Part of Dublin to Belfast rail line collapses

murphaph

Regardless of what's stuck where, they could always load the required locos and rolling stock onto trucks and drive it north or south of the damaged section as needs be. Of course as Hungerford says, this is sappy IE we're talking about and they'll do whatever suits them best.

Chris_533976

lostexpectation wrote: »

photo taken 8 mins before collapse of train going over

http://www.flickr.com/photos/jimnewry/3845069139/sizes/l/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/jimnewry/3852139393/sizes/l/

catb keeping on eye on reconstruction
http://www.flickr.com/photos/catb/3871478266/

another close up
http://www.flickr.com/photos/jpdublin/3858229969/

see new civil engineer has a story and diagram.. http://www.nce.co.uk/news/structures/scour-revealed-as-cause-of-irish-bridge-collapse/5207460.article

Send the 8 minute pictures to IE, maybe they might get a bit of evidence from the water channels under the bridge.

Carawaystick

Chris_533976 wrote: »

Send the 8 minute pictures to IE, maybe they might get a bit of evidence from the water channels under the bridge.

Don't bother, they'll come back and say they inspected it in the time since and there was no problem found.....

Hungerford

Chris_533976 wrote: »

Send the 8 minute pictures to IE, maybe they might get a bit of evidence from the water channels under the bridge.

Actually, he should send the pictures to the RAIU, the independent investigation unit looking into the incident. I posted their contact details earlier in this thread.

Everyone with any evidence really should go to them. They are completely independent of IE and have actually delivered numerous smackdowns to the railway operator in the past!

DWCommuter

My son was returning tonight from school in Dundalk, travelling to Dublin. Went into the station. No train. Eventually a railcar pulls in from Drogheda. Connolly bound passengers were seperated and told not to get on the train. All 3 of them (my son included) had a taxi ordered for them. €120 was the cost.

Nice one IE! At least this time my taxes helped out my own flesh and blood.

L1011

DWCommuter wrote: »

My son was returning tonight from school in Dundalk, travelling to Dublin. Went into the station. No train. Eventually a railcar pulls in from Drogheda. Connolly bound passengers were seperated and told not to get on the train. All 3 of them (my son included) had a taxi ordered for them. €120 was the cost.

Nice one IE! At least this time my taxes helped out my own flesh and blood.

Using a taxi to replace a seriously under subscribed service isn't that uncommon if it'll work out less than the cost of running it; I've been taxiied alone instead of the last service on the Maynooth line twice - once from Connolly, once from Drumcondra. Last train didn't serve Broomebridge anyway back then but I've no idea how you'd get home from the further out stations seeing as they're unmanned that late!

In your lads case the taxi would be cheaper than hiring the coach transfer.

murphaph

MYOB wrote: »

Using a taxi to replace a seriously under subscribed service isn't that uncommon if it'll work out less than the cost of running it; I've been taxiied alone instead of the last service on the Maynooth line twice - once from Connolly, once from Drumcondra. Last train didn't serve Broomebridge anyway back then but I've no idea how you'd get home from the further out stations seeing as they're unmanned that late!

In your lads case the taxi would be cheaper than hiring the coach transfer.

Yeah, how could IE be absolutely sure nobody else wanted to board those services at say Ashtown? Were they relying on their CCTV to have a look at the platforms? I think that if the train is scheduled to run it should run.

lostexpectation

http://malahidechamber.blogspot.com/2009/09/broadmeadow-liaison-group-meeting-1st.html
It is now planned to rebuild Pier 4 and strengthen the remaining piers with pile driven supports. Work is likely to continue after the bridge is reopened which is expected to happen before Christmas.

http://www.fingal-independent.ie/local-notes/group-in-bid-for-dart-extension-1874955.html

DWCommuter

MYOB wrote: »

Using a taxi to replace a seriously under subscribed service isn't that uncommon if it'll work out less than the cost of running it; I've been taxiied alone instead of the last service on the Maynooth line twice - once from Connolly, once from Drumcondra. Last train didn't serve Broomebridge anyway back then but I've no idea how you'd get home from the further out stations seeing as they're unmanned that late!

