Sir, - I wish to congratulate Iarnrod Eireann on the up-grade to the suburban train service from Drogheda to Pearse Station in Dublin. I get on the train at Donabate and on Monday, October 11th and Tuesday 12th we had the "new experience".
On Monday, about 55 people were herded into the No 1 engine room. It was filthy dirty (but I suppose that is how engine rooms on trains are supposed to be) and being crammed so tightly together it was a relief to lie up against the side walls. There were two doors, which people found difficulty in opening. Two small windows were open but the heat level was appalling and there was one old fluorescent light, filled with dead flies, flickering on and off. Some girls got off the train because they felt claustrophobic. I have a large bruise on my arm as a result of being pushed up against the metal casing when the train lurched to a halt in Connolly Station.
I foolishly assumed on Tuesday that we would at least return to normality where the train might or might not run on time, and where you might prop yourself against a seat or a travelling passenger, but to my amazement we were herded into the baggage compartment. The three carriages on the train were completely packed when the train arrived in Donabate and the baggage compartment held between 60 and 70 people by the time it filled up in Malahide.
While the train stood in Donabate station to allow the temporary station master and the attendant to have a chat, we in the baggage compartment were treated to a complimentary steam bath before the large steel doors were slammed shut. The only exit was via the passageway to the first carriage but as this was also jammed with people there was really nowhere for us to go.
I must admit that the baggage compartment was cleaner than the engine room of the previous day and there were two working lights, but I pitied an old man clutching the bars of the window for support. We then endured a 35-minute sauna for those of us who travelled all the way to Pearse Station as the windows in the baggage compartment did not open.
Customer services in Iarnrod Eireann tell me there are problems with the couplings on the usual train from Drogheda and that it is being examined in Connolly. They hope to have it fixed soon but admit that they put on three carriages and a "container" to transport people to work. Is "container" travel the new method of human transportation in the greater Dublin area? Will it be the engine room or the baggage compartment tomorrow? Perhaps they have some old cattle wagons. At least then we would get some fresh air.
With the Paddington disaster fresh in one's mind, what would happen if there was a serious problem? - Yours, etc.,
Heather A King, Ballyboughal, Co Dublin.