I headed to Dublin on the 29k for the first time last week reluctantly. I was seriously contemplating the bus but the extra hour journey time swayed me towards the train station.
Got on board with a relitivley small case that was designed to fit nicely in the overhead compartment of an airliner and i looked around to see where i could store it. Hmmm. Tried overhead space - no too small....whereelse can i......nowhere ! I ended up lumping it on the seat beside me. I didnt want to but there was no choice. It was either that or leave it to dance around the carriage with all the rocking of the crap suspension ! Feckin crazy ! I pitied anyone with a large case/s.
All was fine until just before Ballymote when the train kind of jerked suddenly and violently to one side and you could hear a loud screech for a second. Passengers looked at each other in fright and then in anger. Anyone with a cup of anything in their hand was a gonner i thought. And it was on a relitively straight piece of track. So i wondered if the track was the problem as we had taken many bends before that and the carriage didnt rock as violently.
Yer man came through the train with his usual fair of tea/coffee danishes etc. Twice in fact, which surprised me. I suppose one good thing about the 29k is that the staff have nowhere to hide and have to look busy
The driver intercom was very low so i didnt hear a word he said only mutterings, the PIS seemed to work perfectly though. I wondered was it the new software version Mark talked about.
The train wasnt anyway full until we got to Maynooth and then surprisingly it stopped in Leixlip Louisa Bridge. Straight to Connolly from there.
All in all it wasnt as bad as i expected but i will hold off on the train as much as i can over the next two years until IE get those new railcars, designed for the job (It will probably be 3 years - an extra 12 months to pay off the job for life brigade unions
)