Cork-Dublin Trains

energiserbunny

Acknowleging the improvements on this line in recent years, there are still some things that make me want to storm Iarnrod Eireann's Board Room - find the Directors, tie them to the track and well...I neednt go further to explain what might occur...

Does anyone find the fact that we have very new carriages without sockets at each table just the ultimate in bad planning?? Even now could these not be installed? In addition, the seats in Coach class are unbearably uncomfortable...the seat pitch is akin to sitting in a pew at church, no cushioning under the upholstery on the seats and a bizaare vacuum effect when you settle into the seat like the plastic in the seat structure warps...its difficult to verbalise the effect but if you have travelled on those trains you know what I mean. Also the tables are quite small, however that is not really that important more of an aside to be fair.

Also, why such an arrangment where we have 4 seats around a table, why not in twos, airplane style where at least the seats could recline? I recently travelled Amtrak in the USA on what they call the "Amcan" carriages and though built in the '80's, all had sockets (maybe they were installed later though) and all had reclining cushions seats - it was so comfortable despite the slower journey times. It is almost as if IE did not even contemplate passenger comfort in the the planning of these carriages after all most passengers will be on those trains for 2 and a half hours at least.

In addition...and without wanting to sound intolerant but I think it is high time IE on this particular line in any case, should consider child free carriages, the "Quiet Zone" is not monitored AT ALL... GNER when they operated the East Coast Line in the UK had a "no children" carriage and whats more enforced it...i would happily pay something extra to sit here or even if they made it reservation only. If you are a business traveller or even someone who would like to escape from omnipresent bad parenting or even just want a quiet journey then travelling on IE is hell!

mikemac

energiserbunny wrote: »

airplane style where at least the seats could recline?

Many people woudn't welcome this
A lot of us have been on flights and the person in front leans right back on top of you and doesn't care at all

Regarding the quiet zone, don't trains have a "guard".
Couldn't they enforce it? What does a guard do?

Colm R

Was going to create a new thread but this seems appropriate.
The Cork Football team today break a huge tradition when they travelled from Rochestown to the Burlington on a bus. Says a lot doesnt it.

Carawaystick

Colm R wrote: »

Was going to create a new thread but this seems appropriate.
The Cork Football team today break a huge tradition when they travelled from Rochestown to the Burlington on a bus. Says a lot doesnt it.

Of course, neither of those two locations are served by rail.
But it does show how poor an offering the train is compared to bus.

Oliver1985

What are Tains?:D

Run_to_da_hills

Oliver1985 wrote: »

What are Tains?:D

MK4 carriages i guess.

mickydoomsux

feelingstressed wrote: »

Regarding the quiet zone, don't trains have a "guard".
Couldn't they enforce it? What does a guard do?

Most trains don't have a guard any more.

AngryLips

energiserbunny wrote: »

In addition, the seats in Coach class are unbearably uncomfortable

I agree. I was shocked at the seat comfort compared to the Enterprise carriages ...and the seats in 1st are exactly the same, except with the option to recline.

Judgement Day

AngryLips wrote: »

I agree. I was shocked at the seat comfort compared to the Enterprise carriages ...and the seats in 1st are exactly the same, except with the option to recline.

Reminds me of meals in the dining car (more than 20 years ago) when people used to ask the steward the difference between the £5 and the £7 breakfast, and we used to helpfully chip in with - the price - whereas I think there was actually an extra sausage. Ah yes, you tell young people today and they don't believe you. The stories I could tell about the Board's catering.

energiserbunny

Well the deterioration in passenger comfort is pretty serious if you ask me...the Mark 3 carriages may have been a bit tatty but they were comfortable. Of course the reason they were so tatty was mainly the lack of maintenance to be fair..on the new trains the dirt is plain to see...its manky even in 1st class. Obviously there is noone supervising the cleaning properly. I am surprised the lack of sockets does not generate more controversy but i guess people have adapted.

But then again, as a student in Cork, and waiting for the train home on Friday, i vividly rememeber trains being run through the washer thingy they had at Cork Station with the windows of the train (Craven Trains) wide open. The seats would be drowned when we were herded on board. This happened on a no. of occasions. Its depressing to see IE do a **** job with everything they do, especially when there is no need for things to be this bad.

robd

Just back from Spain where I took a return trip from Madrid to Malaga on their high-speed AVE trains. Clocked it at 286km. Fantastic comfort. 2+1 in preferente class on the way down and 2+2 in touriste class on the way back. All seats had a socket.

