Concertgoers complain of transport chaos at Marlay Park gigs
Fans at the 2013 Logitude festival at Marlay Park, Dublin. There are fears that patron's at this weekend's event will suffer similar difficulties to those seen at standalone concerts this week. Picture: Collins Photos
There are no plans to add extra buses in the vicinity of Dublin's Marlay Park ahead of this weekend's Longitude festival, despite several days of transport pressure in the area.
This weekend, the three-day music festival will see the likes of Megan Thee Stallion, A$AP Rocky, and Tyler, the Creator perform in the park, with tens of thousands of fans expected to attend.
It comes after the likes of Green Day and the Red Hot Chili Peppers also played the South Dublin venue in recent days.
However, despite the events' success from a musical standpoint, there have been complaints about the long waits for transport to and from the venue.
There's a queue over 2km long at #marlaypark for the #hellamegatour. Arrived at 5:30 and probably won't https://t.co/QbtNE5IY72 into see @Weezer, who I bought the ticket to see. Can honestly say it's the worst gig organisation I've seen @mcd_productions
— Mike Mikerson (@mikebrennan85) June 27, 2022
Several nights this week, hundreds of concertgoers were left stranded outside the Dublin park with no buses, shuttles, or taxis to take them home.
With an inadequate supply of transport options, many were forced to walk for up to two hours before they were able to find a bus or taxi, while some gave up and simply walked the entire way back to their homes.
Dublin Bus have failed to organise additional services for concert-goers getting to Marlay Park
— DAVID MCMANUS 🇮🇪 (@McManusDavid) June 28, 2022
Last night, the Grange Road outside Marlay Park became the Boulevard of Broken Public Transport for Green Day fans
We need extra buses on 14/16 routes immediately!
The National Transport Authority (NTA) told the that it made clear to both the local authority and the event organisers at a planning meeting regarding the Marlay Park gigs back in February that it did not have the spare capacity to offer enhanced bus services to or from Marlay Park, and that this situation has not changed.
"At the present time, maintaining drivier availability is proving challenging for both Go-Ahead Ireland and Dublin Bus, so it would not be possible for these operators to cater for events such as concerts at Marlay Park without significant adverse impact on bus services elsewhere," an NTA statement said.
A spokesperson for the NTA said the event organisers agreed to arrange adequate shuttles.
When this was put to Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown County Council, a spokesperson said they will not be making any comment on this situation.
Both MCD and Marathon Coaches, which ran the shuttle service from the park to the city centre and the Dundrum Luas stop, have been approached for comment.
One woman, Edie, attended the Hella Mega gig with Green Day, Fall Out Boy, and Weezer during the week did not manage to find a taxi to take her and a friend home until 2am.
Speaking to the , Edie said that there were issues from the time they arrived at Marlay Park at around 5.30pm.
It was a 15-minute walk to reach the end of the queue. It took another hour before they reached the entrance to get their tickets scanned.
They were told by a steward that another entrance, which she believes was the car park entrance, would have been quicker, but there had been no signs or stewards to direct people to another entrance. This entrance was also a 35-minute walk from where they had queued.
Once they had made it inside, Edie said everything was great. They had a wonderful time and the hour spent queuing was quickly forgotten — until the gig ended.
Edie and her friend followed the signage to the shuttle service, opting for the one to the city centre as they believed they would be too late to catch the last Luas from Dundrum.
They were worried about the number of people looking to board the shuttles, but were assured that the €7 shuttle buses would run until everyone had left.
Within 10 minutes, a steward told them there was a chance that there would not be enough shuttles for everybody. Three buses arrived and left and the remaining concertgoers were told there would be no more.
"At this point, there was still at least a few hundred people in the line, if not 1,000+," Edie said.
After some back and forth with those left stranded at the venue, gardaí advised the crowd to get a taxi home or walk to Nutgrove Avenue to get the number 16 bus which had been diverted as some of the roads had been closed because of the gig.
With no other choice, people began to walk. Edie said it took almost an hour and a half just to get back onto a proper main road.
"A bunch of people were just sitting on the street along the way because they couldn't walk anymore," she said.
One pub along the way that was still open was packed with people looking to get water and use the bathroom after the long walk.
When they reached a bus stop in Terenure — around a 5km walk from where they began — a number 65 bus arrived, but changed its sign to 'not in service' and bypassed those waiting, she said. The number 15 bus followed afterwards and was unable to stop because it was already too full.
Feeling increasingly hopeless as they had not seen a single taxi along their journey, one lone taxi appeared and picked them up.
"He couldn't believe we'd walked that far," she said.
"That was around 2am. At that point, there were still hundreds of people sitting at bus stops or opting to walk another hour towards the city.
The experience has put Edie off attending future gigs in Marlay Park.
"It has really ruined the entire concert experience," she said.
Edie's story is one of many that was seen on social media throughout the week, with various people sharing very similar tales following each of the gigs that have taken place so far.
Today sees the first day of the Longitude festival and those attending are advised to plan how they intend to get home ahead of time.
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