17.55 Pearse - Dundalk
 

Hi

Can someone please help me understand why a Dart to Malahide runs what seems like a minute before the 17.55 Pearse - Dundalk commuter train? According to the timetable it leaves Pearse 6 minutes before the commuter train, however on any occasion I've gotten the train, the Dart is delayed, which then results in the train being delayed.
The train then stops at stations (Howth Junction, Portmarnock & Malahide) served by the preceding Dart!
I understand it's "rush hour" but would it not make more sense for the commuter train to run before the Dart??

Thanks!

That was a stupid move in Irish Rail. The station manager in Drogheda couldn't believe it was timetabled like that when we tried to explain that things were not good on the route

We have submitted a revised solution to Irish Rail, awaiting a response

Thanks Mark - I did get your provisional timetable in a previous thread. Dare I say it makes a lot more sense than the existing one!

It's the same with the previous Drogheda bound train (starts at Bray), which every evening sits directly behind a Greystones to Howth DART.
You can actually see the Drogheda train directly behind the DART on the platform at Lansdowne Road.
Even better is the fact that while we crawl all the way from Connolly to Howth, we still arrive in only a few minutes late per the timetable, simply because of the increased padding in the last timetable.
My final bit of strangeness relates to the fact that there is a big gap between the previous Pearse-Dunalk service and the Greystones to Howth DART referred to above. Reallistically, this DART should be waiting just south of Pearse street, and as soon as the Dundalk service departs this DART should pull in. :mad: