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Child Item

21st Century Railway - RTÉ 1

highlydebased

The 21st Century Railway documentary is starting monday on rte 1- 8.30pm. 3 part documentary it would seem

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K9yGTosd96M

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foggy_lad

RikkFlair wrote: »

I'd be a non-railway person and was looking forward to this show, however last night there was so much rehashed stuff I thought I was actually watching a repeat of episode 1. There was one clip where they showed a train going parallel to a canal (not sure where in country that was) and they must have showed that clip about 8 times between the 2 shows so far.

The verdict from me: Not great. Actually wondering what the point of this show is at all? Much preferred the Boithre Iarainn shows on TG4 over the last few years.

You could make a better program using clips downloaded from youtube!

sligotrain

It strikes me that the whole series was put together as a promotional vehicle for Iarnrod Eireann and I fully expect the third episode will primarily consist of "look what we would have had if we had the government funding" moments.

Expect lots of computer simulations of the DART Interconnector...

Kumsheen

I watched the episode last night but i missed the first one.
I thought the program was terrible and completely removed from reality. Did they live in some parallel universe for the last 20 years? Cuckoo land stuff!
You really did get the impression you were watching some IR promo video at times.

And as for the WRC and all that Dublin is Anti West stuff, well that was just the icing on the cake.

The worst factual program i have seen in a very long time.

end of the road

its a program of CIE propaganda. spent most of last nights and the previous episode shouting at the tv, LOL. oh we bought new rolling stock aren't we fantastic, yeah you have so much that carriges units and locos between 12 and 20 years old are being left to rot because theirs no work for them as you bought to many new trains for services you were never going to implament, even some of the new stock may end up with no work either, stock designed for short distances are still operating the odd service to rosslare and sligo where as stock designed for long distances are operating to m3 parkway. oh we put down new track and improved speeds aren't we really fantastic, oh yeah speed restrictions and slower speeds then the 1980s so actually no you really are not fantastic. oh we opened new lines and reopened some aren't we really really fantastic, yes the middleton reopening was a good investment and is doing well and long may it continue, instead of only opening to m3 parkway they should have reopened the whole lot to navon but shambles after shambles will make sure that never happens or if it does it will be even more expensive because nobody thought to protect the alignment or even better not closing it in the first place. and as for the WRC, phaze 1 has caused 1 line to close and to more will go to pay for it 1 of which would definitely be a candidate for improved services and should have been a definite candidate for investment during the good times (so should the other 2 have been) but definitely limerick junction waterford, phaze 2 and 3 will never happen thankfully and phaze 1 will be shut and lifted soon.

Judgement Day

Second episode, which was pure muck, is now available here: http://www.rte.ie/player/ie/show/10088571/

They will be able to sell it as a comedy to other networks.

Among the memorable quotes from the second episode were the following:

'We now have a fleet of trains absolutely fit for purpose' Barry Kenny

'The length of the trains is much longer' Frank McDonald

and the best of all from the programme presenter, that well known railway historian - Liz Nolan ' Under British Rule many routes were abandoned'....ffs! :rolleyes:

sporty56

Wonder how many more times they'll show 171 blowing smoke rings ?? Pity they didn't ask BBC for some of the their excellent footage from Michael Palin's run down to Wexford with 461 etc. Poor program with no questions asked so far how IR's PR folk ended up with longer journey times to satisfy "on time" statistics. All that after spending a heap of money renewing permanent way, wasted opportunity to really speed things up.

corktina

i think almost no lines were abandoned under British Rule ! Glad I missed it...I did think it would turn out this way though.

Judgement Day

corktina wrote: »

i think almost no lines were abandoned under British Rule ! Glad I missed it...I did think it would turn out this way though.

Parsonstown & Portumna Bridge and the Bray & Enniskerry come to mind - only one of which was actually built and opened.

road_high

Christ Barry Kenny must live in la la land.

road_high

Oh lord I was cringing even more on the WRC stuff. Did they produce the "programme"? The East-West divide and how people on the east coast knock the poor old westerners. Truly some of RTE's worst ever production.
CIE and WRC propaganda, woeful sh!te. Funny how the WRC cheerleader failed to mentio they need to get passengers to use the service, all he could was "we need to get a groundswell of backing behind this".

