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Originally Posted by wolf99
2) Why are there still commuter cars operating on this line?!!! When they were put on "temporarily" before the new intercities arrived we were promised the intercities would replace them...yet they're still here. At the time IE was made VERY aware of the commuter's deficiencies.
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The commuter trains were very much intended to be a permanent fixture when introduced. Local politicians in Sligo demonstrated there complete ignorance when they started to protest when Irish Rail suggested using the same trains as Dublin Cork, new no matter what was the mantra despite comfort and capacity being more important. Magically 33 further intercity railcars were ordered (thanks to the NRA unspending that year). That 33 was on the basis of a train every 3 hours on Dublin Sligo and the existing 3 a day to Rosslare, which left no scope to go every 2 hours without dragging in a few commuter trains. So you have a dilemma.
Quote:
Originally Posted by wolf99
3) Why is the catering car always on the intercities but never operational??
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Sligo is advertised as catering trolley only, on occasion a first class train is used on the Dublin Sligo which contains a buffet car which is not staffed (which means a route elsewhere which should have a buffet does not) . Upside you get to sit in first class for free. The trolley now has a vastly better range now compared to years ago.
Quote:
Originally Posted by wolf99
6) Why does the Sligo train never seem to pull into P3? Even if P3 is empty, when P4 is in use it nearly always pulls into P1...
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Platform 1 contains service equipment to fuel and water the train and also the train can get in and out of the shed without getting in the way of anything else. It is very very rare to depart from platform 1. Platform 1 is too short for a full length commuter train
Much of the problems on route are related to the fact the route is running at 100% capacity at peak times. Dublin Sligo frequency is actually better than what Dublin Cork had 6 years ago!