Cancelled Irish Rail services

[Roadend]

Probably because they go about 20 miles an hour

No wonder "we're not there yet"

[Macy]

Irish Rail is one of the safest modes of rail transport in Europe. There hasn't been a fatal crash since 1980.
Exactly, So why follow a failed model of outsourcing the maintenance?

[pete]

Probably because they go about 20 miles an hour

True. I remember a few years there was a stretch between Limerick junction & Mallow which was reduced to 30 mph for safety reasons.

I fail to see how existing staff working overtime is safer than outsiders working normal hours.

[dfx-]

Irish rail Maintenance workers have guaranteed jobs for life so doesn't matter what work is contracted out. I presume they are looking for additional overtime work instead of hiring "outsiders".

This is what I was alluding to..."Protecting their jobs and terms and conditions". Or alternatively that no-one else gets in on their work..

Yes indeedy, safety and rail service is uppermost in their minds

[jebus]

True. I remember a few years there was a stretch between Limerick junction & Mallow which was reduced to 30 mph for safety reasons.

I'm getting the train to Limerick after work tonight, it leaves Dublin at 5.25 and won't get into Dublin til 7.15 (barring any Irish Rail **** ups), I genuinely don't understand how people can see the train taking longer than a car as a good service.

My worst Irish Rail experience happened on a Christmas Eve a few years ago. I was working in Cork at the time and after a few drinks with friends I caught the train up at about 3, hoping to meet some Limerickheads for a few drinks before closing time. So we got to the junction and were told we had to get off there and wait for the connection into Limerick (nothing new there, so fair enough). So on Christmas Eve I (and about 20 others) ended up waiting 2 hours for our connecting train because the Dublin train (that our connecting train was also due to take into Limerick) was delayed by an hour and half. This despite the journey in to Limerick and back out would have taken an hour in total :rolleyes:

[Schumi]

I'm getting the train to Limerick after work tonight, it leaves Dublin at 5.25 and won't get into Dublin til 7.15 (barring any Irish Rail **** ups), I genuinely don't understand how people can see the train taking longer than a car as a good service.I think you're getting the wrong train.

[Macy]

Yes indeedy, safety and rail service is uppermost in their minds
Not in the workers minds, their concerned with protecting their terms and conditions, as any worker would. However, the folly of outsourcing had been shown in the UK in the major incidents I outlined which were attributted to the standard and quality of work of the cheapest is best approach.

Most of the problems in Irish Rail aren't because of the unions, or the workers, it's to do with cronic underfunding. But it suits Government, and their appointee's in Management positions to hang it on the unions. How many cross country lines are two wide for example? How many lines rely on trains having to meet at specific points where they can pass? Is it the unions fault that Connolly and Heuston can't cope with the number of trains required on the routes. And even where there are IR issues, it takes two sides to cause the problems. If management follow agreed procedures then the unions don't really have a leg to stand on.

[jebus]

I think you're getting the wrong train.

:D:D:D

[mypost]

The CART line is out of service again. :mad:

http://www.irishrail.ie/news_centre/news.asp?action=view&news_id=350

[pete]

The CART line is out of service again. :mad:

http://www.irishrail.ie/news_centre/news.asp?action=view&news_id=350

That is improvement works & looking at the list some of that work can only be done when service is stopped. Better to stop it for a week than try to complete at weekends for months on end.

[mypost]

Can't see why these essential works can't be carried out at night, every night. It's not like the Cork-Cobh line is operating all night.

It screws the travel plans of fans from Rovers and UCD who wish to travel by train to Cobh for the games down there later in the season,.

[mypost]

The Kildare Route Project is still under construction, and still inconveniencing passengers travel plans outside the route.

Instead of bus transfers, and/or cancellations, long-haul services during the affected times should be departing from Connolly, going to Mullingar, and then using the reserve line connecting with Athlone, and continuing the rest of the journey from there as normal. It's a disgrace that in a country with no night trains running, that passengers can be discommoded every weekend.

[Macy]

A bus transfer would be quicker than that roundabout route.

[mypost]

Some are cancelled without any alternative transfers available, hence why they should be allowed go to Connolly and go through Mullingar and Athlone. It's longer, but at least the service is would be available.

[brianw82]

long-haul services during the affected times should be departing from Connolly

I don't think that could happen. Connolly is congested enough as it is. Track space to and from Maynooth is at a premium, and the station itself is a bottleneck.

[Macy]

I don't think that could happen. Connolly is congested enough as it is. Track space to and from Maynooth is at a premium, and the station itself is a bottleneck.
Yes, and that's why the interconnector is so important, but my post never lets the facts get in the way of good rant at Irish Rail. :)

[NeilMcD]

I get the train a decent amount and I always find it a good service.

[mypost]

I don't think that could happen. Connolly is congested enough as it is. Track space to and from Maynooth is at a premium, and the station itself is a bottleneck.

Not at the current cancellation times. There's a couple of trains in each direction west of Maynooth, and a few railcars. Re-routing the affected services wouldn't cripple the network, it would be no busier than normal daytime traffic on the lines. Re-routing through the Phoenix Park tunnel happens before/after every big game in Croker.

[Macy]

But it's Connolly that's the problem, not the lines. That's the whole reasoning with Spencer Dock and the Interconnector - increase capacity on the Connolly lines as it's operating at virtually full capacity. There's more to the Irish Rail network than the bloody Kildare line.

[rebs23]

But it's Connolly that's the problem, not the lines. That's the whole reasoning with Spencer Dock and the Interconnector - increase capacity on the Connolly lines as it's operating at virtually full capacity. There's more to the Irish Rail network than the bloody Kildare line.

