Commuting....

Kingdom

commuting 3 yrs now, the addition of the 6.38 makes a massive difference to me, yet its ridiculous that there is no train from 8 till 9.45, and as someone has mentioned I've never seen that 9.45 train on time.
Its not fair either with no train between 7.15 and 9 out of Dub and no train after either.

Hope this changes with the new depot in Portlaoise with regard to later trains and with the additional trains the extra tracks to Hazel hatch should provide.

DéiseGirl

I have been commuting since last August and it's tough but I'm actually surviving it - I thought I'd be rabid at this stage! My MP4 player has become a very good pal of mine and I tend to stockpile TV series and films to watch on the train. It's a pity there's no earlier train than 5.10 in the evening(3.25 is probably a bit too early for most people to be coming home!) and you can see some of "5.10 Portheads" nearly jumping out of the train to run up the stairs (some people stand from Kildare to get off the train quicker which I find kind of weird but to each their own) I don't know how much longer I'd be able for the commute. My boyfriend got a job in Portlaoise recently but still goes up and down to Dublin a couple of days a week for the time being. I'm hoping decentralisation will be kind to me but not holding my breath - am sure there are a lot of people ahead of me on the waiting list There seems to be a lot of civil servants commuting from Port judging by some of the conversations I earwig on the train/LUAS!

smokestone

I've heard Irish Rail intend to bring in pay parking at the train station in Port when the car park is extended next year.

The initial charge will be €2 a day of €5 for the week, this is going to add €250 to my annual commute. If Irish Rail get a 15% fare increase approved by the minister for transport in December, the cost of my monthly ticket will increase by 25%.

I am opposed to the introduction of this pay parking charge, the cost of extending the car park is probably coming from Transport 21.

kmart6

Old news at his stage,the first talk of that was around Christmas as far as I remember! One of the reasons for it in Port is to discourage people driving to the station that live only a few minutes away! The amount of people I saw during the year driving up from Seskin or from Clanmalire was unreal!

Ruby-J

But when its raining and 7am in the morning, i think the last thing you wanna do is get so soaked and sit in wet clothes until 9am. :cool:

Kingdom

I've it on good authority that a Crann Nua'r will be doing a bus service of the estates to the station when the parking charges come in.

kikel

smokestone wrote: »

I've heard Irish Rail intend to bring in pay parking at the train station in Port when the car park is extended next year.

The initial charge will be €2 a day of €5 for the week, this is going to add €250 to my annual commute. If Irish Rail get a 15% fare increase approved by the minister for transport in December, the cost of my monthly ticket will increase by 25%.

I am opposed to the introduction of this pay parking charge, the cost of extending the car park is probably coming from Transport 21.

Thats a shame alright, People are making an effort not to drive to Dublin and they are still getting screwed by these extra charges. I know people could walk or cycle to the station but as Ruby pointed out at 6-7am on a cold and wet December morning i'd be inclined to bring the car.

Kingdom, I presume people will have to pay for the bus to the station?

Kingdom

kikel wrote: »

Thats a shame alright, People are making an effort not to drive to Dublin and they are still getting screwed by these extra charges. I know people could walk or cycle to the station but as Ruby pointed out at 6-7am on a cold and wet December morning i'd be inclined to bring the car.

Kingdom, I presume people will have to pay for the bus to the station?

from what I hear €2 for the week. How reliable that is I don't know. `
Lads on the point of the paid parking, I don't think its all that bad tbh. €5 for the week is acceptable as far as I'm concerned./

Silent Rain

I freely admit being one of those people who live a 10 min walk away, but drive down to the station. I love my bed in the mornings and if I have a choice of getting up at 6.30 and walking or getting up at 6.40 and driving, I'm gonna drive, especially with the Irish weather the way it is, even if it looks ok at 6.30, you run the risk of being soaked that evening on the stroll home. To be honest though I have no problem with the parking fees, it may be a bit of an incentive to get up those 10 mins earlier and as they are short on car spaces, I can see the need for this.
On the other side though, if I live 10 mins away and feel like driving, I'm gonna do so (mainly just to annoy those who complain about it), I already do my bit for the environment getting the train as opposed to driving up to Dublin (as I have the option of a car space) and for those who live further out and need to drive into town, there are plenty of spaces within the same 10 min walk from the station, so if walking for 10 mins in the morning is what you think people should do, do it yourselves.

kmart6

Kingdom wrote: »

€5 for the week is acceptable as far as I'm concerned./

Same here,and it gives the added security of having it parked in a proper car park. I think for once it'll mean CIE will have some responsibility for the car's in the car park!

