Many of my letters make it sound as if I had something better to be doing than standing around. I did not have anything better to do. I now get paid for standing around and with a glint in my eye sometimes hark back to when I did it in an amateur capacity. This was also the first letter which resulted in me getting anything. I haven't spent the voucher but that's hardly the point. The guy who wrote the response was probably on about €15 an hour and I wasted 15mins of his day on top that.
So here it is, one morning my train was late. Very late. The funniest part of the morning was when they announced that the next train would be direct to Heuston, then a completely empty train sailed past. This left the entire crowd, 150 strong I estimate, swearing.
My letter:
Customer Relations Department,
Southern and Western,
Heuston Station,
Dublin 8
Conan,
Champion of the people
Land of Make Believe
23 Oct. 06
Ref. Late Train 02 Oct 06
Dear Sir/Madam,
Please find attached my train ticket and claim form for delay dated 02/10/06. My "claim" is for €1.95 but this is secondary to the point. I was left waiting for a train for 2 hours.
On the morning of 02/10/06, I arrived at the train station to find that my train was running late, the announcement over the pa informed myself and fellow commuters that the train would be delayed by approximately thirty minutes This figure gradually increased over the ensuing two hours until eventually an over packed train arrived and sped into Heuston Station.
My grievances, aside from the obvious delay which seriously impacted my plans for the day, are as follows:
1. The incessant apologising of the P.A. system. This sounds terribly ingenuous especially after the second or third time that it lies to you about the expected delay, I, along with others, came to doubt the veracity of Iarnrod Eireann's remorse. I believe that Iarnrod Eireann may not want to lose customers, have its reputation tarnished or indeed spend money and time on a broken train but after two hours I am certain that they are not sorry, and have given the matter little thought since.
2. The paltry token apology to those left standing at the train station. The train station in Celbridge is somewhat removed from the town, and the feeder bus service the least funny joke told in many an age, this means that if you commit to getting the train and the train does not come; you cannot easily opt for an alternative conveyance to the city centre. This is truly inconvenient when the train is over two hours late. In apology for this, we were given the chance to recover our ticket price, in my case €1.95. This does not take into account the two hours of work that I missed or other inconveniences that are not so easily quantifiable such as missing breakfast, having to move meetings around my schedule etc. And for all this, I am given a half-hearted apology and the chance to get €1.95 back at the cost of a postage stamp - net return €1.47.
3. Aside from this is the seeming lack of a contingency plan, I can accept that trains break down, and being the national rail service I can assume that Iarnrod Eireann can appreciate this far more intimately than I could ever hope to. However despite this supposed insight into the inevitability of train failure, no obvious contingency plan seems to be in place. Maybe I am wrong, maybe this two hour delay was the result of a masterfully executed contingency plan brought off with military precision and a certain understated panache that the poor souls left waiting can never appreciate. Please enlighten me.
4. That this is not the first time a train has been delayed, it is however the most pronounced. As a regular commuter, I get the early morning train every day and it is late at least once every fortnight. Late in this instance is considered to be more than 15mins, anything less than this the commuter is expected to take on the chin. For shame.
5. That the train upon its eventual arrival sped at an alarming rate to Heuston. I do not object to moving fast. I must assume though that the train does not usually move at this speed due to some safety concerns. As the rail traffic in the opposite direction was still moving I can only be convinced that the danger was only marginally reduced. Was our safety put at risk in an attempt to save face? Or are we routinely subjected to meandering train journeys?
I feel I may be in the minority in actually reclaiming my ticket price, and in even smaller a minority in voicing my upset at this latest travesty. However I take solace in knowing that I am representative of a much larger opinion base.
It is this opinion base that will be called upon to eventually decide on the opening of the market for public transport, and it cannot be expected that the public will support a provider that so consistently lets its customers down.
I hope to hear from you soon.
Yours Faithfully,
Conan
The reply (there was one middle letter referred to earlier, telling me a reply was coming, but it lends nothing tot he story):
Dear Mr. Conan,
Thank you for your regarding in connection with your journey on the morning of Monday 2nd October 2006. Please accept my apologies for the sever delays to services which were due to the failure of the 06:30 Carlow to Heuston service between Newbridge and Sallins.
With the failed train blocking the line and all services behind it, it took some time to safely get the next train attached to the failed train and push-it into Sallins, where a fresh locomotive could be attached to allow the Carlow train to proceed on its way and for all other services to make their way Heuston.
We are looking at how we can improve our contingency planning and communication plans to deal with these exceptional circumstances in order to limit the extent of delays resulting from such mechanical failures.
In relation to your comment about the speed of the trains in operation on the morning of Monday 2nd of October 2006, please be assured that at all times Iarnrod Eireann adheres to all speed and safety guidelines as directed by the Department of Transport.
Under our customer charter, passengers delayed over two hours are entitled to a full refund on the affected journey. Under the Customer Charter the refund due on your ticket is €1.95, however as a gesture of goodwill I have enclosed travel vouchers to the value of €5.00. Travel vouchers can be used as discount for future travel at any Booking Office throughout the Iarnrod Eireann network.
Again, I would like to apologise for the delay you experienced and for any inconvenience caused.
Yours Sincerely,
Lidar
Customer Relations Department Southern and Western
Boo Yah motherfucker!
Another win for The People.
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