Hansfield Station finally opens

The_Wanderer

Good evening,

On Friday 28th June Hansfield Station opened for business after standing idle for three years due to the lack of an access road to the station.

The Station is served by 24 trains towards Clonsilla / City Centre and 21 trains from City Centre / Clonsilla Monday to Friday. On Saturday's the service is a shuttle all day to/from Clonsilla with 16 services to Clonsilla and 17 services from Clonsilla. A similar pattern exists on Sunday with 13 services to Clonsilla and 12 services from Clonsilla.

The station was officially opened by Leo Varadkar T.D. Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport who is a local T.D. in the area.

Pictures of the opening are now online at http://smu.gs/10rn7EO

Enjoy,
The Wanderer.

dowlingm

What poor fare there is to celebrate now. A ceremony of that sort should have been for on an extention to Dunshaughlin or further, with the opening of Hansfield done quietly to spare the embarrassment of it taking this long.

Better owt than nowt - Ireland's new national motto.

Pictures excellently executed as usual though Wanderer.

The_Wanderer

Well in fairness it wasn't a huge shindig by any means (I've been to bigger ones) and being in the Minister for Transport's back garden it certainly wasn't going to open without any fanfare at all.

Now the road is completed and open (Manor Park Homes, I understand was the developer who failed to build the road) its time for the residents of Hansfield and Ongar, who campaigned for the road to be completed to show that commitment and use the station.

Also, while at M3 Parkway (and I haven't visited the station during weekdays much) I noticed the car park was rather busy compared to its earlier days. Small steps in the right direction. All the stations opened in the Dublin area in the last couple of years are really futureproofed for use and demand well into the future.

The Wanderer.
P.S. thanks for the comment

dowlingm

Both the Google and Bing imagery in the area could do with an update in that area - still digging out the alignment

donspeekinglesh

The_Wanderer wrote: »

Also, while at M3 Parkway (and I haven't visited the station during weekdays much) I noticed the car park was rather busy compared to its earlier days. Small steps in the right direction.

Most of that is because Intel are using the car park as an overflow, and have a park and ride.

commuter29000

Hello everyone,
A bit more information on the opening:
29000 DMU 29028 was the first train to serve the station at 6:59 service from M3 Parkway to Docklands station. 3 passengers boarded including myself.
VIDEO

n97 mini

Was on the 21:15 ex Connolly on Saturday night. A total of one transferred to the M3 Parkway train at Clonsilla.

I really question the value for money this spur represents.

icdg

I see the exterior logo on the station is the old IE one! Branding really isn't Irish Rail's strong point...

Polar101

I like how they have six ticket gates at the 'new' station, I wonder how many trains actually have six Hansfield passengers.

ongarboy

Sorry to drag this up but as a daily commuter of this station, I'm actually pleasantly surprised at how busy Hansfield is. If you get the 5:25 or 5:55 departing trains from Docklands in the evenings, several dozen get off at a time at Hansfield. Likewise, the 7:50 and 8:20 departing trains from Hansfield in the mornings. The carpark is also full every day (thanks to being free).

Minor quibble - the automated announcements on the commuter trains say next stop Dunboyne after leaving Clonsilla. Curiously, the intercity trains used for the route correctly announce Hansfield as next stop. I'm sure the odd non-local has missed their stop as a result!

Secondly, no Metro Herald dispatchers at the station either which would be nice!

Banjoxed

ongarboy wrote: »

Sorry to drag this up but as a daily commuter of this station, I'm actually pleasantly surprised at how busy Hansfield is. If you get the 5:25 or 5:55 departing trains from Docklands in the evenings, several dozen get off at a time at Hansfield. Likewise, the 7:50 and 8:20 departing trains from Hansfield in the mornings. The carpark is also full every day (thanks to being free).

Minor quibble - the automated announcements on the commuter trains say next stop Dunboyne after leaving Clonsilla. Curiously, the intercity trains used for the route correctly announce Hansfield as next stop. I'm sure the odd non-local has missed their stop as a result!

Secondly, no Metro Herald dispatchers at the station either which would be nice!

Thanks for that, and good to hear a positive story from the railway.

TheBandicoot

Just hope the area around the station is developed. As it is, it is a long walk from any civilization. I use it occasionally when I need to get to Ongar direct from work.

Also the stairwells from the platform up the ticketing level are not lit at all in the evening I find- could be scary and given the remote location, potentially dangerous. Surprised honestly that the station is not already a teen drinking haunt, it seems like a perfect location for it.

Polar101

ongarboy wrote: »

Sorry to drag this up but as a daily commuter of this station, I'm actually pleasantly surprised at how busy Hansfield is. If you get the 5:25 or 5:55 departing trains from Docklands in the evenings, several dozen get off at a time at Hansfield. Likewise, the 7:50 and 8:20 departing trains from Hansfield in the mornings. The carpark is also full every day (thanks to being free).

Looks like the trains that do not require a change at Clonsilla work pretty well, the 5pm-ish trains are definitely busy which is nice. The Clonsilla - M3 trains seem less useful, there were 2 passengers on the train last Sunday afternoon, for example.

Copyerselveson

Polar101 wrote: »

Looks like the trains that do not require a change at Clonsilla work pretty well, the 5pm-ish trains are definitely busy which is nice. The Clonsilla - M3 trains seem less useful, there were 2 passengers on the train last Sunday afternoon, for example.

It would be great to see the Navan extension up and running eventually, given the tales of woe that often emerge in the 109 Bus route thread. I suspect passenger numbers would be a lot different and as and when Dart Underground is implemented surely the need for M3 Parkway shuttles would be gone.

Hilly Bill

ongarboy wrote: »

Sorry to drag this up but as a daily commuter of this station, I'm actually pleasantly surprised at how busy Hansfield is. If you get the 5:25 or 5:55 departing trains from Docklands in the evenings, several dozen get off at a time at Hansfield. Likewise, the 7:50 and 8:20 departing trains from Hansfield in the mornings. The carpark is also full every day (thanks to being free).

Minor quibble - the automated announcements on the commuter trains say next stop Dunboyne after leaving Clonsilla. Curiously, the intercity trains used for the route correctly announce Hansfield as next stop. I'm sure the odd non-local has missed their stop as a result!

Secondly, no Metro Herald dispatchers at the station either which would be nice!

Its the same after the Navan road parkway station opened, on the approach to Castleknock station it says that the next stop is Coolmine. Ive seen a few people getting off and then getting back on again when they realise its the wrong station.