feast or famine

[tigger1962]

I knew the extra train put on at 7.50 from dundalk was too good to last supplementing the Enterprise at 7.57. this morning dundalk commuters were brought back to earth with a bang! Not only was the extra service removed but when the Enterprise arrived on time at 7.57 - it was 2 carriages short!!! Many people at Dundalk were standing but at Drogheda the train became a cattle wagon - normal i suppose for many commuters on the northern line but you'd think that Translink/Iarnrod Eireann. What really bugs me is that if Iarnrod Eireann seem to be able to run a commuter service 5 minutes before the Enterprise why don't they keep it up or was this morning revenge for the Greens holding the transport post!! That and the enterprise still managed to keep 2 First Class carriages on the shortened train! :eek:

[Mark Gleeson]

The extra train runs only if

IE know something is wrong with the enterprise and they know far enough in advance to get a train from Drogheda
That a train is available which is not common these days
Fridays are not good as drivers are required for the Friday onlys

[tigger1962]

but is dundalk intercity or northern commuter? Why is it Translink have 90% of the trains on this line and they seem to have the final say on who can and cannot travel on their services!

[Mark Gleeson]

Out of the 8 enterprise services each way 3 are IE operated, 5 are NIR operated, add in the other services and 10 out of 15 are IE operated. This unequal balance dates back to when GNR (B) was divided between the UTA and CIE in the 1950's.

NIR are responsible for the coaches and IE are responsible for the locomotives. Previously the 1994 agreement had NIR and IE in an exact 50/50 which resulted in a mess, since the deal changed IE provide a spare locomotive in both Dublin and Belfast. The performance numbers showed a significant improvement as a direct result

There was no spare train available this morning as one of the Rosslare sets had failed