Irish rail fleet and infrastructure plans

I didn't mean for all of them to be stored pre Kilcock depot, but hadn't made that clear. Should have used better spacing!

Kilcock is a certainty, but they are also thinking of putting a drivers depot out in Bray, not a maintenance depot.

Uhm, there's one already there, just an electric-only depot - unless you mean a diesel crew base as well?

Yeah, a diesel depot. Separate to dart.

John Cradock Ltd has been awarded the contract to build the new Platform 6 at Kent Station in Cork. Work on the project will begin this summer.

This is very good news for rail users in Cork. A trebling of rail service capacity for this line is very welcome.

I'm not convinced of the fleet design requirements when they don't include toilets, when the stations they are intended to serve also omit those. Based on projected service patterns and expected journey times, there are still obvious downsides to a fleet without an essential facility provided for from day one.

I haven't seen a satisfactory explanation for how this use case should be treated effectively and comparable situations have led to the inevitable refurbs or infrastructure investments that public interest motivates, with obvious added costs.

Catering trolleys spotted on some Cork services today, going by twitter

From what I've read, they'll be on some services from this week for training purposes, before a wider rollout on the Cork line later this month/early may.

Only the catering trolley is back as of now - so teas, coffees, snacks and maybe cold sandwiches. Unfortunately no dining car just yet 😞

The investment is a LOT more than one platform.

New rolling stock, signalling upgrades and doubling of the track to Midleton to start with.

wasn't that the case with the Phoenix Park tunnel as well? IDK if it's changed since they started running commuter services through it but presumably once Dart+ is implemented there will definitely be 2 trains running through at the same time.

The infrastructure works carried out prior to the introduction of the PPT services allow for two trains to pass in the tunnel.

2 Passenger trains.. Freight and passenger trains still aren't allowed to pass in the tunnel.. I regularly see the down IWT held just before the Old Cabra road over bridge waiting for a passenger train to clear the tunnel..

Not an issue in Cork of course!

Bit random but is there a reason why a lot of ICRs have the couplers extended out. I know some drivers like to have them out but its seems a lot more common now so has something changed?

IÉ now looking for a new Level Crossing System;

Vending Machines to be rolled out with the ICR fleet to get them if succesiful. I think the idea of catering trolley/snack car on all services is unlikely to return anytime soon. Not enough money in it.

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It will initially purchase nine vending machines as a trial and place them onboard the eight MKIV trains that operate the Cork-Dublin service, with one spare retained.

Planning to go out to tender in July, Irish Rail said it wants the vending machines to stock cold drinks, soft drinks, light snacks, and confectionery.

They will also be card-only, with no cash accepted.

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QR Ticketing also rolled out from today.

I didn't know that IÉ had taken in delivery of 3 new track recording locomotives for their maintainence fleet.

There are photographs of one of these locomotives doing testing around Drumcondra and Connolly Station back in February of this year on Kieran Marshall's Flickr.

They were made by a company called Giesmar in the Netherlands. I am not familiar with them myself. However I read on some other website that the first of these locos were delivered to IÉ all the way back in 2020.

Why on earth did it take them 3 years to get them out to do mainline testing on our rail network.

They have been down in Portlaoise PW depot for some time, its not just the safety approvals there is a lot of complex measurement equipment onboard to be setup, calibrate and integrate.

Quite a lot of new toys, the Kirow crane also has yet to be used in anger

Very tragic. Hope the family are doing ok, and that the driver is getting the help and support needed at this time.

Reinforces just how dangerous it is to trespass on the tracks.

I think it was in the Dart+ thread.

Doubling track capacity the whole way just isn't feasible. It'll surely just be passing loops here and there.

Obviously closer to malahide there's a lot of farming land, that would be easy enough to acquire and expand on. But much less when you get closer to the city.

I think a good start would be to have quad tracks at the stations. This way, a fast train could overtake a DART while it's stopped at a station, but there would be no need to quad track the line fully.

It's extraordinary how many people have just decided this already.

Sure, Irish Rail have just got EUR 1.1m of funding from the EU to examine the feasibility of something that just cannot be done.

I think maybe it might be an idea to wait and see what the report comes up with before writing it off.

The key section is Clontarf Road to Raheny which is where an outer suburban train/Enterprise could overtake a DART that left ahead of it from Connolly at line speed. Beyond Raheny to Howth Junction, the buildings are right up against the permanent way which makes life very difficult.

Not quite. Operationally it is not needed for the entire route from Connolly to Malahide. As long as two trains can pass on the move between Connolly and Howth Junction that would mean that the 10 minute DART and other services could co-exist, along with more quad tracking north of Howth Junction.

I have been consistent about my view that unless quad tracking is put in place along that section between Clontarf Road and Raheny, then outer suburban commuters and Intercity customers are destined to crawl along for eternity. They are stuck behind the DART that left ahead of them from Connolly until Howth Junction. It will have to happen somehow, despite what some people think. This is a key piece of transport infrastructure.

Line speed is the maximum speed permitted on a particular stretch of track.

The line speed on the northern line to the border is 90mph, but there is a permanent speed restriction of 70mph between Dublin Connolly and Clongriffin which let's be honest is rarely achieved.

They've just started the process of searching for replacement rolling stock for the Enterprise FYI, but that will take some time to happen. There are problems with the rolling stock, particularly the generator vans at the moment I believe.

The signalling is a hotch-potch of systems, some of which has been renewed and some of which hasn't. The move to the new control centre at Heuston along with the implementation of DART+ should resolve the problems, but right now, it's all held together almost with a piece of string.

If quad tracking was in place between Clontarf Road and Raheny, then, yes, the Enterprise would be leaving Connolly and accelerating to 70 mph asap.

I would expect completely new rolling stock which will be bi-mode for the Enterprise, and no separate loco.

The signalling problems are mainly down to the IT equipment in CTC, its relationship with the other systems, and the Clonsilla panel equipment (which governs much of the Maynooth line) which are verging on prehistoric.

Add to that the fact that you have far longer signalling sections on the Maynooth and southeastern lines which means fewer trains can operate.