The Cork Dublin Express Train has entered service

James Shields · 22-05-2006, 11:47

Well, I took the Luas over to Heuston and hopped on to the 9:00 to Cork, where I met Mark and NavanJunction. I took lots of photos, making sure to wander up to the locomotive end and have a look around there (no points for those predicting an orange loco).

The interior was bright and airy, and very pleasent to walk around. The toilets seemed very like the disabled toilets on the 2900, with a big swoosh around door. The interior displays were all very elegant, with an LED map showing the routes (but as Mark pointed out, nothing north of Athlone), scrolling displays at the carriage ends telling us where we were going (very like the 2900) and individual LED lisplays over each seat saying "vacant", as the booking system was not working. There are also exterior displays next to the doors. The automated announcement told us where we were going in Irish and English and was very clear. However, there was a manual announcement that the doors were about to close, and that was almost inaudable.

The seats seemed very hard when you sat down first, but comfortable enough once you settled into them. It remains to be seen how they'd feel after a few hours. Mark had already measures, and there's a little less leg room and the tables are a few cms narrower. Mark grumbled that there was nowhere to plug in his laptop, though he could pick up a WiFi signal that seemed to be coming from the train.

We headed off, more or less on time, pretty uneventfully. Passing Inchicore, we saw another CDE set in a siding. Mark pointed out that the only CDE set that was positioned to make the run last week still had plastic wrapping on all the seats, so even if there hadn't been a strike it's unlikely it could have run.

Mark had notes on all the bumps from his recent Mk3 run. He was even able to point out where a section had been realigned in the last couple of weeks, so he didn't know how it would compare. It was impressive how he'd interrupt the conversation with, "now there should be a bit of a bump in about ten seconds." I think he was actually quietly impressed. The ride definitely wasn't quite as solid as a Mark 3, but it was nowhere near as bad as it could be (light years ahead of the Enterprise, though that's not saying much). According to Mark, we got up to about 90mph, and things still seemed quite comfortable, though there was a worrying vibration. The sould insulation seemed very good, as we passed a number of trains heading in the other direction, and there wasn't a sound to be heard.

Barry Kenny came over to chat with us, and was very polite, though I think he played the "I was away last week so I don't know anything" card a little too much. He acknowledged there were issues with the ride, and said they were working with CAF to fix them.

NavanJunction and I got off at Kildare, as Derek was getting on for the next leg of the journey. We took the slow trip back on a 2900, which was interesting from a comparison viewpoint as you could feel every bump we went over. We were musing about the prospects of sitting on one the whole way to Sligo, which doesn't seem like a pleasent experience.

I thought it was also interesting to see where the new Park West station is being built. It's quite a bit further out than the current Cherry Orchard station (by necessity because of where the Interconnector surfaces). I really think there will be a need for an underground station between Park West and Heuston. Although noone got on or off at Cherry Orchard, why would they when the train only goes to Heuston? But if they could get to Stephen's Green or change at Pearse, it would be a whole different story. There will be a fairly bug chunk of popluation caught between two stations, especially after Inchicore is redeveloped.

It's been an interesting morning. I'll post photos later.

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22-05-2006, 11:47	#1
James Shields Member Join Date: Dec 2005 Location: Drogheda, Ireland Posts: 1,275	Well, I took the Luas over to Heuston and hopped on to the 9:00 to Cork, where I met Mark and NavanJunction. I took lots of photos, making sure to wander up to the locomotive end and have a look around there (no points for those predicting an orange loco). The interior was bright and airy, and very pleasent to walk around. The toilets seemed very like the disabled toilets on the 2900, with a big swoosh around door. The interior displays were all very elegant, with an LED map showing the routes (but as Mark pointed out, nothing north of Athlone), scrolling displays at the carriage ends telling us where we were going (very like the 2900) and individual LED lisplays over each seat saying "vacant", as the booking system was not working. There are also exterior displays next to the doors. The automated announcement told us where we were going in Irish and English and was very clear. However, there was a manual announcement that the doors were about to close, and that was almost inaudable. The seats seemed very hard when you sat down first, but comfortable enough once you settled into them. It remains to be seen how they'd feel after a few hours. Mark had already measures, and there's a little less leg room and the tables are a few cms narrower. Mark grumbled that there was nowhere to plug in his laptop, though he could pick up a WiFi signal that seemed to be coming from the train. We headed off, more or less on time, pretty uneventfully. Passing Inchicore, we saw another CDE set in a siding. Mark pointed out that the only CDE set that was positioned to make the run last week still had plastic wrapping on all the seats, so even if there hadn't been a strike it's unlikely it could have run. Mark had notes on all the bumps from his recent Mk3 run. He was even able to point out where a section had been realigned in the last couple of weeks, so he didn't know how it would compare. It was impressive how he'd interrupt the conversation with, "now there should be a bit of a bump in about ten seconds." I think he was actually quietly impressed. The ride definitely wasn't quite as solid as a Mark 3, but it was nowhere near as bad as it could be (light years ahead of the Enterprise, though that's not saying much). According to Mark, we got up to about 90mph, and things still seemed quite comfortable, though there was a worrying vibration. The sould insulation seemed very good, as we passed a number of trains heading in the other direction, and there wasn't a sound to be heard. Barry Kenny came over to chat with us, and was very polite, though I think he played the "I was away last week so I don't know anything" card a little too much. He acknowledged there were issues with the ride, and said they were working with CAF to fix them. NavanJunction and I got off at Kildare, as Derek was getting on for the next leg of the journey. We took the slow trip back on a 2900, which was interesting from a comparison viewpoint as you could feel every bump we went over. We were musing about the prospects of sitting on one the whole way to Sligo, which doesn't seem like a pleasent experience. I thought it was also interesting to see where the new Park West station is being built. It's quite a bit further out than the current Cherry Orchard station (by necessity because of where the Interconnector surfaces). I really think there will be a need for an underground station between Park West and Heuston. Although noone got on or off at Cherry Orchard, why would they when the train only goes to Heuston? But if they could get to Stephen's Green or change at Pearse, it would be a whole different story. There will be a fairly bug chunk of popluation caught between two stations, especially after Inchicore is redeveloped. It's been an interesting morning. I'll post photos later.