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1035 ex Belfast 19 late train fault
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1400 ex Dublin 30 minutes late due to train fault at Connolly
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i would say form my own experience that the crash killed off a lot of Business class, which was mostly paid out of the passengers employers expenses, but at the same time the product was downgraded to make it not that attractive too. on a different note, perhaps they could look at proper catering. |
The lack of proper catering is a bigger omission than first class - the offering on Sligo is terrible when you consider that is a journey that can take longer than three hours. But Irish Rail's attitude is that on-board amenities need to be a profit centre instead of something to attract business so we'll never see hot meals prepared on a Sligo train again.
That being said, maybe there could be a technological solution to the issue - if the catering crowd were to go in partnership with a couple of takeaways (or even somebody like JustEat) in Longford or Mullingar, it might be feasible to make an order from the trolley guy that could be passed on via an app and delivered to the train. I used to travel first class on Sligo years ago when it was a nice comfortable upgrade with bigger seats and a carpet when there was none in standard. I think the key thing is the bigger seat and in this the 22K offering falls down badly. Personally, I'd feel ripped off if I paid for an upgrade on 22K. But I don't think there is much of a general appetite for paying enough of a premium to allow for lower passenger density that would make it worthwhile for Irish Rail on lines where it isn't there already. |
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Network Catering were great and the food was fairly decent especially the hot food. |
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There's a huge difference between Network Catering and Rail Gourmet. For a start one was a massive loss maker, not helped by disinterested staff who never made than one pass through the train with the trolley, and who frequently closed up the buffet long before they were supposed to. I can recall boarding a Dublin bound train at Ballybrophy to find that the buffet had already closed. Sure the restaurant cars were better under Network Catering with a good range of meals but that's about it. The customer now gets a service throughout the journey with catering trolleys making repeated passes through the train. |
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Rail Gourmet, tell staff to do continuous service with the trolley however it actually annoys passengers being asked every 5 minutes for x, y, z. Most of the established staff do a once or twice and on many services must move to the other side of the train. if they don't move I have never courted more than 3 runs. There is no reason why quality of food can improve as with NC it was good quality and low price and we have the opposite today and the offering continues to be poor, even on the trolley. |
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I think most people would prefer the trolley to do several runs rather than just one as it was before. Once again you're taking the hyperbole route with "every 5 minutes". Let's not exaggerate here. |
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0735 ex Dublin 35 late mechanical fault before departure
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Turns out the 0735 was replaced by a railcar, unknown what type. It is now the turn of the 1520 which is 30 late also due to a failure
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Well the 1905 to Sligo is a 29K so there's a good chance they borrowed a 4 car 22K unit for it.
How is still going on months after introduction? While it wasn't the most reliable service beforehand, it is quite an achievement to spend £12million fancying up the trains and end up with a worse service afterwards. |
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Ah, I didn't see that. Probably likely due to red mist descending on realising I'd have to spend the guts of 2 hours on a 29K with my neighbour emptying a chicken stuffing sandwich into my laptop.
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1405 ex Belfast C3K 72 late after DD failure
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1650 ex Dublin 4 car IE train
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All they seemed to have been able to manage was a 4-car 29K. At least there will be plenty of space for everyone to stand. Why anybody would bother paying a premium for this pathetic attempt at a service is beyond me.
At least most of the fault with this is with translink but this seems to be an appalling waste of £12 million. If they don't these reliability problems sorted out soon, there will be nobody left using this service. |
1700 Cork gone wallop as well. Train failure of some sort at Connolly, signalling issues Pearse area. Not a good eveing at all.
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Going off-topic a bit but the 1715 to Longford just conked out at Ashtown. Lucky for me I managed to get the 1705 to Sligo.
