22000's start on the east coast route today

Run_to_da_hills

The 1st of the 22,000's start on the Wexford line today.

http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/breaking/2009/0217/breaking33.htm

loyatemu

unless you're posting from the future, its actually tomorrow they'll be running.

KC61

The 0600 Gorey/Connolly and 1640 Connolly/Gorey will now be 22000 operated, a good PR move by IÉ given that many people could be tempted by the improved Bus Éireann services.

This also means that the 0905 Connolly/Sligo and 1300 Sligo/Connolly will be 22000 operated, meaning that the 29000 Commuter sets will only operate on Sundays on this route on the 1305 and 1505 Connolly/Sligo and 1700 and 1900 Sligo/Connolly.

Run_to_da_hills

loyatemu wrote: »

unless you're posting from the future, its actually tomorrow they'll be running.

Reading this mornings Metro, says today.

Has anyone seen them yet?

KC61

It would be a tad difficult given that the line around Bray Head does not reopen until tomorrow (Thursday)!

Surely you don't believe everything that you read in the papers? :-)

Zoney

I've used them out of Limerick a number of times. Perhaps not as smooth a ride as old Mk3 intercities, and the catering aspect is poor for intercity, but in every other regard these trains are a dream. They are aesthetically comfortable inside, lighting just right, a good temperature, and you have wall power sockets for your laptop under every table (so you can arrive at your destination with a fully charged laptop despite using it on the journey). I am a fan of the 2+2 seating with table too, and lining up the seats with the windows. It makes for a quite pleasant journey.

The displays for assigned seating are useful (no miserable "reserved" paper leaflets) but it's a bit odd having one's name displayed in such a public manner on the train.

I haven't been on very busy ones, so I don't know what they are like crammed with passengers.

thomasj

KC61 wrote: »

The 0600 Gorey/Connolly and 1640 Connolly/Gorey will now be 22000 operated, a good PR move by IÉ given that many people could be tempted by the improved Bus Éireann services.

This also means that the 0905 Connolly/Sligo and 1300 Sligo/Connolly will be 22000 operated, meaning that the 29000 Commuter sets will only operate on Sundays on this route on the 1305 and 1505 Connolly/Sligo and 1700 and 1900 Sligo/Connolly.

Does this mean the Maynooth line will finally get the increased capacity is desperately needs with the 29ks offloaded of the ESE line?

Cookie_Monster

Run_to_da_hills wrote: »

Reading this mornings Metro, says today.

Has anyone seen them yet?

Got one to Galway and back recently. They are nice trains, certainly better than the other commuter ones they will replace.

Going down to Galways was pleasent but the AC wasn't on on the way back and it was horrible. No point having all this fancy stuff on baord if they won't turn it on:pac:

Judgement Day

Well here we go again more old crap from IE. Why on earth would they introduce 'Inter-City' railcars on a Commuter run? Nobody else posting here or on IRN seems to see the stupidity of this. Apart from anything else the units will suffer the wear and tear that commuters, packed in like sardines, will have on them. When the Mk III's were introduced nothing would do CIE but to use them on GAA specials almost immediately!!

Apart from this the new 22000s should be allocated to the genuine inter-city workings from Rosslare Harbour to Connolly but this is CIE/IE and nothing is ever going to change with this bunch of incompetents! :mad::mad:

KC61

thomasj wrote: »

Does this mean the Maynooth line will finally get the increased capacity is desperately needs with the 29ks offloaded of the ESE line?

No, the 22K set that they are using was operating on the Dublin/Kildare route so it's a straight swap for the 29K that it replaces.

Cian R

Does this mean the line is open from Bray-Rosslare from tomorrow??

Judgement Day

Yes.

alpha2zulu

They really are excellent long distance trains in almost all areas.The only thing that will grate you is a barrage of computer generated announcements in irish and english before and after every stop! Anybody that has travelled on them will know what I mean:D

kingshankly

theese trains are without doubt the most comfortable railcars in service and are capable of going at higher speeds than the 29s.

Run_to_da_hills

How are they for baggage, bicycles, large parcels etc?

Is there the equivilant of guards van space?

kingshankly

Run_to_da_hills wrote: »

How are they for baggage, bicycles, large parcels etc?

Is there the equivilant of guards van space?

small space for luggage but nothing for larger items.no fast track to worry about soon enough

dowlingm

Judgement Day wrote: »

Well here we go again more old crap from IE. Why on earth would they introduce 'Inter-City' railcars on a Commuter run? Nobody else posting here or on IRN seems to see the stupidity of this.

Some of these 22Ks were actually intended to replace Mk3 pushpulls. There is some merit in having outer suburban/regional cars - with more of an IC fit with inner suburban/DART, the latter being more optimised to standees and high density seating.

dowlingm

kingshankly wrote: »

theese trains are without doubt the most comfortable railcars in service and are capable of going at higher speeds than the 29s.

Does the line speed south of Greystones allow the 22s to show their speed advantage over the 29s? If so, what are the odds that the timetable will be retuned to reflect that (I'm guessing - slim).

kingshankly

dowlingm wrote: »

Does the line speed south of Greystones allow the 22s to show their speed advantage over the 29s? If so, what are the odds that the timetable will be retuned to reflect that (I'm guessing - slim).

no the linespeed doesnt cater for higher speed on this road the max speed is 70 and only in certain places. but if they went on the northern road we could see them up to 90mph

Carawaystick

Judgement Day wrote: »

Well here we go again more old crap from IE. Why on earth would they introduce 'Inter-City' railcars on a Commuter run?

