[PR] New Nenagh Commuter Service to begin on Monday 1st September - Iarnród Éireann

Victor

http://www.irishrail.ie/news_centre/general_news.asp?action=view&news_id=431

New Nenagh Commuter Service to begin on Monday 1st September by Corporate Communications

A new daily commuter rail service launches for the first time between Nenagh and Limerick on Monday 1st September.

The new service, developed in a unique initiative between Iarnród Éireann and community-based group Nenagh Rail Partnership, sees new services operating which will enable commuters living in Nenagh, Birdhill and Castleconnell, and working in Limerick City, to switch to rail, with commuter services operating as follows:


Morning

Departs Nenagh - 07.55hrs
Departs Birdhill - 08.17hrs
Departs Castleconnell - 08.27hrs
Arrive Limerick - 08.45hrs


Evening

Departs Limerick - 16.45hrs
Departs Castleconnell - 17.04hrs
Departs Birdhill - 17.14hrs
Arrive Nenagh - 17.39hrs

Departs Limerick - 17.47hrs
Departs Castleconnell - 18.06hrs
Departs Birdhill - 18.16hrs
Arrive Nenagh - 18.40hrs

A spokesperson said “the new Nenagh-Limerick commuter service marks the culmination of a number of years work and cooperation between Nenagh Rail Partnership and Iarnród Éireann. We are delighted this work has come to fruition, and we urge the communities which will be served by the new commuter service to avail of the new departure times.”

Iarnród Éireann are offering a special introductory fare for the new service for a limited time, with a monthly commuter ticket available at €133.50 from Nenagh, €91.50 from Birdhill and €67.50 from Castleconnell, giving 4 weeks travel for the price of 3 weekly season tickets.

Regular commuters can save even more money with the Taxsaver Commuter ticket scheme. This is a salary sacrifice scheme under which an employee agrees with the employer to take a cut in remuneration and in return the employer provides a benefit of a corresponding amount to the employee, in this case the rail season ticket.

Using the Taxsaver scheme commuter rail tickets for top rate taxpayers, during this introductory offer, can cost as little as €3.55 per day from Nenagh, €2.15 from Birdhill and €1.80 from Castleconnell.

Full details from local Iarnrod Eireann stations and irishrail.ie

Chris_533976

Anyone else noticed that arriving in Limerick station at 845 is a bit late for a 900 start? It should arrive in at about 820, 830 for this to be a good idea.

KC61

Chris_533976 wrote: »

Anyone else noticed that arriving in Limerick station at 845 is a bit late for a 900 start? It should arrive in at about 820, 830 for this to be a good idea.

I seem to recall from the information on the study done on the potential for this service that the optimum departure time was 0750/0755, which is when the train will indeed depart. I would expect that, as the speed restrictions are lifted on this line that the arrival time will become earlier.

The Ennis service arrives for 0840, and seems to do ok.

DWCommuter

Once the dual carraigeway is finished, this service can kiss its arse goodbye. I think its too little too late to make people switch from the car. Furthermore it didn't need the involvement of any initiative. If IE were fit to do the job they should be doing, then a commuter service would have been introduced years ago and the line would be upgraded by now. That would have given the train option a huge headstart on the new road.

Verdict: Road.:D

Cool Mo D

DWCommuter wrote: »

Once the dual carraigeway is finished, this service can kiss its arse goodbye. I think its too little too late to make people switch from the car. Furthermore it didn't need the involvement of any initiative. If IE were fit to do the job they should be doing, then a commuter service would have been introduced years ago and the line would be upgraded by now. That would have given the train option a huge headstart on the new road.

Verdict: Road.:D

I'm pretty sure the service is going to be be poor - I mean, not many people are going to be enticed by a grand total of 2 return services in the evening. What if you're working late? But saying that the road will be a great option once the dualer is done is rubbish - the current road is fast enough as it is, and it is only slow once you get to Limerick city, which has some of the worst rush hour traffic I've ever seen - definitely heavier than Dublin. Ain't gonna be no road letting you avoid that if you want to go into Limerick itself.