Kingdom

Silent Rain wrote: »

I freely admit being one of those people who live a 10 min walk away, but drive down to the station. I love my bed in the mornings and if I have a choice of getting up at 6.30 and walking or getting up at 6.40 and driving, I'm gonna drive, especially with the Irish weather the way it is, even if it looks ok at 6.30, you run the risk of being soaked that evening on the stroll home. To be honest though I have no problem with the parking fees, it may be a bit of an incentive to get up those 10 mins earlier and as they are short on car spaces, I can see the need for this.
On the other side though, if I live 10 mins away and feel like driving, I'm gonna do so (mainly just to annoy those who complain about it), I already do my bit for the environment getting the train as opposed to driving up to Dublin (as I have the option of a car space) and for those who live further out and need to drive into town, there are plenty of spaces within the same 10 min walk from the station, so if walking for 10 mins in the morning is what you think people should do, do it yourselves.

I'm not trying to insult you but that reads absolutely terrible. I really, really don't understand anybody who drives from an estate on station road to the station on a dry day. There isn't a reasonable excuse. I walk from Crann Nua if its dry, and will walk home again regardless of the weather.

Silent Rain

No insult taken. I know its wrong, which is why I dont mind them introducing the charges, as odds are I'll be doing it by foot then. Until then, I dont see the benefit in getting up earlier than I already do.

smokestone

The Portarlington Railway Action Group are doing great work in getting extra trains from Port to Heuston and back. I think since they were set up in 2006 they have been responsible for all the xtra trains we got.

The postion with pay parking, is when introduced it will be initially €2 per day or €5 for the week. In five years time what will we be paying €5 a day or €20 per week, once it comes in, there is nothing we can do to prevent Irish Rail increasing the parking charge. As for increased security, we will have CCTV (Monasterevin, Kildare and Newbridge already have CCTV) and designated parking spaces , they will be no visible security present. Someone contracted by Irish Rail will visit the car park daily and either fine/clamp those who dont have a parking ticket.

Someone mentioned previously that a bus service will start in Crann Nua when pay parking is introduced. Will this bus stop at all other estates in Port and will it provide a service to all commuters regardless of what train they are getting in the morning or evening.

kikel

This website might be of use to some of ye

http://www.portcommuters.com/

kmart6

smokestone wrote: »

The Portarlington Railway Action Group are doing great work in getting extra trains from Port to Heuston and back. I think since they were set up in 2006 they have been responsible for all the xtra trains we got.

Any extra trains to Port have generaly been because of increased services to other area's. There were no extra trains brought in with the new timetable this year even with all they're meetings etc! At the end of the day CIE will only add extra trains when they want to do it, not because of small little action groups, if they were to give into all these groups the lines would be congested and every train would stop in every station!

enterprise

I find the train service to/from Port quite good. Ok there is the odd hiccup. The biggest gripe I would have is the lack of a train between 0806 and 0944 to Dublin.

Evening peak departures from Dublin are well spread out with several trains between 1700 and 1800.

Steve o mentioned the trains are packed in the evening. Well it is the rush hour so what do you expect? In fairness you will always get a seat after the trains first stop, be it Sallins, Newbridge etc etc.

Expect big improvements to off peak and some peak Laois train services when the new Laois Train Care Depot south of Portlaoise is fully operational as trains which start their day down the country will have to go to the depot to be serviced etc, before heading back to Heuston for evening peak departures. This will most likely happen when the timetable change takes place.

kmart6

enterprise wrote: »

Steve o mentioned the trains are packed in the evening. Well it is the rush hour so what do you expect?

Lol,he works for CIE so he knows what to expect;)

enterprise wrote: »

Expect big improvements to off peak and some peak Laois train services when the new Laois Train Care Depot south of Portlaoise is fully operational as trains which start their day down the country will have to go to the depot to be serviced etc, before heading back to Heuston for evening peak departures. This will most likely happen when the timetable change takes place.

