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Unread 17-12-2015, 18:52   #18
Inniskeen
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Join Date: Oct 2010
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Quote:
Originally Posted by RPI View Post
The main focus of complaints is within the Greater Belfast Area. The 06:15 departure time is felt to be too early, particularly as it would leave before even the first local service reaches Belfast Central. The latter is an issue as many existing Northern Irish passengers will be unable to connect to the service.

There is also a sense in Northern Ireland that Iarnrod Eireann and the NTA sprang the timetable upon Translink without considering the joint nature of the service.

While there is huge support in Northern Ireland for a pre-9am arrival in Dublin, there is a desire that this is delivered through improved journey times. There seems to be a definite awareness that the key stumbling block seems to be Iarnrod Eireann's prioritization of local traffic.
I think you summarise the situation very well. As far as Irish Rail and the NTA the Enterprise and Dundalk are nuisance. The long term ambition seems to be to convert the northern line into a tram-like DART service and operate it as an appendage to the slow lines between Hazelhatch and Inchicore through the stalled DART interconnector.

It would be interesting to know when NIR were approached about this timetable and whether or not the DRD in Belfast were consulted. Could it be that the partitionist mindset is alive and well in Dublin ?
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