Irish Rail September Timetable Changes

Jamie2k9 · 07-10-2018 10:19pm

Its quiet possible DART situation will get worse before it gets better if sufficient action isn't taken now by IE.

devnull · 07-10-2018 10:47pm

Realistically the only proper way to sort it out in the medium term is going to be new stock.

However from what I have heard regarding that and how much faffing around there is about even nailing down a spec for the tender let alone actually starting to arrange one, I can't see any tender competition being started for a while yet, let alone an order for stock going in.

thomasj · 07-10-2018 11:19pm

And surely the next DART order is going to factor in the expansion programme as well

Jamie2k9 · 07-10-2018 11:24pm

devnull wrote: »

Realistically the only proper way to sort it out in the medium term is going to be new stock.

However from what I have heard regarding that and how much faffing around there is about even nailing down a spec for the tender let alone actually starting to arrange one, I can't see any tender competition being started for a while yet, let alone an order for stock going in.

They should be able to provide a better service within existing fleets. They should really have looked at the maintenance side more seriously before hand but as I predicted moths ago they hope to get away with all 4 or 6 car sets.

If winter gets wetter it will put significant strain on the fleet with leaf fall and you can see the impact on the fleet now and things have barely started.

devnull · 07-10-2018 11:43pm

Jamie2k9 wrote: »

They should be able to provide a better service within existing fleets. They should really have looked at the maintenance side more seriously before hand but as I predicted moths ago they hope to get away with all 4 or 6 car sets.

If winter gets wetter it will put significant strain on the fleet with leaf fall and you can see the impact on the fleet now and things have barely started.

The trouble is though at current passenger growth even if they sort that out, which I agree is an issue, it's only going to be a very short-term fix and new capacity is needed within the next 2-3 years and honestly even if they pull their fingers out, the chance of that coming on stream is almost non existent.

Out of curiosity what fleet has been the most troublesome since the demands of the fleet has been increased - the 8100, 8500, 8510 or 8520 fleets?

Jamie2k9 · 07-10-2018 11:58pm

devnull wrote: »

The trouble is though at current passenger growth even if they sort that out, which I agree is an issue, it's only going to be a very short-term fix and new capacity is needed within the next 2-3 years and honestly even if they pull their fingers out, the chance of that coming on stream is almost non existent.

Out of curiosity what fleet has been the most troublesome since the demands of the fleet has been increased - the 8100, 8500, 8510 or 8520 fleets?

Don't know specifics but I can tell a train with flat wheels and there are quiet a few in service. If it continues and as winter comes you will see more DART failures.

I would love to know how much prep work was carried out on the fleet before schedule started and what if any resources have been put in place since. What I do know is there is to many trains parked up and no work been carried out, now if they have sufficient staff is another matter.

Growth is good but the reality is DART should be able to manage for a couple of years if the current fleet was working at 95% capacity.

Edit - In addition to staffing resources I would question if fairview has the capacity to carry out more frequent servicing of units that a 10 minute service requires.

L1011 · 08-10-2018 8:07am

First Sligo is so late even on its revised time that the 0818 from Maynooth is running ahead.

Something is deeply wrong further up the line either infrastructure or staffing wise and there is no way it'd be left unfixed for three+ years in any other company

Cookie_Monster · 08-10-2018 8:12am

devnull wrote: »

The trouble is though at current passenger growth even if they sort that out,

well if they keep the current shambles that will take care of itself as people seek alternatives and hey-presto the issue will resolve itself and IE can claim the plan worked out after letting it bed in.

gimli2112 · 08-10-2018 8:17am

Getting an early Dart into town this morning. Lady ahead of me running for station, plenty of time. Get there & no sign of Dart, 17 minutes away. No announcement or apology. This is now being accepted as the norm. Well done IR you made a lady run, unnecessarily.

Working class heroes · 08-10-2018 8:27am

gimli2112 wrote: »

Getting an early Dart into town this morning. Lady ahead of me running for station, plenty of time. Get there & no sign of Dart, 17 minutes away. No announcement or apology. This is now being accepted as the norm. Well done IR you made a lady run, unnecessarily.

A lady running? Really??
Jaysus, they’ll be wearing trousers next.

LEIN · 08-10-2018 8:55am

6:54 DART from Greystones was cancelled with no reason this morning. Not sure if it started from Bray @ 7:05

marieholmfan · 08-10-2018 9:38am

Jamie2k9 wrote: »

Don't know specifics but I can tell a train with flat wheels and there are quiet a few in service. If it continues and as winter comes you will see more DART failures.

How can you tell that.

Hilly Bill · 08-10-2018 9:55am

gimli2112 wrote: »

Getting an early Dart into town this morning. Lady ahead of me running for station, plenty of time. Get there & no sign of Dart, 17 minutes away. No announcement or apology. This is now being accepted as the norm. Well done IR you made a lady run, unnecessarily.

Did you expect them to shout at her down the street to tell her to take her time?

Working class heroes · 08-10-2018 10:01am

marieholmfan wrote: »

How can you tell that.

Easily.

LEIN · 08-10-2018 10:18am

marieholmfan wrote: »

How can you tell that.

Noise and bones being rattled is the biggest giveaway

bk · 08-10-2018 4:23pm

Over the weekend, I was thinking about the possibility of reconfiguring seats and how that might help.

Perhaps it makes sense to remove the seats and go with Metro/Tube style seats by the window facing the other side of the carriage. Give a lot more standing space in the middle.

Heading to the Rugby on Saturday. DART rolled up, pretty much full already. Had to scramble down the length of 8 carriages before just squeezing onto the last one. But then a lady arrived and preceded to squeeze past the people at the door and head to the middle. What was amazing was 10 more people followed her and easily fit in! They fitted where originally I didn't think there was any more space from my position just by the door.