Well that place won't be ready by next December/January so won't be on the timetables unless tey do what they did with Adamstown and have the timetable sorted just not operational until a certain date, otherwise it'll be '10 before the real benefits of that are seen!

Steve_o

Port Railway Action group don't have anywhere near the amount of sway they think they have, trains will be added by CIE and only by CIE if there is demand for them and ONLY if it is feasable...

Also i agree that the Portlaoise depot will make a difference, but it will be a little bit longer until that takes full effect!

enterprise

kmart6 wrote: »

Well that place won't be ready by next December/January so won't be on the timetables unless tey do what they did with Adamstown and have the timetable sorted just not operational until a certain date, otherwise it'll be '10 before the real benefits of that are seen!

Well that place is ready!

The 0630 and 0720 Portlaoise - Heuston start from the depot and the new Intercity train on the Kildare line local service is also fed from Laois Depot. As more trains are introduced they will rotate through the depot each 48 hours. I.E. just need to have their new fleet all deliveried and ready for passenger service by the timetable change, then the full benefit will be seen by the travelling public.

Steve_o wrote: »

Port Railway Action group don't have anywhere near the amount of sway they think they have, trains will be added by CIE and only by CIE if there is demand for them and ONLY if it is feasable...

So true

smokestone

it looks like payparking is coming to Port sooner than anticipated. Time to go find that part time job.

I have spoken with other commuters and the trains that now stop in Port were existing services that bypassed Portarlington. Personally I think PRAG are doing there best in trying to improve the train services.

Enterprise are you sure that the two trains that leave Portlaoise in the mornings come from the depot and not from Heuston? There is a train that arrives in Port at 07:06 and its final destination is Portlaoise, surely this is the 07:20 train from Portlaoise.

Steve_o

smokestone wrote: »

it looks like payparking is coming to Port sooner than anticipated. Time to go find that part time job.

Aye, 37 stations in the Dublin "Commuter Zone" are gonna be caught for pay and display parking. Its €2 for the day, its gonna cause a bit of a comotion but its still cheaper than parking in Dublin and it might encourage a few people that live closer to the station to walk, which will help the overcrowding in the car park....


*waits to be linched*:D

Curvy Vixen

It's not a route that I do but I would guess that all it will encourage in Port anyway, is parking cars all around the station area rather than in the actual station itself. If you do live on Station Road I would imagine that your estate will become the new parking hotspot for the train!

Steve_o

Curvy Vixen wrote: »

It's not a route that I do but I would guess that all it will encourage in Port anyway, is parking cars all around the station area rather than in the actual station itself. If you do live on Station Road I would imagine that your estate will become the new parking hotspot for the train!

Some of the estates closest to the Station already are....

kmart6

Curvy Vixen wrote: »

If you do live on Station Road I would imagine that your estate will become the new parking hotspot for the train!

Well it's some people from those estates that are driving to the station so it'll just be their cars left in the estate!

smokestone

Irish Rail have got planning permission for a xtra 350 car parking spaces so they would be enough for everyone, even those living within a five minute walk of the station.

Car parking spaces for everyone and who knows we may even get someone to put on a feeder bus service.

Curvy Vixen

smokestone wrote: »

Irish Rail have got planning permission for a xtra 350 car parking spaces so they would be enough for everyone, even those living within a five minute walk of the station.

Car parking spaces for everyone and who knows we may even get someone to put on a feeder bus service.

I was talking more about those that will still drive but refuse to pay ~ hence using the local area as a car park even if they have a gazillion spaces.

sydthebeat

This is the proposal for the new car park.

It will increase the capacity over 200% from what currently exists. So that there will be approx 530 spaces when complete.

kikel

good find syd, the roundabout will be a great addition to traffic flow in the area. Another roundabout at Centra-Odlums would be great

sydthebeat

There has been a round about planning for centra / odlums for the last 2 years. i remember when it went for public consultation. This should have started by now, but with LA finances, you never know.

Steve_o

sydthebeat wrote: »

There has been a round about planning for centra / odlums for the last 2 years. i remember when it went for public consultation. This should have started by now, but with LA finances, you never know.

Yea that roundabout has been in the works for ages, its badly needed there, its a dodgy junction at times!!