Thousands of cars clamped at Luas stop

THERE have been calls for an investigation following the clamping of thousands of cars at the Luas Red Cow Park & Ride.

Deputy John Curran (FF) called on Transport Infrastructure Ireland (TII) to carry out an investigation into the ticket machines and payment system at the location after it emerged that neared 3,000 cars were clamped there in less than a year.

Deputy Curran said that the figures he received from the TII equated to almost 10 cars clamped every day.

According to Deputy Curran, from January 1, 2019 to November 3, 2019, some 2,927 drivers were clamped at the facility.

A total of 1,218 drivers appealed and 525 of these were successful in their appeal. 

 “I have received many calls to my constituency office in relation to the difficulties people were having with the ticket machines at the Red Cow Luas Park & Ride,” Deputy Curran said.

He added that the issue was “causing huge cost and inconvenience” to hard-pressed commuters who were returning at the end of their working day to find their cars clamped.

“People have complained that the machines appear to not be allowing them to input their correct car registration numbers but are accepting full payment.

“On return to their cars, however, a clamp has been applied with the cost of €80 for clamp removal.
 “This is unfair, and people have reported to me that they have shown proof of payment,” Deputy Curran added.
“These machines are not fit for purpose. The TII and Luas must come together immediately to come up with a solution at Red Cow Park & Ride
 A Luas spokesperson said: “When inputting vehicle registration numbers, Luas advises customers to always check the machine screen before proceeding to payment.

“If a ticket machine is found to be faulty, it is serviced within hours of the report being made.

“A customer who finds fault with a machine should not continue to input incorrect digits and proceed to the payment stage.”