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Irish Rail hits out at truck drivers as it claims incidents have caused train delays

Gardaí said that an investigation has been opened into one of the incidents Irish Rail has complained about.

IRISH RAIL HAS hit out at “dumb truck drivers” today, as it claimed that two incidents involving truckers hitting bridges and one hitting a level crossing has caused delays to train services. 

The railways operator stated that a trucker hit a bridge on Pearse Street in Dublin shortly after 3pm today, and that in a separate incident, a different trucker hit into a bridge in Portlaoise at the same time. 

Irish Rail claimed that another trucker hit a level crossing on Serpentine Avenue, Dublin just after 4 pm. 

“Reckless driving by three dumb truckers [is] causing delays up to 30 mins, trains have resumed, working to clear delays ASAP,” it tweeted out. 

Irish Rail also said: “When a motorist is involved in hitting a bridge/ damaging a level crossing, all details that we have available are passed onto the Gardaí and prosecuted under road traffic legislation.”

A garda spokesperson has stated that Gardaí today responded to reports of an incident on Serpentine Road in Dublin, adding that “no offences were disclosed”. 

They further said that Gardaí attended the scene of a single-vehicle collision involving a lorry on Westland Row in Dublin this afternoon. 

“There are no reports of injuries at this time. Investigations are ongoing,” they added. 

The Garda Press Office has not been made aware of an incident in Portlaoise. 

A hour ago Irish Rail issued an update stating that Serpentine level crossing delays have begun to ease, “however, delays are as follows due to congestion on the line caused by the earlier incidents: DART services up to +45 mins, Maynooth services up to +35 mins, Northern Commuter services up to +40 mins”. 

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    Mute Rees
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    Jun 28th 2023, 7:33 PM

    What’s their excuse every other day of the year

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    Mute David Burns
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    Jun 28th 2023, 7:36 PM

    @Rees: are you a truck driver?

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    Mute Fr. Fintan Stack
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    Jun 28th 2023, 7:45 PM

    @Rees: Not just today. A huge portion of delays are as a result of thicko and dangerous drivers. Taking a chance at level crossing to beat the barrier and actually hitting the barrier is a huge one.

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    Mute Paul Gorry
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    Jun 28th 2023, 8:08 PM

    @David Burns: Are you a train driver?

    33
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    Mute Mick Hyland
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    Jun 28th 2023, 8:14 PM

    @Paul Gorry: Are you everywhere

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    Mute David Burns
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    Jun 28th 2023, 8:37 PM

    @Paul Gorry: choo choo

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    Mute Emmet Murphy
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    Jun 28th 2023, 9:40 PM

    @Fr. Fintan Stack: Barriers went down at a crossing today, 10 minutes went by and train passed. 5 mins later barriers go up and that is 15 mins at a crossing for a train that took 10 seconds to pass it.

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    Mute Fr. Fintan Stack
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    Jun 29th 2023, 9:45 AM

    @Emmet Murphy: 15 minutes barrier down because of one train? I don’t believe that tale one bit.

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    Mute F Fitzgerald
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    Jun 29th 2023, 9:56 PM

    @Emmet Murphy: So what? When the barrier’s down, drivers wait for it to lift. I used to regularly get the DART into town and every few days, some driver hit a bridge & we were all held up. Cars have brakes. They can stop quickly.

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    Mute Jason Walsh
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    Jun 28th 2023, 7:49 PM

    Big fines for the company involved, the truck owner or those who hired the driver and truck. Then a 6 month driving ban for the driver. Hit them hard, they’ll pay attention then.

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    Mute Larissa Caroline Nikolaus
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    Jun 29th 2023, 8:42 AM

    @Jason Walsh: Why fine whoever hired the truck, or the company that owns the truck? It’s not their fault if the driver hits a bridge, or level crossing. Penalise the driver more severly

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    Mute Luma plex
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    Jun 28th 2023, 7:44 PM

    @Rees: Probably people throwing themselves on the tracks due to mass inflation, huge influx of refugees, corrupt government, all time high homelessness, climate change, not addressing people by their right pronouns, not eating enough meat, eating too much meat, people being pro / anti NATO and we were locked up for 2 years while nurses and garda danced on tik tok. But don’t EVER get angry over a train being late.

