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Irish Rail Journey Planner - Minimum connect time

  • 25-08-2016 6:11pm
    #1
    L1011
    Moderators, Business & Finance Moderators, Motoring & Transport Moderators, Society & Culture Moderators Posts: 67,615 Mod ✭✭✭✭


    If you do a Maynooth - Clontarf Road journey plan for a weekday morning on irishrail.ie, it offers you a 07:15 and an 07:45 depature

    There is an 07:30 which gets in at 08:18 scheduled and an 08:24 northbound DART out, which it does not offer. This is a 6 minute connect time

    The two it offers have 13 and 8 minute connect times.

    Does it consider 6 too short to make it? From likely Platform 6 (possibly 5 - its a through train) to 7 at at that.

    a-b.ie / NTA planner is willing to offer that connection.


Comments

  • #2
    Fred Swanson
    Closed Accounts Posts: 21,730 ✭✭✭✭Fred Swanson


    This post has been deleted.


  • #3
    Kh1993
    Closed Accounts Posts: 443 ✭✭Kh1993


    I do clonsilla to raheny. In evenings, my usual commuter gets to Connolly 4 mins before the dart. I'd say I make the connection (not recommended by journey planner) 7/8 times out of 10. You've issues like maynooth train getting caught not being able to get into Connolly for 4/5 mins.

    Pure reliability I'd say. They probably couldn't stand over a connection you're not even nearly 100% guaranteed to make


  • #4
    L1011
    Moderators, Business & Finance Moderators, Motoring & Transport Moderators, Society & Culture Moderators Posts: 67,615 Mod ✭✭✭✭L1011


    Fred Swanson wrote: »
    This post has been deleted.

    Can't buy commuter tickets online


  • #5
    L1011
    Moderators, Business & Finance Moderators, Motoring & Transport Moderators, Society & Culture Moderators Posts: 67,615 Mod ✭✭✭✭L1011


    Found another combo where a 4 minute 5-7 connect isn't shown in the planner but is on the NTA.

    These should be shown with a short connection warning as is the norm elsewhere. It makes the service look vastly patchy otherwise.

    The ten minute DART frequency will at least reduce the artificial gaps created if any remain then


  • #6
    lucernarian
    Registered Users Posts: 9,235 ✭✭✭lucernarian


    Kh1993 wrote: »
    I do clonsilla to raheny. In evenings, my usual commuter gets to Connolly 4 mins before the dart. I'd say I make the connection (not recommended by journey planner) 7/8 times out of 10. You've issues like maynooth train getting caught not being able to get into Connolly for 4/5 mins.

    Pure reliability I'd say. They probably couldn't stand over a connection you're not even nearly 100% guaranteed to make

    If you're commuting home from raheny to clonsilla, surely you take a dart and then a commuter train?


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  • #7
    LXFlyer
    Registered Users Posts: 17,542 ✭✭✭✭LXFlyer


    This is where printed timetables (all available on the website) are useful - journey planners will always have minimum connections that can be over-cautious.


  • #8
    L1011
    Moderators, Business & Finance Moderators, Motoring & Transport Moderators, Society & Culture Moderators Posts: 67,615 Mod ✭✭✭✭L1011


    lxflyer wrote: »
    This is where printed timetables (all available on the website) are useful - journey planners will always have minimum connections that can be over-cautious.

    There's no reason for not showing potentially tight connections and warning. As it is the journey planner doesn't even hint that the paper timetables exist. There is no reason - and no excuse - for not doing this right. And the NTA seem perfectly willing to recommend them without warning!

    As it is, this makes people who want to be in for specific times think they need to leave 15 minutes earlier and arrive home 17 minutes later. They'll quickly learn that isn't the case if they're taking the trips but 32 minutes a day could easily be enough for someone to decide that they may as well take the car.


  • #9
    LXFlyer
    Registered Users Posts: 17,542 ✭✭✭✭LXFlyer


    L1011 wrote: »
    There's no reason for not showing potentially tight connections and warning. As it is the journey planner doesn't even hint that the paper timetables exist. There is no reason - and no excuse - for not doing this right. And the NTA seem perfectly willing to recommend them without warning!

    As it is, this makes people who want to be in for specific times think they need to leave 15 minutes earlier and arrive home 17 minutes later. They'll quickly learn that isn't the case if they're taking the trips but 32 minutes a day could easily be enough for someone to decide that they may as well take the car.

    Printed timetables are clearly linked to at the top of the Irish Rail home page under the timetables tab - hardly hidden away.

    I'm making a general comment about the usefulness of printed timetables over journey planners. They still have a usefulness for highlighting possible options that could just be manageable.

    This is something that is not IE specific - try using the national rail planner in GB or indeed the TfL website and there are plenty of similar circumstances where connections similar to the above are not shown as they are not within the minimum connecting time.

    I've yet to come across any journey planner that looks at platform allocations in deciding whether a connection is viable or not - there is just a blanket minimum connection time.

    The NTA planner doesn't appear to have any minimum connection time set up - it should certainly do so as many of the bus to bus connections are far too tight and too risky.


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