Passenger complaints highlight alcohol, drugs, and abuse on rail services to and from Cork

People taking heroin and cocaine, smoking weed and vapes, drinking alcohol, threatening violence, attacking passengers and staff and calling a mother a “slut” in front of her children for asking someone to move out of her prebooked seat were among the issues reported to Iarnród Éireann on trains to and from Cork over the last year.

Complaints were provided to The Echo from the train company on foot of a Freedom of Information request.

Among them were complaints from people who felt uncomfortable, unsafe, and frightened, as they called for security on trains and said staff on board were either nowhere to be seen, said there was nothing they could do or, in one case, laughed at them.

Many said they would not be taking the train again, with one saying: “Charging people money to be put at risk of antisocial and dangerous behaviour, and leaving them to have to confront inebriated, potentially violent men is a disgrace for a publicly-funded mode of transport.”

One passenger said that other passengers “had heroin with them and they were clearly getting it ready and smoking it in the bathroom”, adding: “An absolute disgrace. Making all the passengers uncomfortable. We were utterly shocked. Where is the security?”

Drugs

Another said that while on the train: “We experienced a group of people (all seated around us) snorting cocaine and passing it to each other, the same group were smoking weed and drinking naggins of vodka.”

They said: “I did not mind the chanting/singing as it was to be expected but I absolutely did mind the inhaling of smoke and watching teenagers take cocaine; yes, I know it was cocaine for certain as they were speaking about it. I also overheard one of these lads saying they were 16 about to turn 17. It was utterly horrifying and a disgrace that there was no security presence whatsoever.”

There was another complaint about drug use from a passenger who wrote: “I bought myself a first class ticket hoping for a more peaceful, comfortable journey. When I arrived to my seat, there was an incredibly inebriated adult man, half comatose but extremely belligerent, lying across my seat.

“About an hour and a half into the journey a young man, high on drugs came into our carriage shouting, and sat down, in the seats behind us and proceeded to do drugs in front of everyone. Again, no staff to be found, no security to be found, and this person was completely out of control. It is unacceptable that women should have to be afraid of confrontations like these on your public service.”

One person said that their seat was occupied when we boarded, so they sat on another, writing: “Thankfully, we did not ask the man to move, as it later transpired he was completely off his head on drugs.

“He was then joined by a fellow male passenger, who was again off his head on drugs. They continued to shout at each other for the entire journey, discussed the drugs they had taken, showed off different drugs to each other, and played loud music videos etc. We were cornered at the end of the carriage, scared for what might happen.”

Drunkenness

Many of the complaints related to inebriated people on the train, and said that nothing was done about the behaviour.

One person wrote: “There are a group of young girls drinking and playing very loud music, passengers on the train have asked them to be quiet but they just carried on. You need to have people on the trains to deal with these kind of people. I don’t think I will be going on a train anytime soon.”

Another said that “a big group of lads” got on the train and sat beside them “squashing me into the side of the carriage”. 

“They were all shouting, smoking, and drinking when some fella said to be quiet pointed at me and says “four eyes over there isn’t happy”, and when the passenger did not respond “he then threw an empty can of drink at me”.

One passenger said that their train journey was “ruined by match fans who showed blatant disregard for the rules. Alcohol consumed, shouting, feet on seats, phones playing videos out loud”. They added: “When I spoke to a nice member of staff in Kent Station, he simply said ‘there’s nothing we can do and you should contact the CEO’… At the end of the day, it appears the good passengers suffer and the inconsiderate passengers have the run of the service.”

Another said that a staff member told a group of men that drinking was not allowed and then moved on, but “the group paid no attention to this and continued to drink”.

“The employee moved through the carriage one more time shortly afterwards to which the group said it was the same can of alcohol they were drinking. The Iarnród Éireann employee said that was ‘fine’.” 

They said that the ordeal continued: “This man asked if I would swap seats with him. When I asked why he wanted to swap seats he said ‘because there is a Chinese one there’ indicating his own seat.

“He then squeezed in beside his friend opposite me and for the next 40 mins continued to loudly swear, verbally threaten people under his breath, vape, and occasionally threaten to take my laptop (on the table in front of me) because I did not give my seat to him so he could sit next to his friends. Everyone around us was physically uncomfortable — parents gave their children headphones so they wouldn’t hear what was being said.”

They said that simultaneously another group “continued to vape, make prank phone calls on speaker, swearing loudly and from time to time. One member of the stag kept asking the female passenger if she would ‘share her sandwich’ which eventually turned into loud sexual comments about the woman.”

The passenger added: “I appreciate that is it not the role of Iarnród Éireann employees to manage antisocial situations directly however, considering that in the past I have been stopped by staff to remove my bag from a seat, it seems a bit ridiculous what happened today. In all truth, it is beyond embarrassing for the national rail service. Travelling via rail will be my last resort moving forward.”

“There was a man drinking on the train. He was quite drunk. He kept talking about shooting people and robbing a bank,” one complainant wrote, while another said: “Many passengers are drinking, vaping, and being extremely loud. I do not feel safe.”

One passenger reported a man vaping and drinking on Cork to Dublin train, saying: “Security staff very politely asked him to surrender both items and he refused, accusing them of attempted theft.”

Explain

Another passenger asked: “Can you please explain to me how it is possible that when alcohol is prohibited on Irish Rail services, and an announcement has been made on board to that effect, that I’m currently sitting on the Dublin-Cork train surrounded by drunken Munster fans continuing to get tanked up and create a very uncomfortable atmosphere, with no Irish Rail staff doing a single thing about it?”

