Late night DART, Maynooth and Dundalk Commuter

n97 mini

http://www.irishrail.ie/news/late-night-dart-maynooth-and-dundalk-commuter-trains-start-friday-2nd-december

Nice to see an expanded schedule this year. Pity it's not like this all year round!

Rashers72

Great news, and just like last year, no additional charge if you have an annual ticket.
Just curious what is expanded? Is it really just the way Christmas falls this year in that there is an extra weekend in Dec to put on services? Very late to advertise though for this weekend. Hope to be on the Drogheda one Friday night, so will report back. Was very busy last year.

Professey Chin

Excellent. Handier trip home for me. I'd love this year round

Chivito550

Fair play to them for not giving into temptation and charging almost double, like LUAS are.

https://m.luas.ie/news/news-item.html?newsid=2661

AngryLips

I guess that's the difference between public and private services. It's a shame that TfI are not regulating the pricing on late night services. They literally have one job

foggy_lad

So there will once again be no late night trains to Kildare or even as far as Sallins yet they can run to Dundalk.

n97 mini

Since Kilcock is only a recent addition to the SHZ I wouldn't be surprised if it's added next year. Apparently the PPT route could yet be added this year, just not announced yet.

Jamie2k9

AngryLips wrote: »

I guess that's the difference between public and private services. It's a shame that TfI are not regulating the pricing on late night services. They literally have one job

How is DB Night Link any different?

They are commercial services (not funded by NTA) so operations must make money.

The fares are very reasonable when many could pay 4-5 times more for a taxi....

Great news, and just like last year, no additional charge if you have an annual ticket.
Just curious what is expanded? Is it really just the way Christmas falls this year in that there is an extra weekend in Dec to put on services? Very late to advertise though for this weekend. Hope to be on the Drogheda one Friday night, so will report back. Was very busy last year.

I think Thursday nights are new and it's starting a week earlier.

Fair play to them for not giving into temptation and charging almost double, like LUAS are.

https://m.luas.ie/news/news-item.html?newsid=2661

IE have little choice, increase prices and nobody will use it....

Atlantic Dawn

Great news, wish they would extend it all year round. Good to see standard season tickets can be used and prices are same as normal train use.

XPS_Zero

They never hear of trial and error?

Test it on sat and fri nights and paddys night and the numbers will reveal the answer. Maybe it's this lack of innovative thinking has IE in the fiscal black hole it's in

n97 mini

Mass confusion tonight in Connolly. Sign in main concourse made no mention of late night services. Lad at turnstiles said all services P7, but the signs on P5 said all services running from there. Various trains pulling in and out with bogus destinations didn't help either. Some calm restored when a staff member (the only one) turned up on P7 long after the Maynooth train should have departed and explained everything was going from P7. Blamed management for the chaos, and for once I believe him. All services running 15 mins or more late, which was blamed on the PPT (didn't believe that!). A truly appalling start. Someone needs to be put in charge of late night services as it's obvious no-one is. Shame as it has potential.

XPS_Zero

How could it possibly be the PPT's fault that Nitelink DART/Commuter trains are late when no PPT services are running at this hour?

n97 mini

There was an inference that PPT services held up earlier services and the knock on was still being felt.

My main issue was the lack of information and the totally wrong information though. I can work with late trains, I can't with wrong information.

Jamie2k9

PPT excuse is a load of bull however you have left out the important info how were loads?

n97 mini

Jamie2k9 wrote: »

PPT excuse is a load of bull however you have left out the important info how were loads?

Prolly around 60% leaving Connolly on the 8-car 12.20 (closer to 12.40) Maynooth service... Which is amazing considering. Plenty of people got on at the intervening stops too, something the Nitelink doesn't cater for.

devnull

n97 mini wrote: »

Mass confusion tonight in Connolly. Sign in main concourse made no mention of late night services. Lad at turnstiles said all services P7, but the signs on P5 said all services running from there. Various trains pulling in and out with bogus destinations didn't help either.

Same happened in previous years as well. Typical IE really, same mistakes over and over again, they never learn lessons, doesn't surprise me that it reoccurred. Stopping patterns were also wrong on some services for example the Northern Commuter late said that first stop was Malahide.

They have not been able to make the displays on the 29k and 85xx DART class on the regular services reliable, no chance that the extra services would work right. The simple solution was just to install the same reliable system as used on the Class 8100 fleet, but that would make far too much sense.

