What happened the trains this morning?

eth0_

I am one very p*ssed off commuter! I took the 8.20am express (Enterprise) service from Drogheda to Connolly this morning, expecting to be in for around 9am. It didn't get in until 9.25am! Once we hit Malahide, the train crawled the rest of the way. NO announcement from the driver as to why the train was going so slowly. My workmate just told me it took her 45 minutes on the DART to get from Raheny to Connolly, again, no announcement or apology. 45 minutes for a journey that normally takes 10.

Why do we get such sh1t service from CIE! :-(

dmeehan

its getting to the time of year when the "wrong type of leaves are on the line"

fletch

Yeh I was waiting for the Dárt this morning in Tara Street @ 7:20. The sign said I had 2 mins to wait & then all of a sudden it disappeared off the sign & said I had 12mins to wait...no explanation given :rolleyes:

dazberry

Supposedly there were "points" problems in Connelly???

There was a drought of buses this morning for me - if that's any consolation - then again my expectations are never high so its easier to deal with

D.

A Dub in Glasgo

dmeehan wrote:

its getting to the time of year when the "wrong type of leaves are on the line"

Leaf fall contamination is a real safety problem. Better to be late than crash.

segadreamcast

It absolutely is...and it's a fairly unique problem to Ireland and the UK. Something to do with the leaves being crushed under the weight of the trains and creating a type of sludge that can cause accidents on the track... if I recall.

dazberry

NoelRock wrote:

It absolutely is...and it's a fairly unique problem to Ireland and the UK. Something to do with the leaves being crushed under the weight of the trains and creating a type of sludge that can cause accidents on the track... if I recall.

Also causes track erosion supposedly, especially when its gritted which doesn't help matters in the longer term. I don't know if anyone saw this (its has been of course on a few times) about some inventor working on a high powered laser/fiber-optic system that burns the sludge off the tracks as it goes.

D.

shltter

dazberry wrote:

Supposedly there were "points" problems in Connelly???

There was a drought of buses this morning for me - if that's any consolation - then again my expectations are never high so its easier to deal with

D.

same amount of buses as there is any monday morning.
they were just stuck in the ****ty traffic

John R

NoelRock wrote:

It absolutely is...and it's a fairly unique problem to Ireland and the UK.

Not true. It is a big problem on all railways that have trees nearby.

A Dub in Glasgo

Correct

The problems are two fold

1. Wheel adhesion: Trains cannot brake correctly as the wheel is not in contact with the rail and it slides

2. Wrong Side Signalling Failure: the presence (or absence) of trains on the network is detected by the signalling system in form of track circuits (majority of systems). An electrical circuit is made from one length of rail to the opposite rail on the same track. This picks a relay when the circuit is complete and the track is shown as clear. Trains can be signalled onto it. When a train enters the section, the wheel axles act as a short circuit and drops the relay and this is known as the track occupied. A train cannot be signalled into the section. With leaf fall, the leaves act as an insulator on the rails thus the train will not come into contact with the rail and the track circuit will not drop. The signalling system does not know there is a train in the section and other train movements can be signalled in conflict.

enterprise

Dub-in-Glasglow, I couldn't have put it better myself.

To lessen the problem IE operate Sandite trains every evening during the leaf-fall season from Kildare around the Dublin Suburban system and from Limerick Jct to Portlaoise and Cork - Cobh.

Leaf-fall really only effects DMU's and EMU's but some locomotives (esp the 071 class) suffer badly to.

Enterprise.