Passengers forced to cross railway tracks to exit station due to locked gate

At least 33 passengers — mostly secondary school students — who alighted from five trains that stopped at Navan Road Parkway found themselves trapped on Platform 2 and chose to cross the railway tracks in order to exit the station. File picture: Larry Cummins 

Iarnród Éireann has been asked to review its monitoring of unmanned stations following an incident where its staff were unaware for 90 minutes that groups of passengers were forced to cross railway tracks to exit the train station at Navan Road Parkway.

The Railway Accident Investigation Unit (RAIU) has issued a series of safety recommendations over the incident on January 31, 2025, which resulted in passengers being prevented from leaving or accessing one of the platforms at Navan Road Parkway because of a locked gate.

At least 33 passengers — mostly secondary school students — who alighted from five trains that stopped at Navan Road Parkway found themselves trapped on Platform 2 and chose to cross the railway tracks in order to exit the station.

In one instance, according to a report by the RAIU, the last individual among a group of 19 students crossed the tracks 34 seconds before a non-stop train passed through the station.

The RAIU said there was a risk of injuries or fatalities to students from collisions with trains by running across the railway tracks.

Several passengers who tried to leave the station via the lift on Platform 2 also encountered difficulties with operating it.

The RAIU identified an issue with the “two-step” operation of the platform lift which requires passengers to use an intercom to get an operator based at a control centre at Howth Junction to allow them to use it.

Railway safety investigators observed that Iarnród Éireann had previously identified similar customer issues with the process and favoured a transition to a one-step process.

Operator believed two students who complained were 'messing'

The RAIU report revealed that an operator mistakenly believed two students who used the intercom to complain they were trapped on the platform were “messing". 

It found that the reason the operator did not release the lift for use was also due to a high level of anti-social behaviour at Navan Road Parkway station.

The RAIU established that a private contractor working for Iarnród Éireann locked the security gate to Platform 2 when unlocking the entrance to the station at 5.36am.

The first passenger seen on CCTV crossing the railway tracks because they cannot gain access to Platform 2 is at 6.52am.

Transport Infrastructure Ireland contacted Iarnród Éireann on its emergency line at 8.22am to notify them that there were “schoolchildren trapped in the station". 

From 8.30am, all train drivers were advised via radio to approach Navan Road Parkway at extreme caution which the RAIU noted meant at “a walking pace”.

The access gate to the platform was eventually unlocked at 9.10am.

It is understood that Iarnród Éireann is currently trialling new SOS signage on platforms in some mainline stations.

A spokesperson for Iarnród Éireann said it has already undertaken a number of actions and it will implement all recommendations made by the RAIU “arising from this serious incident".