Plans to end direct rail services between Wexford and Dublin

josip

I read in the paper that the last train from Rosslare will now leave at 17:55 allowing people on the 17:30 boat to catch it.

It reminded me of when I would go to Rosslare once a year in the 80s on a Sunday evening to watch the boat come in. I think from France, would have been around 7/8pm. As we were walking over to the lighthouse at the end of the pier, there would usually be a train idling at the end of the tracks. Not sure what time the train actually left, but was always just before the boat tied up. Am I remembering this correctly? Was it the boat from France or Fishguard?

end of the road

the train would have gone down to the end of the pier originally, there was even a pier station but if i remember correctly that and the old mainland station closed i think when the existing terminal building was built around 1989 i think it was.
the pier tracks were used to store trains when not in service until i think the station at the terminal was closed and the tracks removed which was around 2007/8?
i can't be of any help as to what boat you saw or exact time tables of the era but you would have saw a train on the pier alright.

Glaceon

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122581443#Comment_122581443

Yes, I was in Rosslare once with a 141 and Cravens in the early 2000s. The train was brought to the pier to run around.

OisinCooke

It’s just nuts to me that Iarnród Éireann actually own and operate Rosslare Eurosport and that there’s still ferries that don’t link up with trains and vice versa…! This is a good step forward but still, it should be the standard! It was the same story with the Waterford - Rosslare service and look what happened that! Not calling it the prime cause but I’m sure it had something to do with it

IÉ have a terrible habit of mistreating their secondary and branch routes (and anything that doesn’t go by Dublin) which still connects major towns and cities. The reason that numbers are so bad on the Rosslare line, the Waterford-Limerick line, the Limerick-Galway line and the Nenagh branch are because the service they provide is next to nothing and not at all fit for purpose, for leisure or commuting. Pre-09:00 arrivals on all these lines as well as much more regular middle-of-the-day services with more competitive journey times (which are so achievable in all 4 lines I mentioned above) would tell a completely different story!!

Vic_08

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122581204#Comment_122581204

Tables B and C

https://timetableworld.com/ttw-viewer.php?token=5490decb-b7f4-4d07-8d85-19ca566445fd

josip

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122583702#Comment_122583702

(For when the thanks button isn't enough) That's a brilliant link, it's like traveling back in time. I can almost smell the oil on the tracks over by the pier. If I'm reading it correctly then the train I remember is the 20:15 which would have fitted in with our schedule of the time (lap of Lady's Island in the afternoon, loooong mass, picnic with slightly soggy ham and tomato sandwiches, off to Rosslare to watch the boats tie up and disembark.) That 20:15 train didn't go to Dublin as I had thought, but to Waterford, where it terminated? Apologies for taking the thread OT.

Not made with hands

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122581204#Comment_122581204

Boats from France would have been irregular so unlikely to be tied to rail service. As the timetable shows they were tied to London bound train services.

purplepanda

Were the South Wexford lines stops at Bridgetown, Wellington Bridge & Campile request stops only so not not shown on the timetable above?

Many time I arrived struggling with luggage at Wellington Bridge or Campile on the packed Rosslare Waterford train which was much longer than the platform! I assumed those services went to Limerick Junction?

EDIT: Table 5 at the previous link, Rosslare service via Wellington Bridge & Campile to Waterford, connect for Kilkenny / Newbridge Dublin services.

Fascinating looking at international rail sail timetables from back in the day. 😁

CramCycle

So the schools are back and I had expected a slump in numbers, boy was I wrong. Monday and Friday are comfortable but it is standing room only for anyone getting on in Rathdrum Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday this week, by the time we got to Greystones it was not possible for people to get on. Great to see but I hope they do something about carriage numbers or service frequency before people get fed up and find another way.

CramCycle

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122637131#Comment_122637131

Changed again since I last posted, standing room only from Gorey Monday to Thursday the last fortnight. A lot of College hoodies and difficult to get on in Greystones.

Rumour has it that there may be an additional morning service starting between the first and second which will be greatly welcomed

Working class heroes

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122722777#Comment_122722777

what’s a college hoodie?

TheChrisD

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122722935#Comment_122722935

People wearing hoodies branded with the likes of DCU, NUIM, TCD, UCD, etc. or their clubs/societies.

Working class heroes

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122723033#Comment_122723033

so, students then.