But not at cost of 2billion, sacrificing other more important infrastructural projects. Is a 3rd rail connection between Connolly and Hueston worth 2 Billion? Who is it going to benefit and how many and is there a real need?

[Macy]

I thought the interconnector was between Spencer Dock and Heuston, via Pearse, Stephen's Green (and somewhere else in the city centre I thought), rather than Connolly? This would allow commuter routes by pass Connolly and also allow the DART to be extended out the Kildare line.

tbh I've no idea of the value for money, and I'm certainly not an expert, but it does seem to be the key development for rail in Dublin. In the general scheme of transport infrastructurual developments I would've thought it would be fairly high up the list? I don't know what'll be sacrificed for it, if it even isn't going to be sacrificed.

[Bald Student]

I thought the interconnector was between Spencer Dock and Heuston, via Pearse, Stephen's Green (and somewhere else in the city centre I thought), rather than Connolly? This would allow commuter routes by pass Connolly and also allow the DART to be extended out the Kildare line.It is but it joins the current line just north of Connolly so that the trains from there can bypass the Connolly-Tara Street-Peasre line. The new DART lines will be Howth to Hazlehatch and Maynooth to Bray.

It's the most important part of the new transport plans in Dublin but I'd be a bit worried over it since it's an improvement to an existing thing rather than a new thing entirely. I think politicians more votes in a new luas or metro line rather than an improvement in an existing service.

[Macy]

It is but it joins the current line just north of Connolly so that the trains from there can bypass the Connolly-Tara Street-Peasre line. The new DART lines will be Howth to Hazlehatch and Maynooth to Bray.
North of the bottle neck in Connolly though isn't it, which is where the issue is? I thought that was the case with the DART lines, but wasn't 100%.

[Bald Student]

North of the bottle neck in Connolly though isn't it, which is where the issue is? I thought that was the case with the DART lines, but wasn't 100%.Pretty much. The track through town will still be there taking 12 trains an hour and the new one will take another 20. There'll be room for a few more to come into Dublin and go back out the way they came so alltogether there'll be about 40 trains an hour coming into Dublin from the north and north-west, which should be plenty.

I was at a talk on this in the Engineers' Institute in Dublin a few months ago so all these numbers are from memory.

[rebs23]

http://www.irishrail.ie/projects/dart_underground.asp

[mypost]

Upgrade works due to commence on the Cork - Cobh line this evening, 3rd October have now been deferred until further notice. Scheduled train services will operate as normal on Cork - Cobh line

:) :p

[mypost]

Can someone explain why the thread title was changed some days ago?? :confused:

The thread is not about cancelled services, but a general IR thread.

[dfx-]

I've just been to Zurich.

:( :eek:

[dahamsta]

You gave it the totally meaningless title "We're not there yet". The first post is about cancelled Irish Rail services. Try using meaningful thread titles and they'll be left as is.



Can someone explain why the thread title was changed some days ago?? :confused:

The thread is not about cancelled services, but a general IR thread.

[mypost]

There's hundreds of similiar titles on the site.

The idea is to use the first part of IR's advertising slogan which everyone recognises, which leads into the second part of it on the first post. That now is meaningless. :(

Obviously, threads on IR are going to highlight cancellations at some point, but it's not the only issue in the thread.

[dahamsta]

This is Current Affairs, not humour. Now get back on topic please.

[pete]

Upgrade works due to commence on the Cork - Cobh line this evening, 3rd October have now been deferred until further notice. Scheduled train services will operate as normal on Cork - Cobh line

This was reported to be caused by Irish Rail maintenance workers looking for "payments" to allow outside contractors to complete the upgrade works for the lines. I think they were told this week to turn up for work or lose their jobs. Union did not back them.

Irish Rail in Cork is definitely the worse place for spurious strikes in the country.

[Macy]

Irish Rail in Cork is definitely the worse place for spurious strikes in the country.
I've said it before - takes two to tango. Management in Cork must be brutal too for things to continually blow up.

[pete]

I've said it before - takes two to tango. Management in Cork must be brutal too for things to continually blow up.

It says a lot of about the dispute they had there that no one backed the workers. In any other context it would be called extortion. Payments to allow other people work doesn't happen anywhere else in the public or private sector.

[Macy]

Payments to allow other people work doesn't happen anywhere else in the public or private sector.
It happens all the time. For example if there's agreed overtime, companies effectively buy out the agreement with lump sums, or sometimes none financial benefits such as once off extra leave entitlements. I've no idea of what the situation is in Cork for this dispute, but payments to allow outsourcing do happen in both the private and public sector.

[mypost]

One of the reasons why Lansdowne is sorely missed is it's access, on the DART line right beside the station, and why Croke Park isn't. For games at Lansdowne, match special trains would be sent to the ground to cope with the numbers travelling.

Last night, all services on the Drumcondra/Maynooth line were delayed due to a "major signal fault" at 2 other stations. After whipping out their "we'd like to apologise" line, the 7pm train from Dublin city centre to the game was announced as delayed until 7.30pm. 7.30pm duly arrived and the train was announced as been delayed another 20 minutes. :rolleyes: So you had to make your own way to the game, and mypost finally arrived at the game 10 minutes late. :mad:

Irish Rail weren't going to dig out another couple of spare trains from Inchicore and send them over to the city centre line, on one of the busiest nights for the Drumcondra line in the year. Apologies mean f all. Action in such circumstances is what's needed.:mad: