Irish Rail lifts put out of service 800 times by vandals, rough sleepers and chewing gum

Yesterday at 02:30

Lifts at Irish Rail stations were left out of service more than 800 times over just 18 months by vandals, homeless people sleeping in them, doors getting kicked while passengers were inside and technical issues.

Lifts were sometimes left out of action for over a week, posing major difficulties for people with mobility issues. However, many breakdowns were quickly fixed within a day or two, sometimes on the same day.

In the worst case, a person was trapped for over 90 minutes, at Portarlington station in Co Laois before an engineer arrived to set them free.

On another occasion, “a lady and her two children” ended up stuck in the lift at Howth Junction in Dublin for half-an-hour. A note in the fault log read: “This can all be reviewed on cameras … time 12.06pm to 12.40pm.”

Some lifts were deliberately damaged, with chewing gum or “sticky substances” found jammed into the door, meaning it would not open.

One was knocked out of service in Blackrock, Dublin, after “six individuals entered the lift and began jumping up and down”.

In another incident, passengers ended up stuck in a lift for 15 minutes after a gang of youths began “kicking the doors as it was travelling”.

Another group got a taste of their own medicine when they began jumping inside a lift, which caused a fault and left them trapped for nearly half-an-hour.

A fault was reported at Sandycove station in Dublin — but when checks were made, it was discovered a homeless person had been sleeping inside and had pulled a shutter down.

Access for All Ireland, which campaigns on behalf of people with disabilities, said access to lifts was a challenge all over the country.