This dwell time drives me crazy too. I used to get the 8:16 coolmine to pearse and the 5:45 pearse to coolmine.
These dwell times are caused by
- Driver unable to close the doors on the crush loaded train
- Waiting that extra minute or two to get even more people on at castleknock
- Stopping near croke park to keep the timetable padding
- The slow pace
And to add insult to injury this train is always a few minutes late but considered "ontime" by IE and their lovely lie of a charter and stats
So a few months back I started cycling to and from work through the park. To my surprise the train leaves ten minutes before me which saves me the 5 min walk to the station and I make it to town before the train!!!
I'm no lance armstrong but its a joke that I can cycle faster than a train to work
I still get this train the odd day but it just encourages me to go back to my bike.