Worse than the lack of plugs and lack of comfort is the speed. Now I'm not saying they needed to buy 300km trains they didn't. All new stock needed to be 200km stock and it's not. It's max 160km. The reality now is that the motorway is quicker. Taking the car is a better and cheaper option. Direct Dublin-Cork buses, when introduced, will likely carve up the market, leaving Irish Rail with the pensioners who travel for free.

Sad but true.

dowlingm

no point in having even 200km/h trains until the network is cleared of speed restrictions.

Victor

Oliver1985 wrote: »

What are Tains?:D

Have you not heard of "Táin Bó Cúailnge"? http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/T%C3%A1in_B%C3%B3_C%C3%BAailnge

Of course, Cork raiding Dublin for cattle would be a bit of a mis-adventure, unless one tries certain city clubs of a Saturday night. :pac:

purplepanda

dowlingm wrote: »

no point in having even 200km/h trains until the network is cleared of speed restrictions.

So why is there still speed restrictions on this & other main lines? Virtually everywhere I've traveled over the last decade I've noticed works being carried out, tracks relaid, new signals installed yet the speeds don't increase at all. And times appear to be slower than they were in the '70's?

Yet the government & EU have given billions in investment & modernisation grants over this period?

What exactly is the problem with speed, why does nearly every train run so slow compared to other networks?

If IE can't do this work properly on budget & time it should be contracted out to those who can.

dowlingm

purplepanda - is it perhaps that lines of similar standards to those in the 70s are being assessed more conservatively under newer safety standards?

purplepanda

dowlingm wrote: »

purplepanda - is it perhaps that lines of similar standards to those in the 70s are being assessed more conservatively under newer safety standards?

Other rail networks elsewhere seem to be able to run faster services, they would be subject to similar safety standards, perhaps even the exact same under EU legislation, I mean we're not talking TGV speeds here!!!:eek:

I really can't see what the problem is, the money has been paid towards these upgrades so why hasn't it made a difference??????

If this speed & journey time issue is not addressed then regional rail has no serious future left in Ireland as the bus services running on new roads & motorways will make the choice for passengers very obvious.

robd

dowlingm wrote: »

no point in having even 200km/h trains until the network is cleared of speed restrictions.

You're completely missing the point. Trains have a life-expectancy of 40 years. Irish Rail have recently fully replaced their entire intercity stock, all of which is <160km. OK some the old stock was only 20 years old. The point is that we're stuck with slow trains for the next 20-40 years even if the do clear the network of speed restrictions.

dowlingm

The Mark 4s are designed for 200 if their DVT and 201 is replaced by 200km/h powercars.

purplepanda

dowlingm wrote: »

The Mark 4s are designed for 200 if their DVT and 201 is replaced by 200km/h powercars.

So why did they replace the old Mark 3 coaches without upgrading or buying new engines / powercars?

Not being a train expert I can't seem to see the logic involved????:o

Transportuser09

purplepanda wrote: »

So why did they replace the old Mark 3 coaches without upgrading or buying new engines / powercars?

Not being a train expert I can't seem to see the logic involved????:o

Probably because the 201 engines only date from 1994/5, far too early to replace them (the mk4s were ordered around 2002/3 if I recall). All the non-pushpull 201s (ie those that can't work mk4 or Enterprise carriages) are out of service for a while now; if they did away with them on the mk4s, that most of the rest would become redundant as well. The acquistion of new engines and new carriages just didn't tally, when the 201s came in the standard mk3s were barely a decade old, the push-pull mk3s only 5 years old, so IÉ couldn't have justified replacement carriages then.

There was talk a few years ago of IÉ eventually buying new powercars to work the mk4s at a later stage, can't see that happening now the money is these days.

dowlingm

The Mk4 DVTs are supposedly convertible to powercars, although twice as many would be needed.

AngryLips

I don't think 160kph is slow. It would still see IE outperform cars on all intercity routes...

foggy_lad

AngryLips wrote: »

I don't think 160kph is slow. It would still see IE outperform cars on all intercity routes...

Maybe under the management of some new company with NO current Irish rail or cie staff but with any of those dinosaurs on board any network will be crippled and doomed to failure.