Quote:
I have sent the following comments to IR on their website.
Cork line:
Good to see the improved journey times, and better use being made of the four tracks at the Dublin end. I suggest the following extra stops to improve connections:
13.00 Dublin-Cork stops at Portarlington to take connection from the 11.30 from Galway.
21.00 Dublin-Cork stops at Portarlington to take connection from the 18.15 from Westport and the 19.15 from Galway.
11.20 Cork-Dublin stops at Portarlington to connect with the 12.45 Dublin-Westport.
13.20 Cork-Dublin stops at Portarlington to connect with the 14.45 Dublin-Westport, and at Kildare to connect with the 15.10 Dublin-Waterford.
18.20 Cork-Dublin stops at Kildare to connect with the 20.10 Dublin-Carlow.
10.00 (Sundays) Dublin-Cork stops at Portarlington to take connection from the 07.50 from Westport.
09.25 Dublin-Galway stops at Kildare to take connection from the 07.50 from Waterford.
14.30 (Sundays) Dublin-Galway stops at Kildare to take connection from the 12.40 from Waterford.
16.35 (Sundays) Dublin-Galway stops at Kildare to take connection from the 15.10 from Waterford.
07.15 Westport-Dublin stops at Kildare to connect with the 10.15 Dublin-Waterford.
13.30 Galway-Dublin stops at Kildare to connect with the 15.10 Dublin-Waterford.
Most of these are at off-peak times, and these changes would reduce certain cross-country journey times by 1-2 hours. Apart from the 13.20 from Cork, I have not proposed more than one extra stop per train, so it won’t negate the general trend of reducing the number of stops on the express trains. I know that passengers making these connections are few in number compared with those going to or from Dublin, and no one expects an immediate connection, but I have proposed extra stops where it turns an impractical journey into a practical one. There is a long tradition of providing this kind of connection, which has come under threat in recent times with the need to reduce intermediate stops.
As one who sometimes travels with dogs, I have sought in other contexts to get Irish Rail to adopt the more liberal approach used in Britain and the Continent. Under the present rules, where only Mark 4 trains carry dogs, the above proposals would provide some Mark 4 service at Portarlington and Kildare.
Displaying the timetable:
With trains now overtaking each other on the 4-track part, I recommend that overtaken trains should be shown in two separate columns, with arrows to show continuity. This is the normal practice in other countries, and was also used by CIE in older times when fast trains overtook stopping trains. People often scan the page looking for connections, e.g. on page 2, the 07.30 Heuston-Kildare looks as if it connects into the 07.35 Heuston-Galway – until you look at the times of Kildare stops and find that they don’t connect.
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Can't see the Cork trains making anymore extra stops.
Waterford timetable:
If I had my way I would change the following:
16.40 remains at 16.35 and arrives in Waterford at 18.46.
16.50 restored to 16.30 (would require the 09.15 down resteored 10.15 moved back to 11.15)
18.25 moved back to 19.15
Few other minor time changes.
16.30 operates corsses with 15.10 at Ballyhale, 16.35 at Carlow. Will not affect 17.35.
19.15 (provents the 16.40 stoppage in Ballyhale) by takeing advantage of split platfrom in Waterford and and spreads the gap from 90 (old timetable)to 2h45m between 16.30 and 19.15. The 19.15 crosses the 17.35 at Ballyhale, crosses with 18.35 at Kilkenny and depart Kilkenny at 20.06 (18.35 would arrive 3 mins ahead of the proposed time with less time in Carlow) and arrive in Heuston at 21.30. Would not affect the 20.10 service which departes Kildare at 20.56 and Waterford service arrives at 21.01 would of cleared junction by 20.57 but might be better to move the 20.10 to 20.15 to make sure.
It would mean the driver of the 15.10 having 2h wait in Waterford but on Sundays there is a 1h35m wait so no real differacne. If drivers are payed by the hour then it would be costly but if its for every train service they operate then it wouldn't be a problem.
I know for a fact that the proposed Sunday service has come in for a lot of criticism mainly moving the bussiest train of the day to 12.40 and not haveing a lather service 18.05 moved by 30-35 minutes. Its a poor attempt by IE to spread out the 4 services and not add an extra one which is needed as the current afternoon ones are always packed and stading room only most weeks. Adding an extra service would enable the 07.10 to be a 6 peice on Mondays.