Kishoge station: A white elephant never opened

JHMEG wrote: »

With due respect your unwaivering support for CIE and state run public transport in general blinkers you slightly from the reality, in my opinion.

I cannot let a comment such as that go unchallenged. I think if you go through my posts here over the years rather than the few months that you've on this particular board you will find I have been quite critical of CIE at times.

Reference my comments on the Waterford/Rosslare line and other regional routes.

Reference comments on poor scheduling on corridors by Dublin Bus, lack of intermediate times, the inept management of DART feeder services, poor scheduling of DART - the inexcusable 30 minute gaps in service on Saturdays, an Intercity timetable being run with very little wriggle room in terms of rolling stock while perfectly good stock is rotting away (except one set being restored inexplicably for a railtour).

With due respect I have no loyalty to CIE whatsoever, except as a daily user, and that's what I base my comments on. CIE is far from perfect, but there are positive changes happening. Bus Eireann came out of the Deloitte Report with a fairly good bill of health. Dublin Bus came out of it not so well. There have been improvements in the rail system with the introduction of clockface services, new stock etc., but there is a hell of a long way to go.

I happen to believe that if the Deloitte report is implemented in full by Dublin Bus then, together with the implementation of the AVLC we will see a transformation in the bus service in Dublin. Dublin Bus management have committed to implementing the report so I am prepared to wait and hold fire.

What does frustrate me here is that people often make fairly sweeping statements that I can understand are based on experiences they might have had some years ago, a one off bad day, or similar. As a daily user I get to see quite a variety of both Dublin Bus and Irish Rail operations and it does give me the opportunity to offer some informed comment. Those "perceptions" may well have been correct at the time, but the situation may have changed significantly since the time that the comment was made. I try to comment based on my experiences that are up to date.

We have the current spectacle of the opposition spokesman criticising Bus Eireann for cutting back services such as the 102 from Dublin to Ardcath that carried no more than 5 people per day for over 6 months, and calling for privatisation! The company is taking steps that are actually making the it a leaner, more efficient operation and giving better value to the shareholder, and all the opposition does start to rant about privatisation and the population being deserted!!! You could not make this up. I would argue that both Dublin Bus and Bus Eireann both tried cutting back unused and uneconomic services in the past only to be stopped by the government of the day because they didn't have the bottle to do so.

I view the current changes by Bus Eireann as long overdue and a backdrop to a distant time when there were far fewer cars in Ireland. I view the Dublin Bus network review as positive as it is fundamental to getting this city back on track.

As far as the 92 is concerned - I do actually use it - not every week - but reasonably regularly on and off trains at Heuston to/from Fonthill. Also, from observing the arrival times of 92 buses in the city centre as I pass through it and also seeing them in the mornings on the quays I would have a fair idea which bus was which by looking at the timetable. That's how I can make the statement I did.

I am not trying to catch you out but frankly I do pride myself in having a very good knowledge of how the whole public transportation system operates in Ireland because I've studied it and I use it. I am a passionate believer in public transport and I feel that we do deserve much better. However, I also know how the political world in which these organisations live operates. I know how long they can battle to get changes through. You have no idea how much contingency planning is done just in case the political wind blows one way or the other. It is frankly staggering.

To sum up - I try to give a daily informed user's comment. I have no interest in picking arguments with people, but I think that there is an awful lot of perception out there among the public, press and politicians that there is nothing right about public transport, and that is not the case. I do blame the companies themselves for not promoting new initiatives such as the significant benefits to the reliablity of bus timetables from the bus gate, the introduction of new routes, the range of prepaid tickets available etc. On the other hand, some choose to ignore the improvements. As I said elsewhere why should any regular customer be paying a EUR 2.20 cash fare on the bus when a Travel 90 10 Journey Ticket is available that costs effectively EUR 1.80 per trip. Because they choose not to check it out!! Dublin Bus have promoted it.

I try to give my own comments from my experience/knowledge. If that isn't to your liking/perception, well there's not much I can do about that!

JHMEG wrote: »

Driving to Leixlip and getting the train from there would be a better option for a lot of people.

You're spot on.

That's exactly what we have been doing. It's quicker overall (and more reliable and more weatherproof) to the IFSC compared with a 25A, even 25X. And the latter is quicker than driving to Fonthill / Adamstown and then getting bus or Luas (which is terribly slow) at Heuston.

The 300m I live from Kishoge station is as the crow flies and it would take more than 15 mins to walk there. Now the plans are to build the first bit of Clonburris and break through the existing estates, which would reduce the walking time to just a few minutes. But I can't see anyone building anything here anytime soon.

Confey. Haven't done it since last November or so though, due to change in work location.

Kishoge is developer funded so it hasn't cost IE money.

schemingbohemia wrote: »

Kishoge is developer funded so it hasn't cost IE money.

I'm not so sure. Adamstown was a deal with the developers of Adamstown, but the rest is based on a section 49(?) contribution scheme, where the developer only pays when they start building.

Has there ever been wind of this being opened now that the Community College has been opened and of course with PPT open now...

Oh to be able to abandon the 25A/B some mornings.

Last year the NTA stated they would look at the funding position in relation to opening the station after commencement of the PPT services. Have heard nothing about it since from either IE, the NTA or local politicians.

There's an online petition to open the station:-
http://www.ipetitions.com/petition/minister-shane-ross-must-open-kishogue-rail

Opening in November!