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    Mute Dave Hammond
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    Jun 28th 2023, 8:19 PM

    @Luma plex: hmm if the lens you see this world thru was that our nurses were just dancing on Tik Tok during a pandemic – then you are part of the problem here…

    174
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    Mute Luma plex
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    Jun 28th 2023, 8:27 PM

    @Dave Hammond: Brush your hair, put a tie on and give your head a wobble.

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    Mute Fr. Fintan Stack
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    Jun 28th 2023, 8:37 PM

    @Dave Hammond: I think you are just dealing with weirdness here. After all he does support putins murderous campaign in Ukraine. Enough said.

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    Mute Luma plex
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    Jun 28th 2023, 8:59 PM

    @Fr. Fintan Stack: Enough said is right. Shush. Sit. Good boy.

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    Mute Paul Furey
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    Jun 28th 2023, 9:38 PM

    @Luma plex: says the troll hiding behind anonymity. How trumpian of you to insult others. Are you one of Williams accounts also?

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    Mute Emmet Murphy
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    Jun 28th 2023, 9:43 PM

    @Luma plex: Russian Skum bag!

    28
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    Mute Luma plex
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    Jun 28th 2023, 9:53 PM

    @Emmet Murphy: I’m actually Irish. Is the K supposed to represent something or just lack of intelligence?

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    Mute Luma plex
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    Jun 28th 2023, 9:57 PM

    @Paul Furey: Who did I insult? And insults were around long before Trump. You’re obsessed. And as for anonymity, why would I put my public information out here? And why are you wearing blue cargo shorts and a white short sleeved shirt with flowers on it with a jumper on top of your head in your whatsapp profile picture?

    26
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    Mute Shane O Neill
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    Jun 28th 2023, 8:02 PM

    If it happens a couple of times, then you could blame a truck driver, but it’s happening 100 times a year, year in year out. Irish Rail should be doing something proactive rather than tweeting about it after the fact.

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    Mute Rory Jennequin
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    Jun 28th 2023, 8:15 PM

    @Shane O Neill: Like putting signs up? I’m sure they never thought of that…oh wait…

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    Mute Allora
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    Jun 28th 2023, 9:21 PM

    @Rory Jennequin: they didn’t. The sign infrastructure for low bridges is at best horrendous & then throw in drivers from outside Ireland not knowing the local infrastructure you have the perfect storm.

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    Mute Roy Dowling
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    Jun 28th 2023, 9:41 PM

    @Rory Jennequin: when were the signs put in place?. Has anyone from the council taken into account that some roads under bridges have been resurfaced several times lowering distance between the road and the underside of the bridges. So drivers think they have enough clearance but they don’t as the sign is not accurate anymore.

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    Mute Paul
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    Jun 28th 2023, 11:13 PM

    @Roy Dowling: the old surface is removed before a new one is put down. The road surface / bridge height won’t change any significant amount.

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    Mute Abdul Abhaile
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    Jun 28th 2023, 9:11 PM

    I did my HGV licence a couple of years ago, the first thing that was drilled into me during training was ‘knowing the height of my truck’?
    A good many drivers don’t know this or are unfamiliar with Irish roads and where their truck will actually fit!

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    Mute Allora
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    Jun 28th 2023, 9:24 PM

    @Abdul Abhaile: when your pulling 20 different trailers a day its hard to know the height particularly foreign trailers with no height marking. Make this law and fix some of the issues.

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    Mute Abdul Abhaile
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    Jun 28th 2023, 10:05 PM

    @Allora: Why would you be pulling 20 different trailers a day, these are truck drivers who crash into bridges not shunters. Either way, you’re supposed to do a walk around every time you hitch a trailer to your tractor unit and knowing the height of it is the driver’s responsibility.

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    Mute Allora
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    Jun 28th 2023, 10:57 PM

    @Abdul Abhaile: 20 trailers a day would be a regular. They take them off ferries in the port & deliver them all around Dublin. If you pick up a trailer with no height marking on it. How exactly would your walk around help you know.

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    Mute Abdul Abhaile
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    Jun 28th 2023, 11:07 PM

    @Allora: Would you give over with your 20 trailers a day, when is the last time you drove in Dublin? You’d be lucky to pull one trailer to your destination.
    As for not knowing the height of your trailer…..try looking up. It’s utter incompetence to not even vaguely know its height and you certainly don’t wing it coming up to a bridge that you’re unsure of.

