Enterprise Article

Victor

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/background/7325380.stm

Top train 'needs £500m overhaul'

Northern Ireland Railways has revealed that its premier service, the Belfast to Dublin Enterprise, is losing money and needs a £500m overhaul.

It has also emerged that on average an Enterprise train breaks down every eight days.

A standard adult return fare between Belfast and Dublin currently costs £36.00.

Regional Development Minister Conor Murphy has admitted there are problems with the service.

"There is always room for improvement - you can never be complacent and say a service can't be improved," said Mr Murphy.

"And some of the flaws relate to the structure the service operates on, which is the responsibility of ourselves and the two railway companies, to try and decrease the time between the two cities.

"Travel on the train between the two cities is hugely important for both administrations."

Red Alert

Head End Power is the root cause of all this. Irish Rail were warned not to try this with the DD coaches but they did anyway due to lack of funds for proper generator vans. They continue to deny that there is a problem and that this is the cause of it.

There were a number of experiments with Mk3's being HEPped by 201 Locomotives with a view to making gen vans redundant and apparently it was not a success at all.

Irish Rail could swap out the control cars with the same type as used on the cork service, seen as they were specified to be compatible (in theory).

Ham'nd'egger

Red Alert wrote: »

Head End Power is the root cause of all this. Irish Rail were warned not to try this with the DD coaches but they did anyway due to lack of funds for proper generator vans. They continue to deny that there is a problem and that this is the cause of it.

There were a number of experiments with Mk3's being HEPped by 201 Locomotives with a view to making gen vans redundant and apparently it was not a success at all.

Irish Rail could swap out the control cars with the same type as used on the cork service, seen as they were specified to be compatible (in theory).

Braking failures actually account for more failures than engine failures; they tend to be rectified on the spot by train staff, though. That said, there is an issue with HEP causing problems but they are less so out and out mechanical break downs but more so wear and tear. Loco replacing was brought in last year to the Enterprise and reliability went to over 98% as locos were not punished as much.

I don't know where you got the idea that there was not enough cash for generator vans as the DD set was purchased using EU grants, money was also found to make the DD sets one carriage longer after the initial tendering process.

Nostradamus

I can't wait to see what kind of Frankenstein solution we get this time. No doubt the PR materials and logo will be amazing... Dr Lynch's "Boosters" are the future of high speed rail in Ireland. They'll be calling it the most modern and high speed line in Europe while it moving along at 20mph.

The route needs a partial or total rebuild. The northern line isn't going to get any less busier and congestion of commuter services is always going to be the problem.

We need to be thinking purpose-built proper high-speed rail corridor and not Dr Lynch's green-diesel "boosters" for 2020. A new Dublin-Belfast TGV/ICE should be at least considered. The population projections for the island of Ireland are outstripping even the most optimistic forecasts. That old chestnut is rapidly becoming obsolete.

trellheim

Loco replacing was brought in last year to the Enterprise and reliability went to over 98% as locos were not punished as much.

bit gricery [ sorry ] but weren't only a few locos fitted with TPWS or whatever you call it ? then doesn't that fly in the face of a replacement strategy ?

Ham'nd'egger

trellheim wrote: »

bit gricery [ sorry ] but weren't only a few locos fitted with TPWS or whatever you call it ? then doesn't that fly in the face of a replacement strategy ?

6 of the 201 class are fitted with TPWS. Irish Rail own 4; Translink/NIR own 2. There is 3 sets of DD to run on the Enterprise needing 3 locos at any one time. That allows the other 3 locos to either be maintained and serviced, rested or used on other duties; you may see them on other trains from time to time. It may sound a bit gricey but in the context, it is relevant

PRND

Are those owned by NIR ever used on other services?

Ham'nd'egger

PRND wrote: »

Are those owned by NIR ever used on other services?

All 6 would see use on other services, yes.

DWCommuter

Nostradamus wrote: »

I can't wait to see what kind of Frankenstein solution we get this time. No doubt the PR materials and logo will be amazing... Dr Lynch's "Boosters" are the future of high speed rail in Ireland. They'll be calling it the most modern and high speed line in Europe while it moving along at 20mph.

The route needs a partial or total rebuild. The northern line isn't going to get any less busier and congestion of commuter services is always going to be the problem.

We need to be thinking purpose-built proper high-speed rail corridor and not Dr Lynch's green-diesel "boosters" for 2020. A new Dublin-Belfast TGV/ICE should be at least considered. The population projections for the island of Ireland are outstripping even the most optimistic forecasts. That old chestnut is rapidly becoming obsolete.

And herin lies the real solution. Due to the engineering constraints north of Dundalk and the commuter traffic south of Dundalk (lets not forget the big oul bridge in Drogheda and its interlaced track!!!!) the only real solution to making the line sub 90 minutes is a total rebuild. In the 80s, with decent track and rolling stock we could've done it easily and respectably. But in the noughties commuter traffic between Drgheda and Connolly has expanded so much that its just not reasonable to think that new rolling stock and motive power will bring any real timing improvements. It may get more reliable, but in terms of speed, efficiency and anything remotely resembling, a modern European approach, then for forget it. A rebuild is the way. In saying that and talking in rail terms, the population density and foot fall demand is not there to justify a rebuild. Dublin and Belfast may be European capitals, but they are very unique in terms of population. ( very small). Realistically this line, in European terms, is very like the WRC in Irish terms. Basically the same rule needs to be applied across the board. Therefore this line will be surpassed by the M1/A1 upgrade.

PRND

If you look at the destinations served by the European trains mentioned such as ICE or TGV, Belfast and Dublin would be on the lower end of the scale.

Enterprise would be of a similar standard to German IC. I think they should invest in separating DART traffic from the rest of the traffic on the Northern Line first as there is nothing more infuriating than to be on an Enterprise delayed behind a DART, crawling along at the average speed of the DART. This would also bring additional benefit in terms of speeding up the Northern Commuter service.

ga2re2t

DWCommuter wrote: »

... the only real solution to making the line sub 90 minutes is a total rebuild.

By "rebuild" I'm presuming you mean keeping the current tracks for commuter traffic and building a new parallel track route for Enterprise traffic? Would a new track need to be built for the entire length or just long sections? What about triple/quadruple tracking the Dundalk to Dublin section and a new track from Newry to Belfast near the A1 route.
To be honest, I haven't a clue about this line, so I'll leave it at that!

Rawr

Like others here, what I believe would work best is a dedicated high-speed corridor from a City Centre station and out of the Greater Dublin area. Thereafter upgrade the existing track.

To give you a working example, these days I live in Oslo, Norway, and the guys up here bypassed their congested commuter lines by tunneling their Intercity routes out of the city center. Once they're out of the area, they go off on their own dedicated branches, eventually joining up with the pre-existing track.

Of particular note, is what they did for the airport. When they built the new Oslo airport, they redirected the Northern Intercity to run under the terminal building. For the past few years there's been a TGV-like high-speed train service between the airport and city center. It takes only 20 minutes to travel 4 times the distance between Dublin airport and Dublin city. It has been very successful.

Although it would cost a absolute mint, (and probably be screwed up like the Port Tunnel) a tunneled rail link from a central Dublin Station going north via the Airport, would yield massive benefits. A proper heavy-rail link to the airport, instead of (or in addition to) the Luas-like Metro link proposed. It should then run North, and link up with the existing Northern Line.

I also believe that the whole length should be electrified to Belfast and upgraded for proper high-speed rail.