In your lads case the taxi would be cheaper than hiring the coach transfer.

The service did run. But Connolly bound passengers were given a taxi because the service was late departing.

lostexpectation

some more photos of work http://northernirelandtransportphotos.fotopic.net/c1749847.html

L1011

DWCommuter wrote: »

The service did run. But Connolly bound passengers were given a taxi because the service was late departing.

Oh right. Jesus, thats actually something approaching customer service :eek:

I did once argue a taxi from Connolly to Swords when a unannounced closure of Drumcondra made me miss a connecting bus, but it took threatening them about passenger safety, lack of a second exist, and the papers (some poor unfortunate lad had got off a Maynooth bound train there where the driver didn't see the platform gates were locked - and was resultingly trapped!) for them to do it.

The other 100 or so people that usually got off that train there just took it, the three of us got a taxi - people don't know how to complain here.

ixoy

Any chance they could balance out services between Howth and Malahide? Before the collapse, on weekends, Portmarnock and Malahide would have much of their service in the form of the diesel trains that stopped there on the Northern Line route.
Now with no weekend diesel trains, there's 29 Sunday DARTs to Howth and 15 to Malahide. There's at least an hour between trains and I noticed, for example, that there could be three Howth trains before the next one to Malahide.

Can Irish Rail not alter these trains and distribute them more evenly? Yes you'd be punishing one line, but it would be more equitable. Or since there's a slot in the schedule why not run out the diesel trains that would have been in place? I just spent an hour waiting for a train (that never arrived due to an "incident") because of these large gaps in the schedule.

lostexpectation

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rDP79l0OepE

cool vid of kayak battling the malahide estuary tide under the viaduct


vid of works.... behind surfers at start and 5:30ish

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ruGz-giqDoA

music is a bit overblown

lostexpectation

aerial of work http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_T6paTVCOgl4/SrI-Ay20D7I/AAAAAAAAACo/MhopHI97kPE/s1600-h/Bridge170909_1.jpg

http://irnirishrailwaynews.yuku.com/topic/1573/t/Northern-Rail-Line-collapse-near-Malahide.html?page=8 more photos of work

Wild Bill

Wow! They have completely blocked the flow of water in an SCA! Does nobody care what affect that will have on the rare slugs??

Zoney

Wild Bill: I was under the impression that water goes over that rock bed when it's high tide.

Wild Bill

Not the new rock bed it doesn't! Look at the machinery; the dry rocks. They have raised the whole bed above high tide - bar a few pipes.

lostexpectation

Images from Bridge Visit, Friday Sept. 17th

http://malahidechamber.blogspot.com/2009/09/images-from-bridge-visit-friday-sept.html

BrianD

Wild Bill wrote: »

Not the new rock bed it doesn't! Look at the machinery; the dry rocks. They have raised the whole bed above high tide - bar a few pipes.

I would speculate that it's a temporary platform build from rock to allow the construction equipment to operate while replacing the bridge. Much of the equipment seems to be tracked. It will probably be removed after construction.

Also I noticed they managed to save the track bed that was left hanging when the bridge span collapsed!

lostexpectation

http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/ireland/2009/0919/1224254862005.html

Vying for some viaduct views

Politicians would walk over hot coals to get in front of a camera. So you can imagine the turmoil experienced by Dublin North deputies James Reilly (FG) and Michael Kennedy (FF) when they opened their newspapers and saw constituency colleague Darragh O’Brien (FF) among a three-strong Oireachtas Transport Committee delegation visiting the scene of the Malahide viaduct collapse.

And very impressive Darragh looked too, in his high-vis jacket and hard hat, in the company of deputy Fergus O’Dowd (FG) and Senator John Ellis (FF) as they discussed the situation with Iarnród Éireann’s chief civil engineer.

Nothing for it but for James and Michael to take emergency action. And so it was earlier this week that the two deputies made their own trip to the collapsed railway line, with the Iarnród Éireann photographer and company officials having to come out a second time so the peeved pair could be snapped kicking a few sleepers too.

Wild Bill

BrianD wrote: »

Also I noticed they managed to save the track bed that was left hanging when the bridge span collapsed!