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    Mute Robert Conneely
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    Jun 29th 2023, 8:14 PM

    @Allora: so you think all trailers delivered 15 minutes from the port? Presuming its a 12 hour shift.

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    Mute F Fitzgerald
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    Jun 29th 2023, 10:02 PM

    @Allora: Why not buy a tape measure? There are apps that measure height as well. For the small cost of one, drivers could take another route and avoid expensive bridge strikes.

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    Mute rosemary flowers
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    Jun 28th 2023, 8:00 PM

    I’m not surprised, the Portlaoise bridge is hit at least once a week. Pearse St, Barrow St, Bath Avenue and South Lotts bridges are regular targets. Serpentine Avenue and Merrion Gates are also regular black spots. The Road Hauliers Association provided maps for members a few years back but they weren’t supplied to the Independent truck drivers. Surely it would save time and money if all high vehicles were issued with the maps and route planners. They could also be issued to truckdrivers at entry ports as some Satnav’s aren’t accurate when it comes to bridges, crossings and narrow canal and river bridges. When I worked as a community nurse I was often stopped by drivers looking for directions having come across height restrictions etc only a few yards from an obstruction.

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    Mute Christine Healy
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    Jun 28th 2023, 9:20 PM

    I dont think the word “dumb” is very nice tbh. Esp from Irish Rail. Who is after issuing a statement using the word “dumb”. Very unprofessional and inappropriate imo.

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    Mute Niall O'Cofaigh
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    Jun 28th 2023, 9:52 PM

    @Christine Healy: all I could think of with the headline was when C.I.E. double decker buses crashed into bridges delaying C.I.E. trains … that was in the old days when they were all the same company. There was even a double decker bus hit a rail bridge just a few weeks ago in Cork. Hitting bridges seems to be a world wide phenomenon and there seems no easy solution although a gantry detecting the height of a vehicle on approach could be used to detect oversize vehicles and issue a visual and audible warning of impending doom.

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    Mute Abdul Abhaile
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    Jun 28th 2023, 11:11 PM

    @Niall O’Cofaigh: That wasn’t a double decker, it was a Bus Éireann bus so not as high. That driver took a chance on an unapproved road and smashed into the bridge.

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    Mute Larry O Reilly
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    Jun 28th 2023, 9:51 PM

    Very inappropriate for a semi state body to be using language like this to describe anyone this should be investigated and the person responsible discipline as this indicates that they are not able to do their job in a professional way

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    Mute Larissa Caroline Nikolaus
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    Jun 29th 2023, 8:44 AM

    @Larry O Reilly: as a truck driver you should know the height of your vehicle and thus not hit a bridge. It’s not as if these bridges or level crossings are jumping in front of these drivers all in a sudden.

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    Mute Sean
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    Jun 29th 2023, 12:02 AM

    Why not have some device either side of the bridge that the truck could crash into that would cause them to stop before hitting the bridge? It could be a bar with chains hanging down or something more sophisticated. Similar to this type.

    https://www.pnj.com/story/news/local/2023/04/27/pensacola-graffiti-bridge-truck-stuck-problem-getting-140k-solution/70158255007/

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    Mute Eugene Mullen
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    Jun 29th 2023, 1:59 AM

    These bridges should have a cross bar before them that trucks would hit before hitting the bridge, setting off warning lights and signs. Truck drivers should then be responsible for repairing the crossbars which should be easily lifted from the ground and replaced with new ones

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    Mute Truckers doing truckers things
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    Jun 28th 2023, 9:03 PM

    Dumb and truck driver is redundant in the same sentence.

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    Mute Sean O Callaghan
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    Jun 29th 2023, 12:04 AM

    @Truckers doing truckers things: Ah in fairness it stated dumb truckers, instead of dumb F##kers

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    Mute thesaltyurchin
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    Jun 29th 2023, 8:11 AM

    Ireland is a port que, we have no idea how to move goods around the country other than along side commuters in rush hour traffic.

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    Mute Regular John
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    Jun 29th 2023, 12:48 PM

    That’s rich coming from Irish Rail. I was caught up in the Bray air show fiasco last year, there was an abundance of Irish Rail “dumbness” on display that day.

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