MKIV Set visits Connolly

Hungerford

The_Wanderer wrote: »

As 8 is the standard formation all testing should be carried out with an 8 car set. Half a coach and loco off platform at Docklands.

I wonder does this mean that the platform at Docklands will be extended or whether MKIV operations to that station will be limited to 7 car sets?

L1011

Docklands temporary planning permission is up soon so I doubt they'll do anything infrastructure wise for it

end of the road

L1011 wrote: »

Docklands temporary planning permission is up soon so I doubt they'll do anything infrastructure wise for it

they went for permenant planning permission for it i thought?

The_Wanderer

If Docklands ever sees a MKIV set again it be for stabling purposes only if it was on a Special into Connolly.

end of the road

no harm in making stations to be able to take them anyway. for the purposes of flexibility, something that seems to be lacking on todays railway in my opinion

SpaceTime

Is this the end of the "Cork Dublin Express" concept?

It was pretty good to have consistency on what is Irish Rail's busiest route.

end of the road

SpaceTime wrote: »

Is this the end of the "Cork Dublin Express" concept?

It was pretty good to have consistency on what is Irish Rail's busiest route.

god knows. it goes without saying i agree with you

Captain Chaos

SpaceTime wrote: »

Is this the end of the "Cork Dublin Express" concept?

It was pretty good to have consistency on what is Irish Rail's busiest route.

What do you mean is it the end. It ended years ago when the Mk4 sets began being put into storage and ICRs stared to take over the off peak Cork services.

It's only now recently that there are 5 Mk4 sets back and only 2 are at full strength, still down from 7 full sets that once operated every day.

SpaceTime

The main issue with them on the Cork services is a lack of power points at the seats and that they're starting to look quite tatty on board and need carpets replaced and some of the upholstery re-done.

I think the choices of materials inside are poor. The carpet are too light colour and wore remarkably quickly and the seats haven't really survived all that well either.

Hopefully, they get a bit of a 1st spruce up sometime in the near future or they'll start to look nasty.

Also none of the internal doors work anymore which is quite bizarre. The MK3s were similar, they managed to break all the internal doors somehow.

Jamie2k9

SpaceTime wrote: »

The main issue with them on the Cork services is a lack of power points at the seats and that they're starting to look quite tatty on board and need carpets replaced and some of the upholstery re-done.

I think the choices of materials inside are poor. The carpet are too light colour and wore remarkably quickly and the seats haven't really survived all that well either.

Hopefully, they get a bit of a 1st spruce up sometime in the near future or they'll start to look nasty.

Also none of the internal doors work anymore which is quite bizarre. The MK3s were similar, they managed to break all the internal doors somehow.

and the windows.

LXFlyer

Captain Chaos wrote: »

What do you mean is it the end. It ended years ago when the Mk4 sets began being put into storage and ICRs stared to take over the off peak Cork services.

It's only now recently that there are 5 Mk4 sets back and only 2 are at full strength, still down from 7 full sets that once operated every day.

To be fair we are now back to a situation where the majority of trains on Dublin/Cork are Mark 4 operated. Indeed, all of the Dublin/Cork services that connect at Mallow to/from Kerry are Mark 4 operated.


Out of a total of 14 daily services, 8 are Mark 4 operated Monday-Thursday, 9 on Friday, and 10 on Saturday.


On Sundays, out of 10 services, 7 are Mark 4 operated.

Captain Chaos

lxflyer wrote: »

To be fair we are now back to a situation where the majority of trains on Dublin/Cork are Mark 4 operated. Indeed, all of the Dublin/Cork services that connect at Mallow to/from Kerry are Mark 4 operated.

Out of a total of 14 daily services, 8 are Mark 4 operated Monday-Thursday, 9 on Friday, and 10 on Saturday.

On Sundays, out of 10 services, 7 are Mark 4 operated.

Except last Saturday when all Cork services bar one were all 8 piece ICRs.:pac:

IE management: "Alright lads, they are doing a bit of work on the track so put those heavy ass 201s away for the day to look good."

LXFlyer

Captain Chaos wrote: »

Except last Saturday when all Cork services bar one were all 8 piece ICRs.:pac:

IE management: "Alright lads, they are doing a bit of work on the track so put those heavy ass 201s away for the day to look good."

Given that there was a train every two hours rather than every hour, maximising capacity by using 8 piece ICRs seems like a sensible move to me.

end of the road

time for them to hurry up and put more cork services back to mark 4 so the ICRS can go back on the long distance routes they were intended for. no doubt though, they will end up on maynooth and m3 parkway services rather then capacity for waterford, and to fully operate sligo and rosslare services

end of the road

lxflyer wrote: »

Given that there was a train every two hours rather than every hour, maximising capacity by using 8 piece ICRs seems like a sensible move to me.

well, if they had enough to operate all long distance services without having to use the 29s half way across the country, then fine, use away

Jamie2k9

Except last Saturday when all Cork services bar one were all 8 piece ICRs.