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0645 ex Belfast 6 coach C3K
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18.50 yesterday also non enterprise
Today looks like 2 DD out of service with the second set going after the morning return trip: 06.45 ex Belfast 09.30 ex Connolly 12.35 ex Belfast 14.05 ex Belfast 15.20 ex Connolly 16.50 ex Connolly 18.05 ex Belfast 20.50 ex Connolly That is 50% of services today non DD! The problems are getting worse not better. |
Right, well the reliability of the Enterprise service has gone beyond a joke now really these carriages must be cursed after a £12 million refurbishment and overhaul they desperately needed they are failing even more than the days HEP.
The Enterprise clearly needs new trains of some type. I like the DD sets but they're slow unreliable and expensive to operate even a C3K is better at working the service, often arriving up to 10 minutes earlier than DD set would. |
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08.00 11.20 14.05 16.50 20.05 |
1405 & 1650 were De-Dietrich according to NIR. Loco swapped at Connolly on arrival of 0800 from Belfast.
While there are clearly issues with the De-Dietrichs, it is anything but clear what the problems are. The situation is exacerbated by the requirement for 100% availability, three sets are required every day, 7 days a week. The worst performer appears to be the 0735 from Dublin, is this Irish Rail still re-learning ? Is it that problems are only discovered (or attended to) at the last minute ? Are there any maintenance staff available in Dublin to attend to issues overnight ? Would it be better to keep the whole DD fleet in Belfast and use an ICR for the Connolly based link ? This would potentially allow a much needed increase in frequency as well. |
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I travelled on the IR operated 1605 as far as Portadown yesterday which was DD and operating properly.
Meanwhile 1105 ex Belfast today is C3K |
Have they got it together, this week not been following but full service operated by DD since Sunday?
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Tonight's 2050 northbound wasn't an Enterprise.
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Appears to have been an issue with 0930 from Dublin, 1235 & 1805 ex Belfast and 1520 and 2050 from Dublin were C3Ks.
Further delays affecting 1605 and 1805 due to signalling failures at GVS. 1805 was further delayed due to trespasser(s) at/near Newry. The 1035 from Belfast, was heavily delayed by the 1232 from Malahide which departed Malahide 4 minutes ahead of it. Both trains averaged 20 mph from Malahide ! |
What is the current situation with passenger bookings?
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Here we go again:
1235 ex Belfast 1520 ex Dublin C3K due to another breakdown |
Use the Bus - it's seriously more reliable.
Time difference - assuming train is on time - 10/20 minutes extra using Bus. |
I wonder if it would be worth somebody trying a first class bus or a first class section on the bus. I've was on something similar in Korea years ago.
My personal objection to taking buses for my commute is that there isn't enough room to work on a 15" laptop on a bus. If they had 3 seats across and a table, there would be enough room. Would it more be cost-effective than the train to run a bus at such density? I'm guessing you'd get the equivalent of 40 passengers on a tri-axle. |
Two DDs failed today 1320+1605 were a 22K 1805+2050 are a C3K
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The Enterprise that left Newry for Dublin at 07:40 on Thurs 26 May 2016 was missing a standard class carriage.
It was announced on the train that this was due to a mechanical fault. |
It actually happened twice last week on that same train. And again today. How wonderful to pay over €3,000 p.a. for the privilege of standing in a (crowded) gangway. It wouldn't be so bad if it was on the way home but on the way into work? Matthews' Bus from Dundalk is looking more and more inviting...:mad:
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On Thurs 9 June 2016 on the 07.40 from Newry
I was in a carriage where the window lights were on but the electronic seat indicators, wifi and clock display were not working. |
Sounds like the MMI/computer is off, train works fine (i.e. exactly as it was before the refurbishment)
Its most likely a damaged cable as there is an industrial ethernet cable running the length of the train which hosts as the fancy stuff |
08:00 ex-Dundalk: no coach G every day this week so far. Standing, of course, and very uncomfortable after Drogheda, with the extra people. Would have been even more so had the weather been hot. In a way, it reminded me of the "old" Enterprise back in the 70s - early 80s, particularly the 17:30 from Connolly, which was regularly packed and standing was the norm unless you got there early to join the head of the queue, which as I recall used to reach the door out to the old ramp.
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