Eiretrains

Judgement Day wrote: »

and the best of all from the programme presenter, that well known railway historian - Liz Nolan ' Under British Rule many routes were abandoned'....ffs! :rolleyes:

Yes I was astonished at that statement too, I don't know where they might have got that fleeting assumption.

Also, we all know the Midland chose to build alongside the canal because they wanted to build quick and cheap, and not as stated, as been some part of some pioneering idea in transport incorporation.:rolleyes:

gobnaitolunacy

Judgement Day wrote: »

that well known railway historian - Liz Nolan ' Under British Rule many routes were abandoned'....ffs! :rolleyes:

Who...? And what...???!!! Oh yes, the nasty oul Brits, we'll give them an oul' dig sure.
We were pretty adept at wrecking our transport system on our own thank you very much.

Just when I thought the worst RTE railway-related programme was the totally unfunny 'Signal Box' with David Kelly many moons ago. It has some stiff competition.

The Idyl Race

Eiretrains wrote: »

Yes I was astonished at that statement too, I don't know where they might have got that fleeting assumption.

Also, we all know the Midland chose to build alongside the canal because they wanted to build quick and cheap, and not as stated, as been some part of some pioneering idea in transport incorporation.:rolleyes:

Official Ireland saying, it wasn't our fault, we didn't start railway closures, the brits did it first.. because Portumna Bridge to Birr has such a groundswell of resentment over that closure no doubt.

Judgement Day

gobnaitolunacy wrote: »

Who...? And what...???!!! Oh yes, the nasty oul Brits, we'll give them an oul' dig sure.
We were pretty adept at wrecking our transport system on our own thank you very much.

Just when I thought the worst RTE railway-related programme was the totally unfunny 'Signal Box' with David Kelly many moons ago. It has some stiff competition.

Just for you.

http://www.rte.ie/player/ie/show/1145386/

Mercifully, I never saw the series but if I had, it could have cured my interest in railways and saved me a packet.

The plot thickens - it seems David Kelly also featured in an 1994 RTE production titled "The Signal Box" directed by Sean Hardie - but typically, being RTE, there's little or nothing online - even on imdb. Anybody seen it??

road_high

RTE, CIE, ESB etc etc all mutally exclusive State quango dinosaurs. We were hoping for far too much for this programme to be in any way objective or critical.
Truely some of RTE's worst rubbish in decades, and that's saying something.
If you want to imagine what TV programmes were like in Communist Russia, I'd imagine this would not be too wide of the mark!

gobnaitolunacy

In Communist Russia, TV watches you!

Sorry, couldn't resist!

gobnaitolunacy

Judgement Day wrote: »

Just for you.

http://www.rte.ie/player/ie/show/1145386/

Mercifully, I never saw the series but if I had, it could have cured my interest in railways and saved me a packet.

The plot thickens - it seems David Kelly also featured in an 1994 RTE production titled "The Signal Box" directed by Sean Hardie - but typically, being RTE, there's little or nothing online - even on imdb. Anybody seen it??

I had the misfortune of seeing it, it had Sean Hughes in it as well. It was slated by tv critics as not being the faintest bit amusing...RTE maintaining it was intended to be a 'surreal' comedy based on the writings of Myles Na gCopaillin.
They made lots of 'surreal' stuff over the years...Extra Extra, Ryantown, Leave It To Mrs O'Brien...:D

shelbourne ultimatum

While some of the footage is enjoyable in parts, it is generally a woeful production.

Absolutely no critique has been applied to IE's version of events at all. Frank McDonald, a man who has done more to kill heavy railway development (simply because he gets a slight horn at the sight of a tram), fails to provide anything even remotely objective either - "the length of the trains is longer". Wow, Frank. Insightful.

While i'm grateful to see such a programme by RTE, it could have been so much better. Instead, we get an IE PR fluff piece timed to co-incide perfectly with the new timetable (or last gasp at saving the Intercity network).

