Quote:
Originally Posted by Thomas J Stamp
I was able to drive, non stop, from Templemore to Malahide in 1 hour 45 mins last week. Even with my Carbon Jackboot of a Car it was cheaper than the train. Normally, I would have got Train, Luas, Dart. So there was two passenger numbers down on each.
Actually, I did it twice, so they were down four each.
I've been saying here for years that once the new motorway system is up and running you will see the shoddiness of the current rail system exposed for what it is. I know plenty of people who have car spaces going with their jobs but dont use them because of the M50. Not the innner city congestion, which is taken for granted, but the added headache of getting into it. When the final freeflow bits are in place at newlands and also in Lucan you will see journey times come down again.
No amount of KR(a)P will hide that fact. Why bother getting paying for parking at your station, get a train to the middle of nowhere only to find a tram already packed waiting for you?
Oddly enough, if Luas opens up a few more P&R sites, and ditto metro (lol) you could very well see a total collapse in IE numbers in the Kildare/Maynooth corridoors.
Again, as we have pointed out before, less customers does not mean one job loss in IE. The same trains will run, at the same times, despite being empty or full to the brim. Customers are not relevent.
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A clear difference must be drawn between commuter rail and inter city rail. The habits and patterns are a lot different. Inter city travel is at a higher risk from roads because of the time and distances involved. And it was in fact me that has been saying that the new motorway network will have a massive impact on intercity rail. (as far back as 2005) If you want to piggy back on that belief, then fire away.
As for the Red Cow, well how many here drive through it every morning during Peak? I'd say none, so you have no idea how it is at the moment. While the tailback beyond the Green Isle hotel has got smaller, negociating this infamous junction is still difficult and worth avoiding if you can. Outbound in the evenings still has tailbacks to Bluebell. The off ramps from the M50 are still heavily congested. Only when all the work is complete can we ascertain an improvement in Journey times. So if our country cousins get through it once in a blue moon without any hiccups, then its hardly grounds to claim success. Try it every morning and evening for a week and you'll be back on the train with your tail between your legs. And remember that grade seperation at Newlands is still a long way off and possibly at risk, if a contract hasn't been signed. The train/bus is still the better option from Kildare if you work along the line or in the City Centre.