Railway improvements state of play

Pixel Eater

Just wondering what the present situation is with the various railway improvements that were announced over the last few years: the DART expansion; city centre re-signaling etc.

I see that the new station in Pelletstown has finally begun construction and new carriage have been ordered but where are we at with the re-signalling for example; is that done? When is the DART to be extend to Drogheda?

LXFlyer

The final phase of the city centre resignalling project, which is Connolly station itself, is due for completion later this year as I understand it.

41 additional intermediate coaches for Intercity railcars (ICRs) are due to start delivery in early 2022 and will then have to be commissioned.

No further stock has yet been ordered but tenders have been invited for DART stock.

The rest of the heavy rail projects (under the umbrella of DART expansion) are only at early planning stage.

spacetweek

LXFlyer wrote: »

The final phase of the city centre resignalling project, which is Connolly station itself, is due for completion later this year as I understand it.

41 additional intermediate coaches for Intercity railcars (ICRs) are due to start delivery in early 2022 and will then have to be commissioned.

No further stock has yet been ordered but tenders have been invited for DART stock.

The rest of the heavy rail projects (under the umbrella of DART expansion) are only at early planning stage.

Sadface.

1huge1

With the final section of the resignalling due for completion this year, can we expect any noticeable improvements in the network?

LXFlyer

1huge1 wrote: »

With the final section of the resignalling due for completion this year, can we expect any noticeable improvements in the network?

As with the earlier phases of the project that have already been completed, the main feature is shorter signalling sections, which will deliver the ability to path increased numbers of trains through the station, and which should also improve the resilience of the timetable.

Idbatterim

Take a read of this comedy lads !

https://www.irishtimes.com/opinion/high-speed-rail-in-ireland-let-s-think-big-to-solve-our-housing-and-transport-mess-1.4188070?mode=amp

whisky_galore

Idbatterim wrote: »

Take a read of this comedy lads !

https://www.irishtimes.com/opinion/high-speed-rail-in-ireland-let-s-think-big-to-solve-our-housing-and-transport-mess-1.4188070?mode=amp

It is rather comical given rail is the Cinderella of transport here; pro road quangos and vested interests, a powerful road hauliers lobby, a succession of anti rail governments and purely ornamental transport ministers not to mention self serving management within CIE. The public would rather hop into SUVs and endure epic commutes than use a train, even if they have a service and a dimwitted business community who objected to Luas when proposed.

We are lucky to have any rail at all let alone a bullet train.

Markcheese

While I don't think it would do much to help with housing shortages, i'd love to see a "higher" speed rail link going cork Belfast via Dublin ,and Dublin airport ,
But while the more stops it makes opens up more start points and destinations ,it slows the train down a lot ...
But if someone wants to 4 track and electrify cork/Dublin same to Belfast ,And stick a few pendalinos on it then happy days. ..

Last Stop

Idbatterim wrote: »

Take a read of this comedy lads !

https://www.irishtimes.com/opinion/high-speed-rail-in-ireland-let-s-think-big-to-solve-our-housing-and-transport-mess-1.4188070?mode=amp

To be fair while it meanders off into utter nonsense, the underlying theory is there. If we don’t want high rise building, we need to improve the rail infrastructure. Places like Maynooth, Bray, Hazelhatch and Drogheda aren’t actually that far from the city centre (particularly in comparison to their cities) yet take an age to get to.

What the author has completely overestimated however is the residual capacity in our network. We don’t need a new line from Dublin to Cork, we need to upgrade the existing line including passing loops at stations and some new sections of quad tracking.
When compared to HS2 and Crossrail, Ireland could build just as good a system for 1/10 the price with
Upgrades to the Cork line including electrification
DART underground
Quad tracking Connolly to Clongriffin
Clongriffin to airport spur
Electrification of Belfast line.

Realistically, if you could get on a train in Cork or Belfast after 7am and be sitting in a 9am meeting in Dublin you’d be happy enough and anywhere in between is arguably within commuting distance.

JohnC.

Markcheese wrote: »

While I don't think it would do much to help with housing shortages, i'd love to see a "higher" speed rail link going cork Belfast via Dublin ,and Dublin airport ,
But while the more stops it makes opens up more start points and destinations ,it slows the train down a lot ...
But if someone wants to 4 track and electrify cork/Dublin same to Belfast ,And stick a few pendalinos on it then happy days. ..

Seeing as the article brought Japan into it, how about copying their bullet train services? 3 types of service using the same tracks and types of trains. The main difference is the number of stations they stop at. The fastest service only at the major cities, the slowest at all the stations.

Pixel Eater

Someone mentioned to me recently that there is only one train at a time allowed on a section of the Loopline bridge as the bridge needs maintenance. Any truth to this or it complete bulls*$t?

Markcheese

JohnC. wrote: »

Seeing as the article brought Japan into it, how about copying their bullet train services? 3 types of service using the same tracks and types of trains. The main difference is the number of stations they stop at. The fastest service only at the major cities, the slowest at all the stations.

The bigger the 2 cities youre joining by rail , the more practical it is to have express services ...
Belfast Dublin isnt huge ... Cork is smaller again , so the more stops you chuck in ,the more likely it is to pay ...