1huge1

KC61 wrote: »

I seem to recall from the information on the study done on the potential for this service that the optimum departure time was 0750/0755, which is when the train will indeed depart. I would expect that, as the speed restrictions are lifted on this line that the arrival time will become earlier.

The Ennis service arrives for 0840, and seems to do ok.

Are the speed restrictions going to be lifted?

DWCommuter

Cool Mo D wrote: »

I'm pretty sure the service is going to be be poor - I mean, not many people are going to be enticed by a grand total of 2 return services in the evening. What if you're working late? But saying that the road will be a great option once the dualer is done is rubbish - the current road is fast enough as it is, and it is only slow once you get to Limerick city, which has some of the worst rush hour traffic I've ever seen - definitely heavier than Dublin. Ain't gonna be no road letting you avoid that if you want to go into Limerick itself.

Combine a finished dualer, with new tunnel and completed ring road with the fact that not all workers are based in the city centre and the situation will be very different. But my main point is that current and soon to be realised road options will continue to be a more attractive option than this train service.

mysterious

Cool Mo D wrote: »

But saying that the road will be a great option once the dualer is done is rubbish

Its not rubbish, your opinion was rubbish.. The Motorway is in FACT as faster road. We could go into details, but thats not needed.

- the current road is fast enough as it is,

No its not. the road, is one of the busiest sections of National primary sections in the country. 16,000 vehicles a day. The average speed is less than 50mph. That road is dangerous and for the most part narrorer than the rest of the entire N7. Dalys cross gets slow too in the evenings.Not to mention that the existing road is a high accident blackspot, they are many regional road that intersect with this busy road as well. all these are good reasons, your opinion is BS. Motorway would be far superfrior to the old road in every way.

and it is only slow once you get to Limerick city,

The new Motorway will solve that.

which has some of the worst rush hour traffic I've ever seen - definitely heavier than Dublin. Ain't gonna be no road letting you avoid that if you want to go into Limerick itself.

No its not.

God Dont annonce your opinions as fact, if you did you should do parodies on how factual you look in excuse.

dowlingm

Connectivity to Plassey/UL would be nice to either at Castleconnell with a connecting 323 BE bus or better yet a halt at Lisnagry about here served by an extension of the UL/Plassey bus.

mysterious

If the whole rail line was upgraded then it will work


This is another white flag wave for fianna fail.

What a load of BS. Don't get me started on the average speed this Harry potter train will go as!!!!!!!

dowlingm

None of the negativity above has anything to do with the involvement of these folks I hope? :rolleyes:

More seriously, an upgraded Nenagh branch might have been able to handle the upcoming closure between Thurles and Limerick Junction a bit more efficiently, especially if cleared for 22000s.

First off though it would be nice to think that the Limerick Junction arrangement could be improved to the point where would-be commuters from Tipperary/Cahir/Clonmel could arrive in Limerick before 0915, given that at present they wait 29 minutes to facilitate the arrival of connecting trains. Perhaps when the new southbound platform comes in some timetabling trickery can be done.

KC61

1huge1 wrote: »

Are the speed restrictions going to be lifted?

There is a commitment from Iarnród Éireann that the speed restrictions between Killonan Junction and Birdhill will be lifted in the short term, allowing for a significant improvement in journey times, and that the entire line would be upgraded to 60mph over the five year investment period.

dereko1969

Chris_533976 wrote: »

Anyone else noticed that arriving in Limerick station at 845 is a bit late for a 900 start? It should arrive in at about 820, 830 for this to be a good idea.

How big do you think Limerick is? A 15 minute walk from the station would have you in most parts of the city centre

corktina

i think that morning train needs to be earlier too but maybe there isnt a platform available earlier...also the evening departures are a tad early....both of them....

godtabh

Cool Mo D wrote: »

mean, not many people are going to be enticed by a grand total of 2 return services in the evening.

