Darts Cancelled Fri 4th - Tues 8th inclusive

Plastik

Between Greystones and Bray http://www.irishrail.ie/cat_news.jsp?i=4924&p=116&n=237

ESB maintenance of the lines, shuttle bus in operation.

loyatemu

Plastik wrote: »

shuttle bus in operation.

shuttle train in operation (presumably a diesel)

The Real B-man

The 07:56 Commuter is going to be Wedged So

artvandelay48

How was the shuttle train this morning? Is it just the diesel and normal schedule times or is it additional diesels that they have laid on for it?

Alan_P

artvandelay48 wrote: »

How was the shuttle train this morning? Is it just the diesel and normal schedule times or is it additional diesels that they have laid on for it?

The scheduled interruption isn't supposed to happen till Friday. I believe there was an issue with the Dart this morning, I wouldn't be surprised if it was due to flooding.

eigrod

Alan_P wrote: »

The scheduled interruption isn't supposed to happen till Friday. I believe there was an issue with the Dart this morning, I wouldn't be surprised if it was due to flooding.

It was overhead wires between Greystones & Bray. Possibly due to lightening given the overnight weather.

artvandelay48

Oh, I thought I heard on the radio that they had a shuttle train in operation this morning because of the line damage. Is this not the case.

The presumption I am making is that this morning's shuttle train operation will be similar to that used during the closure this weekend/next week.

loyatemu

I believe they did eventually put a shuttle on. I'd already got the bus for an 80(!) minute journey to BraY.

The Real B-man

loyatemu wrote: »

I believe they did eventually put a shuttle on. I'd already got the bus for an 80(!) minute journey to BraY.

I got a 84x to Town Wedged is not the Word! Looking forward to going home

loyatemu

The Real B-man wrote: »

I got a 84x to Town Wedged is not the Word! Looking forward to going home

Dart's back running now.

FirstIn

From the irish rail site:
A shuttle train service will operate between Greystones and Bray. Shuttle train services will depart Greystones 5 minutes earlier than scheduled departure time.
Iarnród Éireann Irish Rail apologise for any inconvenience caused.

eigrod

Simon Harris is running a survey on his website for feedback on the reduced number of DART carriages that Irish Rail have introduced for the past while and he intends to meet with CEO of I.R. on the matter.

Regular DART commuters should give their feedback via the survey.

LEIN

eigrod wrote: »

Simon Harris is running a survey on his website for feedback on the reduced number of DART carriages that Irish Rail have introduced for the past while and he intends to meet with CEO of I.R. on the matter.

Regular DART commuters should give their feedback via the survey.

I hope this link works.

greig

Obviously when the track was installed the short sighted engineers never thought a twin track was needed however, is it not possible to put a twin area half way between Bray and Greystones so trains could pass? Thus there could be a faster service during rush hour as the dart always seems to be waiting for the train coming the other way! If darts piggy backed stations, stopping at every second one would also reduce the travel time into town. All darts could stop at several stations ie Dl, booterstown, GCD so you could change train if required. The real solution is to provide another twin track but there is no way this will happen.

pixbyjohn

greig wrote: »

Obviously when the track was installed the short sighted engineers never thought a twin track was needed

THE COMING OF THE RAILWAY


It was the building of the railway in the years 1854 to 1856 that put Greystones on the map. In 1835 the Dublin and Kingstown railway was opened. Later it was extended to Dalkey and then to Bray where the engineers came up against the obstacle of Bray head.


Brunel, the celebrated engineer, was called in for consultation, and under his direction a single line, with several tunnels was constructed and continued round the Head and south as far as Wicklow. The building of the railway station on the boundary of the La Touche and Whitshed Estates indicates a judgment of Solomon, or at least a compromise between rival claims.



It followed that with the coming of the Railway Greystones was placed within easy reach of Dublin, and would form an attractive seaside resort in the summer season. The La Touche Estate laid out two main roads, one leading from the Greystones pier to the railway station, the other running due north west from the railway station to meet the old road from Blacklion to the harbour.

greig

Whilst I agree that Brunel succeeded in creating an amazing construction between the two towns. The latest tunnel was opened in 1917 and indeed there were plans refused for a twin track. My point is that a twin track is required to provide a faster service, 1 twin tunnel in the middle woild facilitate this.

loyatemu

greig wrote: »

Whilst I agree that Brunel succeeded in creating an amazing construction between the two towns. The latest tunnel was opened in 1917 and indeed there were plans refused for a twin track. My point is that a twin track is required to provide a faster service, 1 twin tunnel in the middle woild facilitate this.

it would cost a fortune and would only really benefit Greystones - it won't happen.

Some councillor recently suggested doubling the line from Greystones station to the first tunnel - again this would be very expensive and disruptive as the line is in a rock cutting for the first few hundred metres.

The current timetable (a Dart every half hour) is the most frequent service Greystones has ever had - spending a lot of money to increase the frequency further is really not justified.

Son of Jack

pixbyjohn wrote: »

THE COMING OF THE RAILWAY
It was the building of the railway in the years 1854 to 1856 that put Greystones on the map. In 1835 the Dublin and Kingstown railway was opened. Later it was extended to Dalkey and then to Bray where the engineers came up against the obstacle of Bray head...

As Pixbyjohn's contribution indicates when the original track was built those building couldn't have anticipated how busy this line would become and as acknowledged by other posters the track itself is a considerable feat of engineering from the mid 1800s.

I realise the following is little comfort to today’s commuters but it explains the historical origins of the current situation.

From http://www.greystonesahs.org/gahs/index.php/journals/114
'Dargan was now ready to tackle the Bray-Wicklow extension. Brunel drew up the plans for tunnelling under Bray Head....About 500 men were employed on building the tunnels and viaducts here. The work was complicated by the fact that the rocks here are among the oldest in the world and are hard and very difficult to work. Some of the rocks are also in layers and tend to slip.
...New tunnels had to he built in 1876 and 1879, and the Long Tunnel was built in 1917.
The Bray - Wicklow line was opened on 13th October 1855 by the directors of the Dublin and Wicklow Railway and William Dargan, who travelled on a trial train to Wicklow. On 29th October it was formally opened by the Lord Lieutenant who was a passenger on a crowded train which left Harcourt Road at 11.30am and travelled down to Wicklow. We are not told if the train stopped at Greystones. This part of the railway followed the shore-line very closely, resulting in regular erosion problems, which are still with us'

From a very comprehensive document http://www.industrialheritageireland.info/TikiWiki/tiki-index.php?page=Connolly+Station+to+Rosslare
'The route around Bray Head, running on the edge of a cliff, provides for one of the most spectacular journeys by rail in Ireland today. The Earl of Meath, whose Kilruddery estate is nearby, gave the route around the Head to the railway company free of charge. All the owners of the line, (which has been referred to as Brunel's Folly), down to CIE/Irish Rail, have been regretting the decision since.

The line, which has four tunnels on it, has had to be realigned six times since opening, four deviations and two minor realignments due to rock falls. Between tunnels 2 and 3, there are intermediate block signals in both directions. Installed in 1983, these allow two trains to move around the Head in the same direction simultaneously'.

As I say, of no help to today's commuters, but of interest maybe to those interested in the history of the town.