Part of Dublin to Belfast rail line collapses

AlekSmart

I have paid my annual ticket up until January but it's already all come out of my wages so I'm seriously considering getting a bus/rail ticket from January 1st in the event that a good level of service with the 33X is kept on.

There appears to be a general level of satisfaction with Bus Atha Cliath`s response to the Viaduct Collapse,with a very strong nudge to the Department of Transport to get their finger out regarding Scheduled Bus useage of the Port Tunnel,which really needs to be explored much further.

Dcr22b,and others who found the Bus Atha Cliath enhanced 33 services of particular benefit really need to get their opinions in front of the relevant Department of Transport officials.

Bus Atha Cliath are not famed for being pro-active about seizing their moment,however a short email to them expressing an interest in availing of a continued enhanced 33 service would be a start.

info@dublinbus.ie

I would also suggest writing to the Asst Secretary General with responsibility for Public Transport,Mr Andrew Cullen or email him at

andrewcullen@transport.ie

The reality is that this incident has given all of the agencies concerned a might kick-up-the-ass,which they do NOT appreciate at all.

The Department of Transport in particular,fervently hope that all this dissatisfaction will simply subside(!) with Rail Users returning quietly to the train and Bus users reverting to the one-journey-a-day principle.

This present period is probably the ONLY real opportunity for the North Leinster commuters to secure REAL improvements to the general level of service.

This improvement does not have to be based upon Bus vs Train but should start from a Bus+Train perspective with the focus on developing and enhancing business on the newly provided modes.

Perhaps however,it`s all a bit to Scientific for our Administrators ???

Drummerboy2

Thankfully this morning, for the first time since the viaduct collapse the commuter trains are running all the way to Bray. Happy days.

Africa

Dear Sir/Madam,

This email is to thank you for the services that you have provided over the time the trains were out of order. Without them, I would have been in real trouble for getting to work. The 33x service is a fantastic addition and in my opinion should be kept on. It is unfortunate that I only have the yearly rail ticket (set to run out in january) and that it doesnt get accepted on Dublin Bus until then, but rest assured, I will be purchasing a bus/rail ticket once the time comes round if you manage to maintain the service we have seen over the last few months.

Kind regards to all involved,

Sent that through this morning to both email

dcr22B

Cheers AlekSmart, I've already contacted the relevant authorities along with my wife (whose short interview was featured in yesterday's Irish Times).

Chatting to the driver of the bus going home yesterday as I was getting off and he thought that more people would've availed of the bus service but as he said himself, he was driving the 8am departure from Skerries which would be too late for most of us as we'd have to be at our desks before 9am.

That said, the buses that I used on Monday and Tuesday morning were pretty much full and at a guess, I would've said that they were the 7.30am and 7.45am departures from Skerries.

shamwari

AlekSmart wrote: »

There appears to be a general level of satisfaction with Bus Atha Cliath`s response to the Viaduct Collapse,with a very strong nudge to the Department of Transport to get their finger out regarding Scheduled Bus useage of the Port Tunnel,which really needs to be explored much further.
......

The reality is that this incident has given all of the agencies concerned a might kick-up-the-ass,which they do NOT appreciate at all.

The Department of Transport in particular,fervently hope that all this dissatisfaction will simply subside(!) with Rail Users returning quietly to the train and Bus users reverting to the one-journey-a-day principle.

This present period is probably the ONLY real opportunity for the North Leinster commuters to secure REAL improvements to the general level of service.

This improvement does not have to be based upon Bus vs Train but should start from a Bus+Train perspective with the focus on developing and enhancing business on the newly provided modes.

Perhaps however,it`s all a bit to Scientific for our Administrators ???

I agree emphatically with the above. The whole incident with the viaduct has opened peoples eyes and made them aware that (a) there is a viable alternative to the train and (b) overcrowding on the trains is no longer tolerable.

