Anyone Commuting To Dublin?

sk8board

Hi,

Am thinking of moving back home to KK, and I see that there is now a new morning train service to Dublin.

Anyone doing it? or any thoughts?

Lump

2 Hours each way! I doubt it!

Stephen

Some must be doing it since they laid on that train service around 6.30 am. Before that the only way to get to from Kilkenny to Dublin city centre before 9 am was to take a very, very early JJ Kavanagh bus.

A return trip to Dublin on the train every day would put a fairly significant dent in your wallet too.

sk8board

I heard that there were about 50 people getting the train each morning. To cement that, my dad was coming up on the 6.50 train a few weeks back, and he was amazed at the amount of people heading up daily. All of them either working, or sleeping

I should add some pro's and con's to my particular case:

pro's:
- can work 2 (maaaaybe 3) days at home
- can work on the train each morn, and get the 4.30 train back
- can get the yearly ticket (not sure would it still be worth it for 3 days, but you'd be surprised. its about 2k per year)
- I have a reasonably good job, and wouldn't give it up easy. Now have family, hence the enticement to move out of Dublin

con's:
- Its an aweful lot of travel, and could really only be considered a few years maximum
- I work in telecom's. theres no such jobs in KK. A few in Waterford, but you never know if those companies will still be about in a few years from now.
- Its expensive
- I travel a lot of long haul (about once or twice per month), and am currently living near Dublin airport. You can't really get the train to the airport, so would have to drive up for any flights

Nightwish

Both myself and my mother have gotten that train and there are loads of people over at the station, getting it. The ticket office isnt open so you have to use the 1 credit card machine :rolleyes: The train is usually packed after Carlow, too. However its returning home, is the problem. They've put on an extra service in the morning without increasing the service returning in the evening. The 18:30 train from Heuston to Waterford is horrible, its so full.

wheres me jumpa

Well I know from Carlow its amzzing the amount of people that commute by train and bus. I spent 6 months driving to just past City West and it wasnt so bad. The thought of commuting by train or bus though makes me shudder.

sk8board

by bus would be a total non-starter, thats for sure.

I just not sure it would be all that bad by train, but maybe i'm trying too hard to justify it The return journey would be woeful alright, and the 4.30 train would be the only option.

road_high

sk8board wrote:

Hi,

Am thinking of moving back home to KK, and I see that there is now a new morning train service to Dublin.

Anyone doing it? or any thoughts?

I believe there's loads commuting from town now. That train is at 6.49 am, not 6.30am. Think it arrives in Heuston around 20 to 9.
I'd say more so people are commuting to places on the fringe of Dublin like Citywest or Naas and the like. The new road when it comes on stream will make this much easier. People can get far better jobs in Dub, that's why so many are commutting. All the other Leinster towns like Mullingar, Tullamore, Portlaoise, Carlow etc etc are the very same too, except they have better roads.
I would say it depends where in Dublin you work and your hours. If you work near Heuston it is possible to do it. A lot of people do work on the train like with their laptops which helps.

sk8board

You see thats what I'm thinking. I will just have to doa questionaire at the station for a week or two
I work at O connell bridge. The big plus is the ability to laptop work on the train, as you say, but also that I would only be doing it 3 days per week, and only for the weeks that I'm not travelling elsewhere.
Otherwise, I certainly would not do it 5 days a week.

Also, and most importantly, I'm assuming i'll still be working in the same job, or that this company will still exist in 5 or 10 years time

road_high

sk8board wrote:

You see thats what I'm thinking. I will just have to doa questionaire at the station for a week or two
I work at O connell bridge. The big plus is the ability to laptop work on the train, as you say, but also that I would only be doing it 3 days per week, and only for the weeks that I'm not travelling elsewhere.
Otherwise, I certainly would not do it 5 days a week.

Also, and most importantly, I'm assuming i'll still be working in the same job, or that this company will still exist in 5 or 10 years time

The way I look on it though, it probably takes you nearly an hour to get into work from near the airport anyway, so would it really be a huge extra strain to get the train in from KK. I'd say that's how a lot of people justify long commutes to Dublin!
It's all down to personal choice at the end of the day really...

oilsheik

I commute to Dublin daily, not from City, but from the North of County being doing so for the last 5 years. I get the train in Athy as opposed to Carlow or Kilkenny its the 6:45 out of Athy and arrives in Dublin at 7:45 - 50. The return train I get leaves Hueston at 18:25. I leave the house at 6:00 and return at 19:35. I'm single and don't have family, I don't know how I cope if I had kids or a wife. Your life is basically from bed to work, you are constantly tired and the weekend is spent catching up on sleep and generally not doing much. Iarnrod Eireann service isn't brilliant particular the evening service, no train between 16:25 and 18:25 also if just one train breaks down in from of the Waterford Train you'll be stuck on it for an hour! I have arrived home at 21:00 on some occasions. I can tell you its not a nice life, I'm trying to find a job closer to KK and I would consider a job in Waterford. All I'll say is think long and hard about it! a house it KK might come with a bigger garden and more bedrooms but with a job in Dublin your quality of life will go down the drain, take it from somebody who is stuck in this trap.

sk8board

good advice oilsheik, cheers

Lump

You could always drive, my dad did it for a few years, Kilkenny to dublin in about 90 minutes, depending where you live/Work


John

Our man in Havana

I am driving from Rathdowney in Laois to Waterford 4 days a week a journey which takes a min of 90 mins and averages 105-110 mins. I have been doing this for the last 2.5 years and I am slowing loosing the will to live. I will have to start looking closer to home for work but that is difficult to say the least.

road_high

Bond-007 wrote:

I am driving from Rathdowney in Laois to Waterford 4 days a week a journey which takes a min of 90 mins and averages 105-110 mins. I have been doing this for the last 2.5 years and I am slowing loosing the will to live. I will have to start looking closer to home for work but that is difficult to say the least.

My sincere sympathies there Bond- it's the crap road to Waterford that makes it such misery! Bring on the new road ASAP...

sk8board

Lump wrote:

You could always drive, my dad did it for a few years, Kilkenny to dublin in about 90 minutes, depending where you live/Work

John

had thought of that; but I work in the city center, with very limited company parking (lets just say NO parking).
The other option would be to drive to the Luas at Red Cow.

It wouldn't be every day, maybe 2 or 3 days a week.
Its not something I would intend doing for a few years, but am starting to look at moving the whole sha-bang out of Dublin. But perhaps you can't have it both ways, and I should only move if I changed job also.

Whats the telecom's market like in waterford!?

Nalz

Lump wrote:

You could always drive, my dad did it for a few years, Kilkenny to dublin in about 90 minutes, depending where you live/Work

thats good going, but I doubt it was the city centre he was travelling to

Lump

Tallagh

road_high

Check out this website I heard about; people from the commuter counties can put up a post to share lifts to Dublin; seems to be loads from the surrounding counties, Kilkenny should be included too;
http://www.dublintraffic.ie/BulletinBoards.shtml

road_high

I read somewhere that a recent housing developoment in Castlecomer town nearly something like half of the houses were sold to Dubs. Presumably a lot of these are commuters too to Dub.