[06/11/2013] Dart and Northern line delays 6pm

[Rashers]

20 min delays to Northbound Drogheda, Maynooth and Darts. Not sure of reason. Drogheda trains suffering worst as they have to sit behind Darts all the way to Malahide. Assuming passing loop at Clongriffen will not be used to try and make up late running.:(

[Inniskeen]

Rail traffic management in the Dublin area can only be described as pathetic. While leaf fall is the current upfront excuse the main underlying issues issues are badly designed timetables, inflexible and unsuitable track layouts, poorly maintained infrastructure and an inability to make sensible decisions in respect of service priority. In particular how can it make sense to send a DART northbound out of Connolly literally a few seconds ahead of a Belfast train ? Likewise how does it make sense to send a DARTs northbound out of Pearse at or after the scheduled depoarture of a potentially much faster commuter train ?

Clongriffin is a perfect example of the muddled thinking around infrastructure - new station, new signalling system and four platforms faces. Despite being one of the busiest sections of track in the country with the majority of passengers on "fast" Enterprise and commuter services, the much slower DART is given implicit precedence as no slow line has been provided on the citybound side of the station.

As for the loop track on the outbound line at Clongriffin this could be used to compensate for the seriously deficient layout in Malahide where parked DARTs on the outbound line routinely completely block the northbound line.

A bit of common sense and practical scheduling could greatly improve system performance although at the end of the day the primary problem is that the physical infrastructure is incapable of handling the current pattern of service in an efficient fashion. The result is miserable slow journeys, poor punctuality and very limited potential for growth.

Unless the physical infrastructure on the northern line is very substantially upgraded, DART underground, DART to the Airport and DART to Balbriggan will deliver very little in terms of service improvement.