Members of the IRO North West Area Council with a Dublin Dart
The IRO’s North West Area Council crossed the Irish Sea when they made a technical visit to Dublin.
Hosted by their Irish counterparts, the group were treated to a programme of visits to major Irish railway installations, starting, under the guidance of Eugene Egan (Safety Auditor, Iarnrod Eireann/Irish Rail), with a trip across the city to Heuston Station on the LUAS (Light Rail System), which provides services to the South, South West and West of Ireland.
Here the visitors were met by Brian Quinn (A.S.M. Heuston) who gave a brief run-down on the layout and history of the station, before moving onto the Station Communications Room - a focal point for communications relating to all aspects of operations within the terminal. A trip to the adjacent Irish Railways Records Society followed, which houses the many artifacts, documents and objects that trace and record the history of railways in Ireland.
Next up, the S.E.R. (Signal, Electrical Room), from where the signalling on the route from Heuston to Inchicore is operated. The visitors observed and spoke to both signallers as they operated their individual PC panels and explained some of the intricacies on this particular stretch of railway. The site also houses an E.C.P. (Emergency Control Panel), the operation of which was explained to the group (though as yet, it has never been used.)
The first day concluded with a DVD presentation by Christy Stapleton (Operations Schemes Development Manager- Infrastructure New Works) on the project to deliver a second high-capacity DART line to run underground through Dublin city centre, linking all rail modes into an integrated cohesive network – DART, Commuter, Inter-City, LUAS, and Metro.
Day 2 began with a visit to Connolly Station, which provides Inter-City and commuter services to the North, North-West and South East of the country. Met by Laurence Griffin (District Traction Executive), the IRO North West group witnessed the C.T.C. (Centralised Traffic Control) in action. The Control Office for the whole network, the C.T.C. houses a bank of CCTV screens displaying all the major level-crossings in and around the Dublin Area. Immediately adjacent to this were the signallers responsible for controlling the the Sligo Line and the Northern Line to Dundalk and Drogheda, with across from them on a separate panel the Suburban signallers who controlled the DART services, with all staff only too happy to answer questions and explain their respective roles.
Moving along to another room, the group met the Train Regulators for both the suburban and main lines, whose roles included retail responsibilities, with the E.C.O. also situated at the same location. Further along in a separate bay sat the Signalling Panel for the Main Lines to Cork and Galway. With Eugene leading the way, the visitors crossed the city by LUAS to Inchicore Works, where they were met by Damian Howe (C.M.E. Safety Executive) who kitted them out with safety headware and glasses before embarking on a tour of the Bogie Shop, detailing some of the work which takes place there - not only in respect of bogies and wheels, but electrical and other facets of rolling-stock maintenance. The group were struck by the high degree of cleanliness, tidiness and order within this major workshop, with Damian emphasizing the importance of these conditions in relation to maintaining the required levels of safety.
The group then had the chance to try out the Driver Training Simulator, with Driver Trainer Eamonn Furlong allowing some members to use both the DMU and Locomotive simulators. All those who took part were struck by the realism and authenticity that the simulators could provide.
The packed itinerary then saw the North West party attend Fairview DART Depot, located just north of Connolly Station, where they were met by Damian Howe and Paul Kelly (Depot Manager), who gave a tour of the facility which maintains both the German and Japanese-built Units that provide the DART services. The group were also shown the new Spanish built units, which are still under evaluation prior to entering service, and were once gain struck by the high degree of cleanliness and order within the facility.
From the neighbouring Clontarf Road Station on the DART, the final leg of the visit began, with the group taking a service to Greystones (the southern extremity of the DART line), before travelling south through Dublin city centre, along the bay and on through Killiney and Bray and then from Greystones to Tara Street in Dublin for journey’s end.
IRO North West Area Chairman Clive Evans and all those taking part in the visit would like to express their appreciation and gratitude to Kay Doyle, the Irish Area IRO members and all those at Iarnrod Eireann/Irish Rail who helped to make the trip so successful.