Current commuting train services

The Black Oil

These have hit national headlines recently for the wrong reasons. I'm not a regular user of the train from Rush and Lusk. I thought there might be throngs of people, but that's not been the case (before 8am). Maybe it's the days I have been on them.

the_amazing_raisin

What's the issue exactly? Haven't noticed anything in the news recently

The Hill Billy

Irish Rail made a bollix of the new timetable, particularly with many southbound services terminating at platform 2 in Connolly and not giving commuters enough time to get to other platforms to catch connecting Dart services.

The Black Oil

It was covered on Prime Time last night. Duncan Smith, plus Barry Kenny (IR) in the studio.

subpar

The reality is that the Northern Line is at capacity. The solution lies not in the adjustment of timetables but in icreasing the capacity by installing a four track line from Connolly to Howth Junction. This would be a large enginning project and would carry a significant cost but it has to be done given the growth in passenger population all the way to Dundalk.

munsterfan2

They also need to reopen a lot of the smaller stations, e.g. dunleer, castlebellingham, drogheda north and have a 1 carraige train run up and down between Dundalk / Drogheda stopping at these stations so people could then get off at drogheda / dundalk to get on express / semi express trains. Could also put in a passing track in Skerries and do same for drogheda to howth junction and back.

Atlantic Dawn

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122660201#Comment_122660201

Yes it would even make a big difference to have partial sections of it 3 or 4 tracks where tracks 3 and 4 could be used to let trains pass, particularly when the DART is extended northwards.

the_amazing_raisin

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122660201#Comment_122660201

Honestly I'd say it's more realistic to build a parallel line further west. Do the metro north as a proper rail line and extend it north from Swords

To my knowledge the bottleneck is Connolly, not so much the line north of Donabate. So maybe the metro north could link into the existing northern line at some point

Also I'm not sure about the whole "at capacity" viewpoint. It might be at capacity for the existing infrastructure, but could more be done around signalling or passing sidings to increase capacity

shoegirl

Irish Rail delays, cancellations, timetable chaos, signal failures ... what’s going on? – The Irish Times

Decent piece from Irish Times on the issue.

A lot of the issue is the fact that they've got rid of the small few trains that went straight through from M3 parkway route or Drogheda to Bray rather than just terminating in town - these all now terminate in Connolly, Pearse or Grand Canal Dock. So all the people who were using these to go directly to work in Lansdowne Rd, Sydney Parade (for Elm Park), Blackrock etc now have to change onto another train. Its like the equivalent of taking half a train off about 5 times between 7am and 9am. There was also one Drogheda train taken off entirely, which I believe was restored after an outcry.

Belfast line competes directly with southbound services from Drogheda south. An effort to improve this service, which hasn't received much attention for years, was the original cause, but secondary effect of removing south of Connolly through-services continues to have a knock-on effect.

For me, it depends largely on what time I actually try to go to work at, but whereas previously I could get on a bus in Swords at 6.30am, be in town for 7.20 and in Tara St shortly after that, & be at my desk in Blackrock well before 8am, now I find I don't get to my desk before 8.07am.

McAlban

Yeah I find it's a minimum 10 -15 Minutes Slower from R&L into Connolly now. As others have suggested it should be 4 tracked to Clongriffin (Think there's 5 or 6 platforms there IIRC?) I love crawling from there to Connolly.

L1011

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122976534#Comment_122976534

Clongriffin has 3 platforms and a 4th platform face with no tracks

It is never going to be 4 tracks all the way in, due to bad forward planning in the decades from the 50s til the 90s/00s; but there'll definitely be some more tracks put in place where easier/cheaper.

In the 50s, the Great Northern Railway were planning 4 tracking to somewhere north of Howth Junction; and electrification Dublin to Belfast!

McAlban

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122976551#Comment_122976551

Dare I say it…?

Go underground perhaps? 🤣. A lot of the line south of Clongriffin to Fairview could be 4 tracked with some good engineering and CPO's of some golf course property 😎. However I actually get anxiety thinking about the objections and juducial reviews that would involve.

shoegirl

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122976561#Comment_122976561

You can be sure there would be objections and judicial reviews. Its an area with plenty of money and free time for that.

There's already some degree of objections to the works facilitating the cycle route over the Malahide/Swords estuary, and that's really not a hugely impactful project in comparison.