I think people do that alot from Wicklow town

KC61

corktina wrote: »

i think that morning train needs to be earlier too but maybe there isnt a platform available earlier...also the evening departures are a tad early....both of them....

I'd agree with this, but with the line the way it is right now there's little else that can be done.

OK - Time for a rather technical explanation:

The problem with scheduling trains on this line is threefold:

1) There is a very long section of single track between Birdhill and Roscrea that takes an hour to clear - no two trains can be in this section of track simultaneously, except where they split in Nenagh and go in opposite directions

2) While there are passing loops in both Birdhill and Roscrea, there is only one operational platform in each - no two passenger trains can call at either station at the same time - they can pass but only one train would set down/pick up passengers. Installing a second platform would require lift installation etc. under current safety rules which is rather expensive!

3) The hefty speed restrictions

The latter is the killer - but there was a commitment given to the local campaigners last year that these would be addressed over the next few years.

There are already trains arriving in Limerick at 0836 (from Limerick Junction), 0840 (Ennis), so unless it operated 15 minutes earlier at 0740 (which I think might be too early from Nenagh) there's not much scope for tinkering with the morning train.

The simple reason for no later train is that the 1747 ex-Limerick leaves Nenagh to return at 1845, clearing Birdhill at 1908. At 1912 the 1855 ex-Ballybrophy (the connection ex-Dublin) leaves Roscrea. Therefore there is a train in the Birdhill-Roscrea section continuously as follows:

1714-1814 (1645 Limerick-Ballybrophy)
1816-1908 (1747 Limerick-Nenagh and 1845 Nenagh-Limerick)
1912-2010 (1855 Ballybrophy-Limerick)

Given the lack of a second platform at Birdhill, the earliest another train could leave Limerick would be shortly before the train from Ballybrophy clears Killonan Junction (10 minutes or so from Limerick), which would be about 2030.

What would be a help would be if the speed restriction were lifted between Killonan Junction and Birdhill - it alone would speed trains up by almost 10-15 minutes in each direction, meaning the trains could leave Limerick later in the evening, and the morning train could get to Limerick 10-15 minutes earlier.

Beyond that, short of either taking any of the following actions, there's not much else that can be done with the present infrastructure:
1) Installing a loop at Nenagh
2) Installing a second platform at Birdhill
3) Moving the Birdhill loop to outside the station (allowing both trains to call at the platform).

This service is a start - but more needs to happen. Hopefully the line will now get the upgrade IÉ have promised which would make a more intensive service possible.

loyatemu

kearnsr wrote: »

I think people do that alot from Wicklow town

<pedant>there's now 3 services to Wicklow in the evening</pedant>

godtabh

loyatemu wrote: »

<pedant>there's now 3 services to Wicklow in the evening</pedant>

Forgot that started in the last couple of weeks. It just shows its "kinda" workable

Poxyshamrock

dereko1969 wrote: »

How big do you think Limerick is? A 15 minute walk from the station would have you in most parts of the city centre

Fair point...but if you had to start work at 9 everyday would you really want to be arriving at 9 exactly?

godtabh

Poxyshamrock wrote: »

Fair point...but if you had to start work at 9 everyday would you really want to be arriving at 9 exactly?

Most places a flexible enough. If you don’t get in till 9:15 you work to 5:15 or take a shorter lunch or what ever.

dowlingm

Don't know if this has been posted previously... (PDF)

Poxyshamrock

dowlingm wrote: »

Don't know if this has been posted previously... (PDF)

An interesting read there.
Thanks for that dowlingm.

Nostradamus

dowlingm wrote: »

Don't know if this has been posted previously... (PDF)

Very interested 37%
No interest 34%

So there you have it. 3% of the people might use a Nenagh commuter rail service.

Kinda puts a dent in the whole "regional balance!!!" matra of the delusional trainspotters who demand these indulgences in the first place.

Ah well, love is blind...