"Waste not, want not" as my granny used to say :cool:

Hungerford

For anyone who cares, the Oireachtas Transport Committee held a debate on the viaduct incident earlier this week with politicians questioning Dr John Lynch from CIE and Dick Fearn, head of IE.

Nothing came of it though because of the politicians' lack of knowledge and their desire to focus on political point scoring than holding Lynch and Fearn to account.

The whole sorry affair can be seen here:

http://debates.oireachtas.ie/DDebate.aspx?F=TRJ20090916.xml&Node=H3#H3

My own favourite question to the IE boys, which came from FF TD Michael Kennedy, was:

Where trains travel over water, does it occur to the delegates that life jackets should be available on board?

BrianD

Given the cost of having these Oireactas Committees in place so that they can stupid remarks like the above, one wonders if there is any point to them at all? Nothing meaningful will come out of his Committee until a full report into the incident and the full cost of repair is known. Then people shouldbe hauled into account.

Wild Bill

BrianD wrote: »

Then people should be hauled into account.

So, we are all happy that there are guilty people involved here, are we? S**t doesn't just happen sometimes and there is no limit to the resources that can be devoted to H & S issues? :cool:

lostexpectation

i don't know if there much notice of this committee meeting but surely railheads could feed good questions to the transport spokes people, surely they should have been ringing experts saying what question should i ask,of course its the follow up question which needs to be the one that gets heart of the matter and little opportunity to nail people down in the dail.

the response of the rail people is equally idiotic

Mr. Richard Fearn: He did go to that point but he did not get a boat out. The fact that we see the sea scouts standing at the base of the pier demonstrates to us that the base of the pier was intact at that point.

Dr. John Lynch: I am and that night I went out and bought a lotto ticket but it did not turn up. I am looking at that matter, as is everybody at senior level in Iarnród Éireann. However, the point I am making is that we have endeavoured to do our best. Such incidents only occur very infrequently. We did not know. In reply to Deputy Reilly, given that we now know what we know, when the report comes out, I am certain the regime will change with regard to what went on.

----

We are curious as to the volume of water and the content

water volume and abrasive agents?

the scouring occurred on the sea side, which perplexes us.

ir still only talking about the piers, maybe its just language and he means the weir bed aswell?

trellheim

Ah ffs with the amount of bridges over rivers etc in IE is there nobody who knows hydrodynamics in the PW department ?

BrianD

trellheim wrote: »

Ah ffs with the amount of bridges over rivers etc in IE is there nobody who knows hydrodynamics in the PW department ?

In fairness, the broadmeadow viaduct is unique. Most are inland river bridges that wouldn't have the same tidal action as Malahide.

cargo

Well guys any update on the progress out there?

And I mean the actual construction work and opening date. I don't want a lecture on SPA's and NHA's.

There was talk a good while back of a November oppening again.

Sponge Bob

cargo wrote: »

Well guys any update on the progress out there?

Yes. Some have learnt to love the bus !

http://irnirishrailwaynews.yuku.com/sreply/34034/t/Northern-Rail-Line-collapse-near-Malahide.html

Like most of those living around me who have been displaced onto the buses, I would mostly choose the express bus instead of the train if such a choice were possible in future.

It does take slightly longer to get to the city centre on the bus than the train, but in exchange I have a seat, can travel reasonable comfort, get fresh air through the windows, and can listen to the radio on my media player (can't do that on a 29000!). These advantages may sound somewhat trivial to some, but after ten years of uncomfortable and overcrowded train commuting, the bus has demonstrated that these are the very basic elements of comfort which are missing from commuter rail.

There is a very strong mood locally where I live for Dublin Bus to be lobbied to continue providing the 33D/X. Whilst unlikely, one hopes that such services will continue when the rail line reopens.

In addition, I have to say that Dublin Bus has done a very good job at short notice in providing a decent service in lieu of the trains. This is my first time regularly using the bus in over a decade, and in that time I think DB has come a very long way with its buses and general quality of service.

BrianD

I have heard good things about the replacement bus service. people getting into the city earlier than usual and then hopping on a Dublin Bike and finding that they were in the office way to early!