IE management: "Alright lads, they are doing a bit of work on the track so put those heavy ass 201s away for the day to look good."

I can't really disagree with lxflyer on this one, 8 coach 22's delivered an additional 160 seats than Mark IV's operating excluding FC capacity.

As 8 is the standard formation all testing should be carried out with an 8 car set. Half a coach and loco off platform at Docklands.

On a general note, would IE allow Mark IV's operate in service if the loco or the DVT were off the platform at any station or does the full train have to fit?

SpaceTime

Question:

Were the MK4s not specifically EU funded for Dublin-Cork? i.e. high spec, full service intercity rail between the two main cities and the Dublin-Cork-Belfast route is marked down as a TEN (Trans European Network) priority route.

I'm a little confused about how IE seems to start moving fleet around like this when they're EU funded sometimes for certain key routes.

Jamie2k9

SpaceTime wrote: »

Question:

Were the MK4s not specifically EU funded for Dublin-Cork?

I'm a little confused about how IE seems to start moving fleet around like this when they're EU funded sometimes for certain key routes.

Yes but unless the EU paid 100% the costs which they didn't I don't they can dictate where they operate I expect or there will be some legal loop found if it was challenged.

Captain Chaos

lxflyer wrote: »

Given that there was a train every two hours rather than every hour, maximising capacity by using 8 piece ICRs seems like a sensible move to me.

I'm not knocking the use of ICR when they are the right capacity for the time, it was an in jest comment that the Mk4s were not used just cause.

Captain Chaos

Jamie2k9 wrote: »

On a general note, would IE allow Mark IV's operate in service if the loco or the DVT were off the platform at any station or does the full train have to fit?

The loco off the platform is fine, the DVT would be an issue with it being used to store bikes.

This is another issue of selective door opening not being spec'ed for or installed.

For example an 8 piece 29k just fit into platform 1 in Connolly and is used in service but the very last door is over the platform ramp so it can't be used. An unsuspecting passenger could have an unexpected drop if not paying attention.

Jamie2k9

Captain Chaos wrote: »

The loco off the platform is fine, the DVT would be an issue with it being used to store bikes.

This is another issue of selective door opening not being spec'ed for or installed.

For example an 8 piece 29k just fit into platform 1 in Connolly and is used in service but the very last door is over the platform ramp so it can't be used. An unsuspecting passenger could have an unexpected drop if not paying attention.

They have managed to lock off doors on the 22's on Waterford line without SDO or moving passengers so I'm sure it should be possible on all rolling stock.

end of the road

SpaceTime wrote: »

Question:

Were the MK4s not specifically EU funded for Dublin-Cork? i.e. high spec, full service intercity rail between the two main cities and the Dublin-Cork-Belfast route is marked down as a TEN (Trans European Network) priority route.

I'm a little confused about how IE seems to start moving fleet around like this when they're EU funded sometimes for certain key routes.

IE does what it likes. always been the way, and will never change.

LXFlyer

Captain Chaos wrote: »

I'm not knocking the use of ICR when they are the right capacity for the time, it was an in jest comment that the Mk4s were not used just cause.

Understood - but to be honest there's been so much negativity and conspiracy nonsense here (most of it I now mercifully have on "ignore") that it's difficult to tell some of the time!

end of the road

[QUOTE=lxflyer;94513694there's been so much negativity here[/QUOTE]

the negativity here doesn't exist for no reason

SpaceTime

Jamie2k9 wrote: »

Yes but unless the EU paid 100% the costs which they didn't I don't they can dictate where they operate I expect or there will be some legal loop found if it was challenged.

They can't dictate anything, but they can claw money back if it's not spent as per the original agreement, if it comes to their attention in an audit.

Jamie2k9

SpaceTime wrote: »

They can't dictate anything, but they can claw money back if it's not spent as per the original agreement, if it comes to their attention in an audit.

The only money they may try and claw back is from the taxpayer, it won't be IE so nobody wins if they were to take action.

The_Wanderer

Evening all,

Back on topic

I was confined to Co. Laois today while all the fun was being had in Co. Meath & Co. Louth with the MKIV Gauging trial to Dundalk. Sean Cain and Lar Griffin have kindly contributed photos to the website of the days events.
All the pictures from the day start at http://smu.gs/1Cy0bYS

The Wanderer.