DWCommuter wrote: » Therefore I suggest you climb down from the high horse that my post encouraged you to climb up on.
Neon-Circles wrote: » Thats very harsh and a sweeping generalisation. Have you actually any idea how a newspaper/publication works? Journos would love to have their actual opinion printed but it is to suit the mantra of the paper- thats the way it works. So come down off your high horse! :mad:
but most are just hacks making up **** angles to please an editor,
DWCommuter wrote: » I spent many years informing journalists only to see their personal and misinformed opinions ending up on the page. That said there were a few who produced good copy, but most are just hacks making up **** angles to please an editor, based on the advice they got in college. Add to that the horrendous conflict of interests between the media and transport related entities and it all gets bogged down in mediocrity.
DWCommuter wrote: » Trust me, the media aren't interested in this kind of journalist and aren't willing to pay for the privelage either. I'd go as far as saying that a specialist transport journalist is a comparetively important requirement as your George lee's etc.
DWCommuter wrote: » Misinformation in the form of literal press release reproduction, badly written articles and a lack of inciteful commentary and questioning has allowed the spread of crap.
DWCommuter wrote: » I spent many years informing journalists only to see their personal and misinformed opinions ending up on the page. That said there were a few who produced good copy, but most are just hacks making up **** angles to please an editor, based on the advice they got in college.
DWCommuter wrote: » Add to that the horrendous conflict of interests between the media and transport related entities and it all gets bogged down in mediocrity.
KC61 wrote: » The complete lack of any specialist transport journalists who know what they are talking about in this country does not help.
D'Peoples Voice wrote: » to be fair, I blame the media, surely to god they should be questioning/pesturing IR about why they can't develop a railway line between the two biggest cities in this country that is capable of running trains at high speed. It would be one thing if it were the WRC we are talking about, but think of the synercies of properly developing this line from Dublin as far as Portarington, a lot of the same line is used to get to Kilkenny city, Waterford city, Limerick city and Galway city! This should have been a prerequiste to any development in railways, yet we spend the money on the WRC instead:mad:
DWCommuter wrote: » A 1993 quote from ex CIE Chairman, Paul Conlan; This quote is taken from the 1993 launch of City Gold. Furthermore, 20 years earlier a CIE chairman also announced a considerable reduction in journey times on this route. Yet they have consistantly failed to honour the promises. despite the investment.
trellheim wrote: » what, you want to replace one consistent measure that the company knows and is used to, with another one for no real reason, thereby introducing a risk while everyone changes over ? removing and remapping all the mile markers with km markers ? has the ratio between the mile and the km changed since I last looked or wha ? Is a km sexy or something because it's a french metric ? Also, we share a network with NIR, who also use MPH - why bother changing ? Get out of it.
KC61 wrote: » Firstly railway speeds are still measured in mph, not kph.
ilovegermany wrote: » Thanks KC 61. Thats great. When the original tracks are re-laid along the Kildare Route Project element and the four tracking is up and running, will it possible to get 100 mph for Intercity trains along there?
KC61 wrote: » Firstly railway speeds are still measured in mph, not kph. Top line speed on Dublin/Cork is 100mph, but this is limited to the section between Cherryville Junction and near Portarlington if I remember correctly. Most of the rest of the route should be 80 or 90mph, but isn't in many places due to a variety of temporary restrictions. There has been extensive night-time work on the section from Newbridge to Portlaoise and this is ongoing south of Portarlington - there was a permanent speed restriction of 75mph imposed on this section in 2008/2009 but this has now been lifted. There are various restrictions along the line, such as at Ballybrophy, Lisduff, Limerick Junction, and at the half-barrier level crossings south of Limerick Junction. Limerick Junction requires major work (similar to that carried out at Portarlington which has seen a big improvement) to renew the track and remodel the station, but it is unclear as to when this will start. Currently there is a 25mph restriction on the running lines through the station. The original running lines between Inchicore and Hazelhatch are being relaid currently, during the rest of 2010. The completion of the Kildare Route Project will see a 6 minute increase in journey times on all services between Heuston and Sallins (to allow for temporary speed restrictions) removed. All told there is a lot of work to do yet. This needs to be a priority for the company, not least in order to be able to deliver an improved core product along the main line that has some hope of competing with road, but also to enable "up" and "down" trains between Dublin and Cork to call at Limerick Junction pretty much simultaneously and thereby offer the potential for meaningful services on the Galway-Limerick-Waterford route by elimintating the long waits at Limerick Junction.
ilovegermany wrote: » Just wondering if anybody knows where the main speed restrictions are on the line and how much is actually 160 km/h. I emailed Irish Rail a bunch of times but no reply from anybody..
spacetweek wrote: » Would this ever be any good? Buses are limited to 80 km/h so DUB-CORK would be 3 hours ex traffic. This is slower than both the train and driving.
Furet wrote: » The train will continue to be popular until such time as bus companies start a genuine Cork-Dublin M8/M7 express service, which looks to be a long way away.
Judgement Day wrote: » Never saw those plans for Cork Station until today - thankfully it looks like they have been consigned to the dustbin much like the redevelopment of Waterford Station.
Cool Mo D wrote: » Dublin - Cork is already at 160 km/h standard generally.
ilovegermany wrote: » Just wondering if anybody knows anything if the following is true, false or just hearsay ..... I'm not a regular traveller out of Heuston anymore so just wanted to see if anybody has any more up to date info.... 1. That Irish Rail are actively working on the stretch around Portarlington - Portlaoise to remove the speed restrictions in this area? 2. That they are also renewing the "old" two tracks on the Inchicore - Hazelhatch stretch as the additional two tracks are now complete?
Cool Mo D wrote: » Dublin - Cork is already at 160 km/h standard generally. It is, however covered with speed restrictions that bring down journey time, and Irish Rail's timetables are unambitious. It would hardly cost billions to fix - maybe a few hundred million to permanently fix speed restrictions, fix a few stations (Limerick junction comes to mind...) and straighten a few bits.
Solair wrote: » Really they need to think of passengers!
We go on from here. We are improving the competitiveness of the railway in terms of speed and comfort. This year will see major track improvement and renewal on the Cork lone as part of a £12 million spend - 75% funded by the EC. This upgrading of track will give smoother and faster rides to trains - all improvements responding to our customers needs. In addition, next year will see the introduction of 10 of the most powerful and fastest locomotives ever to run on Irish railways - these will be capable of 100mph operation and will bring down journey times on the Cork line to 2 hrs 15 mins.
