New CIE trains

Ham'nd'egger

If CIE were let to run the railways, buses and freight services without the interference of Politicians, the reality is that they would be getting lot more done and quicker than they currently are, Sean. Sheridan was right but only because the system let him be right and not the company.

The older Mark 2 and Mark 3 carriages are arguably better for passengers to travel in in spite of their age and they would have been used for Rosslare, Sligo and the Tralee branch were it not for interfering political pressure for "new" trains; hence the 26-29 class dominating these lines at the expense of your daily comfort. Meanwhile, Dublin-Louth-Kildare commuters and Cork lost out on the additional rolling stock that the railcars were to serve and the fall guy are CIE. Certainly the 22000 class are capable of providing a decent service on most lines and are ideal for Irish lines and passenger numbers but you don't know how much years of begging went on for these and the Mark 4's that serve on the Dublin-Cork to be ordered; some day a FOI will show up a generation of Ministers over same. Thus far, the 22's are very reliable with few massive teething problems to report of; these are being eliminated fairly handily as time moves on.

The flexibility a railcar offers will enable better fleet usage and allow some more economies to be made (Some staff redundancies, fuel efficiencies, more services and shortened turn-round times) which we won't see much of; these pay offs for the investment are prices that some Irish Rail staff end up paying for "improvements" in the service; stuff that we don't hear about.

SeanW wrote: »

despite what the Irish Rail Fan Club here and elsewhere might have to say about the OP etc, there is one point - CIE (who haven't carried a passenger since 1987) and to a lesser extent Irish Rail, don't give two s***s about passenger comfort or convenience.

I believe Thomas Sheridan (I think it was him) said it best when he said "CIE doesn't run a transport service, they just pay people to drive buses and trains."

I quite agree about the "old trains" the Mark2Ds we had on the Sligo Line were waaaaaay more comfortable and pleasant than the Commuter tin-cans they were replaced with for a couple of years - but the new railcars are something much more resembling a proper Intercity service.

Thus there are now, generally speaking, two kinds of "new CIE trains," the Commuter trains (usually with a light green, white and some blue paint and Commuter branding) and the new Intercity railcars (silver with Intercity branding). Comfort wise, you cannot really compare one with the other. It is most likely that the OPs "new CIE trains" are of the Commuter type.

But take heart OP, the order for Intercity railcars included some additional 6 carriage sets for use as Commuter trains - intended to serve Athlone, Carlow and I think Portlaoise.

These will be like the Intercity 6 car sets, but will have no first class or catering.

Judgement Day

'Certainly the 22000 class are capable of providing a decent service on most lines and are ideal for Irish lines and passenger numbers but you don't know how much years of begging went on for these and the Mark 4's that serve on the Dublin-Cork to be ordered;'

Can you expand on these points please? How are the 22000 class ideal for Irish lines and passenger numbers? Your second point is even more interesting - where does your insider knowledge of CIE begging for new rolling stock come from? After dealing with all levels of CIE management for the best part of 20 years I find this scenario most unlikely!

Back to the 22000s - what is it that makes them ideal - the lack of proper catering, the miniscule amount of provision for bikes and parcels, the impossibility of walking the full length of the train (or the poison truck/Gourmet Rail trolley being able to traverse it) or the excessive lighting?
Oh, and don't tell me that the 22000s have a new livery and a streamlined front end! :mad:

everton091

As from 16/09/09 Rail Gorment are no longer providing a breakfast service on the waterford line
So are people still going to pay 12 euros just to seat in the 1st class?

Judgement Day

Perhaps there will be a 1st class Breakfast Roll available on the menu of International cuisine provided by the catering trolley. Anyway what are you complaining for - aren't you lucky to have a rail service at all - you could have been on Colm McCarthy's hit list?

everton091

Excuse me I’m not complaining they would have been better of having no 1st class and used it as a dining car so everyone could used to have breakfast

Calina

Zombie thread and I am locking it.

Everton091 please do not resurrect dead threads in the future.