[seamus kilcock]

18th Oct boarded the 1100 ex Heuston for Cork at Kildare.
Left Kildare on time at 1131.
Also on time departing Portlaoise.
Late at all subsequent stops.
Arrived Cork 1407 - 12 minutes late.

Returned on the 1630 ex Cork.
Ticket checker at barrier refused me permission to go direct to Dining Car; he insisted I take a seat on the rear two coaches.
I boarded via the second last coach and walked to the dining car at the front!
I asked the dining car staff if they had any problem if I sat down waiting for service - I told them I was in no hurry - they had no problem.
What was the 'beef' with the ticket checker? Dreadful customer service.

Arrived Mallow on time.
Had to wait on Kerry train which arrived 1658 - 18 mins late!
We left Mallow 1705 - 13 mins late.
WE were late all the way to Kildare which was reached at 1917 - 30 mins late.
And NO I did not notice any wheel slipping due to leaves!
I did notice a few speed restrictions but surely these were not the sole reasons we were so late.
Why was the Kerry train 18 mins late arriving at Mallow?

By a coincidence I was listening, during the journey, to Matt Cooper interviewing Barry Kenny on To-day FM regarding IE's proposed free travel on certain trains from Galway to Dublin. Matt asked if trains can be speeded up to compete with the new motorway system. Barry was his usual self and gave nothing away.

Despite the hundreds of Euro spent on new trains and infrastructure during the last 10 years my experience of IE to-day did not reflect the investment.

Is my experience to-day a once off?