Why Are Irish Rail Failing so badly

Judgement Day wrote: »

How on earth would that be physically or financially possible? The cost relative to the numbers travelling from a handful of small towns would be outrageous.

i doubt cost aside they could do it anyway, all though they were able to waste money on the WRC. surely if possible doubling or putting passing loops on the rosslare line and increasing speeds would actually have been a better spend once the rest of the network was dealt with? truth is IE management don't care about this line or any line, pay and pensions is all their after. cowboys ted!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

because maybe people from those towns might be able to get to dublin via rail at times that actually suit them rather then having to spend a whole day in dublin, for example if i want to get to dublin from wexford for 2 pm i have to take the 8 pm train, i could get the bus but its slow and uncomfortable for me, but its never going to happen so no point in dwelling on it i suppose.

Only used the Rosslare line once so can't comment a lot but would there be demand to run more services during off peak times and would they carry paying passengers and not just OAP?

Celbridge-Kildare should have been included in the krp, what was the reason it wasn't do you know?
Portarlington Athlone should have been done in the good times but wasn't because IE management did the usual step of ploding along like nothings happening

Don't know why it was not included but the cost would of being huge so I'm going to guess they could not get the funding to do it all.

Just looked at VIA Rail Canada's website - as far as I can see bookings and rebookings can occur right up to departure time. This is important now that they have started to insist that commuters using their intercity trains book on a specific train rather than hopping on the next one. The only reason I can think of for pushing it out further is that if IE's booking engine is not directly connected to the seat allocation system and instead happens on some sort of scheduled "push". Caution between corporate and internet facing systems is a good thing but that has to be balanced against reasonable customer satisfaction.

Spending a pile of money south of Bray Head is not on given that one good storm could probably do in that cliffside alignment plus the frequent landslips south of Greystones. If the line between Arklow and Wicklow was realigned down an 100mph median as part of N11 improvements during the Tiger rather than meandering through Rathdrum maybe more people might use it but there's hardly a guarantee there.

intellectual dosser wrote: »

I think in my final year they had introduced those departures and there was some relief, but the problem was still there for many.

I havent used the service since 2009.

So you are complaining about a service in 2009?

corktina wrote: »

the thing is, it shouldn't be that way.

In an ideal world yes but there would be more complaints if it was seating only on the trains and people were refused to board unless they had reserved a seat . Passengers will always stand on trains unless they start running trains half a mile long with platforms to match and then some will still stand in the first carriage they get on instead of walking the length of the train to find a seat.

corktina wrote: »

all-booking can't be that hard to do in this age.

The option is there but some prefer to buy a ticket just before boarding .

corktina wrote: »

well then, they might have to stand. Not really the way to run a high speed railway. in 2012.

There is only a limited number of trains that can be run at any given time. Due to the length of platforms there is a limit to the number of carriages that can use certain platforms. If a train is at its max length at peak times and that train is full to capacity then its obvious that there will be people standing on that service. After work, all people are concerned about is getting home , i doubt many would wait another hour or two for the next train just so that they can get a seat on a train that might be less busy. Just look at the Dart's in the morning, they are crammed and getting a seat is not a prority but getting to work is.
Ive been on trains in the morning on a busy route and chose to stand even though there was seats available . I learnt that people tend to wait at certain parts of the platform which leads to certain carriages being full and seats available in others. If a train starts in Cork, Dublin, Galway etc at peak times and you get there 15 to 20 mins before departure then you have the opportunity to go the length of the train to find a seat. Get there 3 to 5 minutes before departure then you will more than likely jump in the first door you get to and the chances are it will be standing only.

corktina wrote: »

but there isn't a booking facility on the Dart anyway. Commuter trains is one thing but on a long distance train, you ought to be guaranteed a seat and the way to do this is all-booking.

It's not a problem on the airlines, when the plane is full, that's it. It should be the same on Inter-city.

As for the number of trains that can be run, I doubt all the possible paths are in use all the time and the current trains in use are quite short (the loco and driving trailer do not need to be alongside the platform.

You CAN book the intercity and get a seat. The train is a bit different to the airplanes now isnt it.
If the driver cant see the screen or mirror at the end of the platform then how will he know that its safe for him to move off.

I live in Mallow and last christmas myself and the missus were going to go to cork to do some christmas shopping and thought it would be nice for the young fella to get the train so we went to book it online a couple of days in advance.

It worked out at around €70.

It cost us under €20 in diesel and €5 for the park and ride when we drove.

No brainer really. Won't be using Irish Rail for that reason.

Hilly Bill wrote: »

The option is there but some prefer to buy a ticket just before boarding .

or after, like a certain Senator.

28dayslater wrote: »

I live in Mallow and last christmas myself and the missus were going to go to cork to do some christmas shopping and thought it would be nice for the young fella to get the train so we went to book it online a couple of days in advance.

It worked out at around €70.

It cost us under €20 in diesel and €5 for the park and ride when we drove.

No brainer really. Won't be using Irish Rail for that reason.

The reality is that cars do work best at high occupancy but try and MAKE people car pool and see what happens. As for Mallow, I wouldn't be too down on IE since they are the only no-change way to get to Dublin if you can't drive or be driven - I doubt you'll see Aircoach or Gobe at the Town Park any time soon.

Hilly Bill wrote: »

If the driver cant see the screen or mirror at the end of the platform then how will he know that its safe for him to move off.

Eh, move the mirror 50ft further up?

Can someone clarify - does the length of the train NEED to fit on all platforms on a services? ie. If a platform is 75m long is it allowed by law (or standard practices) to accommodate a train 100m long? I seem to recall being on trains and the driver announcing that passengers wishing to get off at the next stop should move to the top of the train.

I paid €95 for a return Cork Dublin first class ticket. Website says Cork-Dublin is city gold, plush seats and all that. Looking forward to some sleep after staying up too late watching the elections. Cork Dublin first class is now (drum roll please) the dining car! Hard seats, the rest of the train looks much more comfortable. Only thing going for it is the power socket.

This is a complete rip off - not that they're charging too much (which they are) but because on their website where I booked the ticket, they promise one level of service, then deliver another.