Enfield

[dowlingm]

I note Meath Co. Co. have granted planning subject to conditions for a footbridge at Enfield. Unfortunately the crap planning system does not appear to give access to the drawings etc. (app no TA111171). Is this just enhanced access or have they a notion of putting a 2nd platform in?

[Traincustomer]

Interesting. The second platform is a little overgrown in parts and would need some (but not massive) attention to bring it up to an useable standard. It is not as long as the platform that is used and appears a little low. Given the signal cabin building on that side is disused (well for signalling purposes in any case) there is a possibility of enhanced access or bringing the platform back into use.

[Mark Gleeson]

Reads as a full section M footbridge, but with ramps instead of lifts which massively reduces costs

The platform will need a total rebuild as it will be slightly too low and missing tactile paving, lighting and drainage, it will also need to be 170m long. No planing application will be require for that

[cullenswood]

Originally Posted by Mark Gleeson

Reads as a full section M footbridge, but with ramps instead of lifts which massively reduces costs

The platform will need a total rebuild as it will be slightly too low and missing tactile paving, lighting and drainage, it will also need to be 170m long. No planing application will be require for that

Will this have any beneficial impact on scheduling to Enfield and further when it is complete?

[Mark Gleeson]

Short term no impact, but when trains are delayed it means things will move a lot better than before

For Enfield passengers likely to mean several more services

Future timetables will no longer have the restriction at Enfield.

That leaves us with only Millstreet and Clara as the only two odd stations with 1 platform but two tracks

[Colm Moore]

Roscrea?

EDIT: Roscrea seems to have two tracks and two platforms, but only one is usable.

[neoncircles]

Birdhill also

[dowlingm]

Woodlawn too?

[Mark Gleeson]

Woodlawn has the unique aspect of a single platform and was only recently given a loop

[comcor]

Millstreet's loop is fairly new too isn't it? Last 5 years or so.

[Mark Gleeson]

Woodlawn was crazy in the sense it had no loop, but two trains could pass there

[James Howard]

It should help enormously having the crossing at Enfield unconstrained it is the only crossing point between Maynooth and Killucan which must be about 50km.

The biggest delay problem on the Sligo line is the 17:00 Sligo-Dublin train that causes chaos in leafslip season because it has to cross with about 5 other trains. Since this isn't scheduled to stop at Enfield anyway, I can't see this being much help except that it allows an opportunity to offload the passengers into a bus or a couple of taxis and leave the train at Enfield until the 19:05 down train has passed.

But this will be a help and I must say that Irish Rail seem to have spectacularly gotten their act together on Sligo line delays since Christmas. I have had to alter my route home from the station because the train is routinely 3 or 4 minutes early at Edgeworthstown and so keeps the level crossing closed while it waits for the departure time.

[dowlingm]

Did this ever get built? If I read Google Maps correctly it looks like “no”. Maybe IE felt the 6 (undetailed) conditions were unacceptable / outside their budget.

[James Howard]

It hasn't been built. It's quite mad really, when you look at all the development going up in Kilcock - the same should be happening in Enfield with a peak-time extension for the Maynooth commuter service.

[comcor]

Is Enfield a realistic place to terminate any service without creating a third platform, not just a second? (I note that there seems to be the remains of a siding that could accommodate that).

Or once you've got that far, do you just continue to Mullingar, which is as far out of Dublin as Dundalk and Port Laoise, which both have comuter services?

[berneyarms]

Originally Posted by comcor

Is Enfield a realistic place to terminate any service without creating a third platform, not just a second? (I note that there seems to be the remains of a siding that could accommodate that).

Or once you've got that far, do you just continue to Mullingar, which is as far out of Dublin as Dundalk and Port Laoise, which both have comuter services?

Perfectly possible to turn trains at Enfield as it is a block post - just depends on the overall schedule so that there aren’t other trains clashing on the single track.

[Jamie2k9]

Slighly suprising Enfeild loop lasted over recent years, 7 years with no scheduled use. IE attatitue is use them or lose them!

It was only braught back into use when the 06.55 resumed.

[comcor]

I suppose my point was more whether it was a good idea. I guess longer distance traffic on the Sligo line is rare enough that it can be scheduled to avoid disrupting that traffic. It’s not a conversation we could have about the Kildare line.

The ideal situation here is to have a stopping train from Dublin arrive and pull into a third platform, just ahead of an InterCity from Dublin and an InterCity from Sligo, with passengers from intermediate stations heading to Longford, Sligo etc. able to change. Then it sets off to Dublin with any connecting passengers from places further down the line to stations en route. The relative lack of complexity on the Sligo line compared to the lines ex-Heuston, which split and split again, means it’s something that can work relatively well on it. It looks like Enfield would at least have the space to build for such a scenario, even if we can only dream of those levels of connectivity.

[ACustomer]

comcor: something like you are advocating already occurs at Maynooth. Most Dublin-Sligo trains arrive at Maynooth a few minutes after a suburban train and picks up passengers from intermediate stations. Its the same with up trains: you can generally get off a train from Sligo at Maynooth and pick up a stopping suburban train about 7 or 8 minutes later.
Is quite a neat arrangement and any issue with Enfield is a largely separate matter