Ah I dunno, maybe cos for a 2 hour journey each way a bit of comfort might be nice?

Run_to_da_hills

Judgement Day wrote: »

Well here we go again more old crap from IE. Why on earth would they introduce 'Inter-City' railcars on a Commuter run? Nobody else posting here or on IRN seems to see the stupidity of this. Apart from anything else the units will suffer the wear and tear that

Because they bought far too many of them, For years we had real "mainline" trains I.E a pair of 121's with spacious Cravens on the Wexford line. If they were to use the M3's with 201's they would spend the rest of their days repairing tracks. The 29,000's are just that bit too "suburban" for that route.

Judgement Day

There is No guard - No guards van space - No Fastrack from 31st March - No Selective Door Opening - No 1st Class in most sets - No proper buffet/dining cars - No view out through the driving trailer (unlike the 1950s AEC railcars which were a genuine improvement on the ancient stock that they replaced). There are wheels, overpriced catering trollies (on some services) and OK they are better than the Commuter tin cans they replaced but that is not saying much. The annoying on-train announcements are standard on all inter-city trains now.

KC61

Run_to_da_hills wrote: »

Because they bought far too many of them, For years we had real "mainline" trains I.E a pair of 121's with spacious Cravens on the Wexford line. If they were to use the M3's with 201's they would spend the rest of their days repairing tracks. The 29,000's are just that bit too "suburban" for that route.

Actually they haven't bought "far too many" 22000 sets. If anything there are not enough. A detailed examination of sets and potential services proves this to be the case.

This train is operating a return journey each day to Sligo, replacing a 29000 set. Around that it is operating two services to/from Gorey.

Better to see it getting full utilisation.

Run_to_da_hills

Judgement Day wrote: »

There is No guard - No guards van space - No Fastrack from 31st March - No Selective Door Opening - No 1st Class in most sets - No proper buffet/dining cars - No view out through the driving trailer (unlike the 1950s AEC railcars which were a genuine improvement on the ancient stock that they replaced). There are wheels, overpriced catering trolleys (on some services) and OK they are better than the Commuter tin cans they replaced but that is not saying much. The annoying on-train announcements are standard on all inter-city trains now.

You forgot to mention that the 22;000 are fitted with "state of the art" CCTV. an improvement on earlier rolling stock.

It use to annoy me going to school when drivers would pull down the blinds in the cabs of the AEC's so we couldn't see out. :mad: I could remember looking at the large chronometric speedometer.

Carawaystick

the new trains are wheelchair accessible, and you can get off them without opening a window and reaching out to use the handle on the outside of the train, there's probably no steam billowing out by the doors either, and when it rains, it is unlikely to pour in on some unsuspecting passenger, unlike the cravens.

Why would you want a guards van space while passenger space is limited?

eas

If they do offer more seating capacity, why would they choose the less busy services to for these trains?

KC61

eas wrote: »

If they do offer more seating capacity, why would they choose the less busy services to for these trains?

There was only one 3 piece 22000 set available, and it has gone onto a roster that was operated by a 4 piece commuter set, where the seating capacities are very similar.

The other services on the Rosslare route are operated by 6 piece commuter units (2800s) that have obviously greater capacity than this 3 piece set. The platforms at certain stations on the Rosslare route are not long enough to accomodate a 6 piece 22000 set and in one location (Rathdrum) cannot be lengthened any further. For the moment the other services are to remain in the hands of 2800s. There is talk that the 1305 to Rosslare and 1740 return may switch to a 3 piece 22000 in the short term.

I would imagine that the 0535 ex-Rosslare and the 1726 ex-Connolly will both remain as 6 piece 2800 sets due to the high loadings, with the other trains being operated by 3 piece 22000 sets with the possibility of at least one additional return working on the route, but that is only a guess. Personally I would think that there would have to be extra services, as a 3 piece 22000 would not cope with the loadings.

However, all of this is dependant on the remaining sets being delivered and commissioned into service. IÉ are seeking tenders to implement "Selective Door Opening" on these units, and this would facilitate 6 coach 22000 operations.

Judgement Day

Carawaystick wrote: »

the new trains are wheelchair accessible, and you can get off them without opening a window and reaching out to use the handle on the outside of the train, there's probably no steam billowing out by the doors either, and when it rains, it is unlikely to pour in on some unsuspecting passenger, unlike the cravens.

Why would you want a guards van space while passenger space is limited?

Yes, it was such an incredible hardship having to open a window to open the door from the outside! People had managed it quite successfully since before railways began as the design was passed down from stage coaches. Cravens had opening windows for real air and nice cosy steam heating - they were not that prone to leaking roofs (that was the problem with the AEC push-pull railcar conversions) - were accompanied by a steam heating van with oodles of luggage space for mail/parcels and bikes! The new 22000s have been designed by imbeciles taking no account of the need to maximise revenue, and the omission of SDO is beyond belief!

Stupido

kingshankly wrote: »

theese trains are without doubt the most comfortable railcars in service and are capable of going at higher speeds than the 29s.

you mean we could see an Irish train break the 60kmph barrier???

Cookie_Monster

Stupido wrote: »

you mean we could see an Irish train break the 60kmph barrier???

This only happens every day:rolleyes:

kingshankly

Stupido wrote: »

you mean we could see an Irish train break the 60kmph barrier???

i can assure you trains here go a lot faster than 60kph some reach speeds of 160kph