A GROUP of visually impaired people is launching a protest campaign against the “persistently poor quality” of announcements by Iarnród Éireann.
On Monday, they intend to send hundreds of texts to Iarnród Éireann at 9.30am expressing anger at the persistent poor quality, or lack of audible announcements, on trains.
People supporting the campaign are encouraged to send texts to Irish Rail explaining the problem travellers with visual impairment face due to the difficulty in hearing announcements.
The sample text message supporters are being asked to send is: “Hello my name is [enter your name here], I am supporting the campaign by persons with vision impairment. I am contacting you to highlight the lack of audible announcements on both Dart and intercity rail services. I would like to point out that audible announcements are of a great value to our tourist industry.
“I would be grateful if you could give me an exact date and time when this problem will be resolved. I would like to hear from you as soon as possible.”
Martin O’Sullivan set up the campaign after years of dissatisfaction with the sound quality of announcements. “We have got great support for this so far, with over 600 people promising to send a text on Monday to Irish Rail,” he said.
In a statement, Iarnród Éireann said onboard announcements were working on all intercity trains. Iarnród Éireann empathises with the frustration that visually impaired customers feel due to the fact that onboard announcements are not working correctly on all Dart services at present. However 52 per cent of the Dart fleet had a completely new system installed in 2007-2009 as a result of the Transport 21 programme . . . Iarnród Éireann has tendered for a new modern replacement system for the remaining Dart trains.”