Quote:
Originally Posted by MrX
From a technical perspective the Enteprise just strikes me as a complete mess.
At least the Cork-Dublin Express (CAF) coaches work well with the locomotives and there's a clearly designed-in upgrade path to full 125mph operation. The bugs were largely ironed out and they seem to be increasingly reliable.
I'm not posting this as a long-winded or boring technical rant, but as a tax payer and a rail user, I would like to know a few things:
The questions I'd have about the enterprise are:
1) Why are there on-going problems with the doors and brakes and why didn't the manufacturer resolve them as the problems presented themselves? It's running for over 10 years now!!
2) How did they not realise that the locomotives were not really compatible with the trains? i.e. If they cannot provide them with electrical power without basically self destructing, they're simply not suitable for use on the service!
3) Why, oh why were they specified to run at a maximum of 90 miles per hour? It seems insane that a modern intercity train built to that level of specification is so speed limited.
4) Is there no upgrade path possible i.e. retrofitting the coaches to allow them to go faster and fixing the power problems?
It strikes me as a textbook example of pathetically bad project management and design and a gross waste of public money.
There were simple almost off-the-shelf solutions out there in 1995/96 when that train was built, yet they decided to roll out some utterly weird solution that to me anyway, makes absolutely no sense!
From an end users perspective it's a complete disaster of a service that's totally unreliable and unacceptably poor. The fact that it shares a bit of interior design with the Eurostar doesn't really make up for it!
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How right you are. I'll try my best to add my two cents from what I know and think and then explain it in basic , non trainspotter terms.
1. The locos can provide power to a train, but realistically only if its a freight train with a limited amount of light and heat required in a "crew carraige". (popular in the states.) Basically these locos are american and are ideally suited to hauling freight trains. Like previous purchases by IE/CIE they are not built for passenger traffic like we operate it over hear. They are used on the Enterprise because IE were stuck in a Government enforced neglect of rail transport that actually still existed when the new Cork line trains were ordered. Hence the use of the same locos on this service.
2. The line speed is hindered by two factors. The landscape north of the border and the commuter train impact south of the border.
3. It is bad project management that was exasperated by hit and miss, sticky tape approaches to rail funding from successive Governments. There are a multitude of issues on our railway that can be traced back to poor investment and subsequent lack of vision from IE. Two wrongs dont make a right.
4. Ultimately its the user that suffers. As a service it is a disaster. It was never anything more than a poorly funded, politically manipulated and stop gap measure.
How many times have we had to listen to Barry Kenny and the mantra of "decades of under investment"? Well, lots actually. Poor investment causes obvious problems. However I believe IE have used this to cover up substandard decision making. Its a tale of two evils. Bad Governance and bad railway management. Despite more money, its still rampant.