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A WHEELCHAIR USER who became trapped on a train at Dublin’s Connolly Station has made a formal complaint to Irish Rail.
Gerard Gallagher was left alone on a Sligo-Connolly train after all the other passengers disembarked.
With no Irish Rail staff available to work the wheelchair ramp for him Gallagher was left trapped in his mobility scooter on the train.
Shortly afterwards the power was cut to the train and Gallagher was left in complete darkness without even his phone, which had died in the absence of charging sockets in his carriage.
“It was the first time in many years that I felt completely disabled,” Gallagher said in a statement on his Facebook page.
I had no way of contacting anyone. I was completely alone and no-one knew where I was.
Gallagher has lodged a formal complaint with Irish Rail on what he says is ‘an important equality issue’.
Spokesman for Irish Rail Barry Kenny told TheJournal.ie that what happened to Mr. Gallagher was “unacceptable”.
We have apologised to him for the incident and the distress caused. Our employees are proud to assist the transport needs of mobility and sensory impaired customers across the country on a daily basis.
We are investigating the incident in full to establish what went wrong, and to ensure that nobody has to experience such an incident again.
Meanwhile, deputy CEO of the Disability Federation of Ireland (DFI) Allen Dunne has described the situation as a “wake up call” for Irish Rail and has called on them to improve the quality of their disability services.
“This must have been very frightening for Gerard and it is unacceptable that it happened,” he told TheJournal.ie.
We hope that this situation will be a wakeup call for Irish Rail to pay due care and attention to passengers with disabilities and ensure that nothing like this happens again.
A clear failure in procedure here, not government policy. The inclusion of ministerial criticism in this article is bewildering.
Parish pump……
Isn’t the driver suppose to check the carraiges afterwards to make sure stuff like this doesnt happen?
Yeah and when questioned the driver will be absolved of all responsibility at the behest of the union rep.
Do Irish rail have emergency buttons or pull cords for those with a disability in case of distress.
Yes
Emergency buttons in wheelchair ares, end of coaches and toilets but need to be pulled when train is active so it should of being pressed soon after arrival had nobody arrived.
So Irish Rail are now responsible for charging your phone?
Best thing is he had 3 hours beside a plug and didn’t use it!
No they are not, but they are responsible for a full and complete search of the carriages when the service of the train terminates for whatever reason.
@RonanM, did you even read the article? It specifically says there were no charge points on this train. Keep trolling.
I remember once when I was locked on a train, most expensive pints I’ve ever had.
I’d kind of have assumed that with the modern fleet they’d be well equipped to handle disabled passengers, ramps, wide doors, emergency call buttons etc. It seems a serious failure of processes to allow this to happen. The poor guy.
Irish rail are a f****n joke for disabled passengers. I dread going anywhere with them God knows where I’ll end up because I can’t guarantee a ramp will be where I actually wana go.
Good old journal.. yesterdays news today. The train driver didn’t bother walking through the train before locking all doors, turning off lights etc from the cabin. simple as that.
“journal.. yesterdays news today.”
Yet here you are.
The trains have auto shutdown….
Yet here i am Chris… this was the most read topic on breakingnews website yesterday. at least the bus drivers check the bus before locking up, in case you know some disabled person cant get off or someone is fast asleep at the back of the bus. All doors are locked from the drivers cabin. when the train engine is shut down – the doors cannot be opened.
Why you do frequent a site that has old news? Seems kinda dumb.
Christ these comments show an appalling attitude towards people with disabilities. There is a huge level of ignorance on display here, which is understandable if you don’t work with people with disabilities. What troubles me is that people still seem to think themselves qualified to criticise Ger. As someone who both knows the man in question and treats people with his condition every day I can assure you that it is nowhere near as simple as some people have suggested.