Dublin Bus did a great job in providing the additional services at short notice and they have rightly earned credit for this. Fair play to them. Irish Rail did a good job in reinstating the bridge quite quickly, but have been beset with delays and other issues since reopening that were largely avoidable. None of the morning trains have run on time since Monday, and this isn't due just to the bridge. The CIS screens are working again - how difficult was it to have this right on Monday morning?

markpb

AlekSmart wrote: »

Bus Atha Cliath are not famed for being pro-active about seizing their moment,however a short email to them expressing an interest in availing of a continued enhanced 33 service would be a start.

Playing Devils Advocate for a moment, does anyone believe DB actually want to (or can afford to) try to maintain the increased level of service on the 33X/33D? Even if everyone who uses those buses cancelled their monthly or annual rail tickets and bought bus tickets, surely DB would need increased subsidy to cover the cost of operating an outer suburban bus service?

Africa

Thats the point markpb. Should they be aware of intentions to get the bus now and from jan onwards, im sure they would put more into the market up there. Im sure the findings they have show it was worth it, i would really have thought they were. Amount of buses that were full over the time!

markpb

Africa wrote: »

Thats the point markpb. Should they be aware of intentions to get the bus now and from jan onwards, im sure they would put more into the market up there. Im sure the findings they have show it was worth it, i would really have thought they were. Amount of buses that were full over the time!

I'm not denying there is the demand (although we won't really know that until the train service has been up and running for a week or two). I'm questioning the cost of providing the service. During the downtime, it was paid for by Irish Rail but we don't know the cost, we don't know if the added people buying annual bus tickets would cover it and we don't know if the DoT would be willing to fund it through subsidies if it's competing with the train line (which they're also paying for).

One of the reasons it's so popular is because everyone got a seat (under RTA laws for motorways). This means Skerries buses are less productive than the same bus serving non-motorway routes elsewhere).

AlekSmart

Playing Devils Advocate for a moment, does anyone believe DB actually want to (or can afford to) try to maintain the increased level of service on the 33X/33D? Even if everyone who uses those buses cancelled their monthly or annual rail tickets and bought bus tickets, surely DB would need increased subsidy to cover the cost of operating an outer suburban bus service?

Indeed Markpb,this is where it all starts to get murky and devious.

What currently appears a clear-cut situation now reverts to the preferred Civil-Service Sir Humphrey mode with all this talk of "funding issues",licence issues" and "Christmas is coming" issues .

The Department really Do NOT want this level of Bus Stuff,especially Customer Driven Bus Stuff,dropping onto their desk at THIS juncture.

We are in the final furlong of the long awaited Public Service Obligation contract process and a sudden rush of direct consumer demand for wild NEW services such as DIRECT 33D/X services simply means more work for the Department.

As it currently stands,the Department`s stance is that since the Rail Disruption has ceased (?) the "Emergency" Bus services MUST also cease and the Status Quo thus prevail.

I`m guessing that the last thing The Department wishes to do is to grant Bus Atha Cliath any permission to mainatain what has become a very popular service.

It is now apparent that the peak-time Northern Line commuter rail services are operating seriously close to their limits.
What the Bus Atha Cliath 33D/X response has shown is a market for this service to supplement and expand Commuting Options for Northern based customers.

It should also be recognized that a number of those affected commuters initially expressed intentions to return to Private Car useage,but on trying the Bus option were pleasantly surprised and thus continued to utilise Public Transport as a direct result.

Ths is NOT good news for Departmental administrators as it raises all the hoary old chesnuts about Bus Atha Cliath being the dominant operator and the doomesday scenario of the Department actually having to recognize and support that in the Public Intertest.

The key here is probably the Port Tunnel and the opportunities it provides for new routings.....(Remember that East Link toll-bridge WILL comfortably take a double-deck bus ).

What is required here is for Bus Atha Cliath and other service providers to co-ordinate and advance the opinions of their CUSTOMERS in a manner which the Department cannot ignore....A tall order ?......Perhaps....Perhaps Not !!!