Clearly people aren't squeezing down into the length of the DARTs and I suspect there is a lot of wasted space. So perhaps a more Metro/tube style seating arrangement would help more squeeze on like that.

Though I'm not sure how difficult and how long it would take to change the seating arrangements. Might not be a quick fix.

Colonel Claptrap · 08-10-2018 4:30pm

I don't mind squeezing up next to people by the door.

But I feel a little odd squeezing up to somebody who is sat down. Their face is at crotch/ass level.

Also, not all DARTs have overhead handles in the centre so it's more difficult to hold on.

I often have to spread my feet wide apart and balance hands free all the way into town. It's a great core exercise I hear!

bk · 08-10-2018 4:39pm

Colonel Claptrap wrote: »

But I feel a little odd squeezing up to somebody who is sat down. Their face is at crotch/ass level.

It is completely normal on most Metros/Tube/subways around the world.

You could also have the side seats as flip-downs, so if particularly busy, no one sits.

Actually now that I think of it, I wonder if side seats would even give you less seats then the DART. DART seems to use the space very ineffeciently, with lots of space between the seats and they seem quiet wide to Metro seats. I wonder if you could fit just as many seats side by side while freeeing up more standing space.

Colonel Claptrap wrote: »

Also, not all DARTs have overhead handles in the centre so it's more difficult to hold on.

Of course, making this change would require lots more bars and overhead handles like you get in most Metros.

CatInABox · 08-10-2018 4:48pm

Colonel Claptrap wrote: »

But I feel a little odd squeezing up to somebody who is sat down. Their face is at crotch/ass level.

Their discomfort is lessened by the fact that they have a seat and the people standing don't. I'd put up with a lot if I had a seat on a packed Dart.

goingnowhere · 08-10-2018 4:54pm

The original DART fleet are based on German practice (they look almost identical to the original Munich Metro). Big wide seats, reasonable leg room and limited standing room

The newer coaches have narrower seats to give a wider isle to allow for more standing, the seat spacing is slightly closer but to meet accessibility regs some seats are even further apart.

Bear in mind there is a structural limit so you can't increase the loading beyond current really, more weight also impacts train performance

Decuc500 · 08-10-2018 4:57pm

Colonel Claptrap wrote: »

Also, not all DARTs have overhead handles in the centre so it's more difficult to hold on.

This is such a big flaw in certain types of dart carriages. I think they're the original carriages where they took out some seats to make a bigger standing area. There should be four poles, one in each corner of the standing area. But there is no pole to hold onto in one of the corners and also no hand straps hanging from above.

It's like a black hole of a standing area. There is absolutely nowhere to hold onto so you have to rely on your balance not to fall. Quite bizarre that this was allowed happen.

goingnowhere · 08-10-2018 5:25pm

Decuc500 wrote: »

This is such a big flaw in certain types of dart carriages. I think they're the original carriages where they took out some seats to make a bigger standing area. There should be four poles, one in each corner of the standing area. But there is no pole to hold onto in one of the corners and also no hand straps hanging from above.

It's like a black hole of a standing area. There is absolutely nowhere to hold onto so you have to rely on your balance not to fall. Quite bizarre that this was allowed happen.

Thats by design as you will find thats the wheelchair space and the poll blocks access

bk · 08-10-2018 5:29pm

goingnowhere wrote: »

Thats by design as you will find thats the wheelchair space and the poll blocks access

Though no excuse not to have overhead hand holds.

Deviso · 08-10-2018 6:51pm

As a daily passenger, regardless of capacity, I'm starting to feel the fallout of congestion. 80% of the time there's a wait going into connolly, from connolly, and then after leaving Clontarf Road.

devnull · 08-10-2018 6:52pm

Deviso wrote: »

As a daily passenger, regardless of capacity, I'm starting to feel the fallout of congestion. 80% of the time there's a wait going into connolly, from connolly, and then after leaving Clontarf Road.

Driver change between Clontarf and Connolly is still part of the problem for me.

thomasj · 09-10-2018 1:45pm

Irish rail said on twitter this morning that they are trialling having the 06.20 Maynooth pearse terminate in Connolly for a week .

Not going down too well so far with the response

marieholmfan · 09-10-2018 1:48pm

thomasj wrote: »

Irish rail said on twitter this morning that they are trialling having the 06.20 Maynooth pearse terminate in Connolly for a week .

Not going down too well so far with the response

OUCH does seem like this line is being disadvantaged.

On the other hand with the ten minute darts it really isn't that big a deal.

thomasj · 09-10-2018 1:52pm

marieholmfan wrote:

On the other hand with the ten minute darts it really isn't that big a deal.

Absolutely!

There doesn't seem to be enough people getting on the DARTs at Connolly these days, throw another few on!

marieholmfan · 09-10-2018 1:55pm

thomasj wrote: »

Absolutely!

There doesn't seem to be enough people getting on the DARTs at Connolly these days, throw another few on!

Surely there will be space at Connolly? I appreciate that trying to shove on at Killester is difficult (though they are like 20 minutes by bike from central Dublin so whatevs) but is there no space at Connolly?

Jem72 · 09-10-2018 2:21pm

Well it is quite a big deal. I usually take the Sligo Intercity into Connolly and work near Pearse. I almost always walk across even if there is a DART sitting on platform 5 since it's pretty much as quick. If I'm on a direct train, I'll stay on.

This 10 minute DART is absolutely destroying the rail system for everyone aside from those living in a few very expensive suburbs on the south-side.

One question though, what ever happened to the city centre resignalling project that was supposed to enable 20 trains per hour each way through Connolly? They seem to have been going on about it for at least the last 10 years.

Irish Rail September Timetable Changes

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