Intercity Railcars Will Enter Service 19/12/2007

[Mark]

Well done on Radio 1 yesterday evening Mark. You are a great spokesperson for rail users.

[Mark Gleeson]

Originally Posted by Mark

Well done on Radio 1 yesterday evening Mark. You are a great spokesperson for rail users.

I'm not the spokesperson per say just was in the right place at the right time

What RTE missed was about 30 seconds later, the pa telling us of a delay due to a signaling fault, that would have priceless on air

[dowlingm]

Not one single senior IE member of staff travelled on the train, no one from corporate communications, no chief exec, general manager, no head of CIE or minister

In case the RSC didn't hand over the cert and it had to be postponed perhaps?

[Mark Gleeson]

IE got the ok on Monday afternoon, they was no uncertainty

All the those staff where present on the platform at 11:05 yesterday morning

[James Shields]

6 car set parked on P1 this evening, which would suggest they're still running 6 cars on the test service.

[dowlingm]

Yeah Mark but even Monday a.m. might have been too late to get at least the politicos to come. Don't know what the IEers excuse could be.

[sean]

I took my first journey on the new railcars yesterday (the 20th). I took a short round trip from Longford to Boyle, in Co. Roscommon.

Very impressive I must say - they really are Intercity railcars.
On a scale of 1/10, with the 29ks being 0, a broken down boxcar being 1 and the German ICE being 10, I'd give these coaches a 9.

Noise and ride quality were both generally comparable to an Mk2d set. Major pluses there. Decor, much as I remember it, also very nice. No trouble getting my favourite seats either as there was a 2 car loading spread out over a 6 car set both ways

To say that these railcars beat the nuts off a 29k under every imaginable metric would be the understatement of the decade.

TBH I didn't even notice all the colours that had been changed, with the exception of the doors, and the door control buttons which have been reset to match those of the rest of the fleet/rest of Europe.

My only complaints would be these:
1: They make a powerful racket when accelerating.
2: The suspension is a bit of a mixed bag.
This may well belong in the members section, but here goes.

When I went to the show in Sligo back whenever it was, I saw that the suspension was a combination of old school springs and some posh hydraulics or air suspension setup on top of that.

Experience has shown me that when it comes to suspensions on trains destined for Sligo and perhaps anywhere in Ireland, that the simpler and more old school the suspension, the better. The 2800s and Mk2ds (both good) vs the 29ks (crap) prove that you can get a better ride by not complicating things.

The conclusions I took from that were that these trains ride would be generally solid as the whole bodyshell rested on springs, but that the hydraulic thingy on top of it would have to be watched carefully.

My journey today more or less confirmed that, as the ride was generally good but there were times when the coaches swayed for no good reason except perhaps the curves. Now, it's nowhere near as bad as a 29k, thank f***, but it still could have been done without. Methinks they can make the ride better by tightening the suspension and further limiting the role of those hydraulic thingies.

But I'm not bashing the 22ks for this because even the Mk2ds I love so much would have had some issues with curves as well - try walking through a carraige at full speed anywhere in Co. Meath for example.

[Mark Gleeson]

I said it should run the 11:05, not that it would

It ran the 8:55 Sligo Dublin this morning, if it had run the 6:55 it would have been on the 11:05

Should as a result work the 17:05 back this evening

[KSW]

I seen the 22006/2 when waiting for the Enniscorthy train to Gorey and I have to say seeing it close up it really does look something else. The inside looks really impressive, The drivers cab looks the best.

Your fine Mark, I'II go again in January when they all enter service. All I can say is the lucky driver . . . . . . . .

[Mark Hennessy]

Originally Posted by KeithStephen

Your fine Mark, I'II go again in January when they all enter service. All I can say is the lucky driver . . . . . . . .

From a passengers perspective, we really don't care what is in the front of the train, so long as it shows up on time and gives a comfortable passenger experience and arrives on time.

Sadly with Irish Rail, these mundane things like punctuality and customer experience are often missing.