As for the PPT being to blame, if they keep moaning about it enough and blaming everything on it, maybe they will get their wish and they will be able to close it off and they won't have to run services on it anymore after being forced to open it after years of saying it couldn't possibly be done.

devnull

Chivito550 wrote: »

Fair play to them for not giving into temptation and charging almost double, like LUAS are.

https://m.luas.ie/news/news-item.html?newsid=2661

The LUAS night services are fully funded by Transdev not subsidized.

Jamie2k9

n97 mini wrote: »

Prolly around 60% leaving Connolly on the 8-car 12.20 (closer to 12.40) Maynooth service... Which is amazing considering. Plenty of people got on at the intervening stops too, something the Nitelink doesn't cater for.

Considering it was originally scheduled for a 4 car very goods loads. Could of been some sort of fault hence the disruption...

ArmaniJeanss

Last train pulled into Drumcondra at 02:04 Saturday morning, didn't leave the station until 02.28 unfortunately. In fairness the staff-member at Drumcondra did come on board and say 'something', I didn't quite catch it though.

Pity as the concept is great and it's good to avoid the scrum for a taxi in town and the messiness of the nightlink. Loadings were middling I'd say, everyone had a seat and most 2seaters only had one person in them.

Will use again I guess.

L1011

They're using 6 and 7 in connolly for these which is rather confusing for the regular patrons used to late evening being always on 5.

lucernarian

L1011 wrote: »

They're using 6 and 7 in connolly for these which is rather confusing for the regular patrons used to late evening being always on 5.

Except for the RPSI's "Santa Special" which was happily parked on Platform 5 yesterday evening (facing northbound) despite a number of delayed trains looking to go southbound.

Notwithstanding that, platform 6 and 7 remained empty the whole time and nothing arrived until a few minutes after the RPSI train pulled off.

Is there any good explanation for what I saw, apart from incompetence or laziness by IR?

Jamie2k9

lucernarian wrote: »

Except for the RPSI's "Santa Special" which was happily parked on Platform 5 yesterday evening (facing northbound) despite a number of delayed trains looking to go southbound.

Notwithstanding that, platform 6 and 7 remained empty the whole time and nothing arrived until a few minutes after the RPSI train pulled off.

Is there any good explanation for what I saw, apart from incompetence or laziness by IR?

Perhaps congestion further South...

lucernarian

Jamie2k9 wrote: »

Perhaps congestion further South...

There was no congestion in Connolly that would have prevented platform 6 being used for a southbound DART, whatever about it having to wait there with a veritable scrum of trains further south.

Apologies for going kind-of off topic

Jamie2k9

lucernarian wrote: »

There was no congestion in Connolly that would have prevented platform 6 being used for a southbound DART, whatever about it having to wait there with a veritable scrum of trains further south.

Apologies for going kind-of off topic

RPSI route to it's parking sport may of blocked some access to P6/7 hence not trains would of been cleared into the station heading southbound. Only "valid" reason I could think of, there are one or two other reasons but I'm not familiar with the full layout of Connolly so won't get into them.

fh041205

If you get a day return can you use these late night services (technically the next day)? In particular, will the barriers let me through or should I allow extra time to get a member of staff to open the gate for me?

howiya

fh041205 wrote: »

If you get a day return can you use these late night services (technically the next day)? In particular, will the barriers let me through or should I allow extra time to get a member of staff to open the gate for me?

I got a late luas on Saturday night and one punter had a return ticket and got issued a standard fare/fine for not having an appropriate ticket so would imagine a day return will not suffice with Irish Rail either

n97 mini

howiya wrote: »

I got a late luas on Saturday night and one punter had a return ticket and got issued a standard fare/fine for not having an appropriate ticket so would imagine a day return will not suffice with Irish Rail either

But is the Luas fare the ordinary fare or an elevated one like the Nitelink's? The IE fare is the standard price.

Jamie2k9

fh041205 wrote: »

If you get a day return can you use these late night services (technically the next day)? In particular, will the barriers let me through or should I allow extra time to get a member of staff to open the gate for me?

Day Returns are 00.00-23.59 so very unlikely.

I got a late luas on Saturday night and one punter had a return ticket and got issued a standard fare/fine for not having an appropriate ticket so would imagine a day return will not suffice with Irish Rail either

Given Luas don't operate with standard fares, not a surprise.

howiya

n97 mini wrote: »

But is the Luas fare the ordinary fare or an elevated one like the Nitelink's? The IE fare is the standard price.

Elevated. I paid €4 on my leapcard. Not bad considering there wasn't a taxi to be had