Outrage as young Cahir scouts forced to endure horror train journey

Irish Rail entered the realms of Harry Potter territory on Saturday when forty five scouts from Cahir were treated in an appalling way.
The s couts did not have to find an invisible platform on Saturday but when they went searching for their pre booked and paid for seats their carriages were non -existent.
As a result forty five scouts, the majority aged from eight to eleven, had to sit on the floor from Heuston Station to Thurles.
“It was disgraceful, the kids were in a pile on a filthy floor on the ailses . Health and safety was out the window” said one of the scout leaders Tara Armitage.
“It was an horrific journey, it was not just us , there were so many people without seats. We went looking for our carriages F and G that the seats were booked on and they just were not there, it was unbelievable” she said.
“For some of these kids it was their first time on a train, they were all so excited but this experience just ruined the whole day, “ said another scout leader Aoife Collins.
The Cahir cub and scouts had paid €1,180 to pre book their seats for their day out prior to Christmas.
On the way up to Dublin the seats they had pre booked were occupied when they got on the train in Thurles.
“There was no hassle, people moved, we doubled up as some of the people sitting in the seats were elderly” said Tara.
It was on the way back that the journey turned into a nightmare for the group of 45 scouts and six leaders.
The scouts had spent a very enjoyable day in Dublin visiting museums and going on an urban walking tour trail.
“We had a lovely day out but the return trip destroyed the day” said Tara Armitage.
She said the scouts were piled on top of one another on the dirty floors, they were sitting on tables and blocking emergency exits.
“There were no food trolleys on the train because the aisles were full of people sitting down and standing. It was totally unacceptable.”
“It was horrible, the kids were very tired from the day, they were very upset by it all. We could not wait for another train as the parents were waiting in Thurles for the 5.05 from Heuston to return” said Aoife Collins.

On Tuesday  a spokesperson from Irish Rail issued an apology to the scouts.

"Irish Rail would like to sincerely apologise to each member of the Cahir Cub and Scout Group. The service they received was not acceptable and for that we are truly sorry. Our Head of Customer Experience made contact this afternoon with the leader of the Group and a full refund is being processed today.  Saturday 23rd  was a planned Line Improvement works  weekend and as a result there was  reduced capacity on all services into/out of Heuston. We had extremely high volumes of customers travelling with us on Saturday and the train was full on arrival at Thurles. The online allocation was sold out on this service and the remainder of the seats were taken by turn up and go customers. 

 On the return journey on a normal Saturday, this service would have been an 8 carriage train, but this was changed to a 5 carriage train due to the line improvement works and the group had originally booked onto the 8 carriage train. The booking was not transferred correctly onto the new train set so that is why their reservation did not appear, we are currently investigating why this happened. We have taken a number of lessons from this unfortunate incident and will work to ensure that we will have better systems in place in the future to ensure that no other customers have the experience that the Cahir Cub and Scout Group had" concluded the statement.

Following the incident Deputy Mattie McGrath called on the Minister for Transport, Shane Ross, to seek immediate explanations from the senior management at Irish Rail as to how the young scouts were left without any proper seating on a pre-booked train journey back from Dublin.
Deputy McGrath said scout leaders were outraged at the treatment and danger which the children were subjected to.
“The train was short the two carriages that the scouts had booked seats on.
“This meant that the children, were left sitting on the floor and on tables and under tables. These children and indeed the other passengers were exposed to serious levels of danger and that is entirely unacceptable.” said Deputy McGrath.

The matter was raised at a meeting of Cahir Tipperary Cashel municipal district meeting by Cllr.Andy Moloney  on Monday(Reports Eoin Kelleher)

“The places were not available,” he said. “They booked coming back as well. They had been designated two carriages, F and G. They did not exist. They were sitting on the floors, and tables, with six or seven to a seat. It’s not satisfactory. There is no feedback coming from Iarnrod Eireann.” At one stage, of the Scouts accidentally pushed an emergency button on the trains. There has been “any amount of complaints about Irish Rail,” with people being inconvenienced, added Cllr Moloney. 

There was a report of people ending up being “physically distraught” after getting off a train in Westport, Co Mayo. “When I jump on the train in Thurles, I do not even look for a seat,” said Cllr Moloney. Irish Rail had one of their busiest years so far, but they need to upgrade their facilities. 

“They need to look into the capacity of their rail network, and the number of people using it,” said Cllr Moloney. 

Cllr Cllr Máirín McGrath said the service from Cahir was under-utilised and while it’s a “great station” it’s only half used, with “inefficient times”. “It could bring more potential to the town,” said Cllr McGrath. To leave 35 children in that Scout troop without places after they had booked is a “disgrace.” “The inefficiency by Irish Rail needs to be highlighted with the company.” 

Cllr Declan Burgess said he knew a person who could not even get on to one train recently. “It looked like Calcutta,” he said. “I don’t think that’s fair. The children going up on the train for the first time, they were excited to be doing things in Dublin, and for the day to be shot down by a lack of seats and carriages. They were not in existence. I’d email Irish Rail for a full refund. 

“I have contacted Irish Rail several times but the process of complaints would deter you from even complaining,” said Cllr Burgess. “I have seen some bad days on trains in this country.” The timetable at Tipperary town train station needs to be upgraded to take into account more commuters coming and going to Limerick. “I hope Irish Rail can come back with some kind of positive response but I am really not hopeful,” added Cllr Burgess. 

Cllr Ann Marie Ryan Shiner said Tipp town is very lucky to have a train station. “A lot of small towns don’t have one. We should definitely look for extra connectivity.” 

Cllr Marie Murphy said Irish Rail have ordered new carriages but “it’s probably three years too late” as the new passenger trains won’t come into use until some years from now. “They don’t encourage people to use the service in Cahir.” 

Cllr Tony Black said the revitalisation of Tipperary town must include upgrading its rail links to Cork and Limerick. 

Cllr Mary Hanna Hourigan expressed concerns for passengers forced to sit on the floor. “A lot of students going to Thurles seem to be sitting on their bags, what if there was an abrupt stop? There seems to be no sanction against Iarnród Eireann for safety.” 

The meeting agreed unanimously to write to Irish Rail. 

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