STEPHEN BUTTIMER,
Sir, - Iarnrod Éireann's latest advertising campaign announces that they are "not there yet" with their improvements, but they are "getting there".
It seems they still have a very long way to go, if their current standards of customer service and care are a good measurement of progress.
I travelled recently by train from Dublin to Tralee. From the time I stepped on the train in Heuston on Friday evening until I disembarked in Dublin on Sunday night, not once did I see an Iarnrod Éireann official on the train, except for the cafeteria staff. While it may be efficient to check tickets when passengers board the train, thus eliminating further checks, it means that they are blissfully unaware of the problems that may be encountered by passengers.
The train broke down on reaching Mallow on Friday, forcing everyone to change trains. This was conveyed after a delay of 15 minutes over the public address system.
On the return journey from Mallow on Sunday, I was forced to share the same carriage (because every other carriage was full) as a very loud and boisterous group of people, clearly under the influence of alcohol. They were making life extremely uncomfortable for one unfortunate girl who happened to be seated amongst them. It was impossible for other passengers to either study or sleep. One or two of the group were smoking, though they were seated in a no-smoking carriage.
When I mentioned this incident to a friend later, she recounted her experience of witnessing a fight breaking out on a train the previous week. She felt so threatened that she had to leave her seat. I had previously travelled on the Mallow - Dublin train just after Christmas, where frostbite was a distinct possibility, due to the lack of any semblance of heating.
Not once during any of these journeys was an official of Iarnrod Éireann to be seen. Perhaps they are too busy trying to work out to where it is they are supposed to be going.
The song accompanying the advertising campaign uses the lyrics "Oh, what a beautiful day". I certainly have had nothing of the sort when travelling by train. - Yours, etc.,
STEPHEN BUTTIMER, Smithfield Village, Dublin 7.