OVERCROWDING ON THE DART: Parents now fear for the safety of children on dangerously overcrowded DART trains, Fine Gael claimed on 12th September. And it revealed overcrowding is now so bad that some commuters from Dunlaoghaire to Dublin have to travel outwards to Bray and then turn around on the same return train to have any hope of getting into the city at peak hours on time for work. Some commuters are leaving home so early to get a train that they arrive an hour early for work rather than risk being left behind at the station.
While the situation is bad enough for adults, parents have genuine fears for the safety of their children on jam-packed trains, particularly for younger children," FG senator Helen Keogh said. She said commuters would continue to endure hours of frustration travelling to and from work in their cars because they will not use public transport services which she claimed were "inadequate, overcrowded and at times downright dangerous". A radical transport overhaul is needed for commuters in the greater Dublin area. "While the Minister for Public Enterprise continues to carry out excellent PR stunts for a Luas system that appears to be as far away as ever, the only transport system which can actually beat the traffic is dangerously overcrowded," added Senator Keogh.
This is the second claim recently about dangerous overcrowding on suburban rail services. The Green Party has claimed that overcrowding at the Dublin northside Killester DART station was a major disaster waiting to happen. The DART cancellations during morning rush hours caused the southside platform to become severly overcrowded giving rise to a potential tragedy. When each train eventually arrived at the platform there was a surge towards the carriage doors by passengers anxious to get on board, the party said. It called on Iarnrod Eireann to take immediate action before someone gets seriously injured or killed. (Irish Independent 13/09/01)
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Well done again, Dublin Bus. You don't FORCE people to take the DART; you provide easier access and present a CHOICE between it and the bus. What DB has done with the 6, 8 and other routes is a disgrace and should be reversed.