Rundown of Rosslare worrying the Welsh

Hilly Bill

corktina wrote: »

I have been told that towns have more than 7500 inhabitants. Wicklow has about 6700 I'm told. Not that it matters, but my point is that none of these are major towns. They are the biggest towns in the region, will that suffice?

It doesnt really matter what the size of these towns are does it?

corktina

Vic_08 wrote: »

You two are arguing over this? And meanwhile across the water the CITY of St. Davids doesn't even have a rail link. Get your priorities right.

yep, it's tiny. did it ever have a rail link?

the whole point is that the line to Rosslare Harbour is under threat and I don't like the methods that IE have resorted to to run it down. If they get away with it, more lines will follow. Fair enough if they genuinely are dead ducks, but not if dirty tricks are employed. I seem to recall someone saying the only reason they haven't closed down RH is that the train creww are based there.

Hilly Bill

What methods are that?

purplepanda

IE just make excuses, the line south of Greystones is obviously destined for closure, IE would rather close it along with Waterford - Limerick Junction & others than introduce better services or let another company gain access to the rail system. :mad:

They say there's no train pathways for more frequent travel up to Dublin north of Greystones due to DART services, well here's a radical proposal run services to & from the South East to Greystones from Wexford & Waterford :pac:

Connect these services with DART at Greystones, means better access to & from Dublin, run a proper service during the day, including later evening services.

Try connecting with ferries, make rail a viable option for visitors.

Serve the commuter market between Waterford & Wexford, connecting with Waterford - Limerick trains for access to Munster & the South West .Kilkenny and more potential journeys.

Market the line as a "Gateway to Ireland" with publicity to attract visitors & tourists from home & overseas, plenty of towns & places of interest, resorts & historical attractions from Wicklow through Wexford to Waterford & beyond.

Tourism has been earmarked by the government as an important economic sector, it's about time IE started playing their part.

LXFlyer

purplepanda wrote: »

IE just make excuses, the line south of Greystones is obviously destined for closure, IE would rather close it along with Waterford - Limerick Junction & others than introduce better services or let another company gain access to the rail system. :mad:

They say there's no train pathways for more frequent travel up to Dublin north of Greystones due to DART services, well here's a radical proposal run services to & from the South East to Greystones from Wexford & Waterford :pac:

Connect these services with DART at Greystones, means better access to & from Dublin, run a proper service during the day, including later evening services.

Try connecting with ferries, make rail a viable option for visitors.

Serve the commuter market between Waterford & Wexford, connecting with Waterford - Limerick trains for access to Munster & the South West .Kilkenny and more potential journeys.

Market the line as a "Gateway to Ireland" with publicity to attract visitors & tourists from home & overseas, plenty of towns & places of interest, resorts & historical attractions from Wicklow through Wexford to Waterford & beyond.

Tourism has been earmarked by the government as an important economic sector, it's about time IE started playing their part.

You are misreading the posts on paths.

The clock face DART does impose constraints on the Rosslare line with 2 available paths each hour. My main point on the paths was trying to find an available and realistic path for a train to connect with the afternoon ferry at Rosslare, in the context of having to pass 3 trains en route and fit into the DART timetable as well.

During the rest of the day there is no issue with additional paths whatsoever, other than fitting into the DART timetable, which leaves two slots per hour.

The fundamental issue is COST. Someone has to pay for any additional services, and as I've repeatedly pointed out it would appear that the NTA do not wish to do so. They ultimately call the shots in terms of what level of service is provided, not IE.

purplepanda

So if the available paths can't be accessed on time due to potential delay in passing train services using the single track & connectivity with ferry times, running trains to Greystones could still be an option if the schedules can't be worked out for more direct services to & from Dublin.

I was under the impression that IE were suggesting it was a Greystones & beyond issue that was preventing IE increasing services on the Rosslare route.