Climbing down out of Irish trains is not easy for people with impaired mobility. Walking along a flat aisle with seats all round to lean on is not the same as descending a high step, across a gap and onto a platform without rails. Indeed many people without impairments find some Irish platforms troublesome to use (the big curve in the platform in Kent Station in Cork anyone?)
I ask you all please, for the sake of people with disabilities, consider the fact that you have neither sufficient information nor adequate qualifications before deciding if someone “disabled enough” to have a valid complaint. Many of these comments add insult to a complete stranger who has already undergone a humiliating experience, that is simply not ok.
I don’t know why the guy is asking Ministers why it happened. It’s not as if they personally run the train service.
Someone should do a check of the train when it stops for many reasons, security etc. They obviously failed this time and left this chap for 35 minutes. It is a mistake and I’m sure it was traumatic for the guy. Get over it and move one. No doubt a financial settlement will wipe the trauma away in an instant.
I know this man personally as a friend and this is the THIRD time this has happened to him on an Irish Rail train. He “got over it” as you so eloquently put it, twice previously and Irish Rail never responded to his complaints or acted on them if it’s happened a third time.
He’s well entitled to publicly come out about his experience, maybe now Irish Rail will be forced to act to make their fleet accessible for all passengers. Or at the very least introduce new work protocols/practices to ensure this doesn’t happen again.
Agree that a new protocol needs to be introduced for many reasons like this for example or security etc.
But to address a Minister directly is, as a previous comment put it bewildering.
@ shane comer well said , the bottom line is nobody gives a damn anymore! just pay your money and put up or shut up. irish rail and others see no reason to look after the customer, customer service means nothing. however, to be a disabled customer your in real trouble! just watch the bus service and how a wheelchair used is treated……many will pull up and just tell them the bus is too packed to take them …even if it isnt!
shane , i am sorry to say we are a long way off making irish rail and others make their fleet accessible for all passengers, the biggest barrier is you are dealing with people that just dont care!
Complete overreaction by all, its not ad if IE set out to do it, nobody is prefect.
There is emergency escapes if he wanted to get out to…
How would he get off the train without the wheelchair ramp???
What a stupid statement. He wasn’t in Lourdes
Using emergency door would open it and people would see.
Anyway the person can walk, so he could of opened and looked out…
Im not defending IE but mistakes happen, blowing it up to the media is attention seeking.
@ronanm you are a knob. A complete one
Very informative Mile….
@ mike – are you taking the p*ss with your profile pic?
https://pbs.twimg.com/profile_images/597603899680411648/Jzq1vnKf_400x400.jpg
The same way he got out of his mobility scooter and got to the seating area..
RonanM, instead of giving out about something you clearly have no knowledge on; why don’t you just be thankful that you can avail of rail services without having to inform them in advance and then when you do get to use the train spend your time worrying whether there will be someone at the other end to help you get off!
Ah Ronan m , the man is wheelchair bound did you not even read the article ?
Same thing happened to a friend of mine. They were left on the train also ! All the lights went out and nobody came with the ramp , just by chance a worker passed by and told them up at the station office !!! Excuse was they didn’t radio threw from cork to say a wheelchair was on board !
Out of myself I hope
What do you expect from a bruton
Same thing happened to a friend of mine. They were left on the train also ! All the lights went out and nobody came with the ramp , just by chance a worker passed by and told them up at the station office !!! Excuse was they didn’t radio threw from cork to say a wheelchair was on board !
Irish Rail customer service is appalling. I spent 30 mind yesterday phoning Kent station to get time table eventually had to ring Dublin to get it. It rang out 4 times.
Google?
Google hasn’t been invented for some people yet.
Maybe they could post one out to you?
Jesus Tony. Hope it works out for you. Dreadful experience.
Learn how to work da Google on the Internet machine!
Irish rail worker? Surely that’s a contradiction. I seen the Dublin to cork train leave heuston one day before any passengers had boarded because nobody was at the gate to check them on. The train travelled to cork empty. That actually happened believe it or not.
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