Heisenberg1

urbeau wrote: »

I agree with you that slowness going over the viaduct is having very little impact on travel time. I have been on 5 trains this week and all have run late. Interestingly the morning ones have been by 1-2 minutes only but evening one has been 19 minutes both Mon and Tues - this is on a timetabled 38 minute run (17.21 from Connolly to Laytown which only stops at Skerries, Balb and Gorm on way). There is no way that going slow over the bridge is the reason - to my mind it is just these guys getting back up to speed with working for a living and frankly not giving a damn about customers. If you have ever made a complaint via their website you will see what I mean - you get a nice bland answer from somebody in an office who clearly has no connection with the folks operating the service. We need to get used to the idea that the trains are pulled by a guy in the cab who is nameless and faceless, who may or may not care about the timeliness or quality of our journey, and who may or may not take the trouble to inform us when things are going wrong. For the staff who dont give a monkeys there is no comeback anyway - have you ever heard of an IE guy being disciplined or sacked for poor performance? If the company tried then we would have a strike on our hands.

Just a quick point in relation to the increased journey times on the northern

road afaik this is down to extremly poor rail adhesion which will

increase journey times coupled up with the speed restrictions on the viaduct.

Cookie_Monster

luzon wrote: »

road afaik this is down to extremly poor rail adhesion

:rolleyes: what an excuse...

is this not exactly what locos have sand for, to easily overcome this simple problem.

Africa

Thank you for your message.In these times it is heartening to get a positive letter..
Yours sincerely
A. Cullen

Nice to get a response! But that was all I got!!

As for the adhension, well put it this way, in all the years Ive been on trains ive never had a major delay due to wheel slipage... so its an excuse...

urbeau

Africa wrote: »

Nice to get a response! But that was all I got!!

As for the adhension, well put it this way, in all the years Ive been on trains ive never had a major delay due to wheel slipage... so its an excuse...

I am getting the 6.37am out of Laytown to Connolly each morning and this is scheduled for arrival at 7.26am. It starts at Drogheda and each morning this week has arrived late at Laytown and ended up departing around 6.40 (yes they are managing to lose 3 minutes on something like the 8 minute run from Drog to Laytown). It is arriving at Connolly around 7.33am, 7 minutes late but 3 of these are lost before it comes anywhere near a viaduct.

Whilst a small amount of time is being lost in the morning every evening train I have taken has been really late. As per other posts my timetabled express Connolly to Laytown run of 38 minutes has taken 19 minutes more on Mon and Tue - 50% over! On each of these days the driver announced that the reason was we were behind a slow running 17.07 to Balbriggan. The 17.07 did not leave at that time on either day and stood on the platform for I think another 3-5 minutes.

I genuinely dont believe that the viaduct is losing us much time and nor do I buy the adhesion thing. I see most of it as people who have had 3 cosy months doing less work struggling to get back into the swing of things. It will be interesting to see how times run next week.

amacachi

How long would it take a private operator to get a licence for a Balbriggan, Lusk etc. route? Probably just long enough for everyone to have moved on.

Eoineo

amacachi wrote: »

How long would it take a private operator to get a licence for a Balbriggan, Lusk etc. route? Probably just long enough for everyone to have moved on.

Mr Sargeant arranged a very swift licence for "Blue Star Coaches" when the whole debacle started. I'm sure it can be arranged just as quickly if need be. :rolleyes:

Victor

http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/letters/2009/1119/1224259113124.html

Malahide viaduct

Madam, – It is reported that repairs to the Malahide viaduct have been reviewed by structural engineering advisers to Iarnród Éireann and reviewed by the Railway Safety Commission.

Perhaps Iarnród Éireann might now give consideration to having the works reviewed by the Malahide Sea Scouts? – Yours, etc,

lynnsback

Has this been fixed yet? Or does one still have to bus it halfway to Belfast?

Victor

Services resumed in the middle of November.