Another said that a group “carried a big bag containing alcohol and proceeded to drink, firstly bottles of spirits, followed by cans of lager while they argued amongst themselves and played music very loudly”.

They continued: “One of the females became very agitated and became very verbally abusive to some of the other passengers. It was a very frightening experience and there was no member of staff to stop them.” Yet another complaint about a group of men said: “They proceeded for the duration of their trip to shout very loudly and at times aggressively and drink alcohol in excess spill alcohol over themselves, other passengers, and onto the train.”

Another person questioned why intoxicated people were allowed on to the train, and in some cases assisted to their seats, writing: “An elderly man was brought into the first class carriage and put in the wheelchair seat. He was extremely drunk and from the minute he got on the train he was shouting and cursing.

“He proceeded to have multiple calls all shouting about Irish republican activities and then he proceeded to ring someone and discuss how he was going to attack their niece.”

Verbal abuse

One person questioned how the company handled complaints, saying they reported a woman who was “extremely drunk and was shouting at other passengers”, and then the driver made an announcement that they were aware of an issue in Carriage C and that it would be resolved in Thurles.

They explained: “The women knew this announcement was about them and started shouting at passengers that someone had reported them. This announcement aggravated an already tense situation”, adding “not once did the conductor come into the carriage to have an official presence. I felt extremely unsafe and uncomfortable.”

One woman wrote that a man “had a can of beer in his hand, opened it and spilt some of the contents out twice before turning to me and aggressively saying he had not seen me round before and asking if I had called him a derogatory term for a gay man.

“The man then told me he had been hearing people call him names and needed to watch his back in case he got stabbed … As a young woman, I felt incredibly uncomfortable and vulnerable in this situation.”

Another complainant said: “My daughter is frightened with the shouting, screaming, language … Honestly, it’s absolutely disgraceful that Irish Rail is allowing this, so much for your warnings about CCTV when nothing is done.”

Another said that a group of young people “completely filled up the aisles and even lying in the above luggage rack. They were loudly singing and continuously banging the ceiling it was beyond loud. A woman who appeared to have additional needs was very upset by the loud noise, she even tried to put in ear plugs and could still hear them and was trying to rock back and forth to cope.”

One person said that their names were not displayed above their seats, and there were two men sitting in them: “When I explained that they were our seats and showed my tickets these men became verbally abusive and refused to move.

“My brother who had another seat approached a member of staff on the platform to inform him of the situation and he was laughed at and told that there was nothing he could do. I also asked a member of staff on the train would he check the tickets and he said no.

“I was called a slut and told to go back under the rock I came from. One of the men also threatened to fight my brother once they arrived in Cork. My sons were scared and my youngest started to cry. This verbal abuse continued for some time. My mother, who is 65, and I then had to stand for our journey.”

A common theme to the complaints was a lack of action by staff, as one person said: “During this journey I witnessed verbal and threats of physical violence against young children, yet absolutely nothing was done about this disturbing behaviour.”

One said that while action was taken, it was not satisfactory, writing: “There were a group of teenagers playing extremely loud and vulgar music, and discussing child rape and other topics out loud. I approached the security man and told him, and while he asked them to quieten down, he was sniggering and laughing doing it.”

Theft and violence

One passenger wrote a complaint explaining: “A guy tried stealing my scooter off the train … when I was walking away, he said to the child with him, ‘don’t worry I’ll get you the next one’.” Another shared how theft escalated into something more serious saying: “I noticed a guy trying rob another man’s phone while he was sleeping. I then watched the guy rob two cans of 7up from the drinks trolley.” They said that he next tried to steal a man’s jacket, and when the passenger reported it he “assaulted the host and another passenger”, leaving the passenger who made the complaint to help train staff subdue him.

Another person said “this man came down to our carriage, banged on the door, tried to sit next to me and when another male passenger asked him not to do that he started threatening him and next thing the two of them are fighting, I couldn’t get away at first as I was pinned in while they fought.”

Some complaints related to the train station as well as the trains themselves, with one person writing: “My daughter was randomly punched twice by a young fella at the train station.” Another passenger outlined being threatened, saying: “Around 10-15 minutes into the journey I looked up and glanced at a guy sitting in a pod of four opposite me. He immediately said ‘don’t you be f**king eyeballing me’. I was stunned and wondered whether he was speaking to me. He repeated the statement. I rejected what he was saying then and he said he would ‘bust me up’ or something like ‘knock the b**llocks out of me’.”

Iarnród Éireann spokesperson

An Iarnród Éireann spokesperson told The Echo: “As a societal issue to which we are not immune, we have a range of proactive and preventative measures and response measures in place to address antisocial behaviour, working with our own team, our private security contractors and An Garda Síochána.

“Intercity services, such as Dublin to Cork, all have customer service personnel on board, to whom customers can raise issues of concern.

“Additionally, we have established with the gardaí a network of rapid response hubs, which allows our staff to directly contact key garda locations should assistance be required. Proactive joint patrols with gardaí also take place weekly.”

They continued: “We have consistently expanded security resources in recent years, to give greater visibility and to both deter and respond to issues that arise. We will also put additional resources towards specific events, and have proactive joint security measures and patrols in place with gardaí, such as for the summer events season now upon us.

“The vast majority of 50.1m journeys on our network (including over 3m on the Dublin to Cork line) take place without incident, but we will continue to prioritise prevention of incidents, and rapid response working with our partners.”