mr Kenny continued: "So, unfortunately what started as a short wait for a platform then caused that further knock-on delay for other people to decide out of genuine concern for themselves to leave the train meaning we had an uncontrolled number of people on the line."

In terms of the issue of overheating in the carriages, he said: "The various trains involved would have had either openable windows or air conditioning. When a train is stopped obviously that reduces the airflow through the train and it did get very warm.

"It did take time to get to some of the trains that were further away, we will be investigating all of this, this was one of the busiest days on the Dart and it became chaotic and very upsetting for a lot of people and certainly ruined the day for a lot of people, we understand and accept that.

"Obviously it is regrettable when the first group made this decision when literally it was a couple of minutes to get to platform but we do understand the thoughts behind the actions of others thereafter.'"

Yesterday a statement issued by Iarnród Éireann said the a number of people "forced the doors open and walked on the track" and were "trespassers on the line".

However, a passenger who was on the train said Irish Rail shouldn't blame the passengers, writing on Twitter: "I was on that DART. Air conditioning was broken, window were unopenable.

"It was extremely hot, children crying, lots of people in distress. Train stuck between Shankill and Bray. It was a genuine emergency & @IrishRail needs to acknowledge this and stop blaming passengers".

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