The RTÉ Big Music Week is on track

The_Wanderer

Evening Folks,

Friday evening pictures from Portlaoise, Heuston & Sallins. I was lucky at Sallins to catch the R.T.E. Big Music Train (22046) going from Laois Train Care Depot to Inchicore for internal fitting out over the weekend by R.T.E. before its grand tour of the country next week.

The unit has spent the last week at Laois Train Care in preparation for its grand tour next week. The unit has been heavily modified inside with the removal of 56 seats and luggage racks across all three vehicles.

Photos now online at http://smu.gs/19GvrT0
Enjoy,
The Wanderer.

The_Wanderer

Pictures of the R.T.E. Big Music Week Train, including interior pictures at Newbridge earlier today.
http://smu.gs/19QTvTc

The Wanderer.

highdef

Wow, those interior pics really show how narrow our trains are, considering our very wide broad gauge....we could have way wider rolling stock, I'm sure!

Jamie2k9

highdef wrote: »

Wow, those interior pics really show how narrow our trains are, considering our very wide broad gauge....we could have way wider rolling stock, I'm sure!

Don't think there is a need for wider trains, those 22 were designed very well from a passenger comfort point of view.

The seats and tables make the look much wider than the empty space.

Would be cool if IE allowed advertising on the outside of their trains.

Picture 119, what is the difference between District Manager and District Traction Executive.

Cookie_Monster

RTE already have a couple of mobile broadcasting vehicles, why are they wasting even more money on converting a train?!? :mad:

flazio

Cookie_Monster wrote: »

RTE already have a couple of mobile broadcasting vehicles, why are they wasting even more money on converting a train?!? :mad:

Because Iarnroid Eireann is paying for the publicity.
Looking at the map, if you took it that the arrows are the general direction that the train travels to get from town to town you'd think a lot of defunct lines were back open.

The Westport to Carrick trip is going to be a long all nighter.

gobnaitolunacy

It looks like a sort of Radio Train concept with bells on.

I did hear of a smaller scale thing on Northern that's been operating for a few years http://www.southpenninesrail.co.uk/music-trains.html with real ale for those that like that sort of thing.

LXFlyer

flazio wrote: »

Because Iarnroid Eireann is paying for the publicity.
Looking at the map, if you took it that the arrows are the general direction that the train travels to get from town to town you'd think a lot of defunct lines were back open.

The Westport to Carrick trip is going to be a long all nighter.

Why do you say that?

They're broadcasting a breakfast show in Westport - it can easily get to Boyle during the day on Thursday.

dowlingm

Shame that this couldn't have been done with a 2700 on the way to the boneyard rather than messing with a 22K set when we keep hearing about capacity problems in that fleet.

Jamie2k9

dowlingm wrote: »

Shame that this couldn't have been done with a 2700 on the way to the boneyard rather than messing with a 22K set when we keep hearing about capacity problems in that fleet.

No capacity problems during the week, just a few on Fridays. They could easily put an extra unit into service if it's needed as this set being used is probably one of the spares in case of breakdown.

This set could be in service by Friday evening if needed, won't take very long to put seats etx back in.

end of the road

if they can spair a 22 for this then they can easily spair an extra 1 for the rosslare line allowing the complete removal of 29 ks from the line, my last trip was on the afternoon service a week ago and it was operated by a 29, westport/galway/other services out of hueston wouldn't be expected to put up with this nonsense so why is it okay for rosslare and sligo passengers to still have to put up with these things? not good enough

Jamie2k9

end of the road wrote: »

if they can spair a 22 for this then they can easily spair an extra 1 for the rosslare line allowing the complete removal of 29 ks from the line, my last trip was on the afternoon service a week ago and it was operated by a 29, westport/galway/other services out of hueston wouldn't be expected to put up with this nonsense so why is it okay for rosslare and sligo passengers to still have to put up with these things? not good enough

Westport/Galway routes out of Heuston being in lots of revenue unlike the Rosslare route which is why it wouldn't be acceptable to have 2900's on them and the fact 2900's can't do speeds out of Heuston.

It's mid week and there is always spare capacity around. Isn't it crowd control on the Rosslare route the reason for some 2900. There should be more availability once the 4 cars are in service however that requires a new timetable and that won't be happening until mid 2014.

They have to provide a good level of service for higher yielding routes.

end of the road

Jamie2k9 wrote: »

Westport/Galway routes out of Heuston being in lots of revenue unlike the Rosslare route which is why it wouldn't be acceptable to have 2900's on them and the fact 2900's can't do speeds out of Heuston.

ah, how lovely, i wonder why their revenue is higher? maybe because they get and have gotten better treatment by irish rail unlike the rosslare route? no not exceptable to have a 29 to go to galway or westport but feck the rosslare passengers they don't matter, shur they will just put up with it, well no, not good enough, we do matter, and were entitled to a good quality service, and we should stand up and make irish rail provide it, were entitled to the same quality of service as other routes, if irish rail can't be bothered to provide it then shut it and be done with it, its what they want after all, it isn't exceptable to send a 29 to rosslare, the fact we earn less revenue then routes like westport isn't a good enough excuse to provide us with less of a service, were a main line long distance route and we deserve better.

