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Unread 01-12-2015, 23:04   #43
Dublin13
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Join Date: Dec 2015
Posts: 130
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As someone who commutes between Clongriffin and Clontarf I'm delighted that they are finally doing something about the ridiculous timetable and awful split between the Howth and Malahide branch in evening peak which is dreadful and in no way reflects actual passenger numbers.

From Clontarf you have the crazy current timetable and loadings.

17:32 to Howth - Plenty of Seats Available. 50% of seats available after Howth Junction.
17:43 to Howth - Plenty of Seats Available. 50% of seats available after Howth Junction.
17:51 to Howth - Plenty of Seats Available. 75% of seats available after Howth Junction.

17:58 to Malahide - 4 Car Jam Packed train like Sardines, Sometimes unable to even board and still is like sardines until Clongriffin.

18:13 to Howth - Some Seats Available. 50% of seats available after Howth Junction.
18:31 to Howth - Some Seats Available. 50% of seats available after Howth Junction.

18:46 to Malahide - 4 Car Jam Packed train like Sardines, Sometimes unable to even board and still is like sardines until Clongriffin.

It's absolutely ridiculous that it is allowed to go on, a few times the 17:58 has been delayed in the last year due to passengers pulling the emergency alarm because of the over-crowding and I believe someone fainted in the summer. It's little wonder the 18:46 is awfully overcrowded considering the fact there is a 48 MINUTE GAP in evening peak time services.

This leads to the farcical situation where I and a number of other passengers are now getting Howth trains and then waiting at Howth Junction for a Malahide train, in the knowledge that we might actually be able to get on there with this not being certain earlier on in the trains journey and not wanting to wait 48 minutes for the next one.

The fact that after Howth Junction on the Howth Trains you have quite a few people leaving the trains with the Howth trains then being pretty empty whereas the Malahide ones are absolutely jammed at that point with yet more people boarding at Howth Junction who took the 'safe' option of the Howth train rather than risk getting left behind and being stuck for 48 minutes, illustrates it perfectly.

There's also a 90 minute gap on Saturday morning between Malahide DART's which I'm glad the are finally getting rid of.
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