[News] Waterford rail services expanded
 

from breakingnews.ie

Said train currently runs empty back from Carlow to Portlaoise each evening, it was on our hit list of empty trains from 2 years ago. Also means the end of an empty movement to Carlow each morning.

Pity they didn't skip Killkenny for the reverse of the fast morning train

This means there will be a further 3 coaches in Waterford each morning and therefore an end to the hassle on a Monday morning

Net cost actually a saving in fuel as it would appear to be fewer miles this way that current

It runs as of today according to the Irish Rail timetable planner, once again Irish Rail fail to communicate timetable changes in good time

Sadly looks like the only Waterford train that will be extended! *cough* rosslare *cough* limerick junction :rolleyes: :rolleyes:

To be fair Waterford Dublin ranks as the third or fourth busiest route

Its interesting how much effort they put in yet cannot move the 17:20 to Rosslare to 17:40 to enable a connection

It looks like the 06:25 from Carlow is still positioning to Carlow out of service.

http://www.irishrail.ie/news_centre/news.asp?action=view&news_id=774

Just on the 06.10 Waterford Heuston at the moment and they have leaflets on every table announcing the "fantastic new timetable".It is coming into effect from next Tuesday 8th June.

Always good to hear of new services coming onto the Waterford line as there never seems to be much attention to the line from anyone, even though it is a very busy route. They now have the basis for a reletively good timetable(there is always room for improvement such as letting the 07.10 Waterford Heuston service stop at Athy to provide further flexibility), I think the real change will be when the Kildare Route Project is finally finished, as the Dublin outbound services are being held up everyday. If they can get their customers home in good time then there will be much happier faces all around.

First of all, splitting the four hour gap was important and should have been done. Personally, I would have added a stop in Kildare to pick up transfers but better than a kick in the behind. Hopefully the 3h20 gap ex Waterford in the morning will be addressed too. One of the few things I think we can agree with Big Dick F about in his public utterances is that frequency is key. Time not spent waiting for a train is just as important as how fast it is, and is sometimes the cheaper option over a track upgrade.

Pity they couldn't find a way to put on a late ex Waterford (in the 1930/2000 range) but hopefully increased patronage will lead to further expansion up to the limits of what is basically a single track line (albeit with Lavistown).

Mark G - I'm trying to understand the implications for the morning service. 3 extra carriages in Waterford, but what good are they since they are being deadheaded from Waterford approx 0530 to Carlow for the 0625? Or do you mean where a problem is found overnight they will be swapped to a later service and the 0625 Carlow will be cancelled?

Edit to note: the 1635 ex Heuston is essentially a Carlow-Waterford evening commuter service, given that it leaves 1743. I wonder if there will be take-up for that as such.

There was a problem in that a service that was originally from Carlow-Dublin and typically full, was changed to start in Waterford, but without extra capacity, thereby making Carlow, Athy and Kildare line commuters stand.

The morning Carlow train continues to dead head from Dublin

The 17:25 service being extended to Waterford should mean 3 more coaches there in the morning so that all 3 morning trains from Waterford will be 6 coaches

Ah, okay. Thanks.

The 7:10 from Waterford - Dublin Heuston will call at Athy on Monday Only. It will dep Athy at 08:19. It has not been added to the Journey Planner yet but if you go to Printed Timetables and click on Timetable Alterations it will say it. It also gives you the minior timetable alterations to facilite the new services

I see it is still getting into Dublin at 9.10 (same time as every other day), so why don't they let this stop at Athy every day, this would be a great addition to the timetable to Athy commuters.

Today, Monday, the 0610 to Dublin was still a 3-coach! So no change there.

Kilkea: if the 0710 can run to time with an extra stop, then the lesson is to reduce the journey time to 1h55m (or less). With the increased speed of road transport due to the Motorway network, we badly need faster rail journey times.

A persistent tendency with IE is to add extra stops in the period following a radical timetable improvement: once again the triumph of the local over the broader interest (with all due respects to Athy!).

It's an Intercity service, and that should mean really fast trains over long distances.

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All the morning trains from Waterford should be 6 car but there is still a spear 3 car set because the 15:10 form Dublin - Waterford is a 6 car and the 18:20 return service ex Waterford is a 3 car from Monday - Thursday but it is 6 car on Friday and Saturday's. This may of changed since the 17:35 has been extended to Waterford.

08:21 Athy - Dublin non-stop
 

Notices posted at Athy Station state the time of 08:21 and seem to indicate the Athy stop will be M-S inclusive.

New route timetable leaflets now available at Heuston but neither they nor the Journey Planner show the above.

Can't go around promoting this stuff - what if people were to start using it???

I fully appreciate that the number of stops can be annoying and as such I would agree that there tends to be too many trains stopping at both Kidare and Newbridge, when they could easily cancel any stops at Newbridge as users would have a connecting service at Kildare.
The issue with Athy is that it only has the option of Intercity services and therefore they need to stop there (I'm sure you would not suggest that this train runs Waterford-Dublin with no stops incl Carlow?). I think the "intercity" term is issue, as we don't have the infrastructure for regional services to allow a true Intercity service.

Monday morning 06.10 Waterford Dublin is still 3 car set

06:10 - Waterfrod - Heuston
 

It look like the 06:10 service will be a 3 car set every Monday as the first class option on IE journey planner is booked out every Monday on that service but you can book it every other day on the service.