Jamie2k9 wrote: »

Westport/It's mid week and there is always spare capacity around. Isn't it crowd control on the Rosslare route the reason for some 2900.

well if irish rail weren't so lazy and bothered to get selective door opening then it wouldn't be an issue, ah but shur never mind, its the rosslare route and as we don't make as much money because of irish rail terrorism then we should put up with inferior rolling stock, but shur begorra begosh we couldn't do that to any of the routes out of hueston could we? god no, because they wouldn't (and rightly so) put up with it.

Jamie2k9 wrote: »

Westport/There should be more availability once the 4 cars are in service however that requires a new timetable and that won't be happening until mid 2014.

not my problem, i'm a passenger as far as their concerned so theirs no excuse for this nonsense.

Jamie2k9 wrote: »

Westport/They have to provide a good level of service for higher yielding routes.

but not for slightly lower ones? are we not entitled on the rosslare line to a good quality of service? we are a lower yielding route because of IE'S miss-management, the replacing of good rolling stock with commuter stock unsuitable for the route, any radio or tv promotions we don't even get a mention, same for limerick waterford which is technically an intercity route, the "ah shur their a lower yielding route so we'l just provide a crap service" excuse is just not good enough or exceptable to me, the same nonsense happened in the 60s which made sure closure was a given for a couple of routes that should be still open like navon, waterford tramore, bray to harcourt street because people had enough.
i'm sorry if it comes accross like i'm taking it out on you i'm not i'm just sick of irish rails excuses and miss-management of this route, if its not exceptable to send a 29 on long distance routes out of hueston than its not exceptable to send one on long distance routes out of connolly either, we deserve better

Jamie2k9

I'm not dis agreeing with you but just pointing out the important facts.

ah, how lovely, i wonder why their revenue is higher? maybe because they get and have gotten better treatment by irish rail unlike the rosslare route? no not exceptable to have a 29 to go to galway or westport but feck the rosslare passengers they don't matter, shur they will just put up with it, well no, not good enough, we do matter, and were entitled to a good quality service, and we should stand up and make irish rail provide it, were entitled to the same quality of service as other routes, if irish rail can't be bothered to provide it then shut it and be done with it, its what they want after all, it isn't exceptable to send a 29 to rosslare, the fact we earn less revenue then routes like westport isn't a good enough excuse to provide us with less of a service, were a main line long distance route and we deserve better.

Better treatment because of larger population centres and high demand, on the Galway route you have Athlone-Dublin daily commuters and you have large numbers between Athlone-Galway. If this route hadn't this type of demand for the whole route it would be treated like Waterford, Rosslare routes as there is very low point to point on the route and service levels would be cut back.

If Rosslare passengers want more then pay more, cheapest intercity route currently and probably one of the highest loss making routes to.

well if irish rail weren't so lazy and bothered to get selective door opening then it wouldn't be an issue, ah but shur never mind, its the rosslare route and as we don't make as much money because of irish rail terrorism then we should put up with inferior rolling stock, but shur begorra begosh we couldn't do that to any of the routes out of hueston could we? god no, because they wouldn't (and rightly so) put up with it.

As a passenger will you want to pay more for the extra 3 engines to be powered for the route? €6 per km per engine BTW.

but not for slightly lower ones? are we not entitled on the rosslare line to a good quality of service? we are a lower yielding route because of IE'S miss-management, the replacing of good rolling stock with commuter stock unsuitable for the route, any radio or tv promotions we don't even get a mention, same for limerick waterford which is technically an intercity route, the "ah shur their a lower yielding route so we'l just provide a crap service" excuse is just not good enough or exceptable to me, the same nonsense happened in the 60s which made sure closure was a given for a couple of routes that should be still open like navon, waterford tramore, bray to harcourt street because people had enough.

Agree about the radio but if improvements were made it would not give a return on investment. Once more of the M11 is done, it will put more pressure on it.

end of the road

Jamie2k9 wrote: »

Better treatment because of larger population centres and high demand, on the Galway route you have Athlone-Dublin daily commuters and you have large numbers between Athlone-Galway. If this route hadn't this type of demand for the whole route it would be treated like Waterford, Rosslare routes as there is very low point to point on the route and service levels would be cut back.

not low point to point on the rosslare route from my experience, could be true on the odd service but its usually a good load anytime i'm on it (which is rather often)

Jamie2k9 wrote: »

If Rosslare passengers want more then pay more, cheapest intercity route currently and probably one of the highest loss making routes to.

provide more services provide a better quality of service look for ways to improve journey times then maybe people might be willing to pay a bit more and actually use it, keep it the way it is with 29s running some services and eventually it will get to the stage where more people will start leaving the service altogether (many have never to return because of irish rails contempt for the line by giving us horid rickity 2700s then uncomfortable 2800s and then 2900s which still operate the odd service)

Jamie2k9 wrote: »

As a passenger will you want to pay more for the extra 3 engines to be powered for the route? €6 per km per engine BTW.

again, provide a good quality service as frequent as the line will allow try see if theirs a possibility of improving journey times then maybe people will be willing to pay extra.

