[01-11-2006]05:30 CORK-DUB delayed due to leaves on track

[kilman]

How much of a problem is this at this time each year to IE.
The early train was delayed by about 30 mins this morning due to this.
On arrival in Heuston they were not as direct and blamed 'locomotive slipping'!!

[grainne whale]

'Leaves on the track' is a misnomer, how do they manage in New England? Are trains late at this time of year also !!!

[Mark Gleeson]

First thing to note is the excuses IE make up are rarely true, when I was on a train which had snapped a bolt in its suspension the engineer limited it to 60mph before departure, the pa on arrival Dublin 'due to speed restrictions en route' not quite the same as 'due to a mechnical problem'

Leaves are no joke trust me once you have experienced 60mph with the brakes in full emergency and the train not showing any signs of slowing you will believe. Its a Europe wide issue

What happens is the leaves are crushed under the wheels and that forms a teflon style anti stick coating add a bit of rain and it turns into the rail equivelent of black ice, all kinds of tricks have been tried the most widely used is a combination of sand and aluminum fillings with a glue known as Sandite, if you have the cash and the power the laser blaster solution is still at prototype stage but its way more effective than anything else tried

IE have a total of 1 sandite machine based in Kildare which covers only the Dublin suburban routes everywhere else is left to fend for itself

The DART fleet suffers to the point that at times 30+ coaches have square wheels from repeated slides, I've experienced a DART cutting out, light flicking as the coating on the rails is also a insulator

Should be noted the 201 class locomotive is designed to drag thousands of tons even on a poor rail but evidence suggests that leaves have the power to strand a train so much so that a rescue locomotive is sent out

IE are negligent by not taking measures to combat the problem by sending out a Sandite unit on the Dublin Cork line, they will claim the delay is not within there reasonable control bull it is if they bothered

[Thomas J Stamp]

Read the first line of Marks post a few times. This train has been exactly the same time late almost since the day it went over to the Mk4 trains. There were no leaves on the track then. There are leaves on it now. Is it any later? No.

There is as much leafall on other tracks. Was this a common widespread problem today on all routes?

No.

Read Marks first line again.

[Mark Gleeson]

You can account for 10 to 15 minutes due to locomotive problems, another 5 for Adamstown but the other 10-15 minutes is limbo and the delays have got worse day by day since September its only in the last month or so that its got real bad, could be the leaves but the primary cause is the locomotive coupled with the 40+ extra tons of weight in the new train

Short of having the stop and start times at all stations its impossible to know but statistics consistently show a big drop in on time arrivals this time of year across several routes

Leaves are a problem, it sounds like a joke but its a real problem, it is Europe wide but at least they kit themselves out to fight it, there is no equipment dedicated to the Munster region thus first train out will have serious problems

Dublin Cork is the only route where the first train is disk braked, the older trains have weaker thread brakes but a side effect is the brake pad cleans the wheel rim of leaf residue thus reducing the effect of the leaves. Dublin Belfast north of Dundalk suffers badly as well, Sligo line used to be bad but with the advent of railcars you don't get stuck anymore

[2Funki4Wheelz]

The frustrating thing about this particular service is that on occasion, even reaching Port between 10 & 20 mins late, it makes up time (somewhere) and we're nearer the scheduled 8.30 arrival time. There was a really slow approach into Heuston this morning.
Do we have the wind behind us those days?

[Oisin88]

Apparently because we had a mild september and october and not much in th way of wind. There are not too many leaves fallen yet, so just wait until they do fall....

[2Funki4Wheelz]

Well a few must have floated gently to earth this morning, the 5.30 from Cork was nearly 20 mins late into Portarlington but I guess no leaves from Port to Dublin, train made up the time and arrived in Dublin in under 40 mins. Yes, under 40 mins. (It's scheduled to take 55) I'm not complaining it was quick, it's just inconsistent.

Suspiciously, the Cork train driver made no announcement about the lateness, perhaps he knew he was going to make the time up?

[kilman]

I have heard drivers of this train make annoucements apologising for the lateness of the train and then advising that they will attempt to make up time on the way.Just shows the level of padding in the timetable I suppose.

This train also seems to slow down every morning going through Newbridge and Sallins. Can't see how this is related to Adamstown or Kildare Rail Project, any ideas?

[Mark Gleeson]

There may or may not be a 70 mph limit Dubli nbound through Newbridge, there has been a 50mph limit Dublin bound through Sallins at times, otherwise what you are experiencing catching the train in front driver gets a yellow starts to slow only for the next signal to clear to green, it happens quite a lot