RTE - Must try harder.

gobnaitolunacy

Had a brief look at it, apart from the poor grammar by F Mc D, it looks to me like a feature-length IE ad.

Sligo Quay

I looked at it on the RTE player, its the greatest load of tripe, its like a propaganda film, it had no substance, it tolded a tall tale of the way things are certainly not, then the ''fussy'' aerial film footage of a steam train steaming thru the countryside giving the false impression that it was old footage from years ago when infact it was probably a resent RPSI railtour film footage taken from a helicopter.
Thats what the whole documentary was about, false impressions, smoke & mirrors, very deceptive and full of spin.
Irish Rail is bankrupt, the money disappeared down a black hole during the boom, badly managed.
Im not going to mention the guy from West on track, who had a lot to say, but said very little, I don't even read that thread anymore.
Miles from reality, but probably makes good TV.

LivelineDipso

Is it just me or is everything coming out of RTE these days just horrific?

steamengine

LivelineDipso wrote: »

Is it just me or is everything coming out of RTE these days just horrific?

No not just you - those tv licence ads currently being shown are so cringeworthy it beggars belief - Rabbits, interpretative dance, osmosis.

As regards the current railway series, it hasn't received one positive review here. It's somewhat ironic that it took the BBC series based on Bradshaws railway guide, with Michael Portillo, to show how an Irish railway series should be done.

The Idyl Race

steamengine wrote: »

No not just you - those tv licence ads currently being shown are so cringeworthy it beggars belief - Rabbits, interpretative dance, osmosis.

As regards the current railway series, it hasn't received one positive review here. It's somewhat ironic that it took the BBC series based on Bradshaws railway guide, with Michael Portillo, to show how an Irish railway series should be done.

Not ironic at all, the BBC are unquestionably the greatest broadcaster in the world while the limit of RTE's ambitions is Miriam O'Callaghan asking an interviewee but how do you feel?

steamengine

The Idyl Race wrote: »

Not ironic at all, the BBC are unquestionably the greatest broadcaster in the world while the limit of RTE's ambitions is Miriam O'Callaghan asking an interviewee but how do you feel?

I suppose we might be expecting too much from a family run outfit !;)

Sligo Quay

shelbourne ultimatum wrote: »

Absolutely no critique has been applied to IE's version of events at all. Frank McDonald, a man who has done more to kill heavy railway development (simply because he gets a slight horn at the sight of a tram),

Between Claremorris and Collooney there over 200 level crossings according to Frank McDonald, a guy who lives in Temple Bar and hasn't a clue as to whats happening outside the pale, I don't see the economic sense in reopening the Burma rd ether, but please, honest facts to argue your case, Iv since reseach in the last few days and Iv learned there where 46level crossing, not 200, way off the mark.
Frank McDonald is wired to the moon.

OurLadyofKnock

Sligo Quay wrote: »

Iv since reseach in the last few days and Iv learned there where 46level crossing,

Still and huge number for a short line and many cross busy N roads.

Losty Dublin

Sligo Quay wrote: »

Between Claremorris and Collooney there over 200 level crossings according to Frank McDonald, a guy who lives in Temple Bar and hasn't a clue as to whats happening outside the pale, I don't see the economic sense in reopening the Burma rd ether, but please, honest facts to argue your case, Iv since reseach in the last few days and Iv learned there where 46level crossing, not 200, way off the mark.
Frank McDonald is wired to the moon.

200 is including farm/accommodation crossings as well as road crossings. Accommodation crossings cause far more of railway speed restrictons due to their largely unprotected and unpredictable nature of traffic as well as the often blatand disregard of common sense by many of their users.

[Deleted User]

I had these recorded and watched them today. The thing which really got to me was the propaganda about the new trains being "bigger" - try telling someone on the Rosslare line that they have bigger trains. :rolleyes:

Grandeeod

Unfortunately I can't see this programme where I am and I think I'm glad!

dowlingm

Sligo Quay wrote: »

Iv since reseach in the last few days and Iv learned there where 46level crossing, not 200, way off the mark.
Frank McDonald is wired to the moon.

Is that road-rail crossings or including accommodation crossings too?