Jamie2k9 wrote: »

Agree about the radio but if improvements were made it would not give a return on investment.

how do you know? unless your admitting that the damage has been done as far as irish rails contempt miss-management and miss-treatment of the line is concerned?

Jamie2k9 wrote: »

Once more of the M11 is done, it will put more pressure on it.

yes, because people will just take the car or in some cases the bus instead, perfect excuse for irish rail not to bother doing anything, shur their good at that, their still not doing enough to compete on the cork route with the bus so we haven't a cats chance in hell

Jamie2k9

not low point to point on the rosslare route from my experience, could be true on the odd service but its usually a good load anytime i'm on it (which is rather often)

good loads mean nothing, on the lather morning train from Waterford its at least 60/40 in terms of pass holders and paying passengers. Not good.

provide more services provide a better quality of service look for ways to improve journey times then maybe people might be willing to pay a bit more and actually use it, keep it the way it is with 29s running some services and eventually it will get to the stage where more people will start leaving the service altogether (many have never to return because of irish rails contempt for the line by giving us horid rickity 2700s then uncomfortable 2800s and then 2900s which still operate the odd service)

again, provide a good quality service as frequent as the line will allow try see if theirs a possibility of improving journey times then maybe people will be willing to pay extra

We are talking almost 3,000 euro extra for each service so there will have to be a return service so 6,000 extra in revenue needed to cover costs of extra 3 carriages.

Its a very big expense you are looking for to increase usage which isn't likely to pay off and with IE's money position it just isn't possible to take such risks, demand on the current services will have to prove demand for extra services is needed before any change happens.

end of the road

Jamie2k9 wrote: »

good loads mean nothing, on the lather morning train from Waterford its at least 60/40 in terms of pass holders and paying passengers. Not good.

so irish rail do anything to attract more fair paying passengers to the service, either the government pays in full for the free travel scheme or just give it only to those who really need it.

Jamie2k9 wrote: »

We are talking almost 3,000 euro extra for each service so there will have to be a return service so 6,000 extra in revenue needed to cover costs of extra 3 carriages.

for me it would be worth every penny, but if more people were attracted to the service then maybe it could happen.

Jamie2k9 wrote: »

Its a very big expense you are looking for to increase usage which isn't likely to pay off

well if it isn't there it certainly won't pay off or infact pay anything, and as your more or less admitting that the damage has been done for this line (something which sadly i'm coming to agree with) people will just take the car instead, will be good for the government and their little friends though, will help toards the state cars or are they gone?

Jamie2k9 wrote: »

with IE's money position it just isn't possible to take such risks

even if they had the money they wouldn't take a risk with this line, they wouldn't take a risk with anything apart from "shur we'l buy new trains and it will be grand"

Jamie2k9 wrote: »

demand on the current services will have to prove demand for extra services is needed before any change happens.

well if they operated all services as 22ks then maybe with some good promotion more people might start using it or coming back. you have to attract people to your business, sometimes that means spending money, sometimes you might be able to do that for free which of course is even better.

Jamie2k9

so irish rail do anything to attract more fair paying passengers to the service, either the government pays in full for the free travel scheme or just give it only to those who really need it.

Until one of the above happens IE will not be able to take no risk, improve freq or invest on lines to improve speeds etc.

Any problems that can be put on the long finger will be and that finger is very long. Only 50% of annual infrastructure improvements that are needed are being carried out at the minute. So as you can see adding any services is out of the question. We shall see in the Budget if Leo V acts on the report given and how it says that more infrastructure improvements are needed to keep safety up. An example of infrastructure problems, Lavistown east junction in Kilkenny is due to be moved. They are replacing the current points and moving it as the V shape is to shape for 22. If the work is being done right they would have new sets of points but not its a second hand set by the looks of it. Note its being done 12 months lather.

It will be a few more years before any changes happen in IE in terms of services.

Maybe we should get back to the "big music Train"

Fred Swanson

This post has been deleted.

Grandeeod

Fred Swanson wrote: »

This post has been deleted.

In my opinion its because its being used as an excuse for IEs short comings.

RonanM123

Grandeeod wrote: »

In my opinion its because its being used as an excuse for IEs short comings.

So IE get the correct amount of money for pass holders. They get enough for one trip per pass. So yes not being given hundreds or millions per year is a very valuable excuse for there shortcomings.

BuffyBot

Back on topic, folks