My point still stands & the funding should be found for integrated connections to ferry arrivals & departures, allied with regional commuter timetables, with viable connections to Weterford & beyond, IE have the spare capacity & railcars which are lying idle & some could be refurbished.

I suggest the government & NTA tries to raise funds to make it happen, EU tourist industry & regional & transport development funds must be available to help with the cost of introducing services to attract more passengers & tourists to the South East & beyond.

Attracting tourists to the SE region will benefit local business & increase government tax revenues alike. It's no use trying to entice visitors away from Dublin when they could be arriving directly into the region.

Grandeeod

lxflyer wrote: »

You are misreading the posts on paths.

The clock face DART does impose constraints on the Rosslare line with 2 available paths each hour. My main point on the paths was trying to find an available and realistic path for a train to connect with the afternoon ferry at Rosslare, in the context of having to pass 3 trains en route and fit into the DART timetable as well.

During the rest of the day there is no issue with additional paths whatsoever, other than fitting into the DART timetable, which leaves two slots per hour.

The fundamental issue is COST. Someone has to pay for any additional services, and as I've repeatedly pointed out it would appear that the NTA do not wish to do so. They ultimately call the shots in terms of what level of service is provided, not IE.

Before the NTA was created and when funding was plentiful, IE didn't want to know about developing the route. They are still to blame. Blaming the NTA and current funding limitations is just moving the goalposts.

dowlingm

Folks, we are here wringing our hands over what IE are doing or not doing for the poor ferry companies. Is it IE's responsibility? Let's pull back and look at the big picture.

• There are some people who would have left the ferries decades ago if it wasn't for the BA/EI cartel. The good old days were good for a reason - I myself took overnight Eurolines in December 1992 from Cahir to London because the cost of a flight was prohibitive. Not one of my fonder memories.
• Improvements to the N25 in particular has improved travel times for bus and car between Limerick, Kerry, Cork and Kilkenny-Carlow which would be the biggest catchments for a Rosslare based rather than Dublin based ferry.
• The Dublin-Rosslare line struggles on with single track (albeit at least miniCTC) south of Bray, 100-120m platforms in most places rather than the 176m in the rest of the country and the ridiculous crawl along Wexford Quay so that the local council can have convenient car parking
• The Waterford-Rosslare line had labour intensive signalling, roster-prioritised rather than connection-prioritised timetabling and slow speed limits to ensure no-one would notice the advantage of bypassing New Ross while bouncing along early 1900s trackage.
• Lack of obvious agitation by the ferry companies. Do they even want foot passengers or is their profit mix from cars and BE Eurolines 40/55-890 buses more favourable?

Geog1234

Not being smart but just out of interest wondering why Eurolines in 1992 as back then there was a boat train (not Sundays) Limerick - Rosslare which would have departed Cahir later in the evening than the coach and once over in England the train would be in London about 06.30 well ahead of the coach.

Heard that one of the ferry companies operating out of Rosslare made representations at the time the railway to Waterford stopped and has done so again subsequently.

Have no aversion to buses/coaches but for many the choice is either own car, train or not travel that route/travel a different way.

Terrontress

dowlingm wrote: »

- I myself took overnight Eurolines in December 1992 from Cahir to London because the cost of a flight was prohibitive. Not one of my fonder memories.
]

Have you done Sail Rail recently? It's a great alternative to flying. Much cheaper and convenient times. What's more, you're afforded a bit of dignity, unlike flying.

Hilly Bill

Terrontress wrote: »

Have you done Sail Rail recently? It's a great alternative to flying. Much cheaper and convenient times. What's more, you're afforded a bit of dignity, unlike flying.

Its cheaper to get to London than Cork.

dowlingm

Geog1234 wrote: »

Not being smart but just out of interest wondering why Eurolines in 1992 as back then there was a boat train (not Sundays) Limerick - Rosslare which would have departed Cahir later in the evening than the coach and once over in England the train would be in London about 06.30 well ahead of the coach.

To be honest the passage of time has eroded my memory on the whys and wherefores